Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes
- September 21, 2011
Assembly time: 7:00 PM.
Present: Jed Schwartz, Carol Andrews, Arin Mills, Nan Schwartz, Johanna Young
1.0 Approval of Minutes: Minutes from July, no August meeting, Carol made a motion to approve, Arin seconded, all voted in favor.
2.0 Old Business:
2.1 Permits Committee – There were no new permit applications to review. Jed reported that he had signed off on an Expedited permit for Ed Thayer (town of Washington) for work done on an emergency basis to replace the culvert on Millen Pond Road that washed out during the recent storm..
We discussed that the culvert by Feeney's also washed out but not as badly from excessive stormwater runoff.
2.2 Land
Protection Committee – We are meeting with a group from Millen Pond who
are concerned about logging going on up on Farnsworth Hill. They want to talk
to us about conservation easements and land protection in general.
2.3 Energy Committee – Johanna
reports that the EC have just received a draft report from Mike McCrory from
UVLSRPC about the ETAP (Energy Technical Assistance Planning) audits that were
done on several town buildings. She said the Elementary School is getting a
thorough audit also. She mentioned that September 24th is Climate
Change Action Day and people should go to www.350.org to see activities for the
day.
2.4 Planning Board – Nan reported
that the PB is now working on the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) and that PB
had sent a letter to the Selectmen asking for a joint meeting on the Stormwater
issue. We discussed the letter we are sending about the same issue. Nan will
email to members for review and approval before it is sent to the Selectmen
next week.
2.5 Tax Lot Assessment – Nan said
that the map assessment is now done on the remaining town owned lots and we are
ready to begin our site visits. We will try to visit the wet ones first. We
talked about October 1st as a possible date. Nan will contact PB
members and see who can come then confirm with CC.
2.6 Adopt-a-Highway – We have a
trash pickup scheduled for Sunday October 2nd, people felt we should
keep this date. We will meet at the Library parking lot at 9AM next Sunday.
2.7 NHACC – Carol spoke about NHACC and proposed changes to their by-laws. As members we are able to cast a vote on these changes at the annual meeting in November. They are proposing to have term limits for directors – 3 3yr terms then you have to take a year off before returning. The president position is for 1 year of a 3-year term. Also, that 2 board members can be non-conservation commission members. Carol showed a copy of the language and changes. Carol recused herself from the discussion and vote. Johanna made a motion to vote yes on the proposed changes, Arin seconded, all voted in favor. Nan will be attending the annual meeting and will cast our commission's vote. Carol passed out
the brochure for the annual meeting so we could look over the workshops
and agenda. You can sign up online for the conference at www.NHACC.org
3.0 What's Happening in Nature?
Jed brought up gardening issues and said that he was able to grow eggplants this year and he hasn't been successful in the past. His chili peppers also did very well this year and many turned red.
Johanna
has had lots of fat frogs jumping around all over her lawn and many toads too.
Jed has also noticed lots of frogs away from water.
Johanna
saw a dragonfly with gold on its wings. She saw a ring-necked snake, a black
bear on Rt. 202, and a fischer or large weasel. Her beaver has been working
hard and is causing their driveway to flood. They need to get a pipe in to help
the water level go down. She saw a giant garter snake (about 3 feet long) on
her driveway.
Arin
said that porcupines are very active lately and saw a black bear on Faxon Hill.
Jed
said that skunks are also very active, eating fruit drops and digging for
grubs. Jed said his Ring-Neck Pheasant is still hanging around down near the
brook.
Nan
has seen many wild turkeys.
Arin
has seen lots of Flickers lately and wondered if anyone else had. They are in
the woodpecker family and have a noticeable white patch on the rump when they
fly. They also flash yellow under their wings when they fly, for more
information on Flickers click here:
http://www.washingtonnh.org/WCC_Html/NewinNature.html
Carol
had a close encounter with a moose but it took place in Lempster.
Carol
mentioned seeing some Kingfishers recently on Halfmoon Pond. Nan said she also
sees Kingfishers around Mill Pond swooping around and catching fish. She finds
them fascinating and fun to watch.
4.0 Other Business:
4.1 Johanna swam the length of Millen
Pond on August 27th to raise awareness about water quality issues. She was joined by Nan and Jed in their canoe and Dennis O'Malley, who followed in his boat with emergency supplies. The swim took about 50 minutes and she was also joined for much of the swim by a Millen Pond loon. She received $125 in contributions to the Conservation Fund. You can read about her swim here, under the August post: http://www.washingtonnh.org/WCC_Html/NewinNature.html
Contributions are still welcome, send a check to the Washington Conservation Commission, 7 Halfmoon Pond Road, Washington, NH 03280, and write "Memorial Swim" in the memo line, thank you!
5.0 New Business: We discussed the
regulation of Timber operations, which is handled by DRED and DES at the state
level. Carol said the towns have no way to regulate them.
6.0 Correspondence:
DES Emergency Authorization
Verification form copy, issued for replacing failed culvert on Millen Pond
Road.
LGC
municipal law lecture series brochure
LGC Volunteer of the year award request for nominees, August 31 deadline
The
Source
DES Shoreland permit copy for MP-NH LLC, Millen Pond Road, TM 11-57
6.0 Adjourned at 8:40 PM, our next
scheduled meeting is October 19th at 7 PM in the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz
Secretary