Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Notes - August 20, 2014

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – August 20, 2014, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Jim Trail, Kevin Gough, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Dale Bertoldi, Doris Johnson, Sten Caspersson

Territorial Toms

          1)      Minutes for the July 16^th Board Meeting were approved. 

          2)      There were no additions to the agenda.

    3)      Committee Reports

           a)      Grants – (1) Hawk Hill – As noted on the agenda, the   paperwork submitted by the Town attorneys is at NRCS for review.  We did not submit a 1772 Foundation barn grant application for Hawk Hill.  (2) Evans Property – The Environmental Review Team is scheduled to be done in late August/early September.

 

b)      Events

1.      Lisa Lane Ribbon Cutting on September 20^th – There will be local, state, and federal government representation at the ceremony. 

 

2.      Wildwoods Trail Hike at Seabury – Jim Trail will be leading this hike on August 30^th at 9 AM.  Brief descriptions will be posted on the Land Trust website and blog.  Paula will submit an article to The Hartford Courant. 

3.      Stewardship work days – Lisa Lane:  A work day has been scheduled for August 21^st.  The head of NRCS may be visiting the farm, depending on his schedule.  Stout Family Fields:  September 13^th; Van Otterloo:  October 11^th, (Rain date of October 12^th).  If we have the workday on Saturday the 11^th, we’ll follow up with a tasting at Back East Brewery.

4.      Jim is planning a hike ending at LaSalette on October 4^th for the Seabury Community.  He reported he had many requests to repeat the route offered on Trails Day in June.  He graciously agreed to open up the hike to WLT members as well.  Once he determines the exact route that will be offered, he’ll provide a short description for the September newsletter.  Paula offered to help him coordinate that with Diana Hughes. 

c)      Membership/Community/Website

1.      We discussed having a membership day at Back East Brewery next Spring or Summer.   

2.      Trail Guide for website – Jim reported that the IT department at Seabury is working on moving Seabury Trail information from Seabury’s internal resident-only site to their public-access site.  Once that work is complete, we can talk to Diana about linking our newsletter to the Seabury Trails link.  Ultimately, we can provide that link on the Land Trust website.

d)      Financial – July account balances:  $2,457.81 in checking; $21,015.59 in savings; $113,525.31 in restricted.  The 2013 tax filing was submitted on August 1, 2014.

e)     Capacity Building –

1.      Paula made the following motion:  “In accordance with Article VI, Section 3, of Wintonbury Land Trust Bylaws, I nominate Jim Trail to the Board of Directors for a term expiring at Wintonbury Land Trust’s 2015 Annual Meeting.”  The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.  Welcome Jim!

2.      Paula offered to take the lead in setting up a Nominating Committee this fall in preparation for the 2015 Annual Meeting.

3.      Since Chip Caton was unable to attend, we tabled the Logo Design update.

4.      Dale reported that Joel Neuwirth had contacted him about the Land Trust participating in the 2015 Bloomfield Pride Week (June 8 – 13).  We brainstormed ideas for the event, including extending it to the full month of June (to offer more weekend activities), or at least to the preceding weekend, which would encompass Trails Day.  Either Kevin or Paula will follow up directly with Joel.

f)      Stewardship

1.      Stewardship Days - Our fall stewardship days are scheduled for the second Saturday of the month.  Vikki suggested we try the 3^rd Saturday of the month during the spring.  She also suggested we follow our workdays up with a social activity.  All agreed this is a good idea.  As mentioned above, if the Van Otterloo workday is not rained out and is held on Saturday, October 11^th, we’ll try a tasting at Back East Brewery.

2.      The Stewardship Committee plans on working with the property stewards to establish Baselines for Hawk Hill and Thrall Farm. 

2)      New Business –

a)      Next meeting dates:  (2^nd) Wednesdays September 10^th and October 8^th.  In general, we are planning on the 2^nd Wednesday of the month for Board meetings.  Start time:  6 P.M. 

b)      Jim Trail offered the use of a large lounge at Seabury to us for a meeting space if we think it would be suitable.  Jim suggested someone from the Board take a look at the space to make sure we agree; Paula offered to do so.  We’ll plan on meeting at Seabury Retirement Community for at least the next couple of meetings (to try it out); room details and directions will be provided prior to the September meeting. 

 

Recorded by Paula Jones