Otisfield Conservation Committee Meeting
Wednesday, September 28, 2011 – 7pm
Present – Pixie Williams, Susan Feller, Bob Blake, Scott Vlaun: OCC
Anne and Jack Fritts: Friends of OCC
Rick Micklon, Hal Ferguson: Board of Selectmen
Stan Brett: Otisfield Trailblazers Snowmobile Club
(approved)
Plans for hiking trails on town land between Saturday and Moose Ponds – Pixie opened the meeting and had Rick show everyone the survey map of the town land parcels that would be available for future hiking and skiing trails. Stan showed the location of the current snowmobile trail. Rick said the town’s surveyor will be developing an updated map. Discussion ensued regarding how to best utilize the land for trails, the potential need for construction work to remediate current erosion problems and to have someone map the snowmobile trail with GPS. The current snowmobile trail will remain unaffected by plans for “foot trails”. Hal recommended that any restrictions on trail use (i.e. ATVs, horses, etc.) be decided upon now during the planning phase.
Once the OCC has taken a close look at the land and has decided upon the best location for trails, the town forester should be involved to identify wet areas, trail elevations and potential tree removal. The OCC has approval from the Board of Selectmen to mark trails with the foresters input. There was also discussion of where parking areas for public access could be located. A site walk has been scheduled for Monday, Oct. 24 at 12 noon.
Pixie recommended that Lee Dassler could provide information on grants to help with costs of the project, and Rick said a combined grant with the town and the Oxford Soil and Water Conservation District would strengthen the grant approval process.
Combined Lakes Associations meeting – The annual meeting hosted by the OCC is set for November 9 at 7pm. Pixie hopes to have the climate change in Maine video available for showing the attendees. If a larger audience is expected than could be accommodated at Town Hall, the Community Hall would be another option for the meeting. It was suggested to place a news release in the local papers and also utilize the public announcement signs at Town Hall and Spurs Corner fire station.
Jugtown Plains – Pixie has corresponded with Jeff Hall at Hancock Lumber, and has been given the go ahead to provide Hancock with information about the relict ecosystem which survives in the Jugtown Plains. This can be included on their website for Jugtown Forest. An OCC sponsored Jugtown Plains meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26 at Town Hall for all the parties who have an interest in the plains, and invitations will be emailed to those who attended the Jugtown walk in July.
Minutes were not read since the minutes from the last meeting in July had been approved via emails.
New business – Pixie read Lee Dassler’s email updating everyone on the progress made by the Western Foothills Land Trust on establishing the landowner driven Pugleyville conservation corridor from Thompson Lake to Canada Hill, and the 690 acre parcel easement along the Crooked River.
Pixie asked that the Friends of OCC contact information be updated and Bob volunteered to get emails to the Friends to find out if each still wants to be on the list. Susan will send him the current complete list.
Photos for OCC records – Pixie reviewed previous discussion about what to do with all the digital photos taken by the OCC. For now Scott recommended copying them to a disk. Susan will copy all photos she has onto a disk, and Bob recommended that for photos to be used on our web page, send them as the basic size of 640 x 480.
Vernal Pool Reports – Pixie asked Scott to submit his documentation on the vernal pool activity he observed during the spring so she can complete the OCC’s report on this year’s initial venture into locating and observing species found in vernal pools.
The meeting adjourned at 9pm. Next meeting set for October 26 will be the Jugtown Plains meeting at Town Hall.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Feller, secretary
| 
