Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes
– June 18, 2008
Assembly time: 7:00 PM.
Present: Nan Schwartz, Arin Mills, Tom Taylor, Rich Cook, Don Richard, Johanna Young, Lindley Rankine
Visitors:
Dennis Kelly
1.0 Approval of Minutes: May minutes, Rich motioned to accept as written, Tom seconded, the vote was unanimous to accept.
2.0 Old Business:
2.1 Dredge and Fill Committee –
Tom volunteered to take us out to see the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of
Mary property. We have been asked by the brothers and Selectmen to take a look
at the trestle bridge/conduit that was built on the property to bring power out
to their buildings. They want our opinion on whether they need to file a Dredge
and Fill Permit with DES. We will wait until Carol returns and set a date to
go.
Meridian Land Services sent a
restoration Plan for the Ursini property on Sandy Cove Road. They were found to
had violated the Shoreland Protection Act setbacks and are required to restore
(replant) the waterfront.
DES sent notice that the Standard Dredge and Fill application from Art Scarneo property on Highland Lake, Tax Map 25 Lot 85 didn't meet the permanent dock criteria. They are asking the Scarneos to submit plans for a seasonal dock.
2.2 NRI Maps and Conservation Plan
– Carol, Nan, Sandy and Arin still plan to meet with Chris later this
month to go over the maps and get the NRI finished up. Chris has sent a 21 page
excerpt of his 1st draft of the NRI report, Nan will send it out to
everyone to look over.
Arin
asked about the printed piece we are working on about the Conservation Plan.
Nan will contact Sandy and see how she is doing on the first draft.
2.3 Energy
Committee – the Energy Committee sponsored a movie night June 6th at 7PM. They showed – "Kilowatt Hours". They are thinking of doing a speaker next time, possibly Tim Sentros (sp?). Johanna mentioned that the same grant group is taking applications again this year. We will think about what we might try to get funds for this year. The deadline is September 15th. The Energy Committee wants to be involved with the Town Hall renovation in terms of making it energy saving sensitive and efficient. They will bring this up at the All Boards meeting. Johanna has been giving out energy information at the Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings.
2.4 Adopt-a-Highway trash pick up
– We picked up trash on Saturday, June 14th. We filled 6 bags
and picked up some ticks, too.
2.5 Rich asked about the two letters we
were going to send to the Selectmen, one about tax parcels not being sold at
this time and the other about the Twin Bridges issue. Nan will check with Carol
and we will get them out ASAP.
3.0 New Business:
3.1 Space Needs
– Dennis Kelly spoke with us about our space needs on behalf of the Space
Needs Task Force. We mentioned needing file space, meeting space, flat map file
space for the NRI and Conservation Plan maps. Nan will have Carol call Dennis
to see if she has anything to add to the list of needs.
3.2 Tom spoke about the Forestry
Committee. Aileen is looking to step down as Chair and Tom has volunteered to
step in and fill the position. He is going to set a date for the committee to
meet soon. Aileen had spoken to Carol about the Committee being brought under
the Conservation Commission but Tom feels this would be a decision that would
have to be made by the town at Town Meeting.
4.0 WhatÕs
Happening in Nature?
Lots of Black bears with cubs were spotted recently. Arin saw a pair crossing the road before the dump on Route 31, Don saw one near Shiloh Farm (East Washington Road) and Johanna saw a pair near Exit 5 on Route 89. Dennis has been seeing lots of partridge around town. Johanna saw a brown duck with a hairdo that she couldn't identify, could be a merganser.
Arin mentioned she hasn't been hearing as many loons on Ashuelot Pond this year, she saw one by the dam on Millen Pond. Dennis mentioned a pair on Island Pond that return every year.
Don gave us an update on his Chestnut trees. The one that is close to the road has 6 inch catkins on it now, he can't actually see the flowers so they will be estimating when it will be ready to pollinate. He could use a pair of powerful binoculars or a telephoto lens to get a better look, so if anyone can help him out give him a call at 495-3076. Don is going to Thetford, Vermont to learn how to do the pollinating in the next couple of weeks. Bartlett Tree Experts has volunteered to do the pollinating using their lift equipment so Don will have to train them and they will do the actual pollinating and bagging. Don estimates the pollination will take place in about 3 weeks.
Arin
talked about helping out with the Karner Blue Butterfly restoration project in
Concord. The Fish and Game Department is working with the Army National Guard
and many other organizations to restore the habitat and restore the butterfly
to an area near the Concord airport. For more information about the Karner Blue
Butterfly and the restoration project click here:
http://www.washingtonnh.org/WCC_Html/NewinNature.html.
Dennis
talked about the deep water drawdown they did on Island Pond, it caused the
Pickerel weed to disappear and the native milfoil (not the bad milfoil) to take
over.
5.0 Other Business –
5.1 Tom mentioned that the boat and
OHRV traffic on Ashuelot and the other lakes in town are very light for this
time of year.
6.0 Correspondence:
DES – Request for more information,
Scarneo Dredge and Fill, see 2.1 above
UNH – "Landscaping at the Water's Edge" course offered at Knowlton House in Sunapee Harbor, July 15,17 and 22nd
Office of Senator John Sununu – 2008
Guide to Federal Conservation Programs on CD
Letter from Slaves of the Immaculate Heart
of Mary – requesting that we look at their conduit trestle/bridge, see
2.1 above
Meridian
Land Services – Copy of Restoration Plan for Ursini property, see 2.1
above
7.0 Adjourned at 8:10 PM, our next scheduled meeting is July 16th at 7 PM at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz
Secretary