Minutes of
Hinesburg Conservation Commission
Hinesburg, Vermont
March 12, 2001

Location: Town Hall, Hinesburg, Vermont, 7 p.m.

Members attending: David Wagner, Ted White, Sally Guttler, Martin Peterson, Nancy Baker, Bill Marks
Members missing: Nancy Plunkett, David Hirth, Sarah Blythe
Non-members attending: Faith Inglsrud

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 by Chairman Ted White. The minutes from the February 12 meeting were approved. There were no minutes for the February 26 because there was no quorum and no meeting was held.

Under communications, the following items were discussed:

USDA Department of Agriculture is sponsoring a "Tree Wardens Meeting."

Richmond Geographic flyer. The Town of Richmond is sponsoring a series of video seminars on their culture, birds and history. Ted White asked if the HCC should be interested into doing something similar.

Meeting minutes of the Hinesburg Planning Commission from February 21 and March 6. Primary concern was the Estey Complex permit. Faith Inglsrud gave HCC some background on the permit. Also discussued was the presentation done by John Mace regarding the total build-out projections for Hinesburg. HCC recognized that it would like to be invited to future such presentations on the subject.

"Save The Date" Conference on "Management of Decentralized Systems: An Option for Vermont Villages and Growth Centers," May 4 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. David Wagner and Martin Peterson would like to attend the conference. The conference flyer says, "A concept for wastewater treatment suitable for some small communities is emerging nationwide. Decentralized wastewater management is an option for addressing pollution in unsewered villages and maintaining community viability without the cost of a traditional "big pipe" sewer system. A decentralized wastewater system is an onsite or cluster system used to treat and dispose of small volumes of wastewater from individual or groups of dwellings and businesses. For this approach to be successful, centralized management of the system or systems is critical. Learn more about this concept and possible alternative technologies that can be utilized from national experts in the field (National Small Flows Clearinghouse and North Carolina State University). Meet alternative technology representatives, engineers [HCC secretary's note: including Dufresne-Henry Engineers] and review case studies from communities in and outside Vermont." For registration information, contact USDA Rural Development in Montpelier, Sue Poulin, 802/828-6030.

Vermont magazine article on sprawl (March/April 2001). An excellent article brought to our attention by Bill Marks.

Sally Guttler has been working on an agricultural map of Hinesburg. She has produced two overlays, one of the land use properties (those which receive state property tax breaks for their agricultural status) and other agriculturual use properties that she is aware of. Most of these agricultural properties are located west of Highway 116. Her next project is to produce a map of the forested areas of Hinesburg (which will include many properties east of Highway 116).

The missing $200 from the HCC tree planting fund has been corrected by Jeanne Wilson. It was an accounting mistake.

Ted White put a "no dog poop on the trails" notice for Geprags Park in the last Hinesburg Record.

Ted White congratulated Martin Peterson on the quality of the new Geprags Park webpage. That webpage is available at http://www.oocities.org/hinesburgconservation/geprags1.html.

Bill Marks gave a presentation on the LaPlatte River study. Nancy signed up 11+ volunteers were signed up for the spring HCC tree planting on the Giroux and DeVost properties. Bill asked the other members to bring along a list of friends, etc., that will help with the tree planting on April 14 (raindate April 21) from 9 to 1. Martin Peterson will contact the Boy Scouts for assistance.

Nancy Baker had received a 23-minute movie When Rivers Become Unstable: How Streamside Woodlands Can Help Protect Land from the ANR. The entire HCC watched the video (which was excellent). They adopted Martin Peterson's suggestion to give a copy of the video to the Giroux's and DeVost's to help them (and others) understand the necessity of this spring's tree planting project. Nancy Baker said that this video could be used as a "marketing tool" for future planting projects on the LaPlatte River. Ted White suggested putting a copy of the video in the library and advertising its availability in the Hinesburg Record. He also suggested talking to Jeanne Wilson about getting on the Selectboard agenda to show the movie at the next "Fifth Monday" meeting.

Storage for the HCC auction is available at Storage Solutions. Storage Solutions has donated an empty storage unit for use by the HCC until the July 4 auction.

The next meeting is Monday, March 26. Ted White adjourned the meeting at 8:35 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Martin Peterson
Secretary Pro Tem

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