Otisfield Conservation Committee Meeting
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 – 7pm.
(approved)
Present – Pixie Williams, Lee Dassler, Susan Feller,
Bob Blake, Jeff Stern, Scott Vlaun: OCC
Anne and Jack Fritts: Friends of OCC
1. Pixie opened the meeting at 7pm. Minutes from Dec. were read and corrections made. Susan moved to accept minutes, Jeff seconded.
2. Election of officers for 2012 –Pixie will remain as Chair; Jeff will become co-chair after three months. Susan will remain as secretary. Pixie moved to accept, Susan seconded. All accepted the votes. Scott had to resign his position due to increasing family and career commitments, but will continue to lend his expertise to support the OCC’s work on the Town Land project as a Friend of the committee. Lee agreed to renew her term for two years.
3. Trail developments on Town Land between Saturday and Moose Ponds – Bob reviewed the work that has been done marking the trail, phone calls with Rick Micklon, and some proposed trail names. Bob provided maps for everyone of the property with color coding of the existing snowmobile trail and roads, boundaries, the trail he has marked and future proposed trails. Bob also explained the walk about he took with Richard St. John, code enforcement officer, and the additional areas of access to Saturday Pond that would be nice cutoffs from a main trail. Bob said we need to come up with a name for the property, and the committee agreed on calling it the Otisfield Conservation Area till a permanent name is determined with the Board of Selectmen (BOS) based on the official land use designation. The OCC
prefers a terminology of conserved land/town forest to signify careful and thoughtful use of the land, to protect the biota.
Scott said designation of the land use needs to be made by the BOS, and that town forest would be a good designation of use since it has already been used for some timber harvesting. Scott discussed the forest management practices that have already occurred there, and what best practices should be for future use. Lee mentioned if the BOS won’t commit to a designation and length of time for the designation, then it could be a waste of time and energy for the OCC to pursue this project. There seems to be hesitancy by the BOS to declare land use status as “in perpetuity”. Anne suggested asking for a 99 year time frame, as is commonly used in land use arrangements. There should be a management plan in place for future use. Lee said Bill Newcomb, forester, had written previous
managements plans, and they should be at Town Hall.
Scott said he had just spoken with John Gunn, a nationally recognized forester, who presently lives in Hebron, and plans to move to the property across from the town land in a couple of years. John wrote the forest management plan for Jugtown Plains years ago when he worked for Hancock Lumber Co. and the Nature Conservancy arranged the conservation easement on the critical Pitch Pine section of the plains. Scott filled him in about the proposed trails and land use, and said John offered to walk the land within the next two weeks and offer advice on a management plan. Scott will call John and arrange a date to walk the trails.
Pixie reminded everyone we have to present this project to a BOS meeting, and wants to get all pertinent information gathered and reviewed before the presentation occurs. Jeff said we need to get a copy of the current management plan, Bob said get information from John Gunn to include in the presentation. Scott said we need accurate GPS mapping of the land. Lee will get mapping information from the Maine Natural Heritage Trust program and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Gulf of Maine Coastal Program data base showing landsat imagery and designations of land types.
All agreed no vehicles or horses can be allowed on the trails (exception being the current snowmobile trail), and that gates/posts could be put in place to prevent ATVs on foot trails. If groomed XC ski trails are planned, there will be a lot of rocks that have to be moved from the trail. Anne offered to have her summer campers do volunteer trail maintenance. Susan reminded everyone that Rick said anyone who does any work on the trail, no matter how minimal the work, needs to be listed on the Town’s insurance policy, and that it costs the town approx. $12.00 per person. Lee remarked that would prevent a lot of volunteers from being able to help, due to the costs and getting signed up on the policy. Lee suggested a waiver be used for volunteers, which is what Western Foothills Land Trust
(WFLT) uses for volunteer activities. Lee also said it would be nice to know the historical uses of the land. Pixie said Jean Hankins told her the land was always woodland, never a farm, and there was a mill close to Saturday Pond in the past.
The OCC agreed that we should have the critical information gathered and frame worked at our next meeting for presentation to the BOS.
4. Report on WFLT activities in Otisfield – Lee presented the work by the WFLT within their district in 2011, having closed on 8 conservation easements totaling over 1000 acres. Three of those easements were completed in Otisfield for the Pugleyville Conservation Corridor with the Watson, Zilinsky and Turner families, including 1,600 + feet of shoreline on Thompson Lake on The Cape, the Turner’s property, the first on the lake. Lee showed the binders of information on each easement, including historical and current photos, maps of the conserved lands, and gave an overview of the families genealogies and their historical ties to and uses of the lands.
5. Friends of OCC – Pixie gave clarification that anyone wishing to be a Friend of the OCC does need to be a resident of Otisfield, whether permanent or seasonal. One exception was made for a member of the Casco Conservation Committee.
6. New Business – Susan suggested that the OCC arrange a social gathering during the summer for Friends and OCC members to get together, since there are so many friends, both year round and summer residents, who the committee members haven’t met. It would be a nice way to get to know our supporters and exchange ideas on conservation concerns for the benefit of the town.
7. Meeting adjourned at 9:15pm. Next meeting scheduled for Feb. 22, 2012
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Feller, secretary
TAFT 02.27.12
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