Washington Conservation Commission

Public Hearing Minutes

October 15, 2014

Conservation Commission Public Hearing on spending up to $20,000 from the conservation fund for the MacNeil Forest land conservation project, for transaction and stewardship costs related to the project.

Members present: Arin Mills, Tom Taylor, Ken Eastman and Nan Schwartz

Public present: Terry Yeaton, Hillsboro Conservation Commission

At 6:30PM, Arin Mills called the hearing to order. Tom questioned if we had a quorum, after discussing this we decided that if we put Ken in for Johanna as a voting member we would have a quorum. Arin made a motion to put Ken in as a voting member for Johanna, Tom seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

Nan talked about the expenditure of the conservation fund money and the project. The lot is a 245-acre piece adjacent to the recently protected Farnsworth Hill Forest Reservation and the Farnsworth Hill Town Forest; that the MacNeil family wanted to protect. The Forest Society negotiated a bargain sale price for the property and together with the Conservation Commission and John Brighton; they raised the money for the purchase. The Conservation Commission voted earlier to commit $20,000 to the project. According to the Natural Resource Inventory the lot is in a very highly rated area for protection, it connects to the Ashuelot Headwaters Forest and the Lempster Town Forest making a great place for trail expansion and linkage. It is also a highly rated area for wildlife. Tom talked about trails and the plan to put trails through to Lempster, he feels that protecting this property and attaching it to the already protected pieces is fantastic. Nan said that John Brighton gets many thanks and lots of credit for the fundraising he did for this project. Everyone showed much support for the project and no concerns.

The hearing was closed at 6:49 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz

Conservation Commission Secretary