12/10/07 Meeting Minutes
December 10, 2007
WILD AND SCENIC
MINUTES
Meeting: December 10, 2007
MEETING CALLED TO ORDER
by Chairman Sally Rieger at 7:04 p.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Sally Rieger, Simsbury;
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Meeting of November 19, 2007
Chairwoman
NEW BUSINESS:
*1. POWER POPINT PRESENTATION:
Sally announced that Eric had developed a power point for Outreach and Education. Eric asked that someone take notes on suggested revisions and critiques as he ran through the presentation. Sally agreed to do this. The intent of the presentation is to have each delegation to the committee use the power point as the core of a presentation on progress to date for town governing bodies and other organizations.
The first phase describes some historical background to the W & S Act. This was followed by illustrations of the geographic area in the ten towns showing the watershed and areas of suburbanization.
Illustrations showing the three components of the study followed:
Science – does the river meet the criteria for Wild and Scenic designation?
Support – do the local communities support this designation?
Protection – are the communities involved willing to make efforts to protect
Very thoughtful discussion with the active participation of many members followed throughout the entire presentation.
The next phase describes some of the factors which make the river outstanding and deserving of local support for the designation such as recreation and water quality values.
A management plan to recommend practices to protect the Outstanding Resource Values of the study area is to be developed by the delegates from the component towns consistent with already in place local regulations.
A brief description of the five categories of ORVs follows this. These are:
Geology, Cultural Landscape, Recreation, Biological Diversity & Unique Species, and Water Quality
Attention is then turned to the mechanisms and recommendations for protection based on community will to use existing local commissions, land use regulations and ordinances, appointing citizens in each town to develop and implement protection plans.
Responsibilities? What are the private and local, state and federal responsibilities in the protection of the ORVs of our great natural asset?
Who is conducting the Study? The Committee is composed of two or three delegates appointed from each of the ten towns as well As representatives from FRWA, Salmon Brook Watershed Association, Ct. DEP, Stanley Co. because of its involvement with the operation and maintenance of Rainbow Dam and, finally, the National Park Service for providing assistance and funding for the implementation of the study.
In the period of less than one year, the Committee has learned a great deal about the Farmington River/Salmon Brook River Systems.
The natural components of the area have created the canvas upon which this rich resource has been painted and we are learning more all the time.
Why the Wild & Scenic designation? It will provide added protection, financial resources for management plan, and technical resources for habitat restoration. Initially, there can be between thirty to sixty thousand dollars made available for river restoration projects.
Considerable discussion involving the entire presentation followed, insuring that an already excellent presentation will further evolve.
Protecting the Nation’s Best! A good slogan!
Kudos to Eric for an excellent core presentation!
Damon had several cogent remarks concerning preparation to present the power point. Principally he urged members to read the Wild and Scenic Act, particularly Section 6, Paragraph three which emphasizes the point that no condemnatory processes of any kind will be used in land acquisition in areas such as ours where zoning and allied regulations are sufficient to protect land areas therefore making the process of eminent domain entirely unnecessary and, therefore, the possibility of the exercise of eminent domain is extinguished.
He also urged members to review the FAQs associated with the copy of the act.
A great deal of information can be derived from the FAQs.
Most notably, local autonomy is enhanced on a legal level. The partnership model we are developing protects local rights and regulations so that, in Damon’s words, “No one from
Thanks to Damon.
*2. GIS AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHY ASSESSMENT:
Joyce distributed a Summary Sheet characterizing Imagery Type with specifications and cost with pros and cons from four providers. (attached) Eric asked Jeff Bolton to review the types of data and his recommendation as to which process nest suited the applications best suited to our purposes. Jeff gave a good, succinct assessment of each imagery type and its potential use for the committee and member towns.
Jeff’s recommendation was to stay with the 2004 state data with the view that a new data capture process (in color) would be performed in the next year or two.
Discussion centered on whether there would be any real practical benefit to any other provider.
Consensus on accepting Jeff’s recommendation to stay with DEP’s 2004 study already in hand at FRWA was quickly reached.
*3. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS:
A. Outreach and Education: A newsletter is in preparation and will be sent out sometime in January. The committee invites articles from committee members and would like to include photos from each town
B. Management & Protection has two new members,
C. ORV spent the last meeting refining some explanatory statements defining the
*4. OTHER BUSINESS: Sally called for other items of business. There being none, meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Harry Spring