Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Conservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Conservation commission asks Northfield Select Board to back grant pursuit for town-forest easement
Summary
The Conservation Commission and the Vermont Land Trust asked the Select Board to authorize a grant application and to place a $1,000 local-match approval on the next agenda so the town can pursue a conservation easement for the Northfield town forest; board members sought additional public engagement and agreed to consider the request at the next meeting.
David Mir, chair of the Northfield Conservation Commission, told the Select Board that the commission is proposing a conservation easement on the town forest to keep the land from future development and to preserve public access. "A conservation easement...is a commitment on the town forest in this instance is a commitment to not develop it," Mir said, describing the easement as a permanent restriction that would be recorded in the land records.
Jeremy Whan, chair of the Town Stewardship Committee, and Ben Hammer, project director with the Vermont Land Trust, joined Mir to explain how the easement fits the town stewardship and town-plan objectives and to outline the process. Hammer said the Vermont Land Trust has discussed the project with the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board and asked the town to authorize submission of a grant application that would fund title work, surveys and legal fees; the packet requests a $1,000 town contribution as the local match.
Board members pressed presenters on turnout, the easement’s permanence and draft boundary lines. Presenters said attendance at prior commission meetings was light ("less than a dozen" at some meetings) but that a high-school–led session drew stronger participation. Hammer explained that the easement would require a management plan updated every 10 years with public input, and that the Vermont Land Trust and the state board would steward long-term compliance.
Members also raised a local alternative: a municipal overlay that would keep control of land-use decisions at the town level. A resident and some board members asked planning and conservation commissioners to brief the board on the overlay option; the planning commission agreed to appear at a future meeting.
The Conservation Commission asked the board to permit staff to submit the grant application as soon as funding windows open (first week of July was identified in the presentation) while continuing community outreach. The board declined to approve the $1,000 match that night but agreed to place the funding approval on the next meeting agenda as a formal action item.
What happens next: the committee will refine map boundaries (current draft excludes lower Cheney Field and water infrastructure), the Vermont Land Trust will proceed with a grant application if the board signals support, and the Select Board will vote on the requested $1,000 match at its next meeting.
