Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Notes February 19, 2014

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST   February 19, 2014, 52 Duncaster Road

Victor Herson, Chip Caton, Dale Bertoldi, Doris Johnson and  Vikki Reski

1.       Meeting Minutes Approved

2.      Committee Reports  

a. Grants

1.       Lisa Lane has received a special extension of the closing date to March 31, 2014. A conference call to work out language details between NRCS and DEEP was held today. NRCS will review history and propose a language modification in the NRCS easement.

2.       We are finalizing Hawk Hill title insurance for DEEP and NRCS required documents. Hawk Hill funding and background history was distributed for board review. Vikki will answer questions received by e-mail.  Hawk Hill Farm DEEP Resolution was passed:

RESOLVED, that Dale Bertoldi of Wintonbury Land Trust is hereby authorized to execute on behalf of the Wintonbury Land Trust, a Grant Agreement and Conservation and Public Recreation Easement and Agreement under the Open Space and Watershed Land Acquisition Program with the State of Connecticut for financial assistance to acquire permanent interest in land known as Hawk Hill Farm, OSWA# 460, and to manage said land as open space land pursuant to Section 7-131d of the Connecticut General Statutes.

3.       NRCS FRPP 2014 presentation at the Capitol tomorrow. Vikki will be attending. 

b.    Financial- schedule subcommittee meeting

1.       Working on Financial Calendar, Treasurer Book, and Contribution Policy and Procedures

2.       Checking $2811.11, Savings $21,007.18, Ameritrade $1,884.00 and restricted $131,439.29  

c.   Acquisitions: Schedule meeting to review Beacon Hill and Land Procurement Process. A WLT letter to Evans was sent.  

d.    Capacity Building:

      1.  Leaders on Board express match date on January 30^th: Land Trust folded due to illness.

      2. Chip nominated Pat Sullivan for a board position, Dale seconded. The board voted to elect Pat Sullivan to the board.

      3. Paula Jones has broken her knee cap. The board wants to send well wishes. The Bylaw discussions were tabled till next meeting. 

e.   Events:

1.       Earth Day Celebrate 2014, third meeting on 2/20/2014 at 10:30

2.       February 8 Snowshoeing at Speer/ MDC was well attended by 13 people. See February newsletter.

3.       Special Membership Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday March 4^th from 7-9 at 330 Park Ave in meeting room 2. Agenda: Past success, financial overview and financial sustainability proposals.

4.       Trails Day- submitted 

f. Membership/Community

1.       Land Trust ID-  is delayed for personal reasons

2.       Newsletter:  Hike recap and Earth Day build up

3.       Website- Outreach for a web master

4.       Back East Brewery written suggestions still pending

5.       Trail guide – start with hikes on web site. 

3.       New Business

a) Next meeting Dates:  March 19. Adjourned                                Notes submitted by V. Reski

Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Minutes for January 12, 2014

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – January 12, 2014, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Chip Caton, Dale Bertoldi, Patrick Sullivan, Kathy Sullivan, Doris Johnson, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Kevin Gough

1)      November 21, 2013 Minutes were approved with 1 correction and 2 additional Strategic Goals for 2014 (that had been omitted from the draft).  Paula will resend the corrected document to the Board and Committee members, as well as post it on the Wintonbury Land Trust blog.   

2)      There were no additional Agenda items. 

3)       Committee Reports

a)      Capacity Building

1.      We agreed that all original participants in the Organization Assessment should be invited to the January 16^th follow-up meeting with Sharon Danofsky.  Vikki will invite Tami Hochman, and Chip will invite Hannah Roditi. 

2.      Chip will coordinate with Vic Herson to determine the best approach for following up individually (as needed) with donors who made a 3-year commitment to the Capacity Building campaign.

