OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
MARCH 15, 2010
The meeting was attended by Pete Moloney, Mary Koon, Ken Clinton and Ken Lombard.~ Ian McSweeney and Nathan Simon were guests.
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Ken Lombard was elected chair of the Committee.
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Briefly, we discussed approaching Alice Follansbee and/or~Thelma Bouchard to see if there was interest in protecting either of their properties.~ Linda Sizemore will try to sound out Ms. Bouchard and I will ask Arlene Dodge if she could approach the Follansbees.
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The deRoetth FRPP easement has hit a slight snag in that the appraisal is being reviewed again and may require an update.
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I have set a meeting date with the Quinneys to discuss further their desire to protect lot 2-147.
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We then discussed the pros and cons of protecting land set aside in an Open Space Development.~ One option, which in general the Conservation Commission does not like is to have the land owned by a Home Owners Association (HOA)~and the easement held by the Town.~ The problem is with whom do you resolve issues, particularly in the future when the HOA has lost interest in existing.
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A second, possibly best,~approach would be for~the town to own the land and the PLC to hold the Easement.
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Failing that, the town could own the land AND protect it.~ This is weaker, but it is essentially the same approach as has been taken with the LCIP land on Lyndeborough Road.
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The town has gotten conflicting advice, from the same lawyer, about whether to deal with a HOA.
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NOTE:~ There will be no meeting in April.~ Our next meeting will be on May 17.
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Ken Lombard
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~PS:~ The following took place after the meeting.
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1.~ Ian and I met with the Quinneys on Wednesday and attempted to answer their questions.~ I left them copies of plot plans, a draft easement, a copy of "Conserving Your Land" and a summary of the Shoreland Protection Act.
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2.~ I attended a NRCS Conservation Easement Partnership conference Thursday morning.~ Given all that we have been through, with Ian's guidance, not much new information was presented.~ The discussion was mainly about the Farm and Ranch Protection Program and the Wetland Improvement Program.~ We are using the FRPP for Chancey, deRoetth, and possibly Marden.
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3.~ I attended the Piscataquog River Management and Land Conservation Public Forum on Thursday evening.~ This was hosted by SNHPC.~ They and the PRLAC committee have updated the Management Plan and hope to get it approved soon.~ They are also working on a science based Land Conservation Plan~that will assist us in identifying land for protection.~ The intent is to develop a set of resource maps (co-occurrence, wildlife connectivity, etc.) that will give us a clearer picture of valuable resources.~ It will also attempt to increase the level of partnership between all entities concerned, such as between us and SPNHF and PLC.~ One major goal is to make it easier to explain various boards and/or funding agencies how valuable a property is in terms of conservation.~ Some of this work will come together this summer.
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