October 16, 2018 | Bonnie Hill TOWN OF SUTTON Sutton Conservation Commission Draft Meeting Minutes Wednesday, October 10, 2018 Present: Dan Sundquist, Chair; Don Davis; Barbara Hoffman; Henry Howell; Jane Williamson; Debbie Lang and Bonnie Hill. Absent: Chuck Bolduc. Bonnie sat in for him. Call to order: Dan Sundquist called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: As there were no issues found with the minutes from the September 12th meeting, Don made a motion to approve them and Jane seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. Financial Report: There is still 73% of our town budget left, including 100% of the special projects money. The TD Bank statement as of September 30th shows $121,720.08 in the Conservation Account, and $5720.09 in the KHR account. There are outstanding bills for mowing for $3000 and $25, and Dan said he would pay them tomorrow. Dan urged the members to attend the NHACC conference, since we have money for it in the budget. Dan has an appointment in November to present our budget requests to the town budget committee. Correspondence: Postcard notice from NHACC regarding the Annual Meeting & Conference, Saturday, November 3rd at the Pembroke Academy. Don suggested that people try to attend different sessions. Letter from DES Commissioner Robert Scott asking for nominees to the Warner River local advisory committee. Debbie said that her partner, Pete Savickas, is interested in doing this. Letter from ALSPT asking SCC to renew its membership. Dan said he would pay this tomorrow. Copy of the Wetlands Permit Application from and J. Manuel, for dock replacement, 133 Camp Kemah Rd, T/L #2-490,166. Copy of the Wetlands Permit Application for SPNHF’s instream large-wood habitat enhancement project. T/L #s 5-14,369, 5-290,100, 5-210,144. Notice of Acceptance of the SPNHF’s permit application from DES, dated 9/17/2018. Review of Wetland Applications and Issues: Letter from DES dated 9/11/2018 informing SCC that a Wetlands and Non-Site Specific Permit file #2016-01911 was approved, to dredge and fill 2150 square feet within the bed and banks of Lion Brook to replace a pair of deteriorated CMP culverts with a single 16 foot by 4 foot concrete box culvert, restore the streambed by removing the recently deposited gravel bar, and install a backwater grade control structure. Copy of the permit is attached. This is in reference to work that was already done, and is for our information only. Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues: Turner, T/L# 8-692,066, Baker Hill Rd, 120 of 165.7 acres, Jeremy Turner, logger. Old business Review the O’Neil easement per questions from Town Attorney – Dan passed out copies of a letter from Laura Spector-Morgan, the town attorney. She stated that the BOS will need to approve the SCC’s executory interest in the easement, and that a public hearing will be required regarding the expenditure of funds to cover the easement expenses. It was decided that this hearing will take place at the SCC’s next scheduled meeting on November 14th, 2018. A notice will need to be placed in the InterTown Record by November 1st. Dan will delegate the running of the public hearing to Barbara. The attorney’s letter listed 3 points within the easement document which required input from the SCC. The first, in section 12(C), states that since the town is contributing money towards this purchase, it should receive at least some of the proceeds of any taking. The SCC agreed that this will be an amount or a percentage based on the dollar amount actually contributed, pending discussion with Andy Deegan. The second, in section 13, asks whether language should be added giving the SCC the option of weighing in on proposed activities otherwise prohibited by the easement. Barbara pointed out that such language already appears in the document, so Dan will ask the town attorney for clarification. The third is in sections 14 and 16(B) and regards adding the Executory Interest holder as an indemnified party. The members agreed that this should be done. Discuss KLNA kiosk and placement of railroad ties along road’s edge – Regarding the railroad ties, Dan said he counted 15 cars recently double parked along the road by KLNA. There are a few ties remaining, but they don’t go all the way to the brook. We can’t put them where the fire truck needs to turn around. Jane passed out copies of a comprehensive list of ideas for improving conditions at the KLNA, based upon her meeting with KLPA Lake Host Coordinator Chris Kuhlman and previous SCC meeting minutes. The goal was stated to be improvement of traffic congestion, safety, and Lake Host conditions, and education of the public using Kezar Lake. Dan said the SCC needs to confine itself to what we need for the KLNA. He said this is a great list, but these are not all our problems. He suggested taking up this list at a joint meeting with KLPA and NSIS. Jane countered that improving the conditions for the lake host is an appropriate issue for the SCC to address, as the lake host does so much good for the community in protecting the lake. Dan said as soon as we get involved in these issues, we could end up taking on ownership. Jane stated that she needed to leave early and left the meeting. Henry noted that this situation with public land adjoining a lake is unique in the town. He asked if we are worried about money, or liability. Dan said any actions need to be based on the collaboration of the three organizations, and there is no reason why SCC has to take on the leadership role and assume the other two will participate. He said one option for fixing the parking situation would be for NSIS to go before the budget committee and ask for a one-time grant of $10,000 or whatever amount is needed to fix the boat launch parking lot. Don said that the state park should be involved in the collaboration as well, since it is contributing to the parking problem: people are parking at KLNA to avoid paying the state park entrance fee. New business Complete the 2019 CC budget — Looking at the latest town budget