Text Box: draftCONSERVATION COMMISSION

 

MINUTES OF November 15, 2007

 

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

 

The meeting opened at 7:45 and was televised.

 

The minutes of November 1st were reviewed.  There will be a few changes to the draft to reflect more clearly what is going to Betsy Sanders per her Right to Know request regarding the Doucet Survey.  Michele made a motion to accept the minutes as amended and Judy seconded.  The motion passed unanimously in the affirmative.

 

The easement was discussed.  The draft was sent again to the Selectmen, Forestry, Recreation, and Heritage asking for any more comments.  The only comment received was an email sent 11/15/07 at 12:49 am from Curt Springer, which is attached to these minutes.  It was noted that Forestry is not in favor of the Easement and does not want Audubon’s involvement, and will not be working with Conservation on the Easement.  Addressing Curt’s comment about the age of the Easement warrant article, it was noted that Forestry paid over $20,000 for a Forestry Management Plan, that is older than the Easement, and has been sitting stagnant.  Chris mentioned that Conservation has made good progress for a volunteer board, considering the ups and downs of putting this together, so Conservation will move forward with or without Forestry’s involvement.  These are public meetings, anyone can participate  It was noted that the Selectmen still have the final decision whether or not to accept it.

 

Judy heard from Bruce from Audubon.  He will be attending the December 6th meeting.  There is a sentence he recommends adding a sentence to 14D.  He also had comments regarding the Stewardship Plan.  A copy of his email is attached to the minutes.  The sentence will be added and a new draft copy will be sent to the Selectmen, Forestry, Recreation, and Heritage, as well as Bruce.  At that point, the town attorney can be given a copy for legal review.

 

Four acres of land in the light industrial district are being offered as a donation from the land owner.  It is tax map/lot number 4-253.  It is next to the power lines, across from 111 Storage, on the south side of route 111.  Chris said it wasn’t necessarily a conservation piece, but if the surrounding area is developed, it would be nice to have one green piece there.  Other suggestions for the lot were a cemetery, police department, or a park or other recreational use.  The board members will take a look at it and Chris will write to the Selectmen expressing the opinion that we accept the donation of land.

 

The wildlife inventory was discussed.  Chris has called several times and has left messages that have not been returned.  Michele will continue to try to contact them.

They may be able to help with updating the natural resource inventory.  The last time it was done was 1998.  If they can’t help, they could suggest someone who can.  Michele will try to find out if they can help, when, how much will it cost, and what they need from us. 

 

Judy has found no grants so far.  She will broaden her search and look for grants that pertain to wildlife inventories and natural resource inventories.

 

Michele had found online a copy of a stewardship plan for BW Greenway Land Trust dated June ’06.  It was suggested that it could be used as a template.

 

Minutes from past meetings were discussed.  Chris asked that all minutes be sent to the website, and if sending the draft copy will get Janet to remember to send them, then to add them when she sends the draft to the other board members.  There was a discussion about the propriety of sending draft copies to be posted on the website.  It was decided that since it will state “draft”, if someone wants to see the final version, the next meetings minutes, which will amend and finalize, will have to be perused.

 

The email from Betsy Sanders sent November 15, 2007 at 10:53 am regarding her request for information under the Right to Know 91-A was discussed.  The minutes from the November 1 CC meeting will be amended to clarify the previous discussion regarding this matter.  To address this again the board went through the items she requested.  Her email and corresponding BOS minutes from October 29 are attached.  Chris asked that the minutes reflect word for word what he said.

 

Chris stated the following about Ms. Sanders request:

  1. From Doucet Survey: their recent bill for a meeting between Chris and Carol Baird was rescinded:  “She’s claiming it’s on file at the town hall.  No such bill is on file at the town hall.  It was rescinded and we don’t keep rescinded bills.  It was thrown out.”
  2. From Doucet Survey: proposal to surveying services.  “She’s correct.  It is on file at the town hall and she can view that.”
  3. The original bill for the meeting between Chris and Carol Baird.  On file at the town hall.  Chris said, “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”  Judy and Michele said this is the same thing as number one.  Chris said, “If that’s what it is, it’s not on file at the town hall.  I have no idea what bill she’s talking about.  It’s unclear what she’s asking for.  Our response is, we’re unclear what number three is.”
  4. From Peter Loughlin: email to Chris about two pieces of property believed to be owned by the town hall but claimed to be owned by someone else.  On file at the town hall.  “No, it’s not on file at the town hall and she’s not privileged to have that information between a lawyer and a client.  We don’t know who that someone else is.”
  5. Minutes of the non-public session discussing consideration of land purchases.  There is NO vote cited on the public record to seal the minutes.  There is notation that the public session ended at 8:57 pm.  The Commission never indicated when it came out of the non-public to public session.  Judy asked what meeting she’s talking about and Chris said, “It was the April 19th meeting.  The April 19th minutes we reviewed last meeting.  We looked at the non-public minutes for that and it was decided it was still an ongoing land acquisition and it’s not going to be unsealed until we decide one way or another whether we’re going to pursue it or not.  The only thing that was in non-public that was in the April 19th and it was the consensus of the board to not unseal them.  And as far as there was no vote cited, I said before it was my mistake being made while we are in non-public, not to seal them while we’re in non-public...it was a procedural mistake made on my part, that when we’re done with non-public, we’re supposed to make a motion to come out of non-public, go back into public, and while we’re in public session, vote to seal the non-public minutes while we’re in non-public session.  And the time is supposed to be written down when we come out of non-public and going back into a public session, and we vote to seal the minutes in non-public and then we vote to adjourn if we don’t have any other business to discuss while we’re in non-public.”

 

It will be researched by Chris if the previous minutes which have been accepted as final copies, can be amended again to correctly reflect that the board does come out of non-public sessions.  And it was decided that the only item from Betsy’s list that can be provided to her is number 2: the proposal from Doucet Survey.

 

Correspondence:

 

  • from Central NH Regional Planning Commission.  A CTAP Local Government Cluster Workshop on December 3, 4-8 pm in Manchester.  Conservation Subdivision Design as a Tool for Building Open Space Networks.
  • from Rinker Materials.  New England Stormwater Technology Workshop.  December 12 from 9-12 non in Sturbridge, MA and December 13 from 9-12 noon on Meriden, CT.
  • from DES.  Request for more information regarding a standard dredge and fill application file number 2007-02463, for tax map 3, lot 21-16.

 

 

Jason made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Jason seconded.  The motion passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:50 pm.

 

 

 

*****Next Meeting: December 6, 2007 at 7:30pm****

 

 

THESE MINUTES ARE NOT PERMANENT RECORD AND ARE SUBJECT TO APPROVAL AT THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED CONSERVATION COMMISSION MEETING, AT WHICH TIME, THE ABOVE MINUTES, AS CORRECTED, BECOME PERMANENT.

 

 

Minutes are prepared by Janet S. Denison, clerk