February 21, 2018 | Town Admin TOWN OF SUTTON Pillsbury Memorial Town Hall 93 Main Street Sutton Mills, NH Sutton Mills, NH 03221 Sutton Conservation Commission Wednesday, February 21, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. Present: Dan Sundquist, Chair; Don Davis; Jane Williamson; Henry Howell; Debbie Lang; Barbara Hoffman; Chris Ashton and Bonnie Hill, secretary. Absent: Chuck Bolduc, Wally Baker. Debbie sat in for Chuck. Appointments: 7:00 Public Info Session re: conversion of a portion of King Hill Rd from Class 6 unmaintained road to Class A trail Call to order: Dan Sundquist called the meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: A motion was made by Don and seconded by Deb to approve the minutes of January 10th, 2018, and they were approved unanimously. Financial Report: There is no new town budget report. Dan attended the budget hearing, and SCC’s request for additional funding was granted. There was money left over in the town budget because mowing was not done. Dan has paid all of the membership dues for the year. The TD Bank statement for January 31st shows $119,153.53 in the Conservation Account and $5,695.81 in the KHR account, for a total of $124,849.34. Correspondence: SRKG Coalition Newsletter, January 2018 issue Letter from ASLPT acknowledging membership renewal donation of $100 Email from Barbara Richter thanking SCC for renewing membership to NHACC Review of Wetland Applications and Issues: Copy of a Wetlands Permit Application with full report prepared by Jeff Evans, dated 12/5/17, for John Rogers, T/L# 1-576,410, Birch Hill Rd for subdividing land and constructing an access road, with proposed bridge crossing to access back land. Dan signed it on 2/5/18. There is no impact to wetlands, as it is a steel bridge. Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues: R. Preston, T/L# 6-509,083, Nelson Hill Rd., 5 out of 14.3 acres. Arthur Mountain, logger. Appointment Public info session re: King Hill Rd trail conversion—The session began at 7:00 and approximately 16 members of the public were in attendance. Anita Blakeman pointed out that the SCC minutes from December said that two public hearings should be held and asked why we weren’t doing this. Dan Sundquist said that town counsel told us it was not necessary to hold a public hearing; that Town Meeting itself would actually be the public hearing. Dan introduced himself and explained that this is not a public hearing, but a forum in which people could express comments on the proposal. He asked that there be no speeches, debate, or position papers. He began with a brief presentation, displaying a map showing the area of road in question and the surrounding conservation lands. What is it The section of King Hill Rd under consideration is approximately 5500 feet long and is currently Class 6. There are 2 abutters, Eric Chinberg and Peter Messer. Why do it? ATVs and 4WD vehicles are eroding the road, which now has gullies three feet deep or more. Vehicles are also coming in from the road and trespassing on the Bean Quarry land. There are conflicts and safety issues with hikers and equestrians using the road as a trail. What will change? 5500 feet of road will be re-classified as Class A trail. This status would allow the town to prohibit motorized vehicle traffic, and would allow enforcement of this rule. Gates, barriers and signage could be used near the Bean Quarry. Abutters would be given keys to the gate, as would the fire department and road agent. Clarifications: 1) Abutting properties may be accessed for forestry and agricultural purposes as needed. 2) The motor vehicle prohibition would not apply to snowmobiles. Issues: 1) Class A status would prohibit access to future building or development along the frontage 2) Existing buildings may not be expanded, enlarged, or increased in intensity of use (there are no buildings along the frontage now). 3) * “Damages” may be assessed to the town for documented loss of value of the abutting properties. Next steps, if approved: 1) Install vehicular controls and signage. 2) There is no immediate plan to spend any other discretionary funds to repair eroded sections of the road. 3) We may collaborate with SRKG to mobilize trail crews to install water diversion bars. Trails grants would be investigated to augment the funding. At this point, the floor was opened to questions. Ed Canane: Who is responsible for maintaining the road as it is now? Dan: the town does not have the ability to spend money on repairs to a Class 6 road. It can for a Class A trail. Ed made a clarification on the road name, and asked if we had considered other methods besides conversion to Class A or B trail. Dan said no, but that the emergency lane statute might be an option. Anita Blakeman: SKRG can repair a Class 6 road. They just have to go before the BOS and have it approved. Dan said he was told by