3.      Thank you to all who renewed their memberships, and/or responded to our year-end annual appeal. 

4.      Dale Bertoldi and Doris Johnson will represent WLT at the January 30th Leaders on Board express match event.

5.      Paula will send out our current Bylaws for review so that the Board can provide input on desired revisions at our February meeting.  Diane Mack has agreed to help Paula with revision work once she has a redacted document ready.  Our objective is to have a revision in 2014 for membership consideration and approval.

b)      Financial (Committee met on January 9^th)

1.      Financial Calendar and Treasurer Book – Vikki and the Committee are working on a Financial Calendar and Treasurer Book to document financial policies and processes.  The Committee plans to investigate the cost of hiring a CPA for tax work and guidance about options for systems and financial review processes.  The Committee is seeking a CPA who has experience working with non-profits.  Chip knows someone who might help with book-keeping work and be able to suggest some CPAs.  Kevin will meet with Trish Hazelwood, Simsbury Land Trust’s Finance and Membership Director, to inquire about SLT’s policies.

2.      The Committee has begun working on Contribution policies & procedures for accounting purposes based on Tax Law requirements.

3.      WLT’s 12/31/2013 Balances are as follows:  $2,219.26 Checking; $19,005.40 Savings; $133,922.56 Restricted Savings; $1,884.00 stock.

c)      Acquisitions

1.      Evans Parcel – Dale Bertoldi provided Mr. Evans with the summary appraisal WLT had done.

d)     Grants – Lisa Lane and Hawk Hill closings:  Vikki reported that WLT has a different attorney working for us on Hawk Hill than on Lisa Lane.  Paula requested that Hawk Hill’s proposed ultimate ownership structure be an agenda item for February.  Kevin suggested the Acquisition Committee discuss this prior to the February Board meeting.

e)      Events

1.      Diane Mack agreed to work on the Celebrate 2013-2014 event.  Chip offered to contact Duncaster about using space there.

2.      Snowshoeing at Speer/MDC – February 8^th at 10 AM. 

3.      Earth Day Celebration – Doris & Vikki will spearhead this event.  Auer Farm has already agreed to partner with WLT to host a children’s hike. 

4.      Trails Day – Kevin Gough has already posted the hike description on CFPA’s site.  We will repeat the well-received WLT/SLT hike held 10/26/2013, but reversing direction (starting from the Flower Bridge in Simsbury, finishing at Filley House in Bloomfield).  Along with Simsbury Land Trust, Bloomfield Leisure Services will co-sponsor, once again providing shuttle service back to the hike’s starting point.  Dave Melesko asked whether Leisure Services could do more for this event.  We should be set for Trails Day (with the shuttle service), but some ideas Dave suggested might work well for our Earth Day event, so Vikki will touch base with Dave regarding the Earth Day event.

5.      Bike Tour – Since Vic Herson was unable to attend, discussion was limited to the possibility of asking Back East Brewery for some support.  (See f) 4 below.)

f)       Membership/Community

1.   Land Trust ID Project – Chip reported that Robin Sherwood is gathering material to prepare for their first meeting together on this project.

2.       Newsletter – The articles for January will be Membership and Part 3 of the 3-part series “New Life for an Old Farm”.  Note:  The Journal printed a story “New Life for an Old Farm” in its Jan. 10, 2014 – Jan. 24, 2012 issue.  Don Rully used Part 2 of the series as the basis for the article.

3.      Website – Vikki will contact Tami Hochman to get some referrals for website work.

4.      Back East Brewery written suggestions – As reported in November, Back East is willing to consider supporting WLT as they’ve supported other local non-profits.  The next step is to submit a proposal to Back East in writing.  After some discussion, we agreed that a natural event to consider would be our annual Bike Tour.  Chip will discuss this possibility with Vic Herson. 

5.      Trail guide – Discussion centered on including all town trails if possible.  As a next step we agreed that we should talk to the Town Planner and to the Seabury Trail Committee. 

4)      New Business

a)      Next Meeting Dates – February 19^th, March 19^th, 6 – 8 PM both dates

b)      Van Otterloo Proposal – Dale Bertoldi distributed material to the Board for review.

 

Recorded by Paula Jones

Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Minutes for Nov 21, 2013

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – November 21, 2013, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Chip Caton, Dale Bertoldi, Patrick Sullivan, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Kevin Gough
 

    1)      October 24, 2013 Minutes were approved as submitted.

 

      2)     There were two additional Agenda items added under New Business:  Simsbury Land Trust record-keeping workshop, Meeting with Back East Brewery.

 

 

Snow bunting (seen on Bear Ridge Drive)

 

 

3)      Committee Reports

a)      Strategic Plan

1.      2014 Goals and Objectives – We reached consensus that our 2014 goals, in priority order, are as follows:

(1)   Find a Membership Chairperson, and update our membership database.  Our objectives include increasing the number of members, collecting annual dues, and running an annual appeal. 

(2)   Sponsor two fund-raising/outreach activities.

(3)   Find a Webmaster, update the website, and publish a paper & online Bloomfield Trails Guide of Land Trust and Town Trails. 

(4)   Close on Hawk Hill, Lisa Lane; work on the Evans, Malucci, & Roditi parcels.

(5)   Add new trails on newly acquired parcels; maintain existing trails.

(6)   Review Land Trust properties for potential resale.

(7)   Continue developing our working relationship/partnership with the Town of Bloomfield.

2.      Funding Sources and event possibilities – We briefly discussed some possibilities, including the annual bike tour, and a tag sale.  We have already agreed to repeat the joint hike with the Simsbury Land Trust for Trails Day weekend in June (possibly in reverse order).

b)      Financial

1.      Capacity Building funds – We agreed to use up to $5,000 of Capacity Building funds for Website work, trail guide production, media blasts, and membership database work. 

c)      Acquisitions

1.      Evan’s parcel – The Summary Appraisal cost $1,200; we should have that appraisal within a few weeks.

d)     Events

1.      Approximately 35 hikers enjoyed our October 26^th hike with the Simsbury Land Trust.  A story about the hike is in our November e-newsletter.

2.      Celebrate 2013 – 2014 – We would like to have a celebratory event.  We need a volunteer to organize it.

3.      Snowshoeing at Speer/MDC – The date and time for this event TBD since it is weather-dependent.

e)      Membership/Community

4.      Newsletter – The lead story in the December issue will be on Membership; the second story will be Part 2 of the 3-part series “New Life for an Old Farm”.

 

4)      New Business

a)      Our next meeting will be January 12^th at 4 PM.  We will meet with Sharon Danofsky on January 16^th at 7 PM.  Both meetings are at 52 Duncaster Road.

b)      There was no Community Q&A.

c)      Paula reported that Simsbury Land Trust provided a very informative session on their recent project regarding developing a record-retention policy and record-keeping protocol.

d)     Chip, Kevin, and Paula met with the owners of Back East Brewery (in Bloomfield).  Back East is willing to consider supporting their local Land Trust (as they’ve supported other local non-profits).  We agreed to provide some suggestions to them in writing.

 

Recorded by Paula Jones       

 

Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Minutes - 10/24/2013

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – October 24, 2013, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Chip Caton, Dale Bertoldi, Doris Johnson, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Kevin Gough 

1.      September 15, 2013 Minutes were approved with minor changes.   

2.  There were no additional Agenda items.

                                                                                                                         

3. Committee Reports

c)      Acquisitions – The Board unanimously approved a summary appraisal of the Evans’ 24-acre parcel. 

d)     Events – The Oct 26th Hike “From Filley House to the Flower Bridge” with Simsbury Land Trust is all arranged.  Bloomfield Leisure Services is providing a bus to shuttle everyone back to the Filley House from Simsbury’s Flower Bridge at the end of the hike. 

e)      Membership/Community

1.      Land Trust ID project – The Board agreed on the tagline “Connecting People with Nature”.

2.      Website – Catherine Lyons has volunteered to update the website.   

4. Old Business - Organizational Assessment and Strategic Plan

a)    We spent the majority of the meeting reviewing the summary and assigned tasks.  Paula will update the summary and send the revised document to the Board. 

