WASHINGTON CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes- February 15, 2006
Assembly: Time 7:00 p.m.
Present: Rich Cook, Carol Andrews, Jed Schwartz, Phil Barker, Nan Schwartz.
1.0 Approval of Minutes: Minutes for December 2005 and January 2006, moved approved as read by Jed, seconded by Rich.
2.0 Old Business:
2.1 Dredge and Fill Committee- Washington Lake Association Standard Dredge and Fill Application. Permit to place rip rap in the pond to protect the dam from continuous wear from ice and wave action. No further discussion.
2.2 Phil Barker Ð has a 22 3/4 acre parcel land at the corner of Rt. 31 and Valley Road that used to be mowed for hay and now he wishes to plant potatoes there. The land has filled with sediment and has become wet from the runoff from 2 culverts (one state and one town). He presented his application to reroute and channel the runoff to a certain spot on his land and install a settling pond to catch the sediment. The application stated he would affect an area not to exceed 14,000 feet. He would use his small excavator to do the work when the land is driest (summertime). He plans to eventually subdivide some of the property. We had no objection to his application, so we signed off on it and he will file it with the state. We also discussed our NRI project and asked him for help and input on the historical and cultural data we would like to have included.
2.3 Wayside Park planting - Volunteers are needed for Wayside Park planting in early May- Lionel will advise us of dates later.
2.4 Budget hearing - Carol attended, there were no questions for her. Ed Thayer spoke to her at the meeting and thinks it would be a good idea to put some money in a capital reserve fund for he purchase of property or conservation easements.
2.5 Natural Resource Inventory - The NRI contract with Kane/Ingraham has been signed and the first check is on its way. We will have a draft map by town meeting and a poster to display to help answer questions about the NRI. We discussed spending $2,000 from the Conservation Fund for the NRI. Jed made a motion and Nan seconded. Proxies from Mike, Sandy, Peter, and Lionel, vote was unanimous to spend the $2,000. This brings the total we are spending on the NRI to $4,000.
2.6 Watershed Committee meeting - March 1, 6 pm Town Hall. Any members who wish to attend should do so. The committee wants involvement beyond the Ashuelot Pond Assoc., the Millen Pond Assoc,. and the LAE who all have members on the committee.
2.7 Wind generators on Lempster Mountain. A company is planning to put wind generators on private land on Lempster Mountain. A man from Lempster wants a review of the plan as a power plant by DES and is seeking people to object to the project to trigger an automatic review. The 20 planned wind towers will be over 200 feet tall and used to generate electricity. We are supportive of renewable energy sources and donÕt wish to comment on the project at this time. We are unsure of the review process.
2.8 HB 1495 - Carol was contacted by Representative Frank Tupper, from Merrimack County, about HB 1495. It is written to increase the setback requirement for new landfills from 100 to 1500 feet along designated rivers. Ashuelot is a designated river and would be impacted. Wanted our comments about the house bill. We support and Carol will send a letter commenting on the bill to them.
2.9 WhatÕs Happening in Nature? Winter has gone away. Many sugar makers are tapping their trees during January and February to take advantage of the warm weather. Richard has beavers in Woodward Brook cutting down trees and making a pond.
3.0 New Business Ð none
4.0 Correspondence:
Standard Dredge and Fill Application Washington Lake Association
NH Community Forestry Advisory Council
Rep. Frank Tupper email re: landfill setback proposed legislation
Center for Community Environmental Management- $56 video for sale: Preserving Open Space with Conservation Subdivisions
Upper Valley Land Trust gathering Jan 30th
Meridian Land Services, Inc. File #2003-02463 Adam & Pamela Kimball, 1230 Faxon Hill Rd.
Comprehensive Environmental Inc. Stormwater Design
Antioch New England Waste Action Collaborative of Sullivan County
$29,000 in small grants to help implement pilot recycling and waste reduction
DES wetlands bureau Land Resource Management Program
Jessie Levine forwarded email from the assessors. List of municipal funding for land conservation
5.0 Other Business Ð none
Adjournment: 8:40 p.m. Next Meeting Date: March 15th at 7:00 at the Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nan Schwartz
Secretary