Town wetlands staff updated the commission on a permitted project at 772 North Belton Road and distributed the 2026 meeting schedule for members to place on their calendars.

Commissioners spent several minutes discussing training provided in September by attorney Gelderman. Several members recommended the recorded session and Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) online training for inland wetland commissioners. “I thought it was excellent,” one commissioner said of the attorney’s presentation; staff offered to resend the DEEP training link to members.

The commission also reiterated expected conduct for site visits: remain a single group, avoid engaging in unrecorded or off-the-record conversations with applicants while on a site visit, and direct substantive questions to staff or raise them on the record at a public meeting. Chair Angela Jameson said the training was a helpful reminder to limit informal questioning while on site visits and to keep an on-the-record record of any questions asked during public meetings.

Staff asked members to contact wetlands enforcement staff directly with factual questions between meetings and noted that some applicants and attorneys ask how many commissioners have completed the DEEP training. The commission agreed it may be useful to offer training once or twice a year and encouraged new members to watch the recorded September session on the town website.

No formal votes were taken on these matters beyond routine acceptance of the staff update and calendar distribution.