5. New Business -  

a)   Next Meeting Dates – 7 PM at 52  Duncaster Road

a.       November 21^st

b.      January 12^th or 15^th?  TBD

c.       January 16^th – Final meeting with Sharon Danofsky (allot 1 hour)

 

Recorded by Paula Jones

 

WLT 9/15/2013 Meeting Minutes

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – September 15, 2013, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Dale Bertoldi, Doris Johnson, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Kevin Gough 

1.      Corrections/additions to the August Minutes were provided to Paula via e-mail prior to the meeting.   

2.  There was one Agenda addition – the Acquisition Committee set a tentative date of Oct.13^th for its next meeting.  Prior to that meeting, Paula will provide a summary of the status of the FRWA mapping project with recommended steps to move that project along.  Kevin will send his suggested changes to Dale’s property evaluation templates.

                                                                                                                         

3. Committee Reports

a) Stewardship

1.      Home Depot donated two loppers and two clippers.

2.      Stout Family Fields – Doris has arranged work parties for September 18^th and 19^th to pre-clear the fields prior to the scheduled Maintenance Day on September 21^st.  Thank you, Doris!  Dale reported that Roy has cut and hayed the second field, so the property is looking very good.  We have a donation of Spanish cedar from Albert Dantonio for the property signage; Herb Virgo will donate his services to make the sign.

3.      Van Otterloo – Preliminary clearing work has been done in preparation for a work crew to do more extensive maintenance. 

c) Events

1.      Fall Hike – A fall hike is being planned for October 26^th in collaboration with the Simsbury Land Trust.   Paula will contact Dick Davis about possible rain dates of 10/27 or 11/2.

2.      Stout Fields Celebration – The celebration will be Saturday, September 28^th.  Chip, Wendy Wolcott, and Louise Morrise, are serving on the planning committee. 

d) Membership/Community Outreach

1.      Land Trust ID project - We discussed Chip’s proposal for the ID project.  Vikki expanded on Chip’s written explanation of what “product” we’d receive, and reported that there are enough restricted funds (for operational expenses) available for this project.  We all agreed that we need to do something, so the project makes sense with a spending limit of $700.  The Board approved the project; if the cost turns out to be higher, Chip should come back to the Board for approval.  Robin Sherwood has agreed to do the project.

2.      Web site for Photos – Hanna Bertoldi set up Google Drive as a potential website for sharing photographs.  Vikki is testing the site and will report back to the Board.   

4. Old Business - Organizational Assessment and Strategic Plan

a)    Organizational assessment review of progress and final meeting with Sharon Danosky – Paula will contact Sharon Danofsky to schedule a date in January and to get a sense of how Sharon will conduct that final review.  Paula will also resend Sharon’s assessment summary to the Board prior to our October 24^th meeting.  We had reviewed the summary in June 2012, and established assignments.  We agreed to use that document to “check off” completed tasks, and to re-evaluate committee assignments and prioritization of the remaining items. 

5. New Business -  

a)   Next Meeting Dates – 7 PM at 52  Duncaster Road

a.       October 24^th  

b.      November 21^st

c.       January 16^th – Final meeting with Sharon Danofsky

 

Recorded by Paula Jones       

Wintonbury Land Trust Meeting Minutes for 8/22/2013

WINTONBURY LAND TRUST – August 22, 2013, 52 Duncaster Road, Bloomfield  

Present:  Dale Bertoldi, Doris Johnson, Paula Jones, Vikki Reski, Chip Caton, Vic Herson

 

1.      The July 28, 2013 Meeting Minutes were approved with clarification added regarding the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving grant for the LaSalette Trail.

2.  There were no Agenda additions.

                                                                                                                    
3. Committee Reports

a) Grants and Acquisitions:

1.      Meeting with Town Manager – Vikki reported a productive meeting with the Town Manager.  He expressed support for our work, and interest in the Town’s stewardship/management role (where appropriate) in WLT’s acquisition projects.

2.      Lisa Lane – WLT’s attorney is making modifications to the Easement document, which will then go to DEEP (for informational purposes) and to FRCS for a final look.  Once this process is completed, we should have a closing date, probably before year end.

3.       Hawk Hill – It was noted that we will need additional fund-raising to provide an adequate stewardship fund for this project since it will be a working farm, including buildings requiring maintenance.  The targeted closing for this project is 2014.

4.      We agreed it’s an opportune time to do a comparison of the management plans and legal structures of our three farm projects (Hawk Hill, Lisa Lane, and Thrall Farm).  This would likely fall to a cross section of subcommittees (Grant, Acquisition, Stewardship) to do.

b) Stewardship

1.      Thrall Farm – The lease with Newgate Farms has been signed, effective August 1^st.  Thrall Stewards (Kevin Gough and Paula Jones) will begin meeting monthly with the Sedors beginning in September (according to the terms of the lease).    

2.      Stout Fields: The maintenance day will be September 21^st. John Stout has prepared a comprehensive list of maintenance needs.  Prior to the workday, there will be a short meeting (in the field) to discuss the Stout Fields Celebration event planned for the following Saturday, September 28^th.  Vikki and Hanna (Bertoldi) dug eight sample holes in each field to send to the CT Agricultural Station for testing.  Chip and Doris are working on signage for this property.

3.      Van Otterloo:  The grass needs to be cut on the path.  Chip will mark the path, and assemble the tools.  Doris will check on the availability of a work crew; if a crew is not available, we will schedule a work day.

c) Financial

1.      The 2012 taxes have been filed. 

2.      Account balances as of July 31, 2013:  $652.84 Checking; $18,107.47 Savings; $137,322.47 Restricted.

3.      Vikki attended a Land Trust Seminar on Financials; she will share seminar materials with       the Financial Committee with the objective of ultimately doing a presentation to the Board.  The seminar included useful guidance on types and amounts of stewardship funds.

4.      New Members – Welcome to new members Marlene Mayes and Duncaster Foundation.  Duncaster gave the Land Trust a ‘Community Outreach Award’; $500 for Corporate Membership and $500 general operating support.

d) Events

1.      August Hike - We will hike to Hublein Tower from the Speer Preserve on Saturday, August 24^th.  Meet at the top of Juniper Road.

2.      Fall Hike – A fall hike is being planned for late October (tentative date 10/26) in collaboration with the Simsbury Land Trust.   Our SLT contact is Dick Davis.  The hike will showcase trail connectivity between Bloomfield and Simsbury.  Details will be available in time for our September newsletter.

3.      Stout Fields Celebration – The celebration will be Saturday, September 28^th.  Chip, Wendy Wolcott, and Louise Morrise, are serving on planning committee.

4.      Lisa Lane Celebration – The date will be set after a closing date is established. 

e) Membership/Community Outreach

1.                  Newsletter – Chip and Diana Hughes are coordinating the August newsletter, which will feature a piece on Hawk Hill. 

2.      Web site for Photos – Hanna Bertoldi is looking at Google Drive as a potential website for sharing photographs.  (Note:  Last month we had talked about Shutterfly as a possibility.) 

4. Old Business - Organizational Assessment and Strategic Plan

a)    Organizational assessment review of progress and final meeting with Sharon Danosky – Paula will contact Sharon Danofsky to ask what pre-work/materials are required for that session before we schedule a date. 

b)   Subcommittee – We agreed it would be helpful to establish a subcommittee to work on the Bylaws.  Paula had already offered to work on the Bylaws.   Vikki suggested asking Diane Mack.

5. New Business -

a)   Chip brought the ID project up for Board consideration after obtaining an estimate from Robin Sherwood to do the work.  We agreed to table the discussion until our next meeting so that questions about the project could be sent out and answered at the next meeting.  (The ID project was initially raised during our May 16^th meeting.) 

b)   Next Meeting Dates – (52  Duncaster Road unless otherwise noted)

a.       September 15^th - There will be a short meeting from 5 – 6 PM to discuss the ID project and the Stout Fields Celebration.  

b.      September 21^st – There will be a short meeting in the field prior to the Stout Fields maintenance day. 

c.       October 24^th, 7 PM. 

 
Recorded by Paula Jones