Emily Ayers, Ed Murtagh, Sally Gagné, Ann Hoffnar, Tina Schneider, Catherine Tunis
BUSINESS ITEMS
Ed volunteered to take notes.
DISCUSSION
Working to get various departments and authorities to work together. All agreed that cooperation among departments in the county is important, if we are to meet our goals. Ed suggested that getting all of them to work together on the Northwood sustainability project could be our first step. We may be able to use the new Sustainability Action Plan as a vehicle.
Technical survey of Sligo by Center for Watershed Protection (CWP). Anne Kitchell reported by email that CWP is waiting for grant money to arrive.
Need to know laws and regulations having an impact on our watershed. This would include jurisdiction of the Planning Board, rules about forest conservation areas and knowledge of where they are, and rules for informing the public about planned developments. Ann Hoffnar volunteered, with Ed's help, to collect pertinent information.
Ed reported on several projects he and Kathy are working on (see attachment). The committee will support as needed, particularly getting volunteers involved for any on-the-ground projects and helping garner support. The committee agreed that gaining political support is very important for our mission. Ed will put together a set of bullet points about the Northwood and Arcola schools projects and Ann Hoffnar will write a letter to Duncan, County Council and Planning Board. We will send it to Sally for signature.
Ann Hoffnar volunteered to create a document listing our various projects, providing a description, activities, objectives and status which we can use in future grant requests and information pieces. When we get our stormwater page on the Fiends of Sligo Creek website, this piece will be posted.
Friends of Sligo Creek may submit a grant request to the Summit Foundation. We discussed our priorities for use of grant money if the Friends Board asks us for ideas. We agreed that we would want outreach tools such as slide equipment, desk top displays, and printing, because citizen education is the key to change in stormwater management.
Rainscapes. We discussed the County DEP's Rainscapes program and agreed that we will work with them and their program, and perhaps augment it in one or two areas in Sligo.
