NEWBURY CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Special Meeting Minutes March 14, 2006
Present: William Weiler, Deane Geddes, Frank Perrotta; Ellen Snyder
Old Business:
1. Conservation Plan. Interview with Ellen J. Snyder, certified wildlife biologist and consultant, of Newmarket, N.H., where she is a member of the Open Space Commission. Snyder reviewed her background as a wildlife biologist for UNH Cooperative Extension and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. She has worked with landowners and the state analyzing conservation areas, and with the Wildlife Service on plans for national wildlife refuges. She has been an independent consultant for two years.
Weiler asked how she might use the newly completed N.H. Fish & Game Department’s Wildlife Action Program in completing a conservation plan for Newbury. She said the study’s broad definitions could be useful if narrowed down to relate to local areas. The study’s imperative would be useful in conserving lands and seeking grants and explaining actions to townspeople. Snyder said there are grants available for planning, including the N.H. Moose Plate program, which opens for applications in the fall.
Snyder said she had not done a complete conservation plan on her own, although she is working on a plan for Greenland, N.H. The Greenland plan is focused on determining which areas might be set aside as conservation lands and which might be better suited to become management areas.
Snyder said she would prepare a Newbury Conservation Plan by first studying the 2001 Newbury Natural Resources Inventory and the 1997 Master Plan, then meet with the Conservation Commission and other town groups to determine goals: water protection, recreation, trails, wildlife habitat, for instance. A public information session at an early stage would be followed by another hearing after a draft plan is completed.
The next step, she said, would be deciding if new maps are needed. Then it would be “getting out and driving around.” The latter would add to the cost. She would then assemble information about these areas and why they are important to the town, then decide whether to protect by acquisition or easement.
In all of these steps, she said, public input is most important. “Can’t have too much.”
The commission reviewed with Snyder the current status of zoning in Newbury, including recent changes and a recent court case. Weiler explained that the Planning Board has decided zoning should be more restrictive, with special protection for wetlands deer yards, and steep slopes. A recent regulation also reduces housing density where deficient or sub-standard highways are involved. The changes encourage developers to choose cluster-housing designs.
Geddes asked how Snyder would keep a public hearing focused. She said that while she is unfamiliar with Newbury’s townspeople, she had experience in Newmarket, where the Conservation Commission laid out a process for involving people attending. Issues were presented and the commission asked for input. Maps were presented for townspeople to identify specific places they thought were important. Snyder said it would be important in Newbury to include seasonal residents in the public input sessions.
Weiler complimented Snyder on her writing style in a report she had done. She said she works to make the prose very clear to avoid misunderstandings and to build public trust.
Weiler explained that the commission hoped to have the Conservation Plan completed and included in the updated Newbury Master Plan, expected by mid-2007. Snyder said she was booked until mid-April. The summer or fall would be better, she said. Weiler said the commission needed to write a request for proposal with full details of the expected scope of the plan.
Snyder thanked the commission for the opportunity to meet and left at 11 a.m.
The commission discussed the request for proposal, and whether to submit it to all three candidates interviewed. Weiler thought only two should receive it; Geddes and Perrotta thought it should be sent to all three.
Everyone agreed the proposal should seek a fixed-price contract.
Geddes said the RFP should outline what the commission wants accomplished without steering the consultant too much. We want their input, he said. Weiler said the RFP should be written as an original document, based on Newbury’s needs, without relying on other towns’ conservation plans. The RFP should ask the candidates what they would give us.
The commission decided that each member would prepare an outline of what an RFP should include, to be e-mailed to each other in the next three days.
Adjourned: 11:30 a.m.
Prepared by: Frank Perrotta
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