Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes – April 20, 2016
Assembly time: 7:00 PM
Members present: Doug Cook, Arin Mills, Jed Schwartz, Tom Taylor and Nan Schwartz.
Visitors: Pete Martin, Jim Beard, Sue Lichty and John Brighton
Jed opened the meeting and we took up the Trail grant issue first because we had guests attending for this discussion, see 5.1.
1.0 Approval of Minutes: February minutes, Doug motioned to approve as written, Arin seconded and all voted in favor.
March minutes, Nan made a motion to approve as written, Doug seconded and all voted in favor..
2.0 Permits Committee - No new permits.
3.0 Committee and Board reports:
3.1 Land Protection Committee - Nothing new, Jed said we have one small possible future protection project. Arin asked about the Bartlett project and whether or not we had done anything with the property so far. Jed explained to Tom how we acquired the land and that we are going to offer it to abutters. Nan said she will work on getting a list of abutters and work up a letter to them.
3.2 Energy Committee – No news from Johanna.
3.3 Planning Board – Nan said the Planning Board has taken on the Town Buildings project for this year.
3.4 Forestry Committee – Tom said that he just got back to town and the FC has some decisions to make. They had wanted to do a winter cut on the Farnsworth Hill TF. They are fixing up the road but want to ask the police to keep an eye on the use of the road. Arin asked about the foresterÕs plan. Tom said that Anita is doing an addendum to LionelÕs original plan and has started with Farnsworth Hill TF. She will do the other parcels over time. Jed asked about a specific report on the FHTF and Tom thinks it is already online. He will check and if not he will send the report to Nan to post.
3.5 Legislative update - No news
4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:
4.1 Hike – Reschedule Bradford Bog hike for April/May when the Rhodura are blooming. Arin asked if we did the hike on the April 17th date we tentatively set and Nan said that the rhodura hasnÕt bloomed yet so the hike hasnÕt happen yet. We discussed a new date for the hike and settled on Saturday, May 14th, at 10am to noon. Jed will send Arin a text to confirm.
4.2 Discuss other possible School presentation we can do this spring – We decided that the mushroom growing idea wasnÕt the best and decided to come up with a new idea. Arin said time is short for doing anything before school is out. Jed suggested we do something with the kids at Camp Morgan this summer, maybe the presentation on pollinators. Doug said we could make pollinator houses with the kids using fragmites canes. Arin said there is a fragmites patch at the old land fill site we could harvest the dried canes. Everyone though this is a great idea. We will look for a pollinator presentation we can use.
5.0 New Business:
5.1 Trails grant discussion – Jed spoke about the Trail Grant that Carol made us aware of. It is an 80/20 match of which, 20% can be labor and materials. They donÕt have money available for planning. Pete said that the work has to be done by September 30, 2017 and the grants are awarded in November of 2016making for a tight timeline. John asked where the trail would go and would it be a loop trail? Sue asked how we would get across the river. She mentioned the snowmobile club has a bridge but it is at Twin Bridges. Jed doesnÕt think we are talking about a loop, just a connecting trail. Tom said that a year ago the Forestry Committee had a vision for a trail through the Farnsworth Hill Town Forest to Silver Mountain in Lempster. He said it wouldnÕt be a snowmobile trail, just a hiking trail. Jed said the grant is for recreational trails. Sue said that we would need to speak to the Forest Society because this is their land. Jim said that Swift Corwin, their forester is working on a master plan for a trail as well as a timber cut. He managed the Headwater propertyÕs cut. They have walked the property with him and he did a GPS course during the walk. Sue showed us a map of the walk she had done to the Washington Line. John asked what is it we want to accomplish? He thinks basically the land that goes from Sunapee to Pillsbury down to the Andorra Forest has a one-mile gap and the idea is to try to make a connection, he thinks there are opportunities, what do we really want to accomplish. Where is the parking going to be, how will the public utilize the land, where does the trail go? He said the Monadnock/Sunapee Greenway trail could be used to branch south of Millen and go west to Farnsworth Hill. Tom really likes what John is saying but he thinks what we need for discussion is a larger map. He thinks that to get to Andorra Forest you should not go down King Street, you should go down the west side of Ashuelot. Sue said that JeftÕs cemetery is great, Jim mentioned Sand Pond and the way to get there on the west side of Ashuelot. Tom said there are lots of large parcels on that side of Ashuelot and you could work to get easements on those for a trail. Pete thinks the vision is great but we need to start with a trail from Farnsworth Hill to Silver Mountain. Jed said we need to start by discussing and zeroing in on a project and do more development. Jim recommends we wait a year while they do their process with Swift. John will get some maps from Brian Hotz at SPNHF to help with future planning. He thinks that from an economic standpoint for the towns that trails can spur small businesses and be an economic stimulus. Jon says he has to get his family on board to have public trails on their land and is thinking of having Swift look at their land. Jed said the connection right now is the snowmobile trail but we can do branch trails for hiking. Jed asked about the timing for Swift doing his assessment and Jim said it should be done this summer. He suggested we meet again after his plan is done. Pete mentioned Lew Shelley, who is an independent trail consultant that we could use in the future. John is curious about the types of trails, hiking and snowshoe as opposed to snowmobile, who will use the trails and how to share them seasonally. Sue and Jed think they can be shared use. Tom said when he thinks of a trail he thinks of an indian trail, not straight but winding. Pete said the location of a trail is important, you should take in important features and this is not conducive to snowmobiles, he wants a rugged trail. Tom talked about rock formations and nice features on the Town Forest land. John drew a line on the map where some trails exist and said we should get together and mark up a map. Jed said that Jim should call him when Swift is done and we will figure a way to connect the two towns. Arin said she looked at last yearÕs grant round and two towns got together to do a trail. We decided to pass on this grant round. John read a passage he wrote and spoke of the value and specialness of the land.
5.2 Election of Officers – Jed asked Arin if she would like to be chair, she said she is happy to be vice chair at this point. Tom nominated Jed for Chair, Arin for Vice Chair and Nan for Secretary, Doug seconded the motion and all voted in favor.
5.3 Corvus tactical training facility proposed for Bradford and Hillsboro - We discussed the Corvus development issue and Jed said he went to the informational meeting held in April and gathered information and sent it to the Selectmen. They acknowledged getting the information in their minutes but havenÕt shown much interest so far. He said that Doug is taking the lead with the Bradford and Hillsboro leadership group and will keep us up to date with what is happening. Tom said his concern is when he reads what they are proposing he thinks the noise will destroy East Washington, there is no way to mitigate the noise made by the shooting range. He thinks the Selectmen should be involved early on in the process. Doug said that the Bradford Selectmen are trying to push it through. Arin said the Guard did a shooting range and there are not a lot of laws to regulate them. There is also not a lot of data on the effects on animals and wildlife. She said there is residue from explosions (perchloride) that is harmful. Tom thinks the clientele will be paramilitary and maybe military. Tom will speak to the Selectmen. Arin said we need to get out in front on this and the Planning Board should be looking at our ordinances to deal with something like this.
5.4 Trash Pick up – We scheduled Saturday, April 30th for our first pickup date, meet at 9AM at the Library parking lot. Nan will get a new box of bags.
6.0 Other Business:
6.1 Master Plan goals for 2016 – We will talk more about goals in May.
6.2 Natural Resource Inventory Map updates – Nan said she sent Chris the tax parcel data from the mappers. She will try to set a meeting for Arin, Doug and Nan to meet with Chris for sometime in May. Arin will do Natural Heritage Bureau checks for all the Town owned properties.
6.3 Barker trail easement – No new news.
6.4 Tracking Invasive Plants project – Start to look for spring emergence as the growing season begins. Arin entered the 2 reports from Phil Barker to the map. She also got the web map working and will send Nan the link for it to put on the website. The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html
7.0 WhatÕs Happening in Nature?
Nan said the weather has been warm but it is very dry with fire warnings.
Tom said that there are tons of birds around, beautiful birds, Gold Finches, Purple Finches lots of different birds filling the air with songs. He has some large black birds (maybe Ravens) around, the Bald Eagle is back with a young eagle. The loons and herons are back also.
Doug can hear baby Ravens in the nest near his house.
Arin said the wood turtles are out now and she is starting to track them again at work.
Jed saw frogs crossing the road, on a rainy night, near Peterborough on March 17th. Nan said the wood frogs are busy croaking and Doug said the peepers were out on April 1st.
Arin said Phil heard a Bard Owl last night.
Doug said that the porcupines are out and Sara is pulling quills at work.
Jed said the porcupine nesting near his trail was staying in the same hollow tree base as last year. Arin suggested Jed go look for his wood turtle soon. You can find them sunning on the bank near the brook.
Did you know that NH Fish and Game has a reptile and amphibian reporting program (RAARP), they want to know about your sightings of reptiles and amphibians from spring peepers to snapping turtles, to learn more click here: NewinNature.html
8.0 Correspondence:
NH DOT regarding our Sponsor-a-highway program
UNH postcard, Stewardship Network training guides available online at: newengland.stewardshipnetwork.org/training-guides
Copy of Wetlands permit for culvert replacement, Faxon Hill Rd. TM22-48
Copy of SupplyLines
9.0 Adjourned at 9:00 PM, our next scheduled meeting is May 18th, at 7PM at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz, Secretary