February 16, 2022 | Bonnie Hill TOWN OF SUTTON Sutton Conservation Commission Draft Meeting Minutes Wednesday, February 9, 2022 Present: Henry Howell, Chair; Barbara Hoffman; Don Davis; Chuck Bolduc; Lynn Wittman; Jim Morris and Bonnie Hill. Absent: Wally Baker; Debbie Lang. Members of the public present: Aaron Flewelling, Roger Wells, Peter Stanley, Glenn Pogust, Alexander Simoneau. Call to order: The meeting was held at Town Hall. Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:33 pm. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: Chuck requested that two corrections be made on page 2 of the minutes from the 1/12/2022 meeting. He made a motion that Don seconded that the minutes be approved as amended. The motion passed unanimously. Financial Report: No expenditures were made from the Admin account during January. As of the end of January, the Conservation Fund contained $166,773.84. The King Hill Fund had $1,709.19. The Capital Reserve balance is $50,570.65. Request to speak: Aaron Flewelling, president of the Sutton RidgeRunners (SRR) snowmobile club, introduced himself. He said the club has around 100 members, mostly residents, and they have just under 30 miles of trails. He said that some of the KHR trails to the far left of Penacook Path (what they call the “cell phone tower trails”) have been heavily used by snowmobiles for years, and people were surprised to see the “no snowmobiles” signs suddenly appear. Henry held up one of the designs for us to see. It is a custom made sign that includes the words “Sutton Conservation Land”. Because it is reflective, it is expensive ($35 apiece). Aaron gave Henry a check from the club for $350 to reimburse the town for the signs. Aaron would like to be put on our agenda for the March meeting to talk about whether those trails can be opened again. He suggested getting liability insurance coverage from the state. Chuck said once there are snowmobile tracks, people will follow them, so they will be continuing to use those trails the rest of the season. He said there is more usage of the trails lately due to Covid-19, and he has seen garbage there. He told Aaron that with higher usage, we are attempting to keep some control over the use of the land, and communication is key. He said we are already allowing snowmobile use, plus skiing and habitat provision. Aaron said maybe there are ways the club can help out, with things like mowing and trash pickup. Henry said the SRR have been a very conscientious group. We do have a problem with culverts on the Penacook Path and elsewhere getting clogged in the summer, and could use help with that. Don said that both the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG) and the SRR have trails going across land owned by the Country Club of NH, and it would be great if both groups could use the same trail, in order to minimize the disturbance to the wetlands. Aaron said he could take a look. He suggested asking the SRKG to use the SRR trail. Request to speak: Alexander Simoneau introduced himself. He is an environmental science student at Colby Sawyer and is involved in the Kezar Lake watershed analysis project. He is also a GIS student. Henry welcomed him to sit in the meeting and said we would love to work with him. Appointment: 7:00 PM Roger Wells, Planning Board Chair; Glenn Pogust; Planning Board Vice Chair; Peter Stanley, Planning/Zoning Administrator presenting draft of new Master Plan. Roger said a year ago they came to us to get our input on the Master Plan, and now they are visiting those same groups to present their ideas. All of the groups agreed on three focus areas: what is precious, what is of concern, and what aren’t we doing. The Planning Board (PB) sent out an online survey and got about 250 responses, and by and large everyone was in agreement on some key concepts: maintain rural atmosphere, nurture sense of community, support historic villages, enable more housing options, and improve the town’s tax base. There was significant support for open space and scenic roads, and those were also areas of concern. People were asked for their priorities, and there was support for a greater mix of uses that were historically sensitive for the villages, such as senior housing, and small retail. Route 114 was seen as an appropriate location for recreational businesses (ski shops, tackle shops). The best place for things such as hotels, light industry and R&D was seen to be the area near exit 10. The opinion on cluster development was a mixed bag, probably because our cluster ordinance is so poorly written and does not meet the needs of people already living in the area. Regarding multi-family development, 42% did not want it anywhere. The PB now has a draft of the Master Plan (MP), which is very succinct. They will hold a public hearing and ask for input, and are going to put an ad in the paper, to be as transparent as possible. Roger went over the MP’s 12 recommendations, grouped along the key concerns: Maintain Rural Atmosphere Review & adjust existing Cluster Ordinance to ensure it is not used to skirt Sutton’s Subdivision Regulations, it properly protects open space and it meets the needs of the neighborhoods. This will require approval at Town Meeting. Create