Town of Newton
Conservation Commission
P.O. Box 378
Newton, NH 03858
Minutes
April 20th, 2006
Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by the acting chair, Mary Marshall, at 7:42. Attending were: Kim Vailiant, Nancy Slombo, Pat Wonson, Peter Mears, and Mary Marshall.
Minutes of Previous Meeting: There were no minutes to review.
Correspondence:
The following items of correspondence were reviewed by the commission:
Notice from the Department of Transportation regarding culvert replacement under North Main Street (Rt 108) at Marden’s Pond.
Notice from Comprehensive Environmental Incorporated re: Greening Rooftops for Sustainable Communities Conference and Trade Show.
Copy of Letter from DES to Brian Schena and Lori Canney, 62 Crane Crossing Road Re: Update of restoration plan.
Legislative bulletin #16 and #17.
WPI notice of availablity of wetland plant stock.
Minutes of the March 26th, 2006 Selectmen’s site walk at Wilder’s Grove Road.
Minutes of April 3rd and 12th, 2006 selectmen’s meetings.
Copy of memo from DES to GreenSpace Environmental and Turf Services regarding their annual monitoring of ground water report for Granite Fields Golf Course.
Copy of two memos to C. McDonough and Planning Board regarding crossing of Pipeline in Puzzle Lane Project.
Intent to Cut (2) for 13-2-15,13-2-24, 13-2-17-9, 13-2-16 and7-4-5
Letter regarding work project for inmates from Rockingham County Department of Corrections.
Budget update.
Notice from DES re Drinking Water Protection Workshop on May 18th in DES auditorium.
Old Business:
Wetland Cases:
Copy of Minimum Impact Expedited Application by Thomas Hansen for docks on Country Pond. This is a complete copy of the application approved by the Commission at our previous meeting.
Robert Woodhouse Dredge and Fill Application for Walnut Farm. Letter from Alteration of Terrain Program at DES on 235,000 sq ft disturbance by Robert Woodhouse for subdivision at map 13, block 3 lots 6,7,8,10, 11, 12. A letter from DES Alteration of Terrain Program indicates that this development will disturb 235,000 square feet. This implies a Storm Water Management Plan, but the Planning Board will monitor the plan. The Commission examined the plan to determine if any excavation was planned. It appears as if no removal of material is needed. The total wetland impact is 3805 square feet or 420 +/- cubic yards.
Incident report from Newton PD regarding wetland violation (possible manure dumping) at 62 Thornell Road. The Commission decided that a site walk should be scheduled to determine whether there is any wetland violation.
Land Acquisition:
Checklist Assessment for Prioritizing Project: The Commission went through an exercise of establishing some individual conservation priorities that were then compiled into a group priority. Using the priority list the group the evaluated three test properties.
Fish and Game: nothing to report.
Book Distribution: The Commission consensus was that Mary should give a ‘Conserving Your Land’ to James Foy to be sure he has information relative to all his options involving his land.
Bio Monitoring Day:
May 5th Volunteers: Nancy Slombo, Pat Wonson, and Mary Marshall will be on hand to help on May 5th. Mary told the Commission that Four excellent sampling sites had been flagged at the Busch Farm.
Trails: Nothing to report.
New Business:
Parks and Recreation Ordinance: Peter observed that the item for Greenie Park about unauthorized use of ball fields and concession stand is too broad. He is concerned that it would exclude pickup games by kids in town.
Kim explained that the Town needed an ordinance for the Police to enforce to keep the ball fields from being ruined by motorized vehicles.
Mary observed that the wording has to be such that it is clear when there is a violation. For instance, where is says proper swimwear is encouraged, that means is someone takes off her top, and the lifeguard says ‘I would like you to put that back on’ has a violation occurred. Pat indicated that encouraged means no teeth at all.
There was much discussion about the generalized wording. Relative to the Conservation Commission position, there was consensus that all references to Conservation Land be removed. The suggestion was that the ordinance should apply to the recreation area or Greenie Park and the Beach.
Other: Nothing
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 on a motion by Pat Wonson, seconded by Nancy Slombo.
Respectfully,
Mary Marshall, Recorder
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