New Boston Forestry Committee
Minutes of Meeting – March 7, 2005
Attendees: Jon Brooks
Tim Trimbur
Nancy Loddengaard
Dave Allen
Bob Todd
Karl Heafield
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
Intent to Cut Discussion with Town Assessor
The meeting began with a discussion with Kim Burkhamer from the Assessing office regarding intent to cut forms. Kim was seeking input on whether the Forestry Committee is interested in reviewing the intents prior to her office approving the intents and allowing the logger/landowner to begin work. Specifically, Kim asked for the Committee’s input on whether it makes sense for the Committee to review and comment on larger cuts (i.e. those in excess of 75 mbf). One suggestion from the Committee was to have the Town hire a consulting forester to review these intents for a fee. The fee could be based on a percentage of the timber tax from each cut reviewed. This may be a more practical way of providing oversight of this process since the Committee is made up of volunteers that may not be able to review and comment on the intents in a
timely fashion. The committee also suggested that if a cut is part of an overall land conversion (i.e. a clear cut for a gravel pit or subdivision), the intent should only be approved if the landowner has all other permits approved relative to the land conversion.
The Forestry Committee will draft a formal recommendation on this matter and present it to Kim so that she can take it to the Selectmen for further action.
Review of Minutes of January Meeting
The committee reviewed the minutes of the January 3, 2004 meeting. The minutes were accepted by unanimous approval.
Treasurers Report
Dave Allen reported that the current account balance is $1,506.28.
Review of Old Business:
· Lydia Dodge West
o Tim Trimbur and Bob Todd reported that they will need to get together to mark the cut. Tim would then be ready to begin the cut shortly thereafter. Bob also reported that he will get the timber contract signed.
· O’Rourke Lot
o Dave Allen reported that he had attended a site walk with the developer and surveyor of an adjoining parcel. The surveyor provided Dave with some information on the location of the boundary pins. Dave determined that the flagging done with respect to the adjoining parcel was acceptable.
New Business
· Jon Brooks led a discussion regarding special trees in the Town Forests such as the Black Gum that is on the O’Rourke lot which is estimated to be 400-600 years old. Jon then made the following motion:
o To memorialize the Black Gum near the intersection of Butterfield Mill road and Old Coach Road.
o Jon then amended the motion to state that any such effort would be coordinated with the Recreation Department on that Department’s current memorial plans for the Ballpark on Old Coach Road.
o The motion and the amendment passed unanimously.
o Jon will follow up with the Recreation department on this matter
· Johnson Lot Boundary Marking
o The Johnson lot boundary is awaiting paint. Bob also mentioned that the boundary plan is ready to be submitted.
o Tim Trimbur reported that he has observed some ATV use on the Johnson lot. The Committee recommended that sings posting our recreational use policy be installed.
· Town Web Sight
o It was noted that the Forestry Committee has populated the town websight with meeting information and current projects.
o Tim Trimbur stated that he would take some pictures of the Lydia Dodge patch cut to post on the websight.
· Permits to Cut”
o There were no intents available for review.
· Miscellaneous
o There was discussion of the potential need for new officers for the Forestry Committee next year. Members were encouraged to consider whether they would be interested in filling any of the officer positions. Members were also encouraged to think about residents that may be interested in joining the Committee.
The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:10 p.m.
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