WASHINGTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Minutes- June 28, 2006

1.0 Assembly: Time 7:00 p.m.

Present: Carol Andrews, Don Richard, Tom Taylor, Jed Schwartz, Nan Schwartz

2.0 Approval of Minutes: Jed moved we approve the minutes of April 19,2006 and May 17, 2006 as printed. Second by Carol. Motion passed.

3.0 Old Business:

3.1 Dredge and Fill Committee- no new activity. We received a copy of the site specific permit for the Saint Benedict Center & the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary group. They are moving along in the permitting process. The sisters’ plan is for 1 large house, 1 chapel, 10 cabins and a bath house for their summer use retreat.

3.2 Lempster Mountain Wind Project informational meeting– May 19^th

There were quite a few people in attendance. Dr. Wolfe and his wife are very much afraid about what their view will be of the wind farm. Extensive studies on plants and wildlife are being done.

A site evaluation meeting took place in Concord on June 21^st. Many people spoke for and against the project. Lempster knows that the project is too large for them to deal with and is seeking state help. A state committee of representatives from about 12 different agencies will review the project.

3.3 Adopt a highway was cancelled for June 2^nd because of rainy weather. We will try for July 7^th at 9:00 a.m. behind the town hall. Nan will send out an email to see who can attend, we need at least 4 people. Please bring gloves.

3.4 Vote to reimburse Sandy for her purchase of foam core for mounting the NRI maps for public viewing and comment. This is not to exceed $100.00. Jed moves, Nan seconded, All in favor.

3.5 NRI Co-occurrence Map – Carol had a short meeting with Chris last week, he gave us a new menu of factors to use for our weighting on the co-occurrence map. We had a special work meeting on May 24^th to try and nail down the weighting factors and only succeeded in getting a handle on what the factors were and what we needed to do. This meeting we tackled the job. We decided to group agriculture and forest soils together but keep them in 2 separate types within the group, add the Monadnock/Sunapee Greenway, Riperian corridors, change the category of Biodiversity and forest resources to just Forest Resources. The weighting we decided on follows:

1.Water Resources (40%) 

Aquifer 8

CSPA 8

SPARROW 6

NWI          6

PFGWA 4

PWS 4

WHPA 4

2.Soils (25%)

A.  Agricultural Soils (15%)

Active farmland            5

Prime farmland             5

Statewide significance    3

Local significance          2 (give less weight to the larger area)

B.  Forest Soils (10%)  

1 A        4

1 B        4

1 C        2

3.Wildlife Habitat (25%)

Undeveloped Lake Shore  6

Wetlands                       6

Riparian corridor            6

Unfragmented lands        4

Grasslands                     2

South Facing Slopes        1

4.Recreation/Cultural (10%)

Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway Trail      6

Snowmobile and other trails                      4

Carol will forward our numbers on to Kane/Ingraham and they will make us a co-occurrence map using our weight factors.

4.0 New Business - none

5.0 Correspondence:

NH Fish & Game: Aquatic Resources Education Watershed Ecology course

UVLSRPC invitation to annual meeting

Student Conservation Association- ad for trail work services

NH Community Forestry Advisory Council Bulletin

NH Local Government Center Defining Your Building Program

Southern NH Resource Conservation & Development Area

Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust invite to Dick Webb’s birthday 7/30

St. Benedicts Center Site Specific permit

 6.0 Adjournment: 9:55pm                    

7.0 Next Meeting Date: July 19th at 7 p.m. at the Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

 Nan Schwartz

Secretary