Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes – August 20, 2014
Assembly time: 7:00 PM.
Members present: Jed Schwartz, Nan Schwartz
Visitors: None
1.0 Approval of Minutes: Minutes from July 2014 meeting, there was no quorum present.
2.0 Permits Committee - No new permits
3.0 Committee and Board reports:
3.1 Land Protection Committee - no meeting, Jed has spoken to several people about an interest in protecting their land.
3.2 Energy Committee – Johanna reported that the committee was meeting on Thursday, August 21st at 7PM in the Town Hall.
3.3 Planning Board – The Master Plan Update Committee will be meeting on Tuesday, August 26th at 6:30PM at the Town Hall.
3.4 Forestry Committee – Tom reported that the committee is meeting on Tuesday, August 26th at 4PM at the Town Hall
3.5 Legislative update - not in session.
4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:
4.1 ŌSoak Up the RainĶ presentation – took place on August 8th at Camp Morgan Lodge. We didnÕt get a big crowd but it was a very successful presentation and project installation. Jill McCarthy and Lisa Loosigian, from DES, presented an educational talk about stormwater runoff, itÕs effects on our lakes and ponds and showed many simple projects that home owners can do to mitigate the problem around their homes. We then went outside to tackle a rain garden installation project on the lakeside of Camp Morgan Lodge. Eric Williams and Rob Livingston from DES were there to help too, Rob installed a gutter and downspouts and he and Eric supplied lots of muscle power throughout the day. The Camp Morgan kids joined us in groups to help with the digging, earth moving and soil amending and got a lesson about stormwater runoff, too. We thank Director Yvonne Bachand and the camp staff at Camp Morgan for helping us out and letting the kids participate! We thank Steve and Diana Hanssen for sticking around through all the hard labor to get to the Ōfun partĶ – planting the plants! We thank all the folks from DESÕs ŌSoak Up the RainĶ program for coming to Washington, supplying all the plants, garden design, know-how and effort to make this project happen. The rain garden project came out beautifully and it held up perfectly during our 5½ inch rain event last week. Please go up to the Lodge and check it out! If you are thinking about dealing with a runoff problem around your home contact us for some information and how-to ideas. ItÕs not just rain gardens, there are many other ways to deal with your stormwater. Visit their website for lots of helpful information: http://soaknh.org. We have a few copies to borrow of the New Hampshire HomeownerÕs Guide to Stormwater Management available at the Town Hall, (or click on the name to look at it online). If you find a project you want to do, we might even be able to pull a gang together to help you get it done.
4.2 Tracking Invasive Plants project – The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html
4.3 Speaking for Wildlife – Arin will do a bat presentation in October, we will schedule with her.
5.0 New business – None
6.0 Other Business:
6.1 NRI update - We will pick up where we left off in September.
6.2 Barker – Jed spoke with Pete Martin, who is on the Forestry Committee and also on the Monadnock/Sunapee Greenway trail board, who has spoken to Barker. He will keep us in the loop on any further information. Jed will also contact the Snow riders club about trail protection. We will keep this on our to do list.
6.3 Land Protection project on Farnsworth Hill – The SPNHF/WCC sponsored hike took place on August 10th from 10AM to 1PM. We had about 25 people join us for the hike, which was both informative and fun. The hike was led by Dave Anderson and John Brighton, who told us both about the nature of the region and the rich history of the area. After walking up Farnsworth Hill through the BrightonÕs hay field and up the trail on the Farnsworth Hill Reservation land, we hiked the Old Marlow Road, which borders the MacNeil property and dove in the woods here and there to look at cellar holes and relics of old farms. We visited the Penniman School site and returned to Millen Pond Road on the woods road across from Camp Morgan. The MacNeil Family Forest project is still looking for donations to help acquire and protect the 245-acre parcel. Please visit the Forest Society website for information and to donate to this important land protection project in the Millen Pond/Ashuelot River watershed. Click here: http://www.forestsociety.org/howyoucanhelp/special-projects.asp?id=macneil-family-forest
6.4 Adopt a Highway trash pickup - We will pick up trash on a weekend day soon.
6.5 Bat Survey – We will have a hike out to the Twin Bridge area in September with a tentative date of the 7th, Sunday. We will firm up the plan and advertise it soon, please join us.
6.6 Trail Map – We receive another letter from Don Damm saying he didnÕt receive our earlier letter. Nan sent the letter to him again by email along with a copy of the updated map. Jed spoke with Don at the Summer Informational meeting and he was fine with our idea to update the map removing the trail shown in LAE, for the next printing. We will go to the printer when the old maps run out.
6.5 JohannaÕs 2014 swim - Johanna has rescheduled her 2014 swim for August 23rd at 10AM, meeting on the Camp Morgan beach. You can join us in your non-motorized boat, canoe or kayak! We are accepting donations on behalf of JohannaÕs swim, please send to Washington Conservation Commission, 7 Halfmoon Pond Road, Washington, NH 03280 and put JohannaÕs swim in the memo line. Thanks for your support!
7.0 WhatÕs Happening in Nature?
Nan mentioned we had a wild storm last week with 5 ½ inches of rain, the water rose extremely quickly and washed out many roads. The town was cut off from the outside world for several hours but the road crew worked hard to get things repaired and open as fast as possible. The storm was followed by a few days of fall-like weather that finally gave way to more summer temperatures.
Jed said the garden is doing well with lots of tomatoes starting to ripen and corn on the way.
Our rain garden installation was the big news this month, so to learn all about it, click here: NewinNature.html
8.0 Correspondence:
Letter from LAE Association, Don Damm, re. didnÕt receive our first letter
Copy of Lakeside
DES copy of Shoreland permit, 1124 Faxon Hill Rd. TM 15-57
DES copy of wetlands forestry notification application returned due to missing information, Halfmoon Rd. TM 3-4
9.0 Adjourned at 7:15 PM, our next scheduled meeting is September 17th at 7PM at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz, Secretary