Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – June 15, 2022

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

Members present: Arin Mills, Jed Schwartz, Nan Schwartz

Visitors: None

1.0 Approval of Minutes: May minutes approved as written.

2.0 Permits Committee –

New: Calabro, TM 14-184, DES notice of Standard Dredge and Fill Wetlands permit application, Arin will contact Barbara Skuly to see if she has a copy of the application because we did not receive one. We did receive the notice of an application submitted but not in time to comment. DES 2022-01582

Kaufman, TM 14-495, Complete seasonal dock notification, DES 2022-01501

Previous: Habashian, TM 24-64, 18 Lookout Point, Expedited wetlands permit, accepted and approved.

Stubbs, TM 20-182, Beaver Brook Road, Expedited Wetlands Permit application, new pictures (without snow cover) and an erosion plan for construction were provided and we got a copy of the documents.

Voisine, TM 24-108-1, 126 Cove Rd, PBN for dock anchoring pad, also required to do a restoration plan for cutting trees in the waterfront zone, approved application and plan.

Johnson, TM 25-93, 1901 Valley Road, Wetland PBN, incomplete application, application denied.

Barkie, TM 25-116, 1681 Valley Road, reported violation, construction of 2 garages and altered an

existing structure in protected shoreline. Letter of Deficiency received.

Town of Washington, Camp Morgan Beach, Millen Pond Road, Standard Dredge and Fill permit application, beach sand replenishment project, permit approved. Work is being done this week.

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

*Johnson/Kimball – Notice of complaint, dredging in Highland Lake, TM 25-93, letter of deficiency and steps to mitigate. Incomplete PBN for dock.

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

Longval – Arin and Jed spoke with the BoS and they are willing to entertain a land swap or equal

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

3.0 Committee and Board reports -

3.1 Land Protection Committee – Jed met with the BoS and has arranged a meeting with them and Brian Hotz for June 30^th at 3PM. Jed will check with Carol to see if she wants to attend. The Forest Society is working on a budget for the project. We met with Kelli (WES) to discuss school needs and hiked around looking at outdoor classroom possibilities.

3.2 Energy Committee – They have not been meeting but Andrew is working with the School Board and is looking for some potential incentives for getting weatherization and energy projects done.

3.3 Planning Board – No news.

3.4 Forestry Committee – We met with the BoS and Anita Blakeman about a possible cut on the Camp Morgan Town Forest. No Forestry Committee members were able to attend. Anita was tasked with taking a walk on the property and making a report. We will meet again once she has done that.

3.5 Legislative update – No news.

4.0 Public Presentations and workshops –

4.1 Hillsboro CC invited us to a Land Conservation Seminar, on June 25^th, Saturday, from 10 to Noon, taking place at Fox State Forest. To RSVP - mail to:conservation@hillsboroughnh.net.

5.0 New Business:

5.1 Adopt-a-Highway Trash Pickup –We rescheduled our first trash pickup for June 22^th at 3:15PM. We will meet at the parking area by the Library.

6.0 Other Business:

6.1 Trails and Recreation Guide Booklet – Nan and Arin will continue working on this. The old trail map has been reprinted and Nan left some copies for the Town Clerk to sell.

6.2 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/

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

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

6.5 ATV/UTV road usage map – Has been printed and Jed left the box of maps for Deb.

6.6 East Washington Town Forest – The gravel committee is met and the borings are being done soon.

7.0 What’s Happening in Nature?

Jed saw a young Black Bear up on Bear Hill Road.

He said that the gardens are growing well and it has been a great spring with good moisture. He said their strawberries are in.

Arin saw a small brown snake in her garden (pencil sized). She wasn’t sure what kind of snake it was.

Jed mentioned they have 2 sets of Blue Birds in their boxes. He saw a Flicker in his pasture and there are Barn Swallows nesting in the barn.

Nan mentioned that Reid and Cody had a Painted Turtle that dug a hole in the lawn and laid eggs. They are watching the spot so they can help the hatchlings make it across the road to the pond.

Arin saw a very skinny fox in LAE.

Arin mentioned that the trees along Rte 202 and 9 on the way to Concord, are being defoliated by Spongy Moths (formerly known as Gypsy Moths). To learn more about Spongy Moths, click here: NewinNature.html

8.0 Correspondence:

9.0 Adjourned at 8:46PM, the next meeting is Wednesday, June 15^th at 7PM, at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz, Secretary