Conservation Commission Minutes November 14, 2011
Chair Sam Demeritt called the meeting to order at 7:01. Other members in attendance were Celia Abrams, Deb Kimball, Deb Stevens, Susan Mooney and Cheryl Smith.
Easement Monitoring:
- Kimball Family Forest: Bear-Paw Regional Greenways (BPRG) had two people who had conducted easement monitoring when Mrs. Kimball owned the property and BPRG held the easement. BPRG now owns the property and the Town of Nottingham holds the easement. Demeritt will contact BPRG and set up a date for the Commission to monitor the easement with someone who is familiar with the property boundaries.
- Friend: D. Kimball will check with the Friend family for a December date to monitor.
- Terninko: Abrams will check with Mr. Terninko to arrange a monitoring date.
- Highlands: Demeritt will contact Pete Landry, Commission member who reposted the conservation easement deed restricted areas this past summer. Once Landry has chosen a date the Commission will contact the residents by letter, as required, to inform them of the monitoring date(s).
- Mendum’s Landing: Mooney will contact Dr. Sasner, a resident and member of the Mendum’s Landing Association for an agreeable date to monitor.
Base Line Documentation: Abrams has found information from Saving Special Places Conference about base line documentation requirements. Towns and their conservation commissions are not required to follow these strict guidelines since commissions are volunteer groups. At a minimum, however, documents should include property map, aerial map, topography map, soil maps if appropriate, photos, written description of property features, the easement deed and reserved rights of the landowners. The cover page would note any buildings and human created “disturbances”. Other documents to be included as appropriate would be ROWs, ponds, special natural communities and other habitats, and species of note. Information on stonewalls and foundations is not needed. Abrams had two template samples, one from the Forest Society and the other
from the Monadnock Conservancy, a Land Trust similar to BPRG. IRS 1.170A-14 regulation explains the legal requirements of base line documentation. Abrams will provide copies to the Commission either electronically or hard copy.
WRP Properties, Tasker and Merriam/Daggett:
Brooke Smart, Resource Conservationist for the WRP, USDA NRCS, has corresponded to Stevens about concerns of invasive species control by the Board of Selectmen (BOS). The concerns have been addressed and do not present any potential liability for landowners of WRP conservation easement properties. The Commission decided to write a letter to the BOS and invite them to chose a date for the public hearing to acquire the fee interest of the two properties, per RSA 36-A: 5 II. Two dates were chosen: December 5 or 11, 2011. Demeritt will send the letter to the BOS.
Minutes:
The minutes of October 25, 2011 were accepted as corrected. Kimball made the motion, it was seconded by Abrams. Five votes were in favor and there was one abstention.
Correspondence:
10/2/11, received 11/7/11. From Brian A. Desfosses, PE, Dam Safety Engineer, Dam Bureau, DES to Christian Smith, Beals Associates, PLLC, re: to application of October 13, 2011, to construct a dam for the housing development on Ledge Farm Road. This dam is called the Rocky Hill Detention Pond; NH Dam #184.23 is a proposed “Non-menace Dam”. Desfosses inspected the dam location and potentially affected areas downstream. DES has reviewed the application and has determined that it does not meet all of the applicable criteria of Chapter Env-Wr 400 including Minimum Design requirements and Design Floods for New Dams. For DES to continue processing the permit application seven items in the letter must be addressed by the applicant along with seven additional items to be considered.
10/25/11, an Invitation from John Carr of the NH Association of Natural Resource Scientists to join. A special membership fee of $20 per year is offered to commissions in the state. The Association sponsors several workshops during a calendar year which are of interest to the Commission. The motion was made by Mooney to join this association, Stevens seconded the motion. The motion was carried, five yeses and one abstention.
“Supply Lines with the Source”, a newsletter from NHDES Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau, Fall 2011. The lead article is “Pesticides in Drinking Water at NH’s Schools and Daycares, 2011”.
From W. C. Cammett Engineering, Inc. three Field Reports dated 10/5, 10/17, and 10/20 re: USA Springs site. The 10/17 and 10/20 Reports noted that a portion of the silt fence along the lower settling area below the soil stockpile has ripped and needs to be repaired or replaced. All other inspected areas were stable and satisfactory.
Bear-Paw Report:
Demeritt reported that the outing at the January 28, 2012 Annual Meeting will be a snow shoe walk at the North River Reserve, the 50+ acre property across from the Town Municipal Complex owned by BPRG and protected with a WRP conservation easement.
There will be a Forestry Conservation Roundtable and Shoreland Protection Update at the Blaisdell Memorial Library on December 7. The Commission has offered to help host this event and will put posters around town and provide refreshments. Abrams, Stevens and Mooney have volunteered.
Other:
It was moved by Mooney and seconded by Stevens to reimburse Demeritt $45 registration fees for the NHACC Annual meeting held on November 5, 2011. All votes were in favor. Workshops attended by Demeritt were Appraisals for Conservation Projects, How to Partner with Regional Conservation Groups, Outreach 101, and Shoreland Protection Act (CSPA) Update.
Kimball left the meeting at 8:15.
Abrams and Mooney will attend the CSPA workshop on Friday at the Discovery Center in Greenland.
Ryan at Strafford Regional Planning Commission will send the two NH F&G Wildlife Action Plan maps requested by the Commission. They should arrive within a week.
Demeritt will find out how much money is in the Conservation Fund.
The motion was made by Mooney and seconded by Stevens to adjourn; all five votes were in favor. The meeting was adjourned at 8:22.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan P. Mooney, Acting Secretary
These minutes were accepted as corrected at the meeting held on December 12, 2011. Corrections have been made.
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