NEWBURY CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Meeting Minutes May 8, 2007
Present: William Weiler, Eric Unger, Frank Perrotta, Suzanne Levine, William Annable
April minutes: Moved Levine, seconded Unger, approved as corrected.
Intents to Cut:
1. Gloria and Richard Marzelli, 81 Emily Lane (Map 44, Lot 357-275), plan to cut 2500 mbf of white pine and 2500 mbf of red pine, and produce 500 tons of whole tree chips on their land. Adam E. Mock of Webster is the logger. (Supplemental notice.)
2. Kimberly Mock et al, of Bradford, owners of land on Poor Farm Hill Road (M48, L299-133), plan to cut 61,500 mbf of various species on 40 of 67.4 acres. Adam E. Mock will also produce 700 tons of chips and 50 cords of fuel wood. (Supplemental notice.)
3. Robert Lumibao and Roberta Tullis of Bradford plan to cut two acres of two acres they own on Gillingham Drive (M 51, Lot 112-472 and 184-495). Logger John E. Harrington of Salisbury will cut 11,000 mbf of white pine and hemlock and produce 15 tons of pine and hemlock chips.
Wetlands:
1. Harlan H. Page, Fraser Avenue (M20, Lot 326-425). The Page’s contractor James R. Goin of Newbury forwarded various communications regarding construction of a new boathouse on the Pages’ land, which is accessed by a right of way over the old railroad bed. Included in information sent to the NH Department of Environmental Services was a request for an extension of the due date, a copy of abutter Cary Demers’ approval of the project, and the license agreement between the Town of Newbury and the Pages for use of the railroad bed right of way. As of this date, no response from DES had been received and/or forwarded to the
commission.
2. Courtney Galuzzo (no address of Newbury property given; Map 28, Lot 369-268). DES denied an application to dredge and fill about 1120 sq. ft. of wetlands adjacent to a proposed house and driveway “on a lot dominated by poorly drained wetlands adjacent to Blodgett’s Brook.” The project does not comply with regulations and statute.
3. Ralph Verni, 115 Grace Hill Road (M 15, Lot 313-122). Notice of administrative completeness for a standard dredge and fill application. Verni plans to replace his current house and redo the landscaping, which would include removal of two hazardous white pine trees, replacement of an existing dock with a U-shaped dock, the removal of two wooden platforms that extend beyond the reference line, and creation of a perched beach.
4. Cardin Krummel, J. William Krummel, Caroline Krummel and Linda Minerva, 94 Gillingham Drive (M 51, Lot 197-450 and 191-427), have filed a SDFA to restore an existing stonewall embankment at their house adjacent to Lake Todd. Restoration is necessary to prevent further erosion of the embankment into the lake; material already deposited in the lake will only be used.
Old Business:
1. Town Forest. Perrotta referenced an e-mail communication from Fishersfield Park trails supervisor Charles Crickman which amplified comments made at the April meeting regarding creation of a town forest. Crickman’s comments are appended to these minutes for information only. Weiler said he would contact Selectman Richard Wright about making a tour of the proposed town forest site in Fishersfield Park. He said he understood from the previous meeting the view would be made “sometime in May.” The board discussed how the forest would be managed, particularly in regard to existing hiking trails. Weiler said Wright was responsible for
figuring out how to make it work. Weiler mentioned several statutes that govern creation of town forests and their operation and control. He said he would check with Wright.
2. Pillsbury-Sunapee Ridge (Evro). Weiler discussed an e-mail from Brian Hotz of the Forest Society that updated the progress on the project. Hotz said he thought the project could be completed within a few days of the May 18 deadline. Weiler said he e-mailed Hotz cautioning him that time was needed to show the final details to the selectmen and the town attorney in Concord. Also a check for Newbury’s $200,000 contribution has to be cut by the town treasurer (made out to North Woodlands). He said he told Hotz the selectmen would sign the easement deed, as part of their “executory interest.”
3. Conservation Plan. Weiler said consultant Ann Poole had completed much of her field work and wanted to meet with the commission to review results. Weiler said he would hold a special meeting after the hearing Monday, April 14, on the expenditure for the Evro project. Poole has completed Phase I, Data Gathering, and should be working on Phase II, the NRI update. Phase III would produce a Draft Conservation Plan.
