Agriculture Commission Agenda and Minutes October 29_2014Northampton Agricultural Commission
Minutes
7:00 PM Wednesday October 29, 2014
210 Main Street, Room 10 (2nd floor, City Hall)
Northampton, MA
John Omasta opened the public meeting at 7:00 PM. Members present:
Chair John Omasta
Chip Parsons
Stan Zawalick
Vice Chair Rich Jaescke
Tim Smith
John Bobala
Robert Vollinger
Wayne Feiden (staff)
Public comment—There was no public comment.
Update and discussion on airport fencing—Bob Bacon, Northampton Airport owner, brought the Commission up to date on the security fencing installed around most of the airport, with a
gap at the southeasterly end of the runways because roads are too close to the runway. He suggested moving the roads so that the fencing could be installed, but the Commission expressed
concern about the resulting loss of farmland on all sides of the runway and the requirement for state legislative approval for amending an APR abutting the airport. The Commission and
Mr. Bacon explored a couple of other options:
Move the road and fencing in such a way to expand the airport perimeter and swap land that is currently part of the airport to add it to the farmland so that there is no net loss of
farmland, in either quantity or quality.
Gate Old Ferry Road at its split with Cross Path Road and gate Riverbank Road southeasterly of the last house, possibly all in combination with gates at Hockanum Road, so that the meadows
beyond where people live is closed at night (e.g. 9:00 pm to 5:00 am), which is when the vast majority of the abuse exists. There was some discussion of whether this could be done in
conjunction with a long sought compromise to identify where the public can go, and provide clear legal access for hunting, walking, and bicycling, and a clearer set of standards for
what areas and conveyances are not open to the public. More research is needed
On whether a public road can be gated for certain hours.
On whether there are opportunities for agreement on public access
On whether this is an approach that might have any community support.
Approval of Agriculture Commission Minutes of September 24, 2014: Passed unanimously upon motion by John Bobala and second by Chip Parsons.
Agenda for joint Conservation and Agriculture Commissions meeting: The commission set two items for joint discussion—Meadows access and farming of conservation land. The meeting will
be held on Thursday December 11, 2014 at 5:30 PM in the City Hall Hearing Room (Room 18).
Right to farm sign design: The commission agreed that the words should be “Northampton, Right-to-Farm Community” with a picture of the Smith Vocational 1924 hay barn. Actual construction
will await a decision on whether CPA funding is being awarded for this project.
Future brainstorm and social event with other nearby agriculture commissions: The commission agreed to a forum on January 10th (snow date January 17th) from 9:00 to 12:00, with coffee
and pastries, hopefully from a Future Farmers concession stand. Agriculture Commissioners will introduce themselves and issues they are working on. The group can then break into smaller
facilitated groups to discuss the issues.
Update on on-going issues: Commissioners want to follow up with DPW and BPW in the spring to encourage that necessary Meadows’ road maintenance is taking place.