the town attorney that the town can’t do this. Betsy Forsham said landowners are allowed to repair these roads, but not the town itself. Charlie Forsberg: There is a difference between road maintenance and scheduled road maintenance. Does the town have authority to put up a gate and bar? Dan: Only an unlocked gate. Bob DeFelice: There was a recent timber harvest in that area. Could that have caused the erosion? Betsy Forsham answered no, it was already eroded to the point that the loggers were unable to drive their equipment over that part of the road. Diane Sullivan: She read on nh.gov about the laws in relation to warrant articles about roads. There is a 15 page document concerning the right to due process. If a warrant article having to do with roads and property rights passes, and no public hearing was held, then it is null and void. Dan: The public hearing is the Town Meeting. Diane: This concerns the property rights of all the people in town that use that road. NH.gov says the hearing must be 10 days before the vote. Dan: We have to trust the advice of Jae Whitlaw. Bob: It will be posted [the warrant article?]10 days before the vote. Leslie Enroth: Where can Chinberg access his property? Can he build anything he wants? Dan: yes. Leslie: Why did we not have a public hearing? Dan: Town counsel advised us not to. Ed: Chinberg can’t subdivide if his property is on a Class A trail. Did we look at the impact on future owners or heirs? Dan: there is still 750 feet of Class 6 road left with opportunities for driveways there. Anita passed out printouts about the emergency lane statute. Eric Chinberg: Is there another way to solve the problem? He is thinking about future access for his children. Dan: There is new information regarding emergency lanes. This might allow us to make repairs to some ruts and control motor vehicle access. If the emergency lane statute could accomplish this, then we would consider it. Charlie: What is the condition of the other side of the road? Dan: not as bad. Steve Enroth thanked the SCC for addressing this. Peter Blakeman: He doesn’t agree with not fixing the erosion, and said that the emergency lane statute would solve this. Dan: Tomorrow he will contact the town attorney about emergency lanes. Betsy: So many Class 6 roads have been eroded to the point that they are lost to recreational use – Brown Rd, Dodge Hill Rd, Eaton Grange Rd, etc. How can we save what’s left? Charlie: Can a sign be put up to close a road? Dan: No. Diane: If a property owner living on a Class 6 road is having problems because of erosion, then they can go to the town and ask for funding to repair the road (not scheduled maintenance).Have the town attorney look into this. Dan: The town has never allocated a penny for anything like this. Ed: He thinks it’s great that the Town Meeting is going to serve as the public hearing, as there will be so many more people in attendance. Jane Williamson: Can the Chinbergs and Messers have the road status changed back in 30 years if they want to? Dan: yes. Anita: You don’t really care about erosion, you just don’t like 4WD vehicles. What about handicapped people who want to drive up there to hunt? Dan: No soapbox remarks, please. Charlie: What is the route of the SRKG? Dan showed him on the map. Anita: If you don’t want to spend money to fix the erosion, where are you going to get the money to pay for the damages to the abutters? Diane: Can Dan provide info about emergency lanes and about the cost to the taxpayers and get this to people before Town Meeting? Dan: This will be brought up at the meeting. Jae will explain it at Town Meeting. Let’s not let the perfect get in the way of the good. At this point Dan ended the public info session. New business ASLPT field trip co-sponsorship— Don reported that ASLPT is going to do a hike in Webb/Crowell on May 5th and have asked the SCC to be co-sponsors. This would entail helping with advertising, and ASLPT would do most of that, with SCC putting up the posters they would provide. The members voted to co-sponsor the hike, and Don will contact ASLPT. Don thinks it might be too wet on May 5th, but they may not be able to change the date. Mapping for Sutton Hiking Trails—Henry has mapped KHR and Webb/Crowell, and showed us samples of printed maps with contour lines and lots of details. He is endeavoring to get a detailed GPS log of the trails to create a contour map. He wants the trails to be as user-friendly as possible, with informational kiosks giving the level of difficulty of the various trails. He feels that we shouldn’t develop trails that we can’t maintain, for example, trails on steep slopes. He wants to have signs saying things like “great view this way” in order to draw people in, and a plaque about the vernal pool. He is using Gaia software for the mapping. Dan asked if the data can be output. If he can get the waypoints from Henry, he can use his high-end GIS system to make maps, and it would cost about $100 to have the map plotted and laminated. Henry showed a picture of an example of a plaque on a kiosk, at King Arthur Flour. Dan and Henry will work together. The output would be a .shp or .dwg file. Henry asked what other trails he should consider. Don said the state has mappings for Cascade Marsh and Black Mountain. Don showed us an old map of all the hiking trails in Sutton. It is the only copy left. The maps will eventually be on the town website and people will be able to see them on their phones. Deb asked if we have the money to make paper copies of the maps for those who don’t use smart phones. Old business Sutton Strategic Conservation Plan: Natural Resources Briefing Paper #2—Dan handed out copies of his second installment of the plan. One very useful feature of this one is the juxtaposition of maps showing the highly-ranked habitats with maps showing existing conservation areas. He asked the members to read, question, and comment on both briefing papers, and he will revise them accordingly. Barb had some questions, and Henry asked what changes were made with respect to the previous plan. Dan said the wildlife action plan has changed a lot, and there is new and different habitat data, with biophysical features obtained by modeling and mapping. In terms of best practices, he is giving us the best possible data available. Henry asked what kind of critique Dan would like from us. Dan answered that we will have little dialog sessions. All four papers will be put together, and we will be asked to go through and fact-check or expand upon the contents. That document, a PDF, will then go up on the website. There will be a “next steps” chapter containing recommended actions. We need to be more proactive and develop a database of conservation possibilities, and go after LCHIP grants. Henry asked whether we would be tying in with other towns, and Dan answered that there is no state-level strategic action plan. Our town is part of the Quabbin-to-Cardigan area. Old Quabbin-to-Cardigan maps and info can be found on the Forest Society’s website. Miscellaneous Lessons from the public info session – Dan just learned very recently about the issues areas. It is important to do our homework and go step by step. We should have had meetings with the abutters. The damages aspect could amount to a vast sum of money just for lawyers and appraisers. Deb asked if we can withdraw the warrant article. Dan said we can’t, as the books are being printed now. The only thing we can do is table it. We should have canvassed other towns to see what the costs were for other towns running into this. Don said that he feels the emergency lane is kind of a sneaky way to go about solving this problem. The town would never allocate money. Don would like to see a gate placed on the road, but the gate would not be able to be locked on a Class 6 road. Dan said he had some enjoyable conversations with Eric Chinberg. He wants to conserve the 500 acres for his children to have cabins, etc. He would have to subdivide. His brand is “Conservation Subdivisions.” He wrote a letter to the town saying that he would have to oppose the warrant article. There has been no word from Peter Messer. Both abutters were sent detailed certified letters. Dan has a plan. There are two ends to that road, and we control one of them. To protect the Bean lot, we can work out a deal with the road agent to put some mighty boulders in place on our own property to limit access from the east end of King Hill Rd. Deb asked if people couldn’t just drive in from the other end. Dan said yes, but they wouldn’t be able to turn around and it would be less attractive. Henry moved a motion to table Article 15 of the Town Warrant for further study. Deb seconded, and the motion passed by a unanimous vote. Dan will pass this along to Elly and she will bring it up to the BOS. Dan will get back to Eric Chinberg by email. He said Chinberg is willing to work with us and has access to construction equipment, gravel, etc. He would need to get permission from the BOS to make repairs to the road. Right to Know law –Dan cautioned us against discussing issues in email, as conducting business online is against the Right to Know law and violations could lead to lawsuits. Barb said that our emails to one another are actually a matter of public record and can be subpoenaed. Energy and Environment Fair – Henry said New London is having one on April 17th at Colby Sawyer and he wondered if we might like to have a booth there. Wetlands – Barb reported that the NHACC newsletter said DES has proposed some wetlands rules changes (one good, one not-so-good) and will be holding public info sessions in several towns. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 21st, 2018, at 6:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary