Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – January 19, 2022

Assembly time: 7:00 PM, Meeting at Town Hall.

Members present: Arin Mills, Jed Schwartz, Nan Schwartz

Visitors: Tom Carr, wetland scientist, Meridian and LeEllen Chontos

1.0 Approval of Minutes: The November minutes tabled for approval until next month.

2.0 Permits Committee -

New:

DeMarco, TM 25-117, 1669 Valley Road, Documented violation, no permit for primary structure.

Barkie, TM25-116, 1681 Valley Road, reported violation, construction of 2 garages and altered an existing structure in protected shoreline.

Cote, TM 24-58, 46 Lookout Point Road, installation of dock without a permit.

Town of Washington, Camp Morgan Beach, Millen Pond Road, Standard Dredge and Fill permit application, beach sand replenishment project.

Previous:

Kimball, Shoreland Permit PBN, TM 15-93, 1231 Faxon Hill Road, accepted, building a garage, they have been sent to ZBA for a variance from the wetland setbacks. They received their variance.

Mensh, TM 24-59, Shoreland PBN, Impact 1392 square feet of protected shoreland in order to raze existing 1016 square foot cottage and build a new 1016 square foot cottage on existing footprint.

Mensch, 38 Lookout Point Rd., TM 24-59, Wetlands PBN permit application, DES approved to fix existing retaining wall.

*Johnson/Kimball – Notice of complaint, dredging in Highland Lake, TM 25-93, letter of deficiency and steps to mitigate, dredging will be addressed separately by DES. No new news.

*Bologna – Notice of complaint, dredging in Highland Lake, TM 24-91, letter of deficiency sent July 8^th with mitigation requests. No new news.

*Colette - Complaint of violations, TM 12-69, over clearing of waterfront zone, no follow up yet

*Cordeiro – Notice of complaint from DES concerning excavation violations (no permit or erosion control), no follow up notice.

Mill Pond dredging – Weschler finished his work, issue is done for now, too expensive.

Longval – no news.

* these are complaints with no follow up by DES, we are waiting for more information.

Discussion:

1. Arin wanted to discuss the Beach Sand Replenishment permit application further. She said the Town has a previous wetland permit to replace the culvert adjacent to the field project (a shoreland permit) that they finished. She doesn’t think the culvert was replaced and thinks that project should be finished before they start another. Nan will look for the original permit application materials and Jed will ask Ed Thayer about the culvert. We are supportive of the beach sand replenishment but would like to see any open permit finished first.

2. Nan mentioned to Arin that Don Revane had expressed concerns about a building site on Ashuelot Drive and possible permit violations. He asked her to ask Arin to go out to look at it. We discussed this and Arin decided that the Permit Committee will go out to look, if needed. Nan will contact Don and ask for more specifics on the problem(s) and if they would provide the Permit plans and give us permission to go on the property. We penciled in Monday, January 24^th at 3:30PM to do a site visit if okayed by the BoS.

3. Arin said the BoS asked her to come in to meet with them to discuss the warrant article concerning an easement on the Camp Morgan property. Jed had provided her with the suggested language for the warrant article previously and it hasn’t changed unless the BoS. She asked that they come to our meeting tonight to discuss it but they didn’t show up. Arin asked Jed to go with her to meet with them and he was happy to. A plan was made to go see them on January 27^th at 3:30PM and Arin will call Deb and get an appointment with them. If the 3:30PM slot is not available, they will go to the evening meeting.

4. Arin said she had a conversation with Kelly Colaruso after Jed met with the School Board about the Camp Morgan easement and what property they might want for future expansion or needs of the school. The School Board was happy with the map Jed had drawn pulling out a few acres around the school for future needs. Jed found out from Brian Hotz that it is ok to have a gap between the CM town forest and the lot across Millen Pond Road. Jed said that the area where the Faxon Hill parking area and the fire tower might need to be held out too. Arin said that Kelly is thinking about 3 outdoor classrooms in three separate areas, maybe pavilions. Jed said we can’t promise any kind of building in the easement area. He will get clarification from Brian on what can and can’t be done. Nan mentioned the forestry plan and the natural area behind the school.

3.0 Committee and Board reports:

3.1 Land Protection Committee – Jed said he attended the Millen Lake Association Zoom meeting on Sunday to discuss the proposed easement project on the Camp Morgan property. Brian Hotz from the Forest Society was also on the call. Brian estimated that the cost to do the project would run between $25-35K. The MLA is supportive of the project. Nan found the original plan survey for the property and the deed for the property given to the Elementary School and she gave Arin copies of those.

3.2 Energy Committee – No news.

3.3 Planning Board – Nan mentioned that the Planning Board will have a special ballot for Town Meeting with LUO changes. She shared with Arin what the proposed changes are. Arin asked if the Planning Board would be amenable to working with us to strengthen the wetland setbacks and put in more specific language. She asked if a driveway has the same setbacks as a house. Jed said that the LUO could include mitigation(s) when lessening the setbacks. Arin said that some towns in NH do this and we should look into it. Nan said she was sure that the PB would be happy to work with us on this.

3.4 Forestry Committee – Nan said that we need to get together with the Forestry Committee before Town Meeting to get on the same page about the proposed easement for CM. Jed will reach out to Steve Hanssen and other Forestry Committee members right away and try to get them to come to our February meeting.

3.5 Legislative update – Nan said that NHACC sent out a list of items they are watching.

4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:

4.1 Snowshoe Hike – Arin arranged with Kelly to do a snowshoe hike on February 25^th, Friday, just before February vacation. Arin has tried to contact Fish and Game about borrowing the pelts and tracking materials but she hasn’t been able to reach anyone there. We decided to forget about this and concentrate on doing things outside. Arin said that Kelly had some suggestions for the different age groups. She wants us to do more observation activities with the kids. Arin will send us what Kelly wrote to her so we can discuss it. Arin said maybe we could have a scavenger list to look for specific things when we are out snowshoeing.

5.0 New Business:

5.1 Tom Carr and LeEllen Chontos came in to speak with us about her lot in LAE on the corner of Presidential Drive and Madison. The forested lot has a lot of forested wetland and seep groundwater near the house location, the lot was mapped by Carr last spring. They shared a survey plan for building a residence on the lot and wanted to speak with us about variances that would be needed in order to build. She stated she has no plans to build herself but wants to sell with an approved plan. We discussed how it might work to get a building permit without a design. Nan suggested that Carr add storm water infiltration to the plan to help with the wetlands variance that was needed. Jed suggested they speak with the BoS about the logistics of getting a building permit and variances when they don’t plan to build.

6.0 Other Business:

6.1 Trails and Recreation Guide Booklet – Arin and Nan will continue their work on the booklet. We need a few more descriptions for hikes. We need to check Twin Bridge, Farnsworth Hill and Jackson Hill. We will continue working on it with a goal to publish the booklet this winter/spring.

6.2 East Washington Town Forest – Arin asked that we keep this on the agenda.

6.3 Facebook Page – Arin said she is continuing to post items when she can. To check out the CC’s Facebook page go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2173271309586226/

6.4 Master Plan goals for 2022 – This is a placeholder.

6.5 Tracking Invasive Plants project – The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html

6.6 ATV/UTV road usage map - Jed will talk to printers after Town Meeting because he didn’t get it done in 2021 and BoS are putting money in the budget to cover the cost of printing again.

7.0 What’s Happening in Nature?

Jed said it has gotten cold and we finally had a good snowstorm with snow that is sticking around. Arin said it was the first substantial snow of the season.

Arin had a flock of Red Polls at her feeder or they may have been Purple Finches, she wasn’t quite sure which it was.

Jed saw a Mourning Dove get snatched by a hawk from under the bird feeder.

Jed saw lots of Bob cat tracks and Snowshoe Hare tracks in the woods. He saw a Snowshoe Hare cross the road early one morning. Arin saw 2 bull Moose hanging out together on Faxon Hill Road. She got a picture of them. She also saw a deer hanging out by the side of the road near the transfer station. Arin saw two Owls fly across the road near the transfer station together. Nan said they are probably starting to nest now. To find out more about owls nesting, click here: NewinNature.html

8.0 Correspondence:

DES notices on DeMarco, Barkie and Cote violations, Mensh permit acceptance

9.0 Adjourned at 9:42PM, the next meeting is Wednesday, February 16^th at 7PM, at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz, Secretary