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Conservation Commission Minutes September 12, 2011
Chairman Sam Demeritt called the meeting to order at 7:12. Other Commission (NCC) members in attendance were Susan Mooney, Celia Abrams and Cheryl Smith. Guests were Dennis Vachon of Vachon Realty and John Terninko, of Case Road.
Business:
Mr. Vachon represents the owners of two properties in Nottingham. Both properties are protected by the federal Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) conservation easements. The owners and the NCC, acting on behalf of the Town, have been in discussions re: the fee purchase of both parcels. One parcel is identified as Tax Map 19, Lot 1 and is owned by Ms. Merriam and Ms. Daggett. The 46.41 acre property is located along Priest Road and Freeman Hall Road, has forested uplands, and frontage along the North River. The owners have negotiated to sell the fee interest to the Town for $38,886 (of which an estimated $9,000 would be returned to the Conservation Fund as LUCT penalty).
The second property is owned by Ms. Tasker and is located by Tax Map20, Lot 2 on Priest Road. It was originally thought to be 71 acres but the survey revealed that it was 47 acres. The property has extensive wetlands with identified high value wildlife habitat by NH Fish and Game, has frontage along the North River and overlays part of the largest aquifer in Nottingham. This parcel abuts the Merriam Daggett parcel thus increasing the possibility for trail development linking the Freeman Hall historic crossing with the Town Center area. The owners are asking for $11,750 for a fee interest sale to the Town.
Mr. Vachon asked for a reconsideration of the former fee purchase offer of $3000 and indicated that both parties were now ready to move forward with a public hearing on this matter.
It was moved by S. Mooney and seconded by C. Abrams to rescind the previous offer of $3000 for the Tasker property and to offer $11, 750 for the fee interest, monies to be withdrawn from the Town’s Conservation Fund. All four votes were in favor.
S. Demeritt will ask to be placed on the agenda of a Board of Selectmen’s (BOS) meeting to request a public Hearing date in October.
Note: 7:52, Mr. Vachon left.
7:40 Mr. Terninko arrived.
The NCC and Mr. Terninko had a detailed discussion re: the possibility of protecting additional property by a conservation easement (CE). Several years ago, Mr. Terninko placed 107 acres into a CE in memory of his wife, Maggie Terninko, a former stare representative for Nottingham. Recently and additional 30.421 acres have been included in a WRP CE. There are several parcels that Mr. Terninko is interested in preserving as well: 80 acres on the west side of Case Road and additional smaller pieces of 13+/-, 15.35 and 2.5 acres totaling 110.85 acres. Frontage along Case Road would protect a total of 2080.82 feet, counting both sides. There are species of interest on this property including orchids, Blandings Turtle, New England Cottontail (unconfirmed), moose, bear, etc. NCC members indicated to Mr. Terninko that he would need to obtain
an appraisal of his property’s value with and without additional CE’s to determine appropriate reimbursement for loss in value due to the extinguishment of development rights. Land trusts such as Bear-Paw Regional Greenways (BPRG)) and the SouthEast Land Trust would be places to start. BPRG would be hosting a land protection workshop the following Monday (9/19) at 4:30 at their office in Deerfield.
Mr. Terninko left at 8:36.
Minutes:
The minutes of August 8, 2011, were accepted as corrected. The motion was made by Mooney, seconded by Abrams. Three votes were in favor, there was one abstention. Corrections will be made and sent to the BOS Office to be posted.
Correspondence:
- Dated 9/2/11, received 9/7/11, page I of 2 (page 2 missing), to Theodore Anglace, 23 Wallace Drive, Dover, NH 03820, from DES, a Shoreland Impact permit 2011-01968 re Tax Map 232, Lot 29, located on North River Lake, to impact 2175 sq.ft. to install a new onsite septic system. There were at least 10 project specific conditions to be met.
- “Save the Date”, December 2, 8:30 to 3:30, 2011 Coastal NH Climate Summit, “Collaborating for Solutions”.
- BPRG, October 15, Evans Mountain Celebration, noon to 3 PM.
Nottingham Day:
Mooney will be at the NCC and Planning Board booths all day and will pick up materials at the Town Office with Abrams, they both will set up and Abrams will take a mid day break before returning for an afternoon shift and breakdown. Demeritt will attend all day from setup to breakdown. Smith is expected to be there for setup and some of the morning session. April Bacon will be contacted for a 10 to 2:00 shift The theme will be invasive species and the large map provided by Landry will be used for visitors to locate 10 different species with colored pins. Other materials will also be available.
It was decided to schedule Roadside Cleanup at the next regular meeting.
A motion to adjourn was made by Mooney, seconded by Abrams. All votes were in favor.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan P. Mooney, Acting Secretary
These minutes were accepted as corrected at the NCC meeting held on 10/25/11. Corrections have been made.
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