March 25, 2025 | Bonnie Hill Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC) DRAFT Meeting Minutes Wednesday, March 19, 2025 Present: Henry Howell, Chair; Don Davis; Debbie Lang; Chuck Bolduc; Joanna Murphy; Kate Fernald; and Bonnie Hill. Absent:.Jim Morris; Lynn Wittman. Others Present: Mark Rosenthal. Call to order: Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:33 pm. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: The minutes from the last meeting on February 12th were unanimously approved. Financial Report: Debbie sent out a spreadsheet before the meeting. So far this year we’ve spent $420 for plowing and $80 for an ad in the InterTown Record. There is $8,455 left in our budget. Here are the Bar Harbor Bank account balances as of the end of February: Conservation Fund: $234,071.62 (sum of all sub-accounts) Conservation Fund Unrestricted: $215,558.79 Sievert King Hill Gift: $17,391.17 Donation Holding Account: $1,121.66 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 Trail Maintenance and Development Trails Advisory Committee Report Update on the KHR donation system – Chuck said that he made a $5 donation to the Blackbaud account today to keep us from losing the account. Jim had received the notification from Blackbaud. KHR Penacook Path culvert rebuild/replacement – Chuck obtained pricing information from Mitchie Concrete and will send us the quote. It was somewhere around $9,600 for the design and DES permits and $28,900 for the bridge and other materials. Having it constructed would cost at least another $10K. He has not yet spoken to the company that does wooden bridges. Status of snowmobile signage – Chuck went up to the top of KHR and said the snowmobilers did drive on the trails that were off limits, but he said that there were no signs at the top saying where to go. He and Aaron Flewelling never did get up there together to put up new signs. Chuck will contact Aaron and go up there with signs this spring. More signs need to be purchased, and Henry said the snowmobile club should pay for them. Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues Timber Trespass in Lefferts Natural Area. The SCC received a letter with the details about this from Glenn Pogust. Five, possibly 6 trees were cut down on our land by the abutting property owner, who has been asked to pay the town $300. Henry said the boundaries are poorly marked. He said he will go there with Glenn and add more boundary markers. Wetlands Review Copy of a Wetlands Permit by Notification from NHDES for Blaisdell Lake Protective Association for T/L# 02-704-486, to add beach sand to a legally existing beach. Debbie explained this, and it was straightforward. Copy of a Wetlands Permit by Notification from NHDES for Miller Trust for T/L# 09-320-445, replacing an existing stone ford with an 18 inch HDPE culvert for a new, single lot residential driveway. Henry said the engineering firm had done a good design for this. He will notify them that the signed permit application is at Town Hall. Copy of a Standard Dredge & Fill application amendment from NH DOT. This regards the replacement of a 48 inch corrugated metal pipe under Rt 114 at Thistle Brook with an 8 by 5 foot box culvert. We received this application in January 2024, but it has now been amended to include the stabilization of 30 linear feet of the bank of Thistle Brook with large boulders. New Business Nuisance trees in Town’s ROW in the Town Forest – Bonnie said we received a letter from the town notifying us that the BOS has deemed some trees along Wadleigh Hill and Corporation Hill Roads to be hazardous, and they will be taken down. Mark Rosenthal explained that he was involved in this, in light of the fact that there are so many dead trees, and with all the high wind events they may come down on the power lines or block the roads, and Corporation Hill Rd is a single egress road. He asked, regarding our town forest, why the trees there haven’t been thinned, since so many are malformed or dead. In his experience, trees can respond well if they are thinned to 50%. Henry explained that several years ago we walked the forest with a forester from UNH, who advised us to cut down all the trees and re-plant. We did not do that, mainly for financial reasons. Thinning was not suggested, and now Henry is wondering if we should ask Anita Blakeman to go out and look with us and figure out some other options. Chuck explained that the land isn’t a true Town Forest, as that is a designation that can be made in order to enable a conservation commission to manage a property for forestry and keep the proceeds to maintain its own operations, instead of having to put that money in the General Fund. Chuck said for the SCC to pay to manage the property we call the Town Forest is not financially feasible. Henry said it is a Catch-22. Kearsarge Climate Action heat pump question – Henry was asked whether the Town of Sutton has any heat pump projects going on, pertaining to our municipal buildings. None of the commissioners was aware of any. Old Business Update on Stockwell property donation – Henry said that the latest obstacle for the Stockwells is that in order to donate a portion of their property, the property needs to be subdivided. Otherwise there is no deed for it. This will require them to re-finance their whole mortgage. This is on hold for a while, until October or so. Update on Wright conservation easement – The process of putting an easement on this property, along with the conservation easement for the abutting property, is moving along well. Info for Hazard Mitigation Plan – Bonnie needs to fill out sections pertaining to the Conservation Commission in the Capability Assessment Tables of the Hazard Mitigation Plan, and she asked the members for some help in doing this. Conservation Commission re-appointments – Henry said that Don will need to write to the BOS asking to be appointed to the SCC as an alternate member. Henry has already written to them about appointing Kate as an alternate. Joanna has been re-appointed as a regular member and sworn in. Bonnie still needs to be sworn in. Bonnie thinks Lynn’s term expires in 2025, but Henry’s records show 2026. Bonnie invited Nancy Heckel to the meeting but did not hear back from her. Publicity NHSaves workshop – Henry said Warner has volunteered to have this at their Town Hall, in mid-April. The SCC will help them with advertising, and our name will be on the list of sponsors. Property Reviews – Henry Howell made a motion that the following discussion be conducted in a nonpublic session per RSA 91-A:3,II. The motion was seconded by Bonnie Hill. A roll call vote was taken, with the following commission members voting Aye: Debbie Lang, Henry Howell, Chuck Bolduc, Joanna Murphy, Don Davis and Bonnie Hill. There was no one opposed. A discussion was then held. Correspondence Email from Town Admin regarding re-appointments to SCC. Email exchange with Nancy Heckel regarding serving on SCC. Email from NHACC announcing $750K in funding from the NH Dept of Agriculture for agricultural land preservation grants. Email from NHACC with notice of Lunch & Learn webinar series with talks on clean energy and on the NHDES update of the NH Climate Action Plan. Email from NHACC with notice of webinar by NH Food Network on Providing Housing & Protecting Land across NH. 4/4 at noon. February eNews from NHACC with info about NRIs and story maps and links to examples from other concoms, training sessions, and grant opportunities. Lakeside, quarterly publication of NH Lakes, winter 2025 issue. Chatter, magazine of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, winter 2025 issue. NH Woods & Wildlife upcoming workshops Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:05 PM. Presentation and Recognition – Today marks Don Davis’s last day on the SCC as a regular member, after having served for 30 years. He will continue to serve as an alternate member. Henry presented Don with a beautiful framed photograph by Garrett Evans, and acknowledged the many ways in which Don has contributed to conservation in Sutton of both natural and historic resources, through his years of service with the State Parks, the SCC, and the Sutton Historical Society, as well as through his column in the InterTown Record. Beside being an encyclopedic resource regarding the past happenings of our commission, he was in his earlier days instrumental in developing SCC trail systems, helping set up the King Hill Reservation (KHR) land purchase, defining other properties that the town could purchase for their historic value, and providing a historical perspective on all town issues that has helped guide the SCC in much of its decision-making. Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary
