Washington Conservation Commission
Minutes – October 20, 2016
Assembly time: 7:00 PM
Members present: Jed Schwartz, Arin Mills, Doug Cook, Dennis Kelly and Nan Schwartz.
Visitors: None
1.0 Approval of Minutes: September minutes, no changes requested Arin motioned to approve the minutes as written, Dennis seconded and all voted in favor.
2.0 Permits Committee - Smith Pond Bridge Culvert Rehabilitation – Nan said that Thayer (DPW) was granted the wetlands permit by DES.
3.0 Committee and Board reports:
3.1 Land Protection Committee - Jed said we have an offer from one of the abutters of the Karen Bartlett property. He said that the property was donated to the CC by the Bartlett family and they hoped we could sell it and put the proceeds into the Conservation Fund. We use the Conservation Fund money to help protect land in Washington. Jed suggested we ask them to cover ½ of the closing costs. He feels we could hold the land but that we would have a better return on the property if we sell it now and use the money for other projects. Jed made a motion to accept the offer and half of the closing costs, Doug seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Jed went in to speak with the Selectmen about the decision. They voted to support our decision. Nan will find out if we need to hold a hearing.
3.2 Energy Committee – Johanna said that the EC did not meet this month. They are all hoping to attend the upcoming Energy Conference.
3.3 Planning Board – Nan said the Planning Board is still working on the Town Buildings project.
3.4 Forestry Committee –Tom was not here to report.
3.5 Legislative update - Not in session.
4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:
4.1 Fall Hike – The hike took place on October 8th, Saturday morning and took about 3 hours. The day was beautiful, the fall colors were peaking and the views were inspiring. We found an open well on one of the lots that we marked and Jed and John can go back and cover it to make it safer.
4.2 Save the Date – NHACC Annual meeting and Conference, Pembroke Academy, November 12th
There is still a chance to sign up if you want to attend.
5.0 New Business:
5.1 CIP request Form – Nan reported we received a 2017 CIP request form from the Planning Board. We discussed and decided we donŐt have any requests.
5.2 Doug had a new item to discuss, he wants to do a group order from Fedco Seeds for plants and bushes/trees to take advantage of their volume discount program. They are in Maine and have a large inventory of available plants and trees that are appropriate to our climate. If you would like to see what they carry you can go online to their catalog here: http://www.fedcoseeds.com/trees/
This order would be for trees, bushes and plants only and generally they are delivered as bare rootstock. Fedco also has a great inventory of garden seeds, but you will have to order those separately. Doug is the contact for any questions about this at 495-3730 and he wants to get an order together for next month (November). Please spread the word about this to anyone who might be interested in being part of the order, the larger the order the bigger the discount. The delivery will be in the spring, in time for planting.
6.0 Other Business:
6.1 Natural Resource Inventory Map updates – Nan will get in touch with Chris again and see what his schedule is looking like for getting our project finished. We need to extend the deadline, which has already passed.
6.4 Master Plan goals for 2016 – We will discuss our goals in November.
6.5 Barker trail easement – NEFF is looking at this as a possible project. Jed said he will nudge Whit about it.
6.6 Tracking Invasive Plants project – Keep looking for new sites of plants and fill out a sheet when you find one. The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html
7.0 WhatŐs Happening in Nature?
Doug said his beaver has been working hard and Nan commented that his pond is very high right now. Dennis said he has some good recipes for beaver.
Doug said his ravens are still around, they had 2 young ones this year but they have been driven off at this point to be on their own. He said the adult ravens will stay all winter.
Dennis said he was reading about a race of super hummingbirds that are expanding their territory into the US from South America and their numbers are going up.
Jed said it may snow on Sunday and it was rainy today. They say we are still in a drought and it will take a lot of precipitation to refill the water table. Now with bare trees and a lot of dry leaves around we are in danger again of forest fires.
Arin said she put up her bird feeder and she has lots of chicadees.
Dennis said he expanded the gardens around his house and the bees continue to be very busy feeding. Nan said they have lots of bees (of many varieties) around too, on their fall flowering plants and in the garden.
Arin said she had a freeze in the garden behind the Town Hall. Jed said a freeze killed his peppers and tomato plants.
Dennis said his raspberries are still producing and he can pick a handful at a time.
Jed said he picked the last of his blueberries last week.
Arin noted that the mowing was done in the cemetery a few weeks ago. She said the leaves are falling off the trees all of a sudden in the last couple of days. Nan said there was beautiful color this fall. Dennis has a Japanese Maple tree that when it changes color each leaf has green, yellow, orange and red on it.
We recently went on our fall hike and encourage everyone to get out and enjoy the local trails. NH Fish and Game has a program to promote safe hiking, to learn more about it, click here: NewinNature.html
8.0 Correspondence:
Save the Date – NHACC Annual meeting and Conference, Pembroke Academy, November 12th
Letter from NHDOT re: thanking us for signing up for 2 more years
NHDES Copy of letter re. Shoreland Permit Application for Murray, Lakeview Terrace project, missing information
NHACC – invoice for 2017 dues (not due until next year)
NHDES – Copy of Supply Lines with The Source
NHDES – Copy of Wetlands Permit for ToW, Smith Pond Culvert rehabilitation project TM 21-14, 15
9.0 Adjourned at 7:47 PM, our next scheduled meeting is November 16th, at 7PM at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz, Secretary