Lamoine Conservation Commission Minutes

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Conservation Commission Minutes - July 13, 2016

Members present: Anne LaBossiere, Larissa Thomas, Linda Penkalski, Doug Stewart

Absent Member: Larry Libby

Alternate: Jeff Cosulich

Others in Attendance: Nancy Pochan, Annie Crisafulli, Carol Korty, Mike Jordan

Meeting was convened at the Lamoine Town Hall by Anne LaBossiere at 7:05 p.m.

Topics Discussed:

There were no comments from Planning Board/Select Board.

The minutes of the June 8^th meeting were approved as disseminated.

Plans for public meeting on August 10: Linda Penkalski gave us some background information on the two speakers, Duane and Ruth Braun. The Brauns are retired geologists who live locally. They spoke at the Library recently in Southwest Harbor where hopeful attendees had to be turned away due to the reaching of the meeting room's capacity. Larissa made an excellent flyer to advertise this upcoming event. Linda will give the press release to the Ellsworth American in time for inclusion in its August fourth edition.

Reusable bags proposal: Annie Crisafulli showed and described some possible bags. The members concurred that the more durable ones would be preferable due to their endurance and ease of cleaning. Discussion re: how many bags to purchase, what to charge per bag and where we might sell them. The figure of $1.99 was commonly accepted as the sale price. We thought that we might be able to supplement our cost with some of the LCC funds. Linda explained that she had received the go ahead from the principal of the Lamoine School to send out flyers to students which would inform them and their parents of our sponsoring a contest to select a student's drawing of a logo for these bags. This flyer would contain some very specific information about the size of the logo needed. It was also suggested that we present a gift card from a Maine based business such as Reny's to the student whose drawing was chosen by LCC to be the logo on the bags.

Simon Trail tree ID task list: Linda had shared a very well developed task list via e-mail prior to this meeting. So far, Linda has not heard from Chris James. Larissa and Iris have been doing some collaboration. Iris has been updating the worksheet that will be used by students on the trail. Larissa has taken a great picture of children hiking on a trail that will be used as a part of the cover for the student work book that Chris and others will develop.

Possible sale of compost bins: Doug Stewart brought two compost bins for us to see. He had attended a conference on recycling at the Samoset and had a chance to hear about them. We had a very interesting discussion about our own composting containers and comparing them with bins constructed from the wire used in lobster traps that Doug had provided for our perusal. We wondered if there would be a market for compost bins and if the price would be too high. We decided that the subject of composting might be a good one to offer as a public meeting. Mike Jordan gave us some rough figures on what the cost might be for a person to purchase the wire used and the ties/clips and tool needed for assembly on their own.

Progress on s-turn picnic area: Doug mentioned that Larry was more involved on this but did share a bit of information. Mike Jordan provided some information based on his experience as Lamoine's code enforcement officer in the past. There needs to be more information obtained to see just what can and cannot be done in terms of moving this project forward.

Other:

Commission membership: Nancy is no longer an alternate on the Lamoine Conservation Commission but will continue to take part in many of our activities and programs. She spoke very passionately about the role that the conservation commission has played in the areas of open space, drinking water, shore lands, composting and serving as a place in town for people to raise conservation issues of importance to them. She described LCC as “kind of a clearing house.” Members expressed appreciation for Nancy's many contributions made to the town during her tenure on the commission which began at its inception. She has been our “institutional memory” on many occasions. Nancy's comments served as a catalyst for discussion about whether or not the LCC was following its ordinance. Mike Jordan suggested that the ordinance might need to be reviewed and rewritten to more closely follow what the group feels it should be doing. Linda brought out her copy of the ordinance and read the section which related to this matter. We also agreed to be thinking of other Lamoine residents who might be interested in being considered to be an alternate commission member.

Possible speakers/topics for Fall public meeting: Larissa mentioned that she had learned about the person who heads up the Hancock Community Gardens, Judy Adelman, who might be a good speaker at a Fall public meeting. The topic might be related to harvesting and getting the gardens ready for winter, etc. Anne presented information that Larry had given her re: a U.Maine Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Paul (Jim) Roscoe, who is an internationally known researcher. He is particularly interested in the anthropology of human dimensions of climate change, and political evolution.

We thought October might be a good month to have our Fall meeting.

Good items in the Lamoine Quarterly: Commissioners recognized Larissa Thomas for the information she had provided for inclusion re: the follow-up on “energy efficiency opportunities available” shared by Dr. Anna Demeo at the May 4^th public meeting of the LCC. We also appreciated the picture Larissa had taken of LCC member, Linda Penkalski's handing off an old piece of electronics to a worker from Electronics End during Lamoine's E-Waste collection day on June 25^th. Great articles, Stu.

Megan Facciolo retirement from Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District: LCC members signed a card of appreciation for Facciolo's presentation at our public meeting on coastal erosion and consulting with us on plant species in Blount Pond.

Motions and Outcomes: The minutes of the June 8^th LCC minutes were approved as disseminated.

Follow-up actions and who will do them:

Public Meeting on August 10^th: Larissa and Linda will post flyers in the usual places around our community. Linda will follow-up with the Brauns re: whether or not they are willing to have their presentation video taped. If affirmative, Linda will contact Stu to set up this. She will also get a key to the school to be sure we can get into the building that night. We will bring refreshments for the meeting as follows: Larry will bring the mugs. Jeff will provide pretzels. Linda will bring cold drinks and something of a dessert nature. Anne will bring cups for cold drinks, napkins and nuts. Nancy and Annie will bring something from the store. Doug will bring a coffee pot, coffee, cream/milk and sugar. Larissa will take care of the tea department.

Resusable bags: Annie Crisafulli will check on prices for bags which will guide our decision of the quantity to purchase. She will also check with the owner of the Lamoine Market to explore their willingness to allow us to sell bags there. Once we get the specific bags selected, we will work on a flyer to present to the Lamoine School's principal for sending home to inform families about our bag logo contest.

Simon Trail tree ID: Linda will send Chris an e-mail to try and set up a date to meet to continue the work on developing the work book for students. She will also ask if the teachers of the classes involved might also meet with us prior to the kick off of this event.

Possible Sale of Compost Bins: Doug will get multiple copies of the composting brochure available at no cost from the state. We will consider a public meeting re: composting, perhaps in March.

Commission Membership: Take a closer look at the ordinance re: the creation of the LCC to see if it is time for us to make some revisions to present for consideration to the planning board. Per Nancy Pochan's suggestion, we could also explore ways to include more people who might be interested in working on sub groups of interest to them in lieu of being on the commission.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30ish.

Minutes taken by Anne LaBossiere and approved on____________________.