4. Sunapee Hills Ordinance Committee. Weiler said a meeting was held and the committee needs to determine what’s needed for regulation and whether to do a local district or write town-wide regulations. Weiler, Dean Geddes, Charles Hirshberg, Steve Russell and others are on the committee.
5. Trail Maps. Levine said there were two boxes of maps available for the summer season. She said the commission would have to review the supply in the fall.
New Business:
1. Old Home Day. Levine said she had been attending planning meetings. She said the celebration July 14 would be an afternoon-evening event, but the farmer’s market would run all day. She said there would be two tents and tables and umbrellas may not be necessary. She suggested the commission again cooperate with Gerry Gold and the SRK Greenway and put together a display. Information should include something about the Evro project, in brief, large-type form.
2. Conservation Camp. Perrotta reported that Marilyn Hill, after a suggestion by the commission, was organizing a one-week conservation camp for recreation program attendees. Laura Ryder, an education specialist for the NH Fish & Game Department, is to be the instructor.
3. Commission Secretary. Perrotta requested to be relieved of the duty of secretary, saying he had done it for a long time and wanted to focus his energies on issues facing the commission. He suggested the commission hire Linda Plunkett, town clerk, who is recording secretary for the Planning Board. Weiler said there was neither a line item nor sufficient funds in the commission budget to fund a recording secretary. Perrotta suggested terms could be negotiated with Ms. Plunkett. Weiler said he would contact her.
4. Evro Expenditure Hearing. Weiler noted the hearing was at 7:30 p.m. on May 14. He said minutes should be taken.
Adjourned: Moved Perrotta, seconded Unger, 8:35 p.m.
Next Meeting: June 12 at 7:15 p.m., Municipal Building
Prepared by: Frank Perrotta
Crickman Addendum, re Town Forest:
Hi Frank,
I've been studying your minutes of Bill's last meeting. They are mighty thorough! Some thoughts on the meeting and the minutes from my perspective, in no particular order:
•~ Re the pond in the park/forest question - my understanding has been that the pond is an integral part of the rec area, a basic focal point of the park. It serves as the central start area for trail use, a gathering place for groups, a natural picnic spot (two tables are already there), and when less crowded a local 'Walden's Pond' for solitude and reflection. There have been people fishing there also. The view of the pond from the heights behind it is outstanding, and another possible location for a level picnic area (accessed off the Back Pond trail).
•~ A note on the "road to the pond" mentioned by Dickie - the original park plan did have a vehicular road to the pond complete with a nature center and parking. That was abandoned early on as too intrusive to the scale of the pond environment and desired uses noted above. Now the pond is a short walk from all athletic site parking areas over the Farmstead Trail and other connecting trails.
•~ Log landing and skidder access - the idea of locating these near the pond or the farmstead historic area seems inappropriate. Rather, consider the rear athletic field area. That could be close to skidder path access that extends from the northern to southern park boundaries. These paths include the existing roadway off the end of the field to the north boundary, and the old logging road that runs east from about mid-field (across a wet strip), then turns southeast to the southern boundary (now partially incorporated in the trail network as the upper Logging Road Trail). Use of these existing wide arteries for limited logging use looks to be the least disruptive to the trail network. Log removal out of the rear field to Old Post Rd could make use of the planned park roads that reach the rear field area.
•~ Re the farmstead historic area - this area is defined on the park trail map as features 11-13 comprising the cellar hole, large stonewall sheep enclosure, and stonewall sheep path remnants. From the onset of the trail network development we planned the lower trails to reinforce access to this area, and vowed to maintain a sports activity buffer to protect and preserve it. To that end it was interesting to hear Dickie suggest moving the tennis courts closer in, to the basketball location, and relocating the basketball courts to the now vacated Velie playground area. The original tennis location encroached on this buffer and hence the serenity of the historic area, as well as the Farmstead Trail passing through. For the future of this area I've advocated a low key development. One possibility would be to create a small
rustic 'amphitheater' in a natural setting, within the sheep enclosure, for history and nature programs etc. Another possibility, a history exhibit kiosk that explains the site origins and how it was farmed.
•~ I do plan to talk to Dave Anderson again for his ideas on managing logging operations in a relatively small forest with an embedded trail network.
Chuck Crickman
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