MIDDLESEX CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Thursday April 6, 2006
7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Middlesex Town Offices
Middlesex, VT

MINUTES

 
Commissioners Present
John Austin
Barry Goodman
Heather Furman
Judy Keyes
Duncan Nichols
Bill Rossmassler
Dave Shepard


Guests: Michael Crane, The Koontz Family, Jane Dudley, Scott Gurley, Denise Coty, Ski Coty.

Administrative Operations
Call to Order 7:00

Minutes
 • Approval of the March Minutes was tabled.

Treasurer’s Report
 • Rick was not present. Treasures report was tabled.

Commissioner Terms
 • John Austin announced that he will be stepping down from the Conservation Commission. He has been an active and respected Commissioner since 2001, but felt it was time to give someone else the opportunity to participate. He will be missed. Everyone thanked him for his years of service!
 • Heather Furman announced that she will be stepping down from the Conservation Commission due to her upcoming move to Jericho Center, Vermont. She has been on the Commission since 2002. She said that she has enjoyed her experience on the Commission immensely and wishes everyone the best in their continued conservation activities.

Correspondences
 • Friends of Winooski River, and Kristin Rose (Winooski River Watershed Planner).

Committee Reports

Green-Up Day – May 6th
 • Jeff Kootz and his son Ken presenting the plan for Green Up day. Their house at the top of East Hill as well as the town garage and fire station will be the location for the bags, posters will be put up in Town Hall, Rumney, and the Middlesex Store.
 • Members of the CC will provide coverage at Town Garage from 9 – 3:30.

Recreation Trails Committee
 • Consultant Michael Crane was present for the discussion on the recreation trails. Michael gave a brief overview of the project. He said that the GIS mapping component was nearly done. The remaining pieces are the Town Plan update and Recreation Component. They conducted a survey to a random sample of residents. Project budget is slim, so expectations need clarification.
 • Jane pointed out that there may have been a problem with the survey mailing. It is suspected that several of the surveys were sent with only 1 page of the survey.
 • Dave said that the recreation component of the plan is really on the trails in Middlesex, and not necessarily focused on other types of recreation such as ball fields, etc. John pointed out that it’s not necessarily a “clean fit” with hunting and fishing and other types of dispersed recreation. He said it’s important for us to be mindful of potential conflicts of this type of dispersed recreation with trail use, i.e. hunting and mountain biking.
 • Barry suggested that we need to get a handle on what resources we currently have and how they are used.
 • Michael asked “what was the impetus for this project.” Bill responded that this came as a reaction to the pending ancient roads legislation and from issues in Middlesex around class 4 road location and use.
 • In response to Michael’s questions, “what one thing would this project determine,” Barry responded that a current inventory of existing trails would be most important.
 • Dave said it would be successful if we had a sense of what residents want and who the trails should serve. Also having the inventory of what we have. Michael suggested that we organize folks to represent different types of users and perhaps host a forum. Denise suggested that we advertise a public form in the Middlesex Monthly and Commissioners should make phone calls to folks who might be interested in attending.
 • There was a discussion on Focus Groups: Michael suggested having a couple of focus groups on specific uses or demographics to discuss their uses. We will solicit folks through the monthly, they should call Dave Shepard. Dave should take down their Names, Phone Numbers, and Areas of Interest.
 • Michael needs to get current trail information. Commissioners brainstormed current public trails and made suggestions on how Michael might get his hands on this information.

Village Action Committee
 • Enhancement Grant – A public meeting was held on March 28th. RSG presented their recommendations. Vtrans should have their review completed by the end of the month so that we can meet with the Selectboard on either May 9th or the 23rd. Also to discuss the Moretown Quarry at that time.

Friends of Worcester Range
 • Elmore and Waterbury are not participating in the Forest Legacy Program this year. Middlesex and Stowe might be able to get an application in this year depending on technical resources.
 • Bill noted that establishing a Town Forest would be an option with Legacy Funding.
 • April 13th is what Bill proposed for FWR meeting.

Wildlife Monitoring Committee
 • Farley Brown will be attending the May meeting.

Adjournment 
Heather made a motion to adjourn, John seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 9:12 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Heather M. Furman
Secretary