Category: Uncategorized

A request for help from our friends at the ERT program. They certainly were a huge help to our organization and the town of Cheshire, and we need your help to ensure that this service is around for the future.

From: connecticutert@aol.com [mailto:connecticutert@aol.com] 
Sent: Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:42 PM
To: Stoner, Kimberly
Subject: ERT Funding

Dear Kim and Friends of Boulder Knoll Farm:

As a recent recipient of an ERT report (Boulder Knoll Farm) –

I am writing today to ask you and/or members of the Planning/Zoning/Wetland Commissions to please write to key legislators concerning the continued secure funding for the ERT Program. The Governor’s proposed budget placed our funding at risk by shuffling the fees from the land use applications to the general fund and then back to DEP with no specifics on allocations to the ERT or the Conservation Districts and the Council on Soil and Water (they also receive funding from these monies).

We are asking for no increase in fees or funding. We are asking for either a separate line item in DEP’s budget or a continuation of the land use fee going directly to the Environmental Quality Fund for our three organizations.

A letter, e-mail and/or phone call to the chairs of the Appropriations Committee and to your local legislator would be much appreciated emphasizing our assistance to your community.

I have attached our position paper and an overview of the ERT, Conservation District’s and Council’s programs and our funding. There is a link on our web site (www.ctert.org) to the Appropriations Committee members.

It is imperative that the legislators receive your letters prior to April 16th.

I’d like to thank you in advance for your support and would appreciate receiving acknowledgement of a letter sent or a call made on our behalf

Elaine A. Sych
ERT Coordinator
CT ERT Program
PO Box 70
Haddam, CT 06438
(860) 345-3977
www.ctert.org

State of Connecticut

Council on Soil and Water Conservation

24 Ingham Hill Road   ~ Essex, Connecticut  06426 ~ 860.767.9594 (Phone/Fax) ~ ct.cswc@att.net

______________________________________________________________________________

Maintain Funding for Conservations Districts, Council on Soil and Water and

Environmental Review Teams ~ revised March 25, 2009

We respectfully ask you to maintain stable funding (most probably through a separate line item) for CT Conservation Districts, the Council on Soil and Water (Council), and Environmental Review Teams (ERT).

The problem/ Governor Rell’s budget proposal placed Conservation Districts’, Council on Soil and Water Conservation and ERT funding at risk; under the Governor’s plan, funding from the land use application fee would be shuffled to the general fund and then back to DEP in an Other Expenses (“OE”) line item with no specifics on allocations to these groups.  Maintaining funds from a massive general line item is unlikely considering imminent changes in future DEP administration and staff.  Conservation Districts, Council and ERT do not have state employees and are not housed within DEP; they are regional and statewide groups that provide environmental and technical assistance to municipalities, and work on regional and statewide land use issues.  Having a separate line item OR securing their funding through depositing the $19 land use fee back into the Environmental Quality Fund or Conservation Fund has been agreed to be the most viable to keep secure and long-term funding.  It was always the legislature’s intent that these fees be used to fund the programs of these groups, and shuffling funding into a massive OE line item defeats the legislature’s intent.

The solution includes NO increase in fees or funding/

These groups respectfully request one of two things to maintain long-term and viable funding:

1. a separate line item(s) in DEP’s budget or language in future Budget implementors designated for Conservation Districts, Council and ERT; the money for this line item is already included under the OE line item in DEP per Governor Rell’s  proposal and within the Environmental Quality Fund line item per Conservation & Development’s Subcommittee recommendations.  We are only asking that the designated amount for Conservation Districts, Council and ERT be maintained in a separate line item for these groups specifically or that language in the budget implementor confirm a potion of the Environmental Quality Fund is for these groups;

OR

1. possible “status quo” ~ continue to deposit $19 of the land use application fee directly into the Environmental Quality Fund or Conservation Fund for Conservation Districts, Council and ERT.

Again, this is NOT a request for more dollars, as there are no new fees and no increase in funds we are seeking.  We are only asking to keep the Conservation Districts, Council and ERT whole as well as the programs that they provide to and for municipalities and each and every taxpayer.

**    **    **    **    **    **

More information on Council, Conservation Districts, ERT programs and their funding is provided on back side.

Contacts:

Council/ Suellen Kozey McCuin, Executive Director/ 860-767-9594

Jeff Folger, Co-Chairman of Legislation/Council, Chair/North Central Conservation District/ 860-644-2511 x 229

Districts/ David Askew, District Manager/North Central Conservation District/ 860-875-3881 x2

Tom ODell, Co-Chairman of Legislation/Council, Chair/CT River Coastal Conservation District/ 860-399-1807

ERT/ Elaine Sych, Coordinator/ERT 860-345-3877      Jim Sipperly, Co-Chairman ERT/ 860-334-7073

Below is a brief overview of Conservation District’s, Council and ERT Programs and their funding.

Connecticut’s Conservation Districts provide unbiased technical and environmental consulting services to a range of clients including municipalities, agriculture producers and private landowners.

• Districts serve municipalities by providing expert opinion, technical review, and inspection services for complex development projects.  Districts also provide municipal staffing services in a number of towns by providing trained personnel to serve as wetland agent(s).

The Council on Soil and Water Conservation is dedicated to providing a statewide, regionally based, conservation and protection program for the land and water resources of the State of Connecticut.

• The Council coordinates District programs with activities of the Department of Environmental Protection and other state, regional, municipal and local agencies.

The Connecticut Environmental Review Teams are a group of environmental professionals drawn together to form multidisciplinary environmental study teams to assist all 169 municipalities in reviewing sites proposed for development or preservation; they consist of a partnership of federal, state, regional and local agencies.

• The ERT provides a unique free service of supplying objective, technical reports to local land use decision makers that strengthens support for community decisions, increases awareness of natural resources and provides information not readily available in a timely and cost effective manner.

Established in 1992, Public Act 92-235, the Land Use Fee Act, established the revenue source for the dedicated $19 of the present $30.00 fee collected by municipalities for funding Conservation Districts, the Council and ERT. Aimed at providing better land use decisions these services include project reviews for erosion and sedimentation control, storm water management and drinking water source protection; planning and implementation of watershed management plans; and coordination of district, state, and local efforts to protect soil and water and other natural resources. The public’s willingness to accept this fee was based on the promise that the money would be used for this purpose.

Nineteen dollars of the $30 dollar Land Use Fee revenues are distributed quarterly to 5 Conservation Districts, the Council on Soil and Water Conservation and the Environmental Review Team program to support technical natural resource services to municipalities, the agriculture community and private landowners, state-wide.  While the projected revenues fluctuate with land use development and the economy, they still provide the only dedicated fund for land use evaluation and assistance for making land use decisions. These funds also leverage Federal and private funds toward the same purposes.

If all EQ funds are diverted to the General Fund, as proposed, there will be a significant reduction in natural resource technical assistance available to municipalities and taxpayers and a step backward in the state’s efforts to implement smart growth through municipal cooperation within regions and watersheds.

Land use application fees were created by the legislature to support the services provided by Conservation Districts, Council and ERT as it recognized their value and the need for an adequate and viable funding source and the land use assistance provided to the municipalities and other taxpayers. The services provided by Conservation Districts and ERT offer a form of specialized regional assistance, not otherwise available to our municipalities and taxpayers.

Funds generated by the land use fees presently fund eight natural resource positions for assisting communities on a regional/statewide watershed basis. These include five technical natural resource specialists, one in each of the five Conservation Districts, one Coordinator and an assistant for the ERT and an Executive Director for the Council on Soil and Water who coordinates statewide work and land use programs of the Conservation Districts with state and federal agencies.

NYT: Is a Food Revolution Now in Season?

“Advocates of organic and locally grown food have found a receptive ear in the White House, which has vowed to encourage a more nutritious and sustainable food supply.”

Agenda for Board Meeting on March 26, 2009

The next board meeting will be at Fellis Jordan’s house, 72 Broadview Road, at 7 pm.

A few minutes of celebration – it looks like we are really going to have a farm!  Thanks again to everyone, especially all of you who have stuck it out through the three long years since we first started writing the proposal.

• Checklist from Michael Milone for our lease with the town

• • Letters from the state Department of Public Health and Chesprocott saying that our proposal for water management is ok.  (We need to resolve the portable toilet issue with Chesprocott for this to happen, I think.)
  • Get building permits.  Brenda is working on this for the tool shed and veg. prep shed.  I wonder if we need a permit for whatever platform we need to build for a water tank (300 gallon or potentially the larger one from Carmody).
  • Specification of services to be sought, obtained, and paid for by FOBK (e.g. portable toilet) including regular pickup schedule for toilet.
  • Liability agreement for volunteers, public on site, and any damages caused by food items off site.  We already have a liability form for everyone who steps on the site, required by our insurance.  We need to send this form to Milone & staff for review.  I am not sure what is required for damages by food items off site.  I would think this would be covered by our farm liability insurance.  I also talked with Rick Macsuga of the Dept. of Agriculture about becoming something called a “certified food provider.”  I discussed our plans for organic management and water management plan with him, including minimal washing of vegetables on site, and he approved, so I think getting this certification would be no problem and might help.
  • Label and locate water tanks to be used separately for irrigation and hand washing.  This should be no problem – our plan is to have them on opposite ends of the cultivated field.