statement, it was decided that we would keep the same amounts as last year for secretarial services, conference fees, etc. Dan asked if anyone had a proposal for a special project requiring funds, and no one did. Henry had distributed a detailed list of itemized trail-related expenses to the members. Dan asked Henry if he thought he could spend down the entire $2300 in the special projects fund by the end of the year, and he gave Henry an assignment to do that. In order to keep Henry from having to spend his own money and be reimbursed later, Dan said he could go to Lorri or Elly with a priced list of items from Lumber Barn (or other store) and get a check cut in advance of his purchases. Don said another option would be for SCC to open an account at Lumber Barn or Belletetes. Henry’s list lays out high priority project expenses of around $2400, with optional items bringing that total past $5000, and still more optional work (involving contractors) bringing the total to around $9,000. When Dan goes before the budget committee he will explain that we spent the $2300 that we were given for this year on building materials, signage, and a steel gate for the Bean Quarry Lot entrance, and he is requesting another $6,700 to advance our trailwork and stewardship projects in 2019, including work done by contractors per Henry’s estimates of cost. Regarding mowing, there will be $1500 left in the KHR account after the bills are paid, and that will be enough for next year. Dan suggested we look at the KHR easement to see if there is a requirement that it be mowed. Don said we have received a grant in the past from Fish & Game for mowing, and we can now re-apply for that. Dan said we could also consider asking the town to pay for the mowing on an ongoing basis. Dan and Henry put a town-wide trails map together to be used for trailhead kiosks and to post on the town website. Dan will bring a printout to the next meeting to be reviewed. Kearsarge Climate Action request – Henry read us a description of this. It is a nonprofit volunteer effort to help local residents save energy and save money, through a volume-based solar panel and weatherization upgrade campaign. Dan asked what the outreach and public relations was on this. He did not see it as something SCC should get involved with given its core mission of natural resource conservation. No one else on the commission was willing to take it on. Appoint a representative from SCC to the town’s Hazard Mitigation Plan committee – There is a state requirement that this plan be updated by next year. About 12 meetings will be held over the course of the next 8 months. Dan questioned why the SCC would need to be involved in this since we manage no facilities or emergency-related programs. Since no one else was interested, Bonnie said that she would do it, though she will not be able to attend all of the meetings. Report from Dan and Henry regarding vehicle trespass on the Bean Quarry Lot—Dan passed out photographs showing the damage that has been done. He said there is a large pine tree that could be felled to block the entrance on the steep slope where the ATVs are coming in. He said we could probably get Steve Bagley’s road crew to place some large boulders across the entry from Kings Hill Road. At the Bean Quarry Lot logging entrance, where there is currently a ditch and some logs, we could install a large steel gate. The Forest Society has a heavy duty one that we could buy for $1000, if it is still available. The highway department could be asked to dig footings for it. Transporting it will cost some money. Debbie asked if we would have to pay the highway department to provide these services, and Dan said he didn’t think so as this is road and right-of-way related; it just needs to be scheduled at the convenience of the highway department. Once the gate is installed, there would be room for pull-in parking for 6 cars or so. The gate would remain closed until the next timber harvest. Debbie made a motion for the SCC to expend up to $1200 for purchasing a steel gate from SPNHF for the Bean Quarry lot, and Don seconded. The motion passed unanimously. This means Henry now has $1200 to spend on lumber, signs, etc. by the end of the year, instead of $2300. Citizen report about untimely mowing by highway department – Bonnie reported that a phone call was received from a concerned citizen who noticed the town highway department had mowed the roadsides at Muster Field Farm around September 14th, and in the process had destroyed large swaths of milkweed plants that had yet to release their seeds. If this was done for snow removal purposes, she wondered if it could be done later in the fall so as not to have such a negative impact on pollinator habitat. Don said the road crew rents that equipment, and they always do it at that time. Dan said he would write an email to Steve Bagley asking about this. Don said that Warner is currently looking into the impact of road work on wetlands. Strategic Conservation Plan – Dan handed out a list of the natural resources to be addressed in the plan, and asked if anyone had any others that they would like to add. Henry suggested a filter showing areas susceptible to logging, since this is a common event that happens and dramatically affects the environment. Don asked about including endangered species in the area. Dan said that it is hard to get that data. It is possible to get a list of species from the Natural Heritage Bureau, but it would not include any location information as that is confidential. Don asked about invasive species, such as Japanese Knotweed. He also mentioned the cedar swamp on Chalk Pond Road. Dan said that one thing missing from his list is prime agricultural soils. Sutton has an important site for these at Muster Field Farm. Dan is going to re-issue the entire plan and will ask us to vote on it, using the Delphi process. Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:14 PM. The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018, at 6:30 PM. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary