Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC)

DRAFT Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

Present: Henry Howell, Chair; Chuck Bolduc; Don Davis; Debbie Lang; Yvonne Howard; Joanna Murphy; Bonnie Hill, and Lynn Wittman.

Absent: Jim Morris.

Members of the public present: Lee Booker, Wally Baker, Glenn Pogust, Ira and Danielle Thomas, Ernest and Sondra Brake.

Call to order: Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:31 pm.

Previous Meeting’s Minutes:  The minutes from the last meeting on February 14^th were unanimously approved.

Financial Report:

There was no budget report this month. $180.00 was expended for plowing. The remaining balance of $5.24 in the KHR Fund account will be rolled into the Conservation Fund and the KHR fund closed out. The final invoice for $1942.50 was received from Neil Butcher for the KHR brontosaurus mowing. It was decided that this will be paid out of Mowing and Plowing, with the remainder to come out of Special Projects. Chuck said Neil again gave us a discounted hourly rate and did not charge us a mobilization fee, and Chuck will thank him for that. Here are the account balances as of the end of February:

• Conservation Fund: $209,792.92 (sum of all sub-accounts)
  • Conservation Fund Unrestricted: $209,684.76
  • King Hill Reservation Fund: $5.42
  • Donation Holding Account: $102.77
• Capital Reserve: $69,088.00

Trail Maintenance and Development

Trails Advisory Committee Report

Update on the KHR donation system – Chuck said TD Bank asked Lorri Himes to confirm some things on the Blackbaud account. He will ask Jim to find out from Blackbaud if the account has to be a debit account, and if so, the TD Bank account will need to be changed.

Update on status of Sievert donation – Chuck said the Sievert check was re-issued, and the Stewardship Account is in the process of being opened. Next month he hopes to report on the new donation.

KHR Penacook Path condition – Henry went to KHR recently and said the two culverts on Penacook Path need to be covered with crushed stone to prevent them from being crushed. Chuck said since they are half-culverts they shouldn’t be buried. Instead, they should be removed and raked out and treated like water bars. Henry showed us a picture of the large culvert, showing serious erosion. Chuck said he has done maintenance on it several times, but the recent high rainfall events have done a lot of damage. He says this is a good candidate to repair using grant money such as from Trout Unlimited or Moose Plates. Henry said the cost would be at least $8 to $10,000. An open-bottomed box culvert would be a good solution, but that would require an engineering design.

KHR snowmobile trail usage – Henry saw snowmobile tracks on Trails 1 and 2, and snowmobiles are not allowed on those trails – only Trail 3. If they want to make a loop they are supposed to use Tom’s Trail. Henry displayed a “No snowmobiles “ sign that had been knocked to the ground and chewed up by a snowmobile. Henry said we need some signs that say “Snowmobiles This Way” or something like that, to let people know where to go. Chuck said he would reach out to Aaron Flewelling, the president of the Sutton Ridgerunners, about these issues. He thinks most users of these trails are local to Sutton. If we order the signs the club can pay us for them.

Trail volunteers – Ernie Brake said that the Kezar Lake Running Club is interested in adopting and maintaining some of our town trails. Henry thanked him enthusiastically and asked if the club would be interested in restoring the Putnam Bridge, which needs to have higher footings built and then be placed atop the footings, with steps added to get up on the bridge, and a railing added. In addition, the Putnam Trail needs to be re-routed around the beaver-flooded area (while leaving the beavers alone). Ernie said the club would definitely be interested in re-routing the trail. Henry said another project will be to extend the trail at Webb/Crowell onto the land that the Stockwells are going to donate. Chuck said that we will need to check with Anne Payeur of ASLPT regarding DES permitting for work on the Putnam Bridge. Henry asked Ernie to check with the running club, and to let Henry know if they are interested in the trail project. If so, Henry will talk to Gerry Putnam to clear things with him.

Intents to Cut

• T. and B. Schnitzer, Music Hill Rd, T/L# 06-068-417, 8 acres out of 48, Tim Wallace, forester.
• R.A.K.Jeffrey Trust, Blaisdell Hill Rd, T/L# 02-204-044, 4 acres out of 13, Justin Willett, logger.
• Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts, Wrights Hill Rd, T/L#s 02-798-448 and 04-742-037, 125 acres out of 158, Eric Oxman, forester.

Wetlands Review

• Copy of letter from NHDES to Town of Sutton issuing a Wetlands and Non-Site Specific Permit, file number 2023-02752 for a culvert replacement on Keyser St, T/L# 08-022-363.
• Copy of letter from NHDES to NHDOT issuing a Wetlands and Non-Site Specific Permit, file number 2023-03336 for a culvert replacement conveying Thistle Brook under Rt 114, map #6.
• Copy of letter from NHDES to S. Claroni and G.Wells regarding a Forestry Statutory Permit-by-notification for T/L#04-323-231, deemed administratively complete. File num. 2024-00245.
• Copy of letter from NHDES to Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts regarding a Forestry Statutory Permit-by-notification for T/L#s 02-798-448 and 04-742-037, deemed administratively complete. File num. 2024-00360.

