Chichester Conservation Commission (CCC)
Minutes of Meeting December 12, 2011
Held at Chichester Town Hall
Members present: Gordon Jones, Zack Boyajian, Robert Mann, Blaze Konefal, and Dawn Marshall.
1. Call to Order 7:02.
2. Review of Minutes from November 14, 2011. Minutes approved with minor edits.
3. Review of mail. Mail included Five Rivers Conservation Trust membership renewal notice and New Hampshire Association of Natural Resource Scientist (NHANRS) membership information. Motion made and passed to renew Membership in Five Rivers Conservation Trust for $50. Discussion about finding out more about NHANRS and training they provide to members.
4. Public Education and Outreach. Dawn Marshall stated nothing new to report.
5. Management of Town Lands: Zack Boyajian and Bob Mann provided an update on Carpenter Park planning taking place by the Chichester Parks and Recreation Commission. Both had been to a Park and Rec Meeting on Wednesday December 7th. There was a discussion regarding coordinating forestry, perimeter trail grant, Land and Water Conservation Fund Grant improvement and regularly schedule park activities. Park and Rec is using Town Engineer to provide more detailed plans and information to support the project prior to going to town meeting in March.
6. Town Forest. There was a discussion regarding getting Charles Moreno to complete Forest Management Plans and to attend Parks and Rec Meeting on Wednesday December 21th at 5PM with town engineer to coordinate forestry and park plan improvements.
7. Madeline Sanborn Conservation Area (MSCA): We continued discussion regrading signage to ensure no hunting and trapping provision of the deed are followed.
8. Whittemore Property: Bob Mann contacted the adjacent land owner to request access across his property to access town-owned Whittemore Property. No response yet.
9. Global Positioning System (GPS) Activities. The GPS was used during monitoring activities at multiple properties this fall.
10. Discussion of annual goals: Blaze suggested considering following findings of the Trustees of the Trust Funds investigation into better return on investment and potentially looking to move the conservation fund into a similar investment potentially government bonds.
Gordon suggested beginning projects to control invasive species on town owned properties specifically MSCA and Carpenter Park.
Blaze suggested continuing to improve stewardship capabilities using the GPS.
Bob brought up trying to reinvigorate pursuing grants and coordination with the Hillside Campground to build a permanent dam on Marsh Pond. The effect on wildlife habitat from constructing the dam was discussed.
Dawn suggested improving outreach using guided walks and workshops to engage town’s people.
Zack stated continued involvement with Carpenter Park planning and improvements was warranted.
Gordon asked if we should have a more focused effort to protect more land through purchase of conservation easements.
This tentative list of goals will be discussed at the January meeting and hopefully finalized with a designated CCC member responsible to moving the goal forward.
11. Election of CCC Officials. Bob asked about an appointed secretary. Members agreed to share the responsibility. Gordon made a motion to nominate Bob Mann for Chair and Zack Boyajian as Vice-chair. Motion was seconded by Dawn. A short discussion as to whether anyone else wanted to chair took place. No one else felt like they had the time. Motion passed.
12. Bob presented a draft report of the CCC for the Annual Town Report. Minor changes were suggested.
13. Bob discussed the Suncook River Nominating meeting that took place on Thursday December 8th. The meeting was attended by two selectmen and other residences. No clear consensus on whether to recommend or not was evident.
14. Motion to adjourn at 9:15pm. Motion passes.
Approved.
Robert Mann, Chairman
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