table of uses allowed in the Rural Agricultural Zone. Non-rural uses are currently allowed. Review possible expansion to Scenic Roads & views, and additional protection of mountain crests and very steep slopes. Nurture Sense of Community Provide for affordable housing for young families and long-term residents. As the town loses its old-time citizens, we are losing the volunteers. Create Leadership Council for improving outdoor recreation opportunities including an expanded town-wide trail system Make Town Facilities available for expanded community use Support Historic Villages and Enable More Housing Options Adjust zoning to allow for limited mixed use and a variety of housing types with incentives to reuse existing structures. The regulations right now concerning lot size and frontage requirements are not consistent with the way a village looks. Use the PB’s Conditional Use process so specific types of small commercial activity can occur where appropriate. Adjust subdivision requirements while maintaining historic character. Improve the Town’s Tax Base Get the town to form an Economic Development Committee to help bring appropriate land uses to the town and thereby improve the tax base. Create a Commercial/Light Industrial/Hospitality Zone at or near Exit 10. Consider the land surrounding the County Club of NH Golf Course for a PUD (Planned Unit Development) (i.e. a new village surrounding the golf course). Don asked where the boundaries of the villages would be. Roger said they will be re-doing the zoning to determine that (unless the community doesn’t support it). There will be separate regulations for the villages. He said right now everything is all zoned residential. Jim asked if the PB has examples of other towns where this was done successfully, and Roger said yes. Glenn said according to the school district, there is a housing shortage for teachers, and we need to look at what might be available before the ordinance is put into place. As to what they will do first, Roger said it will be whatever is most likely to be successfully implemented, and most likely to be received warmly. Henry asked what the role for the SCC is in this. Roger said our strategic plan lays things out. Henry asked if we could propose that the areas in the strategic plan showing the highest priority for conservation not be developed. He said we are in competition with developers for land, and said it would be good if there was some kind of incentive that we could lay out to the sellers of property. Glenn suggested that incentives be provided for people to conserve large portions of their large, unprotected land tracts in exchange for developing the rest. Roger said currently there is no incentive provided for cluster development. The only incentive for the developer is a reduction in infrastructure, such as roads. [Cluster development is a way to reduce the size of lots in a subdivision, leaving part of the tract as open space.] Don asked if there are any large developments in town where the roads were accepted by the town, and the answer was no. Jim said in southern Massachusetts a real estate transfer tax was a sustainable funding source for conserving open space. Glenn said there are narrow limits in NH as to what can be taxed. Roger said there are other kinds of cluster developments, including one which provides affordable housing by stipulating that one house be sold to Habitat for Humanity. Don asked when the town will vote on the MP, and Roger answered that they won’t — the MP is just a road map. Glenn said the real working together comes in the fleshing out of that map. Barb asked if the MP is online for us to view, and Roger said there will be something to read after they have talked to all the groups; maybe in early April. He said we can give feedback to the PB before the public hearing. Correspondence NHACC January eNews with news about efforts by other ConComs, training opportunities, grant info, coverts application reminder, info about how old growth forests mitigate climate change, and more. Email from NHACC regarding Spring Lunch & Learn series. Sessions are at noon via Zoom. “Using Online Mappers for Conservation” on 2/16 and “Funding Options for Trails” on 3/2. Email from Lorri Himes informing us that 2022 mileage reimbursement rate is 58.5 cents/mile. Email from Lorri Himes conveying town counsel Laura Spector-Morgan’s advice on KHR donation fund. Email exchanges between Debbie Lang and Jenn McCourt of Blaisdell Lake Protective Assoc. and John Doyle of Messer Pond Protective Assoc. regarding road salting near the lakes. Email from Elly Phillips informing the SCC that there were no changes made to our proposed budget. Letter from the Sutton Planning Board with notification of a public hearing to consider an application for a lot line adjustment/annexation between two parcels T/L#s 10-410-215 and 10-460-197. Letter from SPNHF regarding their monitoring visit to a town-owned, Deed Restricted Property, Partridge LT-DR. No concerns were observed. Regarding the correspondence, Chuck suggested that it be put at the bottom of the agenda, and that the items that are referenced elsewhere in the agenda be removed. Review of Wetland Applications and Issues: None Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues: None Trail Maintenance and Development Trails Advisory Committee Report >Draft KHR Hiking Map review Chuck said he finished a new map today. He is doing separate maps for summer and winter. Henry asked if they should both be displayed on the kiosk, and Chuck said yes. He will send the map out for review. He said stone walls can be shown on the map. Alex Simoneau is potentially going to do some map work. >KHR Donation System Jim has been researching this. The system would use a QR code at the trailhead parking lot. It should work seamlessly with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo. He has been looking at Blackbaud, which makes a product geared to non-profits and takes 2.6% out of each transaction. He was hoping to get this set up quickly, and talked to Lorri Himes, who immediately contacted town counsel Laura Spector-Morgan. Laura said that the SCC is allowed to receive donations and manage the money, and she recommended using a revolving fund. This needs to be approved by a warrant article at Town Meeting, and she provided the language that should be used in the warrant: To see if the town will vote to establish a Revolving Fund pursuant to RSA 31:95-h for the purpose of maintaining the parking areas and trailheads associated with town conservation properties. All revenues received from parking, either by voluntary donation or mandatory fee, will be deposited into the fund, and the money in the fund shall be allowed to accumulate from year to year, and shall not be considered part of the town’s general fund balance. The town treasurer shall have custody of all moneys in the fund and shall pay out the same only upon order of the Conservation Commission and no further approval is required by the legislative body to expend. Such funds may be expended only for the purpose for which the fund was created. Then today, Elly got back to Jim with the news that the BOS is not comfortable with the idea of a revolving fund, and want to discuss it. This means the SCC needs to get on the BOS agenda, and misses the deadline for the warrant article, which is tomorrow. Jim said he’d like to just test this out, and there would be no cost involved. We do need to get a W-9 and a merchant account. Chuck said his initial idea was that we could use the KHR account. A third option would be to create a “Friends of KHR” non-profit group. Henry cited RSA 36-A: 4, which states that a conservation commission may receive gifts and donations and place them in the Conservation Fund, after the select board approves the acceptance of the funds. He said we could use an escrow account, handled by the town treasurer, in which the donated money could build up. Of the three options, only the revolving fund would require approval at town meeting. To Chuck’s question about using the KHR fund, Henry said that that is not a gift fund, and these donations need to be clearly identified as gifts. Chuck rejoined that the money in the KHR fund originally was a gift, so it seems that it would make sense to use it as a gift fund. Henry said we need the BOS to approve it. Don asked if there will be a cash outlay to set up the donation system, and Chuck’s answer was no. Jim said we might need to hire some technical expertise. Lynn said maybe the webmaster for KLPA would help. Bonnie said that the Sutton town website, where the SCC website is situated, is not optimized for display on a smart phone screen. Jim said maybe the person donating could just be taken to a Blackbaud page, and would not need to go to our website. Henry said he would talk to town counsel to find out if using the KHR fund is all right per the RSA. Then we’ll need a meeting with the BOS to explain to them what we want to do. He will report back to Jim and Chuck. Old business Tabled until next month. New Business Discuss goals for KHR management plan—Barb said she looked at the conservation easement for KHR and there are seven goals in there that need to be in our forest management plan. Chuck said he would make that change. He asked that anyone else with feedback on the draft send it to him. Property Committee Report Henry said that the offer Sally Minikian made on the Chan property was accepted, but the caveat was that the realtor could entertain other bids unless we put down a $3000 option for a 45 day review period. Henry thought Sally had put down the money, but she didn’t because there was a question of whether the town would be able to pay that money if we didn’t get the grants. This went around from Debbie, to Elly, to town counsel, and the answer was no, because it was not in the public interest. By then the realtor had used our offer to get a higher bid from someone else. Don suggested we send the new owner the land conservation brochure that SPNHF sent to Mrs. Chan. Chuck said there is a lesson here about fostering goodwill; we will never have the economic advantage, so we need to rely on people’s positive attitude regarding conservation. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:44 PM. Next Meeting: Due to Town Meeting being on our usual meeting date, the SCC meeting will be Wednesday, March 16th, 2022, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary