Text Box: finalCONSERVATION COMMISSION

 

MINUTES OF November 1, 2007

 

Present: Chris Giordano (Chairperson), Judy Jervis, Michele Tingley, Sheila Johannesen, Jason Holder.

 

The meeting opened at 7:37 and was televised.

 

The minutes of October 18th were reviewed.  Sheila made a motion to accept the minutes as written and Judy seconded.  The motion passed unanimously in the affirmative.

 

The nonpublic minutes of April 19th were discussed.  It was decided to not go into a nonpublic session to discuss them.  What was discussed in April is still an ongoing process so it was decided to not release the nonpublic minutes at this time.  Any nonpublic minutes regarding issues that are concluded may be made public by a board vote in the affirmative.  Any files belonging to the Conservation Commission may be viewed by the public with proper supervision.

 

The email from Betsy Sanders, citing Right to Know 91-A, was reviewed.  She’s requesting information regarding the Doucet survey among other items.  Only one item can be shown to her, and that is the proposal to surveying services.  The other items, the rescinded bill, the original bill for the meeting between Chris and Carol Baird, the email from Peter Loughlin to Chris, and the minutes of the non-public meeting on April 19th cannot be shown to her.

 

Michele had spoken with the Mrs. Hart, the elementary school principal about possible programs for the students.  They had a discussion about a possible after school class to take place once a week for six weeks and incorporating some sort of orienteering course through the woods surrounding the school.  They could incorporate map reading and possibly go to the town forest.

 

Judy will make phone calls to Audubon regarding the Easement.

 

It was announced that our budget for next year passed.

 

Correspondence:

 

  • NH Association of Conservation Commissions 37th annual meeting on November 3rd in Concord.
  • Supply Lines with the Source, Fall ’07 newsletter.
  • NH Estuaries Project is hoping to update their email list.  Janet will supply them with the board members’ email addresses.
  • a copy of an email from Betsy Sanders requesting information from the CC.  To be discussed during this meeting.
  • DES Watershed conference November 17 in Concord.
  • From DES: regarding wetlands and non-site specific permit 2007-02007, noting conditions on Cotton Farm Road, map/lot # 3/87.
  • From Jill Fleming: procedure of writing nonpublic minutes.
  • an email from Curt Springer sent to the CC dated 11/01/07 at 4:37 pm regarding various issues.
  • an email from Curt Springer sent to Selectmen, Forestry, Conservation, Planning, and Heritage, dated 10/15/07 at 5:40 pm regarding the town forest boundaries.

 

The Easement was discussed and the latest draft, dated May 4th, 2007, was reviewed.  Judy found that all the latest changes from past discussions had been made.  This latest version will be sent to the Selectmen, Heritage, Forestry, Recreation, and Planning Board asking for any final comments.  After final comments are received and reviewed, and the questions given to Audubon are answered regarding the Stewardship Plan, then the draft can be sent to Legal for review.

 

Laura Games is looking for grant information regarding land purchases but will look into possible help with Stewardship Plans.  Judy will help with this as well.

 

It was mentioned that we need to update the natural inventory maps.

 

Judy had attended an RPC meeting and heard about laminating larger maps.  She was told that Betsy Sanders had items laminated and should know where to get this type of work done.  It was mentioned that some schools have large laminating machines.  It was decided to wait until after the elections and to see if there’s no money left in this years’ budget.

 

Sheila has spoken with Nancy Hart regarding Wind Over Wings.  This is planned for April 24th, 2008, for the elementary school.  There are also plans to have a rescue dog demonstration at the school.

 

Grants for finishing a Stewardship Plan need to be reviewed.  This information can be researched online.  The items to look into would be getting help writing it, the price, how soon it can be done, what information is needed to write it, etc.

 

Jason had looked at the target range within the town forest.  He didn’t think it looked too bad.  The issue is that some are shooting outside the area which poses a serious danger to any foot traffic in the surrounding area.  Jason proposed that the area be cleaned.

 

Tuckertown road was discussed.  A survey needs to be done to see where the water is coming from.  The sides of the road are acting like a marsh and swelling from excess water backing up from the pond.  This could mean the pond is backing up.  However, upon inspection of the water leveler, the water was 19” below the level and water was still on the road.  The water was also about a foot below the invert level of the culvert.  It’s Chris’ opinion that the road is washed out and there is no bank on either side of the road.  If the problem is getting emergency vehicles through, it seems likely that the available emergency vehicles can traverse that road in its present condition.

 

Chris mentioned a website from MSN that shows aerial photos of whatever you want to look at.  He said to click on “maps and directions” and an address can be added and then to click on “bird’s eye view.”

 

Jason made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Judy seconded.  The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:40 pm.

 

 

 

*****Next Meeting: November 15, 2007 at 7:30pm****

 

 

Minutes are prepared by Janet S. Denison, clerk