• Employment Agreement for Brenda:  I will work on a job description for her and a document describing the responsibilities of the board of FOBK.  I will send it to Brenda for review and also to Ben Alderton (perhaps we should send it to Jeff’s accountant, too.)  We will also need a compensation plan.  What we discussed, and I have described to Brenda, is that we plan to pay her a regular salary that would come from the CSA shareholder fees and the estimated restaurant income.  We need to subtract out the payments we must make to FICA, etc. as her employer, and pay those to the appropriate authority.  I would suggest that the compensation plan take the CSA fees, minus the employer expenses, divide by 12, and pay Brenda that amount monthly.  Then, we also have a clause that says if we expand to 10 more shareholders, we add on the appropriate amount starting in August.  And similarly with restaurant income.

• Treasurer’s report: CSA memberships, donations (monetary and physical), cash in checking account and in the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.  Taxes paid to state of CT (no taxes owed to Feds).

• Need to submit form for exemption of state sales tax for farm purchases.

• Cash flow:  Once we have decided on a plan for paying Brenda, we need to figure out all the items that are essential (such as the portable toilet and the insurance), and those to which we are already committed (repayment to Brenda of NOFA Bulk order and water tank, materials for tool shed).  We then need to figure how much money we need and when, at least through the next few months.
• Fundraising plans:  We should be able to get the letter out before this meeting.  Susan has the mailing labels, I think, so we need to check over the letter one more time, make copies, get envelopes and stamps, and put it in the mail.  With the article in the Herald and in other local papers, we have about as much local recognition as possible, so we need to get this out while we are on everyone’s mind.  Other plans – Report on Whole Foods Meeting. Dinner at the Farm?  Bicycle event? Follow up with local businesses?  Request for $30 donation from all shareholders (with priority for returning next year).

• Plans for upcoming work days.

• Filling post of Secretary.

• Kathryn Frund, who has signed up for one of the work-intensive CSA shares, would like to document the beginning of the farm in photos and articles.  These could go to the Cheshire Herald, if they are receptive.  I invited her to the board meeting – she is enthusiastic and wants to help.  We could consider recruiting CSA shareholders for the board.

• Other assistance Brenda needs from the Board.  She asked if a board member might take on the job of scheduling CSA volunteers.  Other assistance in outreach, etc.?

Next meeting:  Regular schedule would put it on Thursday, April 23.

Cheshire Herald: Farming to Expand at Boulder Knoll

A nice story appeared on the front page of this morning’s Cheshire Herald about the Friends and our new lease with the Town of Cheshire. Support our efforts by becoming a member today.

“It was considered just an experiment last spring, but due to its success, the Friends of Boulder Knoll are planning to increase activity on local farmland over the next three years.

The Town Council extended the lease with the Friends of Boulder Knoll to continue using a two-acre piece of land on the former Boulder Knoll farm. The lease is for $1 a year and was continued until 2012.”

A White House Garden

The local food movement is getting the Presidential Seal of Approval. You can get local produce for your very own State Dinners (or just Tuesday nights) by joining the Boulder Knoll Community Farm CSA. Click here for more information.

“WASHINGTON — On Friday, Michelle Obama will begin digging up a patch of White House lawn to plant a vegetable garden, the first since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. There will be no beets (the president doesn’t like them) but arugula will make the cut.”

To the Cheshire Herald:

This is an exciting time for the Friends of Boulder Knoll.  Thanks to the Cheshire Town Council, we have a commitment for a three year lease on 2 acres of town-owned land at Boulder Knoll Farm.  We are now able to go ahead and hire a farmer, Brenda Caldwell, and start growing organic food for the community, providing education on a real farm, and donating food to the needy.

There are many people I would like to thank for helping us to get a farm started in this special place.  First of all, thanks to the Town Council, and particularly the Planning Committee:  Laura DeCaprio (chair), Matt Altieri, and Jimmy Sima – who also has been very helpful with information about water management, and who is donating pipe to Boulder Knoll.  Thanks also to the town staff, particularly Michael Milone and Suzanne Simone.

We have been fortunate to have many people and businesses in the community come forward to give or lend us materials:  Mike Tripodina of GroWell is lending us a temporary shed, Ian Meakin is donating his labor as a carpenter to direct us in building a tool shed, John Casertano of Casertano Greenhouses and Farms is donating plants, and Dr. Bob Giddings is donating water for irrigation.

We also had a successful Open House on February 28, hosted by Greg Melville, with the assistance of Susan Fox, and with food donated by Jeff Rapoport of Jordan Caterers.  The artist Bruce Dumas donated 20% of his sales for the day to the Friends of Boulder Knoll, which came to over $900.  We thank everyone who came to hear about Boulder Knoll, and who donated a food item for the Connecticut Food Bank.  We collected 118 pounds of much needed food for the Food Bank that day.

It has been wonderful to receive all the enthusiasm and ideas that have been bubbling up all over town, and we hope to continue to involve the whole community in learning about food, agriculture, and open space at Boulder Knoll.

Kim Stoner
President, Friends of Boulder Knoll

Friends,

Sorry I am so belated in posting this. Here is a list of our accomplishments from 2008. To think, we have accomplished so much already in 2009 that it almost makes all of last year pale in comparison. Here’s to more great accomplishments to come!

Education:

• We sponsored two Cheshire Adult Education courses:  one specifically focused on the possibilities for agriculture, wildlife habitat, and education at Boulder Knoll, and one with a broader view, “Celebrating the Harvest of Connecticut Farms”

• We sponsored two month-long displays at the Cheshire Public Library, one a series of photographs of a farmer at work, and the other a display case with historical artifacts and photographs of Cheshire farms

• We donated books on food and farming to every school in Cheshire.

• We had our first outdoor educational event at Boulder Knoll in September 2008, “Learn Today, Grow Tomorrow,” with speakers on composting, starting an organic vegetable garden, the birds and wildlife of Boulder Knoll, and identification and management of invasive plants.

Agriculture:

• The Friends of Boulder Knoll took our first steps towards the goal of starting a community farm in July 2008, when we signed a lease with the Town of Cheshire to begin organic farming on two acres.

• Even starting late in the season, we were able to grow herbs for distribution at the Fall Festival and our educational event, and to donate 12 bushels of produce to the Cheshire Food Pantry.

• Through our work days and educational events, we began to reach out to the Connecticut Master Gardeners, students at Cheshire High School, and families from local churches and synagogues.

• We are improving the soil through the use of compost and other organic soil amendments and winter cover crops, so that we can expand production next year.

Advocacy:

• We convinced the Town of Cheshire to request an Environmental Review Team to study the soils, wetlands, vegetation, and farming potential of Boulder Knoll.  This document, written by experts from across the state, provides essential information for sound management.

• We advocated for preservation of actively managed farmland and open space through the statewide Working Lands Alliance, and locally by speaking at the Town Planning Committee and through letters to the Cheshire Herald.

March 14, 2009

Dear Friends:

This is an exciting time for Friends of Boulder Knoll here in Cheshire.  We have a commitment for a lease from the Town of Cheshire, we have hired an experienced farmer, Brenda Caldwell, and we are finally ready to start growing organic vegetables at Boulder Knoll.  We want to bring you up to date on our progress, and let you know how you can participate.

Starting this summer, we will start our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.  We will grow a wide diversity of organic vegetables and herbs and provide a weekly box of produce for 34 shareholders. We will also be donating produce to a local food pantry on a regular basis, as we did last fall.

For more information on our new Community Supported Agriculture program and our other projects, see our website, www.friendsofboulderknoll.com.

Because Boulder Knoll Farm has been abandoned for so many years, we have to raise over $4000 for fencing, tools, seeds, soil amendments and other materials in order to get our crops in the ground this spring. We welcome cash donations of any size, as well as donations of serviceable equipment, new or lightly used.

We have gotten off to a good start. Our Winter Celebration on February 28 raised $930 in cash, and our resourceful farmer, Brenda, has arranged donations of irrigation water for the season, plants, two sheds and other equipment.

Here are three ways you can get involved right now:

• Join as a shareholder in our CSA and get a bag of fresh, local, organic vegetables every week. Visit our CSA information page for more details.

• Become a Friend of Boulder Knoll and help rebuild Boulder Knoll Farm by making a tax-deductible donation. Visit our membership page for information.

• Contact our farmer, Brenda Caldwell, at 203-393-1245 or mariebrenda (AT) sbcglobal (DOT) net to donate equipment or materials to the farm.

Finally, we want to thank the many Friends and other volunteers have worked hard for the last three years to get us to this point. We look forward to seeing you at Boulder Knoll!

Sincerely,

Kim Stoner, President, Friends of Boulder Knoll, Inc.

Yale Sustainability Project

An article in The Atlantic about the Yale Sustainability Movement. Great to see a powerful local force for sustainable agriculture getting good press coverage.

State Lawmakers Trying to Save Dairy Farms

“State lawmakers say they are making the most ambitious push ever to save the state’s 157 remaining dairy farms.”