Appointment 7:00: Danielle and Ira Thomas regarding Peacock Hill development

Danielle said their purpose in coming today was for education. She would like to see more collaboration in the future between town boards, to prevent the kind of thing that happened with Peacock Hill from happening again. Their main issue is the absence of an Alteration of Terrain (AOT) permit, which they have brought to the town’s attention multiple times. This is required when more than 100,000 sq ft of terrain is disturbed. The developer claimed that the area was less than that. Danielle said the project should have been done in phases, instead of all at once. Henry reminded her that she was addressing the Conservation Commission. She said according to the Cluster Ordinance, it behooves the town to bring in the ZBA and ConCom at the planning board hearings, so that there are more eyes looking at things. She said the abutters made a complaint in July with the ConCom receiving a copy, and nothing was done. She said the abutters measured the perimeter of the disturbed area with cell phones and it was more than 100K sq ft, and the developer admitted in October that it was more than 100K. She referred to a letter the SCC got in January, and said that if anyone had called DES they could have been told the altered terrain was greater than 100K. She said all state, local and federal permits are required before the ground is disturbed. The land was logged and stumped at the same time, which was a violation. DES is now waiting for a list of what has been done without permits. Don said that the ConCom is by law very weak, and that we are not allowed on the property to look at the site. Danielle said NHDES is happy to speak with people about violations. She said hundreds of truckloads of fill have been brought in and have buried everything, and fill was dumped in the wetlands. The few remaining trees are inundated with fill and will die. She said the entire back area of the lot was clear cut. Ira passed around a site plan for the development showing the proposed treelines, and showed photographs of the site and its disturbances. Don wondered if there is something that could be done at the planning board level that could automatically kick in when something like this happens. He said that the state has fewer people working there now, and there is more stuff dumped on them. Henry said all that NHDES can do is not approve the permit. Only the town can issue a cease and desist order. He said Glenn Pogust, Planning Board chair, has been very involved in this from the beginning.

Glenn Pogust spoke after Danielle and Ira finished. He said the planning board had come to the SCC to talk about this development at the very beginning. The professional engineer who was hired by the town determined that the amount of ground disturbance would be less than 100K sq ft, so no Alteration of Terrain (AOT) permit was necessary. He said the town cannot control the amount of logging, but they did require a buffer. The developer violated the buffer, but there is a lawsuit pending, and what he did will require remediation. He violated several conditions and a cease and desist (C&D) order was issued, and the project was shut down for 9 or 10 months. Glenn said he submitted documents to NHDES saying that an AOT permit was required, but NHDES rejected it. The developer was required to mulch and stabilize everything, and to place silt socks to protect the wetland, and he did that. The C & D was lifted in response. The town shut down his operation again when he paved in the rain, and they forced him to do the paving the correct way. Nobis Engineering was the firm hired by the town, and the developer is required to pay this expense. The wetlands were delineated. Each of the 7 lots was required to have its own drainage plan. David Burnham, the Sutton health inspector, inspected all the test pits and said they were done properly. If they have been moved, the state will be inspecting them. There will be remedies for the violations. The town has used counsel and our engineers every step of the way. Glenn and Peter Stanley have spent a lot of time at that site, and there has been extensive oversight by them, by Matt Grimes the building inspector, and by the fire department. Glenn said he would go and take a look at the logging again, from the walking trail.

New Business

Dalton Conservation Commission and Granite State Landfill – Bonnie had forwarded a report earlier this week from the Dalton ConCom, and a letter that they had sent to the state. They are looking for support from other ConComs and select boards for their effort to have NHDES reject the wetlands permit application and other applications from Granite State Landfill (GSL). GSL currently operates a landfill in Bethlehem that has caused many environmental problems, and the people of Bethlehem voted against letting them expand it. Now they are trying to build a new one in Dalton, which has no zoning ordinances. It would be built on virgin forested land next to Forest Lake State Park. The Dalton ConCom has created an exhaustive report using the testimony of experts hired at their own expense to document all of the problems with using this site for a landfill, and they have sent this report to the state. Bonnie asked what SCC could do to support them. She read aloud the letter that they sent to NHDES accompanying their report. It was decided that Bonnie would write a letter to NHDES stating that the SCC has reviewed the report of the Dalton ConCom, fully endorses it, and requests that its findings be considered during the DES review of the subject permit application. Don said that when the algae blooms started at Kezar Lake back in the 60s, everyone thought that the state would do something, and they were mistaken. He said that for us not to speak out about the dangers to Forest Lake and the state park would be wrong.

Dog waste problem at KHR – Henry said he would like to see a dispenser for dog waste bags at the Hominy Pot trailhead, with signage making it clear that this is a carry in / carry out area. This is what they have at the Esther Currier preserve in New London. Don sad he will talk to his grandson more about doing this. Joanna said that unleashed dogs on the trails is another issue we should address. Henry said we can talk about that at a future meeting.

5 year review of SCC Master Plan – Henry handed out an outline describing the Delphi Review process and the results from the SCC having done it five years ago. He also summarized the recommendations from the 2018 Strategic Conservation Plan. He asked us to read through the 2018 Plan and to think about how we would vote now on the values of the natural resources listed in it. This will be put on our agenda for the April meeting. Chuck said some of the data layers have been updated since 2018, and he will start looking into the source data. Debbie said that the Wildlife Action Plan was definitely updated. Henry told Chuck that if he would list all the layers, we could divide them up and each look into them.

Kezar Lake Watershed Plan loan – Lynn urged everyone to come to the public hearing tomorrow for this article on the Town Warrant.

New Town Admin – Julia Jones introduced herself and said she receives property complaints on a regular basis. She offered to attend our meetings as a liaison, and suggested that we let her know when we are expecting to have a contentious meeting. She encouraged everyone to attend BOS meetings as often as we can. In response to Lynn, she said she would ask the facilities team at KRHS about a place to set up displays for Town Meeting.

Old Business

Update on Stockwell property donation – Henry said the Stockwells are currently working with their mortgage company to determine the effect of the proposed land donation on their property value. If this works out favorably, they plan to hire someone at their own expense to determine the assessed value of the land.

Correspondence

• Email from Betsy Forsham with a map showing a surveyed boundary on the Stockwell property that is part of the prospective donated parcel

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 PM.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, April 10th, 2024, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary