Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – February 17, 2016

 

Assembly time: 7:00 PM

 

Members present: Arin Mills, Doug Cook, Jed Schwartz and Nan Schwartz.

Visitors: Andrew Hatch

 

1.0    Approval of Minutes: Approval of minutes from our January meeting, Doug motioned to approve the minutes as written, Arin seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

 

2.0    Permits Committee  - We took a look at the permit for Faxon Hill culvert replacement and Nan commented that she looked at the site. It is a Wetlands permit that doesnÕt require our signature and we decided we didnÕt have any objections or comments to make to DES on it.

 

3.0   Committee and Board reports:

3.1   Land Protection Committee  - Jed reported that we sent a thank you note for the generous property donation to Karen Bartlett. Nan had a copy of the registered deed for our files. We received a bill from the attorney for their services.

        Jed commented that he attended the hike in Lempster to tour a forestry cut on SPNHF conservation land. They were doing three patch cuts for wildlife, one was 4 acres and another 2 acres and they were also doing a selective cut of mature trees for lumber.

3.2   Energy Committee – Johanna sent a note but Andrew stopped by to bring us up to date on Energy Committee news. He said he did a walk through at the GibsonÕs house with the thermal imaging camera and will do a report for them. He said they have put some storm windows on the upstairs since they first spoke about the project. He found more spots where they can caulk and weather stripping to tighten things up. He took pictures inside and out. He wanted talk to us about the remaining money from their grant. He doesnÕt want to bother us about accounting small amounts so he wants to use the $300 to purchase material that they can use for donating to people in need. He will buy extra material that they can sell to owners that can afford to buy them. He hasnÕt reached out to welfare yet with all the changes going on in that department. He did a low-income project in Newport (NH) involving window kits and found it very fulfilling. He would like to replicate that in Washington. He said that the grant money they got is seed money to get the program going. Andrew canÕt be at Town Meeting but Al and Johanna will be there to speak about the camera. Nan asked if they want some promotion and Andrew said yes. He said he attended the net metering hearing in Concord.

3.3   Planning Board – No news.

3.4   Forestry Committee – Tom was not in attendance but he sent an email and asked us to support the .warrant article to raise money ($8K) to upgrade Old Marlow Road to do the logging on the Farnsworth Hill Town Forest (FHTF) property. Jed said he will call Tom to get all the details and get a copy of the foresterÕs report on the FHTF.

3.5   Legislative update  - Jed gave us an update on the proposed Bobcat season, the F&G Commissioners voted to support instituting a hunting and trapping season by a vote of 5 to 4 in favor. It now goes to the joint legislative body for approval.

 

4.0   Public Presentations and workshops:

4.1   School Presentation – We will be at school on February 19th for the tracking presentation. Arin will pick up the kits from Fish and Game on Thursday. Nan found information about hibernators. We went over our other materials and decided to do the inside activities first and then take the two older groups outside to look for tracks. We will meet at 8:15 at the school.

We set a date for our winter hike for Sunday March 6th, if the weather is bad we will reschedule. We decided to do the Bradford Bog hike and will use snowshoes if needed. We will ask people to bring snacks and wonÕt provide any ourselves. Arin will work on a poster/flyer and Nan will get in touch with the Bradford CC.

Arin will get in touch with the Watershed on Wheels coordinator to set a date for a visit to the school this spring.

4.2   Nan had a brochure for the Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series taking place four Tuesday evenings in March at Fox State Forest in Hillsboro at 7PM. March 1st – Understanding Bobcats, March 15 - Ticks & Tick-borne diseases, March 22 – Bats in NH, March 29 – WhatÕs bugging NHÕs Moose?.

Also they are holding a Friends of Fox Forest winter outing and Potluck dinner on Saturday February 20th, including a 1PM hike, pot luck dinner at 5:30. Afterward, there is a program on the restoration efforts for the American Chestnut.

4.3   Tracking Invasive Plants project – Project is on hold until spring emergence and growing season. The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html

 

5.0   New Business:

5.1   Master Plan goals for 2016 – We will talk about goals in March. Nan said we are working on several goals already with our land protection and educational activities.

5.2   We received an invoice from Drummond/Woodsum for the Karen Bartlett property deed work, Nan made a motion to pay $546 for services rendered, Arin seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Nan will bring the invoice to Lynda for payment.

 

6.0   Other Business:

6.1   Natural Resource Inventory Map updates – Nan said she sent Chris information about newly protected land in Washington and she is working on getting the tax parcel data from the mappers to send to Chris. Arin would like the data first to see if she can make the shape files and save time and money with Chris.

6.2  Barker trail easement – No new news.

 

7.0   WhatÕs Happening in Nature?

Jed reported he saw moose tracks in East Washington recently. The moose wandered around, went down to the pond and went back into the woods. He has seen lots of wild turkeys traveling between his house and DougÕs. Doug said he saw where they are nesting in the trees at night, near his house.

Nan said that in the recent cold snap we went down to -24 degrees, Arin said that it was -22 at her house. We have had crazy up and down temperatures lately. Doug said the high temperature was 50 the other day. Arin asked about whether all the ponds are frozen over. Nan said there was open water last week but now they seem to be frozen over.

Arin saw a snowshoe hare pass in front of her car.

Jed said we have not had much snow this winter and the storms we have had have only been 4 or 5 inches at most.

Arin has had purple finches at her feeder after not seeing them for years. Nan said they have had several at their feeder too.

To read about our state bird the Purple Finch, click here: NewinNature.html

 

8.0   Correspondence:

Invoice from Drummond/Woodsum

            Brochure for 2016 Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series

            Card for Saving Special Places conference, Saturday, April 9th, at Prospect Mountain HS in Alton

 

 

9.0   Adjourned at 8:15 PM, our next scheduled meeting is March 16th, at 7PM at the Town Hall.

 

Respectfully submitted,                       

Nan Schwartz, Secretary