Washington Conservation Commission

Minutes – November 16, 2021 

Assembly time: 7:00 PM, Meeting at Town Hall.

Members present: Arin Mills, Jed Schwartz, Nan Schwartz

Visitors: Reid Schwartz, Cody Nowell, Meghan Tweedy and Doria Kutrubes

We introduced ourselves to the visitors. Doria expressed a desire to become a member of the commission. 

1.0 Approval of Minutes: The October minutes were approved as written. 

2.0 Permits Committee -

New: Kimball, Shoreland Permit PBN, TM 15-93, 1231 Faxon Hill Road, accepted, building a garage, they have been sent to ZBA for a variance from the wetland setbacks. Nan and Arin will look at the application, plan and possibly attend the ZBA hearing.

Mensh, TM 24-59, Shoreland PBN, Impact 1392 square feet of protected shoreland in order to raze existing 1016 square foot cottage and build a new 1016 square foot cottage on existing footprint.

Previous:

Mensch, 38 Lookout Point Rd., TM 24-59, Wetlands PBN permit application, DES approved to fix existing retaining wall.

* Johnson/Kimball – Notice of complaint, dredging in Highland Lake, TM 25-93, letter of deficiency and steps to mitigate, dredging will be addressed separately by DES. No new news.

* Bologna – Notice of complaint, dredging in Highland Lake, TM 24-91, letter of deficiency sent July 8^th with mitigation requests. No new news.

* Colette - Complaint of violations, TM 12-69, over clearing of waterfront zone, no follow up yet

*Cordeiro – Notice of complaint from DES concerning excavation violations (no permit or erosion control), no follow up notice.

Mill Pond dredging – no news. Arin will meet with BoS to find out the status of this and the Longval issue.

Longval – no news.

* these are complaints with no follow up by DES, we are waiting for more information.

3.0 Committee and Board reports:

3.1 Land Protection Committee – We further discussed the proposed Camp Morgan conservation easement. Jed got a copy of the deed for the School which had a description of the lot given for the school. He sent more information to Brian Hotz at the Forest Society and is waiting to hear back from him. Nan will search for the property survey for the CM property. Jed will go speak with the School Board at their December meeting to ask about future plans for school expansion or use of the area around the school building. Nan will write to NHMA about the need to go to Town Meeting for approval.

3.2 Energy Committee – No news but Nan mentioned that the PUC rejected the state’s energy efficiency plan for the next 3 years. Hopefully they will file for a rehearing.

3.3 Planning Board – Nan asked the board to look at the site plan for Roger Cullen’s storage facility business (see 5.1)

3.4 Forestry Committee – Jed spoke with Forestry Committee member Steve Hanssen and he would like to fold the FC in with us, we will research on how to do this.

3.5 Legislative update - No news.

4.0 Public Presentations and workshops:

4.1 Arin mentioned that she has spoken to Kelly C at the WE School and they would like to get people back into the school and she will speak with her about doing something with the kids just before February vacation. 

5.0 New Business:

5.1 Review Site Plan for Cullen storage facility - We briefly looked at the existing plan and Nan mentioned changes Cullen mentioned during the public hearing. We will look at it and comment. Nan will pass along any new/tweaked plans she receives.

5.3 NHACC – sent an invoice for the 2022 membership dues. Jed made a motion to pay $250 to NHACC for our dues, Arin seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Arin will sign a requisition form and Nan will give the invoice to Cindy to pay.

We discussed the Wolfe property

6.0 Other Business:

6.1 Jed reported that he attended the Planning Board meeting with Barbara Skuly because Arin was not able to attend. Barbara Skuly explained to the PB about the update on their Ashuelot Corridor Survey that is in the works. Jed mentioned that we (WCC) went out and paddled up stream looking for items of concern and found and documented some erosion sites. He said we will get to the dam side to check it soon. She spoke about the Ashuelot watershed and asked about the town’s Land Use Ordinances that protect sensitive areas. She pointed out a lot that borders the river at the head waters that had been logged. We will look further into the lot and see if it might be a good candidate for a conservation easement.

6.2 Trails and Recreation Guide Booklet – Arin and Nan will continue their work on the booklet. We need a few more descriptions for hikes. We need to check Twin Bridge, Farnsworth Hill and Jackson Hill. We will continue working on it with a goal to publish the booklet this winter/spring.

6.3 East Washington Town Forest – Arin asked that we keep this on the agenda.

6.4 Facebook Page – Arin said she is continuing to post items when she can. To check out the CC’s Facebook page go here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2173271309586226/

6.5 Master Plan goals for 2021 – This is a placeholder.

6.6 Tracking Invasive Plants project – The reporting sheets and guides are always available here: InvasiveProject.html

6.7 The ATV/UTV road usage map is done and Jed will talk to printers.

7.0 What’s Happening in Nature?

Arin reported that we finally had a frost on October 24^th, and Jed said this was extremely late and the growing season went on for a very long time.

Arin said that ice is forming in some of the coves on Ashuelot Pond now.

Nan said Phil reported the first snow of the season on November 12^th, others reported they got 2 inches at their houses.

Doria shared a picture of a large buck she saw on her land (10 points).

Reid saw otters playing in Mill Pond today.

Arin said she and Shane and his friend went for a hike to Balance Rock in Pillsbury State Park. It was a 1.2 mile hike each way and the rock was very impressive. The boys climbed on the rock which wobbled. Reid spoke about Tippin’ Rock in East Washington/Bradford that is now on private property and not accessible. He thinks the rock has been tipped off its rock perch.

Meghan said she caught a bobcat on her trail cam and has seen bears and other creatures big (moose) and small. Meghan asked about where the moose go in the summer, we decided to look into it and here is what we found out, click here: NewinNature.html

8.0 Correspondence:

DES letter of deficiency, Jean-Pierre Carney, TM 12-153, oversized foundation for what was approved and excess impact of ground surface, requesting an after-the-fact shoreland permit application

DES Forestry PBN – approved for logging on TM 5-2, NHDNCR/SPNHF

9.0 Adjourned at 8:34PM, the next meeting is Wednesday, December 15^th at 7PM, at Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted, Nan Schwartz, Secretary