Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – July 15, 2015

 

Assembly time: 7:00 PM.

 

Members present: Arin Mills, Tom Taylor, Johanna Young, Jed Schwartz and Nan Schwartz.

Visitors: Phil Mills

 

1.0    Approval of Minutes: Approval of Minutes from June meeting, Johanna motioned to approve the minutes, Arin seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

 

2.0    Permits Committee  - No new permits.

 

3.0   Committee and Board reports:

3.1   Land Protection Committee  - Jed reported that there were no new details but Karen Bartlett is working with the town attorney to transfer her property to the town in trust for the Conservation Commission. The Colby property is a Forest Society project that is in the works. Tom asked what the advantage is for the town when the Forest Society takes land instead of the town holding the conservation property. Jed explained that the property taxes continue to be paid on the property and they have stewards that oversee the property, they are better equipped to take care of the properties. Tom has an issue with Pillsbury State Park being state land and not town land, it was donated to the state as a research forest and the town gets no benefit or discount even though it part of the town.

3.2   Energy Committee – Johanna reported that the EC met last Thursday and they are working on drafting the chapter for the Master Plan update. They are aiming to have it done by the 28th when the committee is meeting. They will next focus on their Washington Warm Neighbors project. They are advising someone right now on weatherizing improvements. Arin asked about the grant they were going to apply for. Johanna said that they are still working on it and will be pursuing getting an infra-red camera.

3.3   Planning Board – Nan said that the Master Plan Update Committee has 3 more chapters done, is finishing up the Services and Facilities chapter and is anticipating getting the Energy Chapter soon. They are planning another public hearing in September to finish the process. She said that the PB is doing a site walk next week at Shane Mulliner's new business location, she asked if anyone had concerns that should be considered. Fuel storage, servicing of vehicles, septic were all mentioned.

3.4   Forestry Committee – Tom said that the FC conducted a site visit with their forester and one of the Farnsworth Hill Forest land stewards to discuss and look at possible ways for egress when they are logging the town forest. They identified 4 possible options, of which there are 3 decent options. 1. Drag up the hill to the north landing site that was used when the FHF was logged. They feel this was undesirable because of restoration work already done on the existing landing. 2. Rebuild the Old Marlow Road from the existing landing to the FH town forest, this would yield no revenue from the cut. This could be a positive as it upgrades the road to LAE and could provide an alternate route out of the subdivision, but it might cause an increase in traffic on the class 6 road. 3. Down Old Marlow Road about 2/3s of the way to the town forest there is a smaller landing on the FHF (south landing), they feel they could drag the logs there. They are getting estimates to upgrade the road to this point and Ed Thayer is going out to look to figure out what they an do economically. They will make a decision on 2 options and send them to all the interested parties. They are hoping to do a cut this winter. Arin asked the purpose of the cut. Tom said they want to revitalize the pine section using cuts to open up trails, do forest management and open up for wildlife. He said revenue is not primary but it is important to cover the cost of the cut.

        Tom spoke about the Elementary School/forest issue and said the FC made a decision and are contacting the School Board with it. He said Dr. Johnson was asking them to clear out the dead trees and make the forest safer for the kids. Shane Mulliner is logging on an adjacent property and offered to come in and do it. He would have had to do a 13-acre cut to make it worthwhile and cover his costs. He said this part of the property is designated as a research forest and keep in a natural state, as per the forestry plan for the Camp Morgan property. The plan is to leave it for 100 years to see what it does. He said they are faced with the school having been given 10 acres but it is not clearly marked, the assumption was always that the back line of the play area is their back property line. He said that DPW did remove 2 dead trees along the exit driveway. They are sending a letter to the School Board.

3.5    Legislative update  - No news.

 

4.0   Public Presentations and workshops:

4.1   Speaking for Wildlife – Arin said we are doing the Bat Talk this Friday, July 17th at the Town Hall from 7 to 9pm. We have put up posters, sent flyers home with the camp kids and hope for a good crowd. Arin has the power point and is going over it, Nan will pick up the kit from Cooperative Extension in Newport on Thursday. We will meet at 6:30 to set up on Friday night.

4.3   Tracking Invasive Plants project - Everyone should keep documenting any plants they find, Nan said she noticed a large stand of Knotweed next to the General Store and will fill out a sheet on it. The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html

 

5.0   New Business:

5.1   Bat Survey - Arin said the bat guy still has not gotten back to her about doing an inventory for us. She said that the Northern Long Eared bat is now federally listed and he is monitoring the Guard properties for her. She said that any logging being done this time of year is a threat to the bats and their pups. She spoke with Kim Tuttle at Fish and Game who said they bats leave for their hibernacula in October. She has borrowed an acoustic monitor for Audubon and after the meeting tonight Jed, Nan, Arin and Phil are going to go out to Twin Bridge to see if they can hear and see any bats. The Northern Long Eared bat was found out there when it was inventoried previously. They roost in the trees in cracks and crevasses, she feels the town should protect things found in town. She said that if they find something through acoustic monitoring on the Guard property they have to do a mist netting which costs between $15 and 20K.

5.2   Nan found out that the cemetery mowing is contracted by the Cemetery Committee. We will speak with them about the timing of mowing the open field to protect the pollinators.

 

6.0   Other Business:

6.1   Adopt-a-Highway trash pick up– We will pick a date in August or early September for our next pick up.

6.2   Natural Resource Inventory Map updates – Arin and Nan will continue to work on the list.

6.3   Emerald Ash Borer – No new news.

6.4  Barker easement – Nan looked into NH Trails Bureau and there are several possibilities for grants, but no funds available right now, possibly later this year. She will check periodically with NH Trails Bureau website for grant round openings.

6.5   Johanna's Swim - She has scheduled August 15th, Saturday at 10am for her annual swim across Millen Lake. We will mention it to Lynn Cook.

6.6   Arin said DES came out and looked at the LAE marina, where the brush cutting was done. They talked to Connor about the rules and letting the blueberries grow back in the area.

6.7   Jed will call Lionel about a hike to the caves, he knows of. He will also speak with him about the wetland property. Johanna commented that she has caves on her property. Tom said that going from the Farnsworth Hill forest toward Ashuelot there is an area where there are large boulders and caves and they say that bootleggers used to use them. He said there is a beautiful place to hike out there along the Ashuelot River toward Lempster. Phil said he did a river trip up in there and it was beautiful. Tom said it would be a good winter hike as there are a lot of wetlands.

 

7.0   WhatÕs Happening in Nature?

Johanna has had a lot of bear activity, she saw a mom and 2 cubs and yesterday she saw a juvenile near her house. Lindley used the car alarm to scare it off, they have been visiting her compost in the late afternoon. She has had a lot of deer chewing her bushes and saw Bob Cat scat.

Arin has seen lots of deer in LAE.

Jed mentioned that someone at the recent fire meeting said he had a pig attacked by a Mountain Lion, the pig owner saw the catÕs long tail. He called Fish and Game to report it and they said they don't recognize that they exist in the state. Arin said Phil saw one near the transfer station. Tom said that a young deer was killed in LAE by a cat and it was gutted. Jed said that coyotes would go for the guts, too.

Phil said that he saw a mature bald eagle flying over the water in LAE. Tom said there are lots of eagles around LAE.

Jed said he was at Mill Pond and there was a beaver swimming around near the dam and there were people swimming and fishing nearby. He hadn't seen that before. Phil said a beaver near the marina in LAE splashed the water with his tail at them. He said they can be very territorial and will bite if provoked.

Phil saw a porcupine come out of the woods recently.

Tom said there are lots of turkeys around, Nan said she saw a flock of them with their poults in the cemetery.

Johanna had Cedar Waxwings in her driveway.

Phil saw a big bug on the railing of his deck, it was an Eastern Giant Ichneumon, he showed us a picture, it had a long stinger looking thing on his rear.

Johanna found the empty shell of a painted turtle and saw a huge snapping turtle.

To learn about the Eastern Giant Ichneumon, click here: NewinNature.html

 

8.0   Correspondence:

DES complaint, Ashuelot Marina, cutting bushes to the waterÕs edge in the waterfront buffer

Letter from Mason Conservation Commission, regarding the Kinder Morgan pipeline project, seeking signatures on a letter to the governor

Save the date card from NHACC for the annual meeting, November 7th, Pembroke Academy

           

9.0   Adjourned at 8:30 PM, our next scheduled meeting is July 15th, at 7PM at the Town Hall.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz, Secretary