South Windsor Agriculture, Arts & Nature Center
Meeting date:
Friday, July 18, 2014
SOUTH WINDSOR AGRICULTURE, ARTS & NATURE CENTER COMMITTEE
TOWN OF SOUTH WINDSOR
Minutes Page 1 July 18, 2014
Visit to Northwest Park in Windsor, CT
Commission members took a tour at Northwest Park in Windsor, CT. The following are questions that were asked as well as the answers.
1. What is the Funding Source? (Both Grant and Non-Grant) (Development-Maintenance)
A. Part of the Town of Windsor—Budget
2. What is the source of the Grant Funding?
A. Friends of Northwest Park raised money at the start/ now working on naming rights
3. What is the Annual Budget/Operating Budget?
A. Annual Operating budget = $512, 380
Recreation and Education: $288,810;
(General Fund: $82, 470; Town support for Education: $64, 270; Special Projects Acct: $142,070); (SPA=$21, 590 private donations; $120, 480 user fees)
Facility Management: $223,570;
(General Fund $212, 030, Special Projects Acct: $11,540; (SPA=$7830 donations; $3710 rentals)
4. What is the total number of staff involved? Both paid and volunteer
A. Full-Time: Park Manager (1); Maintainer III (1); Recreation Specialist (1)
Part-Time: Farm Manager (1); Director, Special Programs (1); Clerical Asst (2);
Tobacco Museum Guides (2); Janitor (1)
5. What is the % of Agriculture Programs and Non-Agriculture Programs
A. This is not a working Farm. Programs include: Nature Day Camp; Seniors at the Park;
Special Events (Country Fair, Creatures of the Night, Owl Prowl, Cabin Fever Festival,
Whose Egg is It?, Pancake Breakfast, Earth Auction Week; Community Gardens, Animal Care;
Coffeehouse Music Program; Passive Recreation—12miles of nature trails
6. Do you use any fertilizers or pesticides in gardens or fields?
A. This is not a working farm, however, as an environmental center they are aware
Of best use practices in gardening and agriculture.
7. What are your efforts in educational outreach? By grade level? By town? By state?
A. Work with the school system in Windsor for class visits; all grades; open to other towns
in the state;
8. What is the geographic region you serve?
A. Central CT, but primarily Windsor;
9. How long were you involved in planning for the Community Farm? (up to present day)
A. Northwest Park opened in 1972. *Please see attached: On the Trail of Northwest Park
10. How was the planning process driven?
A. This process started with the farmer who originally owned this land, and the Friends of Northwest Park.
11. Is there anything that you would not have done?
A. ?
12. What are your most popular programs?
A. Environmental programs, summer day camps, community gardens.
13. Are you planning to expand? What programs?
A. Exploring solar panels and windmill park
14. What are some of the lessons learned? If you had to do it over again, what would you repeat, and what would you avoid, or not do?
A. ?
15. What are some of the liability issues you have faced?
A. Safety for both workers and volunteers
16. Which activity draws the most community support or what is the most popular event or activity?
A. Environmental programs and summer day camps.
17. What is the Governance structure?
A. The farm management report to the Town Council
18. How do they see their future?
A. They plan on using: forums with students, forums with the public, surveys, and SWOT
Programs (strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats) for their strategic planning, in
order to continue their development.
19. How do they define success of their project?
A. ?
20. How were the Windsor businesses involved?
A. Companies were involved as both sponsors and in volunteer days at the park.
Respectfully submitted,
___________________________
Deborah W. Reid
Council Clerk