March 8, 2017  |   

TOWN OF SUTTON
Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall
93 Main Street
Sutton Mills, NH  03221

Conservation Commission
Meeting Minutes of Wednesday, March 8, 2017

 

Present: Betsy Forsham, Chair; Don Davis; Henry Howell; Jane Williamson; Wally Baker; Chuck Bolduc; and Bonnie Hill, secretary. Absent:  Dan Sundquist, Chris Ashton.  Jane sat in for Chris and Chuck sat in for Dan.

Members of the Public Present: Debbie Lang, Barbara Hoffman

Call to order: Betsy Forsham called the meeting to order at 6:42 p.m.

Previous Meeting’s Minutes: A motion was made by Don and seconded by Henry to approve the minutes of February 8th, 2017. There were no issues found with the minutes, and they were approved.

Financial Report:

Annual dues were paid to the NH Association of Conservation Commissions, in the amount of $266. The TD Bank statement for January shows $105,593.85 in the Conservation Account and $5682.37 in the King Hill Reservation account, for a total of $111,276.22 in the Conservation Fund.

Correspondence:

  • Notice about the NH Saving Special Places conference, April 8th in Alton, NH. Members wishing to attend should register by April 1st to get the lower rate.
  • Ausbon Sargent monitoring reports for Enroth/Lefferts, KHR, Bean Quarry, Maple Leaf and Russell Pond properties.
  • Notice regarding BOS agenda policy. Agenda items must be received by noon on the Wednesday before the meeting.
  • Email to Elly regarding appointments of Chuck and Jane as members of the Commission and Debbie Lang as alternate.
  • Email from Ausbon Sargent regarding the CC Chairs’ Round Table discussion on March 30 at 6:00 p.m.
  • SRK Greenway February 2017 newsletter. The Annual Meeting is to be held Sunday, March 12.
  • Notice of 2017 Cottrell-Baldwin Environmental Lecture Series at Fox Forest, in Hillsborough.
  • NHDES Aquatic Resource Mitigation Fund publication Beyond the Beaver Dam. This was filed for reference.
  • Forest Notes, Winter 2016-17 issue, with an article on stewardship.
  • Catalog for the Merrimack County Conservation District’s Spring Bulb, Plant and Tree sale.

Review of Wetland Applications and Issues: 

  • Copy of a PBN Application, dated 2/22/17, for P. & N. Rice, T/L# 7-977,413, Keyser St/Kezar Lake for seasonal dock replacement. Betsy signed the application on 2/18/17.

Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues:

  • T. Sliter, T/L# 10-505,340, Summit Rd., 10 of 15 acres. Curt Cummings, logger. No wetlands involved.
  • A Complete Forestry Notification was received, File # 2017-00570, for D. Keller, T/L# 4-200,157, Rt. 114 & Roby Rd

Meeting with Bud Nelson, representing Country Club of New Hampshire

  • At 7:15, Bud Nelson spoke with the Commission about the CCNH’s timber harvest and plans for future forest management. CCNH owns 1400 acres, with the golf course occupying 200 or so. They made a decision to put more of the land into active forest management and are currently conducting a harvest on 200 acres, using a landing off of North Road. They are using whole-tree-harvesting methods and a fellow-buncher, and are dragging trees with the branches still on over skid roads up to 30 feet wide. The ground has been frozen and/or snow-covered. As road agent, Steve Bagley has checked out the landing and approved it. All permits have been filed, and there is no mud flowing through the culverts. Some wet areas are being crossed using DES best practices. The logger, John Whyte, has been very responsible. This is the first of 3 to 5 timber harvests that the CCNH will be conducting over the next 5 years or so, using different roads as access points. The next one will most likely be on Cotton Road. This would necessitate crossing Fish & Game property, though not the wetlands. CCNH has met with representatives from the snowmobile clubs, as the trails are being disrupted, as is the SRKG hiking trail. The landowner is agreeable to having the trails be used after the sale is done. Don said the area where the SRKG trail is can be quite wet, and he wondered if the landowner would mind if the trail was re-located. Bud thought that would probably be all right, if necessary. Don said that when the next section is done, the SRKG people could GPS the trail beforehand, if they had notice. He also suggested that signage be placed to indicate the location of the alternate route. “The Country Club wants to be good neighbors and stewards of the land”, said Bud. Wally asked how they would keep people out, once the sale is done. Bud didn’t know, but he said if it were up to him he would pull the culverts and block the entrance. Henry will see the SRKG people on Sunday and will give them Bud’s contact info. 

Old Business

Reminder that all Class 6 roads are closed to wheeled vehicles from March 1 to June 1– Betsy put a new yellow sign on Poor Farm Road to replace the one that was destroyed. Bonnie will check to see if there is one on Brown Rd.

New Business

Voluntary merger procedures – The members discussed the possibility of a merger of the tax-deeded Wells Lot with Webb/Crowell. Betsy said the procedure would be to get permission first from the select board, and then to put it on the Planning Board’s agenda and attend the meeting.

Acting Chair appointment– Don made a motion and Henry seconded to nominate Dan Sundquist to be the SCC acting chair until the official vote is taken in April. The motion passed unanimously.

Town Meeting– Betsy reminded everyone to vote on March 14th and to attend Town Meeting at 7:00 PM on March 15, as there are some important matters to be decided.

Prospective properties –A 9-acre parcel on Russell Pond, abutting town land, is for sale again, but at a price too high ($99K) for us to consider purchasing. Betsy will talk to the realtor about considering a possible subdivision that would allow for the shoreline to be protected, even if a house is built on the remainder. On a related note, Betsy suggested that if we do a program on conservation easements, it might be a good idea to send out personal invitations to certain landowners who own large parcels. Using Dan’s maps, we could focus on the properties with the highest wildlife value.

SCC Properties and SRK Greenway Reports

Enroth/Lefferts property – The ASLPT easement monitoring report noted that a tree has fallen on to the snow fence that surrounds the old well. SCC will need to remedy this.

Bean Quarry – The easement monitoring report mentioned the old well that SCC members had recently discovered. This needs to be either covered or fenced to protect people and animals.

Update on Henry’s work with KRHS students –Henry described the display that his students are going to have on Town Meeting Day. There will be four sections, one each for the rain garden, birdhouses, DIY solar convection heaters, and the vernal pool and bridge project. One of the goals for each of the four projects is to educate the public about that particular issue. The arched bridge for the vernal pool is being designed by advanced placement students and will be entered in a national competition. The display acknowledges all of the businesses that contributed to the projects.

Miscellaneous

Membership issues – Henry’s term is ending and he agreed to serve another term. Debbie and Barbara were asked to leave, and the members, after discussion, decided to invite Barbara to serve as the second alternate member.

Thank you, Betsy –This being Betsy’s last meeting, the members thanked her for her 17 years of service and her excellent leadership. She will be sorely missed.

Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned around 8:20 PM.

Show and Tell – After the meeting was adjourned, Betsy took some of the members downstairs to look in the file cabinets and see where various documents are kept, as well as signs and materials for blazing trails.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, at 6:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary