New Boston Forestry Committee
Minutes of Meeting – December 6, 2004
Attendees: Kim Dipietro
Tim Trimbur
Nancy Loddengaard
Roger Noonan
Bob Todd
Karl Heafield
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Review of Minutes of October Meeting
The committee reviewed the minutes of the November 1, 2004 meeting. The minutes were accepted by unanimous approval.
Treasurers Report
Dave Allen had called Kim earlier to report that the current account balance is $1,563.79. He also reported that he had received some bills for signs that were installed by Jon Brooks.
Review of Old Business:
· Lydia Dodge West
o Tim reported that he had received bids from two potential buyers for the timber that would result from the planned patch cut. Contooket River Sawmill quoted $265 per MBF onsight and Granite State Forest Products quoted $280 per MBF onsight. Both buyers would hire and pay for their own trucking. Tim had shown the standing timber to 2 other outfits, but their quotes were not competitive.
o Tim suggested that the tops of the trees to be cut are given to the buyer for the service of cleaning them up from the site. The buyer would most likely produce wood chips with the tops.
o It was noted that the timber to be cut should be exempt from the timber yield tax. The town would need to waive the tax.
o Tim noted that Jon Stout, a New Boston logger, had agreed to help him with the patch cut.
o Tim estimated that the patch cut could yield between 50-80 MBF
o Bob reported that the road improvements from Old Coach Road to the planned landing are at a standstill because of wet conditions. Further improvements will need to wait until the ground freezes up.
o Kim reported that one of the private landowner abutters to this property is marking trails and suggested that the committee monitors this for potential ATV use on the Town Forest.
· Regarding Recreational Policy:
o Kim has not yet received an answer back from Burton Reynolds on whether the town can pass the committee’s recreational policy as a town ordinance without having the issue go to town meeting. Kim will continue to follow-up with Mr. Reynolds.
New Business
· Environmental Quality Improvement Program
o Roger explained this federally funded program which provides financial assistance to landowners for certain agricultural and forestry activities. Assistance generally ranges from 50-90% of the standard costs related to certain activities. The committee discussed the possibilities of receiving funding from this program for certain forest management activities such as roads, bridges, timber stand improvement, etc. The committee would first need to discuss applying for these funds with the Selectmen since the Town is the owner of the land.
o Bob briefly discussed another similar program called Wildlife Habitat Improvement Program (WHIP)
· Report of State Forester on liquidation cut of lot 3-5 on West Lull Road
o The cut is in process and the State Forester is continuing to monitor. The logger has informed the State Forester that there is no need for Wetlands filings due to adherence to a buffer zone. A discussion followed concerning the committee’s role in monitoring this activity. Earlier in the week Kim had received notification from the assessor’s office that this liquidation cut was taking place and was asked if the committee was interested in having the State Forester come and inspect it. Kim requested that the State Forester be sent in and also requested that the Conservation Commission inspect the wetlands. The general consensus among the committee members is that
there is no further action that could or should be taken by the committee.
· Stewards Reports
o Bob submitted the report for Lydia Dodge West.
· Report to Selectmen on Town Forests
o Kim will draft the report and email it to the committee for review. It will then be submitted to the Selectmen later in the month.
· Permits to Cut”
o Several permits to cut were reviewed with no unusual items noted.
· Miscellaneous
o Kim noted that New England Forestry has scheduled a pre-timber harvest walk that is open to the public at the Towne/Deland forests on Tuesday 12/21/04 at 9:00 a.m.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:30 p.m.
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