Present: Cary Henderson, Chip Caton, Catherine Lyons, Hannah Roditi, Auriel Roditi, Dale Bertoldi, Vikki Reski, Jay Stoccatore, Tamara Hochmann, Vic Herson, and Kevin Gough
1. Special Projects
a) Bike Tour/May 15- Victor Herson reported: Ted Paulsen, Chip Caton’s colleague, has done art work for the bike tour flyers and 3-fold handouts. Cary will ask REI to provide technical bike service support at the Farmington River Park the day of the ride. Val is working with the biking community and facebook. Jay will set up a link to sign up on the web site. Cost of the tour will be $10 and participates will have the option of riding with a land trust guide. Tami will check into insurance. Vic will have signup sheets with a liability waver at the start of the tour. A complete tour map will be provided at this time. Food will be available for a fee after the tour at the Farmington River Park. Check out facebook and web site pages.
b) Garden & Art Tour/June 18 - Catherine Lyons reported: Robin Sherwood will do the graphic art work for the garden tour flyers, posters, and tour guides. The sign up on the web site will be coordinated by Tami and Jay. The 4-H Education Center at Auer farm will be the beginning and ticket distribution for the tour. Garden volunteers will be coordinated through Master Gardeners. Wendy Wolcott and Diana Hughes will coordinate preregistration and day of event registration at Auer Farm. Once the pdf files are available for the flyers and posters, they will be use email distribution as one form of advertisement. Please send to anyone on your email list who may be interested. Thank you, Catherine!
c) Park Watershed Revitalization Initiative Park Water Arts - The New Britain Museum of American Art will host the third CCSU “Night at the Museum” March 31, featuring presentations, exhibits and performances on the theme “Where Art Meets Water.” Vikki attended the University of Hartford symposium on March 22 ‘Water at Our Doorstep’ which provided historical and future data for the Park River Watershed. Aspects of both science and art were presented.
d) Trails Day Hikes/ June 4 - The two Bloomfield Ct. Forest and Park Hikes for Trails Day are scheduled. Paula Jones and Kevin Gough will lead a 9:30 Farmington River Park Hike which will be followed by an 11:30 Speer Preserve to Heublein Tower hike lead by Jay Stoccatore. See web site for additional information.
2. Fundraising Project.
a) Lisa Lane: Town and Owner coordination meetings attended by Chip will finalize the project funding. To date we have $195,000 DEP grant and $40,000 in private funding leaving $65,000. It may be necessary for the land trust to hold the easement for the NRCS farmland grant. Vikki will speak to the State Agriculture Department about a joint holding of the easement to defer the $50,000 fund. Chip, Diane and neighborhood representatives, Henry Bell and Jeff Harman, have been speaking with Conor P. Quinn, District Aide/Grants Coordinator for U.S. Rep. John B. Larson and Rep. Matt Ritter about Lisa Lane Funding.
b) Grants to Bafflin: Chip will coordinate the Bafflin Grant with a cover letter describing three projects; Lisa Lane, Stouts Fields and Thrall Barns. Maps and one page descriptions will be included.
c) Hawk Hill: Chip will set up another meeting with the Hawk Hill owners to discuss obtaining a new appraisal to determine the land value. Dale spoke to Thomas Henry about the appraisal done in February of 2010. Thomas believes he maximized the site value based on current zoning and the Arnold Drive lot was considered. He concluded that this lot should be valued separately.
d) Stouts Field: Grants for NRCS Grassland
3. Committee Reports
a) Membership: Tami welcomed new members Robert and Patricia Maden, David Glenn, Nancy Bowden and Donna Mages. Renewal request sent via Mailchimp to 8 members
b) Marketing: Newsletter, Brochure Printing Quote# 28-02 print on a 70# Natural White paper, 200...$160.00, 500...$350.00, 1000...$600.00. Please allow 2-3 days turn around. Prices from Staples for same quantities were 238, 595, and 1190. Chip recommends 200. Tabled till next meeting.
c) Stewardship: New form was distributed for evaluation.
d) Ag Viability Grant: Conway School of Landscape Design presented the 2nd public forum on farming for the Ag Viability Grant on March 1.
e) Financial Report: Account Balances are Checking $2,650.80 and Savings $19,363.16.
Tami set up accounts for securities, Stout Fields $2000 and Lisa Lane. Tami renewed our corporate filing with the Secretary of State Connecticut for $50.
Donations include Michael Merrigan and Stephen Dombrowksi $1,000 for Stout Fields, anonymous donation of 336 Proctor and Gamble shares valued currently at $20,455.68 for Lisa Lane with a promise of $10,000 matching funds.
Dale Bertoldi will write letters of appreciation for donation commitments from Hartford Foundation for Giving and to the Anonymous donor of stock.
f) Fund Raising: Hannah that she coordinated reported on the meetings with Simsbury Land Trust and Farmington Land Trust. Chip and Hannah both attended the meeting and expressed appreciation for the time the Land Trusts spent with them.
4. Earth Day: Annual Meeting Work Party at Van Otterloo is scheduled for April 23, 2011 at 9:30. The prospective trail in the preserve has been marked in field by the stewards. Please come prepared to work on trail clearing and street side cleanup. Wear long pants, long-sleeve shirts, and work boots. Bring gloves and safety glasses. Tools such as loppers, hand saws and hand pruners are welcome.
5. Next Meeting Date: Sunday May 1 at 52 Duncaster Road.
6. Adjourn
