Annual NFLT Meeting September 26th 2014
Presidents Report by Dusty Martin
Good evening and welcome to the 2014 NFLT Annual Meeting. Every year is a busy year, but it’s always
a pleasure to report yearly on all the accomplishments we have made. Along the way we have had
plenty of help from people who were, in many cases, total strangers. But, that’s the magical thing- to
meet people who also appreciate nature and the value of setting aside land for recreational use, and
who also want a place to come where the tires do not meet the road, where we can all take solace from
our busy lives. Not under our rooftops, but under the canopy of trees .
NFLT has continued to build a strong relationship with the Northern Fairfield Land Trust Coalition. We
held a “Day of Giving” working with the Danosky group of New Milford. A total of $489.65 was raised
through donations given by New Fairfield Land Trust members. The money collected went into a general
fund for the coalition. Bill McCann has worked tirelessly, attending monthly meetings with other
members from the coalition. As a result we continue to strive towards accreditation. Bill is currently
gathering up our land deeds, property monitoring reports, financial reports, and meeting minutes , all to
be scanned to the Cloud. This will establish a depository for all our records that our directors will have
complete access to. Connie Manes who comes to us by way of a grant from the Buck Foundation and the
Land Trust Alliance met twice with the executive officers- Bill, Kevin, Dave and myself to go over items
required to meet Core Governance. The meeting covered the creation of a Whistle Blower Policy, illegal
or dishonest activities, conflict of interests, and board member responsibilities. Part of the assessment
process includes the yearly monitoring of our properties by doing a walk over and filling out a report on
the condition of the property, noting such things as what types of invasive plants were spotted, trail
conditions, boundary markers, wild life etc… Bill McCann created a handy brochure to help us identify
the different invasive species that plague the preserves. This year we have completed reports for all
our properties with a trail system, namely Titicus Mt Preserve, Finn’s land, Hidden Valley, Sweetcake
Mtn, and Komlo. This will be expanded to include all properties in 2015. There was an Executive Officers
meetings held in which the 4 officers developed a strategic 3-5 year plan . The areas of focus will be a)
Fund Raising, b) public relations, c) Accreditation, d) The Greenway, e) And expansion of the board of
directors.
During the fall of last year we began to hear rumbling that all was not well with our beloved Hidden
Valley Preserve. Folks who live along Rita Drive were upset over the prospect of the Senior Housing
Committte’s proposal to build Senior/low income housing, along the Rita Dr. portion of the property.
There was a meeting held at the senior center to discuss the subject, and Bill, Terry Lent , and I
attended. Bill and I pointed out that the maps were not quite correct in their illustration of the
boundary lines. New Fairfield Housing Committee members Al Mardis, and Linda Decker attended our
monthly meeting in February to set us at ease that they would not be affecting the Preserve. They are
currently awaiting engineering reports for the development proposal.
Chris Tait, a science teacher at the NFHS has continued to work with us to make his Digital Academy a
reality at Hidden Valley. The concept is to use electronic devices , such as smart phones to assist in
teaching students about the many wonders of nature. The program may well be extended to children
from Meeting House Hill School. Non-students can also participate by using the QR codes that will be
posted throughout the preserve. The QR codes will take you to a student controlled web page
Annual NFLT Meeting September 26th 2014
Presidents Report by Dusty Martin
containing information related to where the code is located. The project will also incorporate the
building of two more kiosks at different locations within the preserve.
As part of this project I was interviewed and video taped at my home discussing the history of Hidden
Valley. The film is currently available on Youtube . It was a pleasure working with high school students .
My thanks go out to Chris and Josh Pasquariello for gathering the Boy Scouts to spread wood chips in
November around the entrance of Hidden Valley and to Brian Coyman and his sons for cutting back the
trail that runs along Meeting House Hill School boundary.
One of the best projects ever completed by a scout, was accomplished by Girl Scout, Kaitlyn Webb. Katie
along with other members of the Girl and Boy Scouts, and family and friends did a magnificent job of
overhauling the Hahlawah Nature Preserve. Signs were refurbished, bog bridges repaired, trails recut,
wood chips spread, and fencing added to prevent vehicles from driving down to the shoreline of Ball
Pond. An article covering the project , along with photos, appeared in the Citizen News on September
10th. This article can also be found on our web site. An especially warm thank you, to Kaitlyn. She has
set a new benchmark for expectations. As a result, I will create guidelines to be used for all future scout
projects that will assist both the land trust and the scouts, as well as volunteers working on any given
project . It will clearly define our expectation and will make it a richer, more fulfilling experience for both
parties. I plan to get the specifications to the board of directors in the next month for their approval.
This past Saturday at the “New Fairfield Day” celebration we opened up Komlo Preserve for the very
first time to the public. If you were able to make it, you would have found true splendor awaiting in the
form of sunlight reflecting off the pond, the trees just starting to change and a wonderful cool breeze.
At the end of the day we had to actually kick some folks out to close the gate! During the fall of last year,
the area surrounding the pond near the cabin, was cleared of a large swath of invasive plants that
seemed to be choking the very life out of the preserve. Grass was planted, and a new lawn has
prospered in their wake. Two directors have made donations towards maintaining the grounds. Alfons
Menke has donated a lawn tractor, and Rich Hlavenka a tow behind trailer to accompany the tractor. .
Bill McCann continues to doggedly chase the expansion of the Greenway, whose trail head will originate
at Komlo and which we plan to have run north, parallel with Route 37 toward Haviland Hollow Rd.
Some of you may have seen the article this last week in the Citizen News regarding the generosity of Ken
Hall. Ken took notice that some prankster had destroyed the sign for our Titicus Mt Preserve. Ken called
me and said he would be happy to make a new sign. The sign Ken produced was a real beauty, with the
lettering expertly carved out of the wood. Ken has become our official sign maker, producing signs for
another property as well. Ken refused to take any money for is labor….so for his efforts we have made
him an honorary member of the NFLT. Ken we cannot thank you enough!
The very same day we found the sign destroyed, I met Dominic and Denise Cassano at the same
trailhead. They requested and have been bequeathed the role of land Stewards of Titicus Mt Preserve.
Welcome Dom and Denise, we are so grateful to have you aboard..
Annual NFLT Meeting September 26th 2014
Presidents Report by Dusty Martin
I would like to send a very big thank you out to Boy Scout Anthony Mancuso for his efforts at spreading
the wood chips at Titicus.
This year we Co-sponsored two hikes with the Naromi Land Trust of Sherman. Dave Bevan lead one hike
of 25 people at Sweetcake Mtn Preserve on September 13th. Kevin Hicks, who also attended, as told
me Dave did a fantastic job conducting the walk and explaining the rich history of the property along the
way. The second was lead by John Foley of the Naromi Land Trust on June 8th to celebrate "Trails Day".
It explored the newly acquired 355 acre South Hollow parcel of Cranberry Mountain Wildlife
Management Area in Patterson, NY. Bill and Maureen McCann, along with my wife Mary and myself
also attended.
The old Meritt property, also known as Great Hollow Wilderness, continues to be in our thoughts. It is
on the agenda of every NFLT meeting, as it is tonight. The focus falls largely, on the shoulders of Bill
McCann. Bill has made many attempts to orchestrate the purchase of the property with several
interested parties. So far to no avail. The buildings currently set idle, while the YMCA allows logging in
the Northern portion of the property. The land trust would love to see it developed in line with what
John Meritt prescribed. Education linked with nature.
Kevin Hicks strove for grants this year. After a few rejections from area banks , Kevin managed to obtain
a grant from Key Bank for $500.00. Thank you very much Kevin .
Once again we supported the Candlewood Lake Authority by participating for the second year in a row
in the Dragon boat races held at Lyn Deming Park in New Milford. It’s a team building exercise ! During
our first practice session we were blessed to watch a Bald Eagle flying overhead….it was awesome!
I like to make a Special thanks to Shane Consentino for all the wood chips you supply us when
requested. The chips do help spruce up the trails!, you delivered !
If anyone buys something online from Amazon please consider us . Amazon’s “smile” program which
will donate 0.5% of your purchase price to the New Fairfield Land Trust, just follow their instructions.
Roseann Main, along with Helen Gallagher and Bill McCann produced a gorgeous Greenways,
Spring/Summer Newsletter for NFLT. It features a great picture of the Heron Rookery at Komlo taken by
Russ Strilowich a Director Emeritus with the land trust .It contains many interesting articles by such
notary authors as Maureen McCann on last year’s Dragon Boat Races and Terry Lent with her article on
white skunks. They have also created an electronic version that can be found on our web site.
Board of Director Alfons Menke, continues to improve and build a better and more interesting website. .
He takes care of uploading photos from projects, NFLT events and articles, and what project are
available to take on. Al recently added PayPal to our site to help encourage donations. Al has also put
us in touch with Facebook. Bill’s brochure on invasives has also been added for your perusal.
Annual NFLT Meeting September 26th 2014
Presidents Report by Dusty Martin
Id’ also like to take a moment to Thank Mr. Dave Bevan for taking the meeting minutes and keeping us
on schedule regardless of the tangents some of us go off on!
In closing I would like to thank our Land Stewards, Ray Walker for Hahlawah Preserve, Mark Eddy for
Sweetcake Mt., and Dominic and Denise Cassano for Titicus Mt, for all they do to guard and protect our
beloved treasures, our small sanctuaries.
I would like to thank the entire board of directors for the time they take out of their busy schedule to
attend our monthly meetings, sponsor hikes, mark trails, and monitor properties etc…. to maintain open
space in New Fairfield.
That concludes my report.
Thank You and I hope you enjoy yourselves this evening.
Dusty Martin
President