TOWN OF SOUTH HERO
Conservation Commission Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 4:30 P.M.
(Rescheduled from October 20)
Zoom-Only Meeting Due to Town Office Move
Members Present: Bob Fireovid, Joan Falcao, Bridget Kerr, Mark Naud
Member of the Public Present: Michael Guerriero
1. Meeting called to order at 4:30 pm by Chair; however, the meeting was immediately disrupted by a Zoom bomber, and the start of the meeting was delayed by 10 minutes to remove the Zoom bomber and restart the session.
2. Public input: M. Guerriero, resident of Harrington Lane, South Hero, expressed his concern about a compost facility proposed by his neighbor at 138 Ferry Road. He lives about 1/3 of a mile from the proposed compost facility. He explained that while he is not opposed to composting in general, he has multiple concerns about the potential impacts of such a facility on South Hero’s residents, natural resources, and, most importantly, how the run-off into Lake Champlain could degrade water quality. M. Guerriero shared the research he has done into this conditional use application for 138 Ferry Road, and noted that the application lacked multiple details; he also commented that if South Hero’s Development Review Board were to approve this compost facility, it would be the only compost facility in the state of Vermont allowed within such proximity to Lake Champlain. CC members thanked M. Guerriero for sharing his concerns and research, and suggested he also reach out to The Friends of Northern Lake Champlain, the Grand Isle County Natural Resources Conservation District, and the Lake Champlain Basin Program. B. Kerr plans to attend the October 28 DRB hearing to learn more.
3. Approval of Minutes: J. Falcao moved to approve the September 15 meeting minutes, B. Fireovid seconded.
4. Annual organization: M. Naud announced that the Selectboard approved B. Fireovid to serve another term. B. Kerr offered to serve as chair; M. Naud offered to serve as Clerk; B. Fireovid offered to continue as Treasurer. All positions were voted on unanimously. CC members thanked M. Naud for acting as chair for the past 2 years.
5. Budget Discussion: The CC will request the same budget amount as last year—$1,500: $500.00 for outreach and communications/events; Assn. of VT Cons. Comm. dues; $1,000.00 for supplies and support for continuing work on Town Forest designation, including invasive species control, boundary marking, trail maintenance, and related work as the Commission and Town engage residents regarding the use of the Lavin parcels and potential Town Forest designation and management of some of the parcels; Kestrel Project monitoring and nest box management. M. Naud will email CC members the budget document to edit/update. B. Fireovid and B. Kerr will both attend the Nov. 9 Selectboard meeting to present the CC’s proposed budget.
6. Lavin Parcel Visioning process updates: Both Phil Scott (recreation commission) and Guy Maguire (SHLT) were unable to attend this meeting. CC members will invite them to the November 17 CC meeting in hopes that recreation can be discussed with them. J. Falcao and B. Kerr shared updates from the Oct. 13 Lavin Visioning Steering Committee meeting. Minutes from that meeting can be viewed here: (https://southherovt.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/South-Hero-Lavin-Vision-Steering-Committee-Minutes-10.13.26.pdf). J. Falcao will again request that Greta of NRPC attach documents discussed at that meeting to the corresponding minutes. NRPC has agreed to create a SurveyMonkey to elicit online feedback on the visioning process for the Lavin parcel. Another in-person community visioning event is tentatively planned for the evening of Wednesday, November 18 at Folsom School. J. Falcao also attended the recent annual Fire District 4 meeting where the constraints on South Hero town water for new development were discussed.
7. VINS and Kestrel updates: B. Kerr shared the 2024 CC spreadsheet of nest box locations throughout the Islands with VINS biologists, and they are in the process of determining the best box pole locations based on that CC spreadsheet of willing hosts at that time and on other data they have collected on kestrel activity in the Champlain Valley. Emily Fraser (and possibly Jim Armbruster) of VINS will be our guest(s) to discuss and finalize the best nest box locations at the Nov. 17th CC meeting.
8. Next Meeting will be on Tuesday, November 17 at 4:30 pm: This meeting may need to be Zoom-only again, unless the new town office boardroom is open by then. B. Kerr will check in with the town clerk about the status of the boardroom in the coming weeks.
9. Adjourn: 6:10 pm
Submitted by B. Kerr
These minutes are unofficial until approved at the next regularly scheduled meeting. All motions were unanimous unless otherwise indicated