Town of South Hero
Conservation Commission Meeting
Tuesday, August 15, 2023 at 6:30
South Hero Worthen Library Community Room and via Zoom
Draft Meeting Minutes
Member Attendees: Bob Fireovid, Cynthia Kelley, Bridget Kerr, Cristin Lemieux
Others present: Emily Alger, SHLT, Jen Hilke ANR—Fish & Wildlife
Call to Order – Bridget called the meeting to order at 6:30 PM
Finalize the agenda. Bridget requested to give most of the meeting to Jens Hilke.
Discussion of the South Hero Community Values Mapping Report. Jens reported on the two
community meetings, May 2 in-person and May 9 online. He said that there were 50+
participants, which is pretty good for a town the size of South Hero. The biggest result is to
show, “Where do they love?” in SH. In the report, what happened, different categories,
results by team. Photos are digitized version from Mapping software redrawn by the ARCS
software. Maps – if overlapping polygons, only one will show up on the map, even if more
polygons per team.
The results don’t show the “intensity” – if there were a number of groups who chose the same
area or if only one person chose the area, the results will show on the map in the same way.
Team maps are not very useful – they’re “chaos.” What is most useful to the Conservation
Commission are the results by value group. Think of results as “people who care about the
same places” Gives a sense of how many people who will support a future Conservation
agenda. Find Allies.
The vast majority of the area on the map was captured. Interesting that a lot of the results are
in the lake and less on the land.
Recreational Results – interesting that the areas are linear, identifying trails, bike paths,
scenic drives. Cultural/Historical – Smaller discrete areas; all 6 castles were identified,
historic buildings. Hunting/Fishing – mostly fishing spots. Community Values – large swaths
that overlap with conservation target. Ecological – the townspeople’s’ perspectives of what is
ecological. This may be different than the perspective of a trained ecologist. Working
Landscape – overwhelmingly is the farms. Spiritual – people used in different ways, but
“crossing the sandbar” and a “spiritual connection to the lake” were common.
Overlapping Values Map – 1 point for each Value group. Causeway got 7 points. This area is
important for most people and there is a lot going on in that place. However, having more
groups stacked up does not make it more of a conservation target.
The ”Poster” may be the most useful product for the CC, overlapping values and individual
groups. Use to pinpoint where there are potential allies for the Conservation Commission’s
goals. PRINT THIS ONE! Most people won’t understand the report and you can lose them;
show them the poster instead. Also good as a PDF. Zoom into individual groups and overlay
values. The paragraph on the images is similar to the opening of the report.
The meeting was interrupted by a ZOOM Bombing Incident: Bridget shut down the Zoom
session and restarted. It was recommended to use a “waiting room” on Zoom so we have the
ability to kick participants out. It was also suggested not to publish the link to the public as
that’s how bots pick up the Zoom meetings. People can request the link instead so the link is
not published to the world.
Back to meeting: Bridget is going to ask the Town to print a copy of the poster to put on the
wall at the Town Office and to put on the landing page of the Conservation Commission
website. Jens said the poster is 36” X 44” ANSII size E
Bridget asked Jens what other towns do with this information. Jens said that from a
Conservation Commission, if you want to protect land or an area, use this information to
look for allies. Let the townspeople know that you’ve done this Values Mapping as your first
act so you could find out what the townspeople care about. The townspeople will not really
care about the map, but they will care that you care. Keep repeating this so they know.
Bridget asked Jens if this Values Mapping information can be used to make the Conservation
Commission’s work plan. Jens said it does not translate to a work plan, but it can be a guide
to inform a work plan, to be used broadly. The work plan should come instead from the
Conservation Commission’s mission, the Town Plan, and what the CC membership care
most passionately about. Jens said Value Mapping is important grounding for any
Conservation Commission, as it gives the commission a better sense of the values. “We are
basing our actions on what people care about.”
Emily added: Develop your work plan. Look at those things that line up with what the
community cares about. She reports that she is interested in developing an Inventory
Mapping. Emily would be willing to partner with the Conservation Commission on this. It
could be an inventory of wildlife, forests, wetlands, etc. There was discussion on the Emerald
Ash Borer and Emily reported that there are already groups devoted to ash trees.
Emily reported on the Cheers and Cheese. Jens had sent some posters, the combined map. A
few people wrote in what they cared about. No one expressed any surprise with the results of
the Values Mapping. Emily spoke to about half a dozen people.
Jens spoke about “Natural Community Mapping”. He urged us to review the Arrowwood
website to see previous inventories from communities such as Essex, South Burlington,
Huntington, Jericho, Bolton, etc. The price is from $15K to $20K. There are municipal
planning grants, available particularly if the inventory has been written into the Town Plan
stating that the town wants to do an inventory. In addition to Arrowwood, you can use Native
Geographic and they do a 2-part inventory to break up the cost.
ABCC listserv – sample request for proposal. This is also discussed at the Environmental
Leadership Trainings which will be held in Fall 2023. Dates to be released in the next couple
of weeks.
Cristin has started a Facebook page for the Conservation Commission. She asked Jens what
other CC’s do with a FB site. Jens recommended “short bursts,” single points and lots of
pictures. Over time, the pieces will add up to something bigger. Emily suggested that the
posts show celebrating the mood that happened at the Community Values Mapping. Jens left
the meeting.
Public Input – none
Discussion on what we should do with the hard copy of the hand-drawn Community Values
maps? Cristin suggested a fund raiser for people who like maps. Emily mentioned that she
had transcribed the comments from the event and will send them to the Conservation
Commission members. Bridget volunteered to store the hardcopy maps.
Approve Minutes from May 16 meeting. Bob moved, Cynthia seconded. Unanimous.
Approve minutes from July 18 meeting. Bob moved, Cynthia seconded. Unanimous. Bridget
mentioned that Mark Naud distributes the minutes to Skip and Bridget.
Preparation for next meeting: Bridget mentioned that we’ll need to vote on officers. Bridget
supplied the bylaws including roles of officers for the next meeting. She suggested that we
talk about clarifying roles at the September 19, 2023 Annual Meeting. Should we discuss
“who should speak for the Conservation Commission?” Cristin mentioned that she’d like to
see the CC work on educational events for the community. Cristin said she could set up an
email for the Conservation Commission. We will discuss the logistics of the email access at
the next meeting.
Adjourn the meeting. Move to adjourn: Cristin moved. Bridget seconded. Unanimous.
8:03pm
Draft Minutes submitted by Cynthia Kelley.