February 18, 2025 | Bonnie Hill Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC) DRAFT Meeting Minutes Wednesday, February 12, 2025 Present: Henry Howell, Chair; Don Davis; Joanna Murphy; Jim Morris and Bonnie Hill. Absent:. Debbie Lang; Chuck Bolduc; Lynn Wittman. Others Present: Kate Fernald. Call to order: Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:36 pm. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: The minutes from the last meeting on January 8th were unanimously approved. Financial Report: Debbie sent out a spreadsheet before the meeting. The only expense in January was $120 for plowing. Here are the Bar Harbor Bank account balances as of the end of January: Conservation Fund: $233,506.65 (sum of all sub-accounts) Conservation Fund Unrestricted: $215,038.50 Sievert King Hill Gift: $17,349.20 Donation Holding Account: $1118.95 Capital Reserve: $79,649.59 Non-Capital Reserve: $1,000.00 Future commitments: Booker max $8K, Stockwell approx $15K, Wright max $15K for total of $38K Bonnie attended the town budget hearing and reported that the annual Capital Reserve allocation for the SCC has been cut from $7,000 to $1,000. In addition, there is no further addition to our Non Capital Capital Reserve fund. This was explained to her as being necessary because of all the increases in the operating budget. This could be changed at Town Meeting by proposing an amendment to the budget article asking for more money. Henry advised that we not do this this year, and Bonnie agreed. Trail Maintenance and Development Trails Advisory Committee Report Update on the KHR donation system – Jim reported that Chuck gave the town website contractors the information for creating a link to Blackbaud. The new website is expected to be done in as little as a month from now. KHR Penacook Path culvert rebuild/replacement – waiting till next month for a report from Chuck. Status of snowmobile agreement – waiting for report from Chuck about the signs. Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues K.Spencer, Rowell Hill Rd/Rte 114, 7 of 7.39 acres, T/L#s 09-892-518 and 09-930-516. There are no wetlands, but a small brook. Don said there were a lot of deer in here. Wetlands Review Copy of Letter of Compliance from NHDES to Peacock Hill LLC regarding an AOT permit for T/L# 01-195-092, File number 2023-01976 New Business Conservation Commission appointments – Joanna, Lynn and Bonnie all have terms expiring in March. Joanna and Bonnie both said they wrote to the Town Admin to ask to be re-appointed. Lynn will need to do this if she hasn’t already. Kate Fernald joined us at Henry’s invitation, as she is interested in serving on the SCC. She said she is interested in trails, native plants and re-forestation. Bonnie said Nancy Heckel has expressed interest in joining, also, and she said she would ask her to contact Henry. Request from NHSaves to provide public informational session on home weatherization – Henry was asked by a representative from Weatherize Kearsarge/Vital Communities if the SCC would sponsor a presentation that this group would put on. They are trying to put on 25 events around the region. It’s about buttoning up houses with weatherstripping, etc. to save energy. Henry will call back and suggest that this be done in the fall, as that is the most logical time of year for it. Old Business Update on Stockwell property donation – The ASLPT is currently working on setting up the conservation easement for the property. When this is done, the land will have to be re-evaluated, as the tax deduction will be based on the difference in value of the land before and after it is placed in conservation. Update on Wright conservation easement – The ASLPT is currently working on setting up the conservation easement for this property, as well. Discuss notice of change to RSA 482 – Debbie and Bonnie met with the Town Clerk to talk about the changes to the process for wetlands permit applications. Bonnie is now the backup gateway person for when wetlands permit applications come in. Info for Hazard Mitigation Plan – Bonnie asked the members again for pictures and information about severe events that have happened in Sutton over the last five years.. Publicity Report on February 2nd educational program – Henry said this was moderately well-attended. He recorded it with Zoom and is working on getting the recording into a form that can be emailed. Bonnie said one large landowner in Wisconsin asked for info to be mailed to her, and one local couple who attended seemed interested in considering conserving their land. The members discussed having another one of these talks in the summer when the seasonal property owners will be around. It was thought that a weeknight might be better than a summer Sunday. Henry will ask Andy about his availability. Miscellaneous Meeting date change for March – Because of Town Meeting, we cannot meet on March 12th. We will meet on the 19th instead. Correspondence Email exchange with Peter Stanley concerning proposed zoning amendments. Peter said that the wetlands buffer changes are no less restrictive than before. Request from town admin to review tax-deeded properties list. Letter and email exchange with Brianna Belisle of SPNHF regarding our deed-restricted property. The parcel is 05-609-563. Email exchange with Nancy Berger of Sunapee regarding our treatment of Japanese Knotweed. Joanna and Kate expressed concern about the use of herbicides, especially close to water. Email exchanges with Brian Hotz and Andy Deegan of ASLPT regarding our public presentations Email request from Sarah Hibbard for land conservation materials from the presentation Email from NHACC with February conservation-related legislative alerts January eNews from NHACC with news of other concoms, a Clean Energy webinar series, announcement that the Coverts project is accepting applications, and many grant opportunities. Letter from SPNHF asking the SCC for membership renewal Letter from ASLPT asking the SCC to become a business partner Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 PM. Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary
