May 21, 2025 | Bonnie Hill Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC) DRAFT Meeting Minutes Wednesday, May 14, 2025 Present: Henry Howell, Chair; Joanna Murphy; Jim Morris; Kate Fernald; Nancy Heckel and Bonnie Hill. Absent: Don Davis; Debbie Lang; Chuck Bolduc; Lynn Wittman. Others Present: Judy Parkinson. Call to order: Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:32 pm. Previous Meeting’s Minutes: The minutes from the last meeting on April 9th were unanimously approved. Financial Report: Debbie sent out a spreadsheet before the meeting. There were no new expenditures in April. There is $8,155 left in our budget. $7,897 was added to the Conservation Fund from the Land Use Change Tax. Here are the Bar Harbor Bank account balances as of the end of April: Conservation Fund: $243,214.88 (sum of all sub-accounts) Conservation Fund Unrestricted: $224,599.78 Sievert King Hill Gift: $17,482.96 Donation Holding Account: $1,132.14 Capital Reserve: TBD Non-Capital Reserve: TBD Capital reserve amounts have not yet been finalized after Town Meeting. 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 reported via email that the website contractor set him up with a login to the new website, which should help him with testing, and he is working on that. Jim said that he reached out to Blackbaud again about the additional services they have now, but he has not heard back. KHR Penacook Path culvert rebuild/replacement – Chuck reported that he talked with Mike Hansen of Hansen Bridge on Monday and they can meet him on site to get a more accurate price. He needs to schedule that. Status of snowmobile signage – Chuck still needs to connect with Aaron about getting up there to put up signs. Volunteer Trail Work Day – Henry said this will focus on developing the Red Pond Trail at Webb/Crowell, since the donation of land by the Stockwells will enable this trail to be extended past the beaver pond. Although there is a delay in the property transfer, Rick Stockwell has given permission to the SCC to develop the trail. Henry would like us to do at least a month of advance advertising for the work day, including an announcement on SCS Radio. He has contacted Taylor Lepinski, the KRHS athletic director, about getting students to work with us. Nancy said her daughter is an advisor to the Outing Club at KRHS, and she will ask her for help as well. The question is whether it is too late in the year for students to still be interested in getting community service credit. Joanna suggested we have a initial work session with the students, and then have a later one with advance advertising notice. Nancy will get back to Henry about the student availability. The members agreed on June 22st from 10:00 to 4:00 for the work session, with a rain date of June 28th. Joanna wondered whether we should worry about having too large a group. She was assured that we usually have the opposite problem. She suggested setting up a table with tools laid out for people to pick up and use. Jim suggested having a raffle prize as an added motivator for people to show up, and he offered to arrange that. He said people should be able to sign up in advance. Henry will draw up a signup sheet with the relevant info and notice about the raffle (Jim will get this info to Henry as soon as he can). These will be posted around town, at the Post Offices, Town Hall, the trail heads (Hominy Pot, Maple Leaf, Lefferts and Webb/Crowell), and Horse Beach, with hanging pencils. Once they are ready, Joanna will post a notice on the Sutton Facebook page directing people to the signup sheets. Nancy said she would notify Taylor Lepinski. Kate said since there is chainsaw work required, it would be good for us to have a preliminary work session to get that done so there is no chainsawing going on when the volunteers are around. The preliminary work session using chain saws, etc. to clear away the heavy stuff will happen on Friday, May 23rd at 8:00 AM. Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues None Wetlands Review Henry signed an expedited wetlands permit application for a driveway on T/L# 06-194-058. We received a copy of a letter from NHDES to J. and J. Groenke on Rt 114, T/L# 6-193-056, File Number 2025-01066, regarding a complaint of possible wetlands violations on the property New Business Warner River VRAP Group 2024 data – As a member of the Warner River VRAP (Volunteer River Assessment Program) team, Bonnie received a report of last year’s water quality data. Testing is done for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH, temperature, and turbidity. 14 sites are tested, of which 3 are in Sutton. The only parameter that fell outside of state standards was pH, at 8 sites, none of which were in Sutton. Jim asked if Bonnie would forward the report to the commission. Turtle and Fox Road Crossing Signs – Henry said that two fox pups were killed by cars on 114 and some upset citizens had contacted the BOS to try to do something to slow people down. In the meantime, Joanna put up a temporary Fox Crossing sign. Joanna put a couple of turtle crossing signs out by the town wetlands last week after seeing a smashed turtle there. She will put out the rest of the signs this weekend. Andover Conservation Commission presentation – “Creating & Maintaining Town Forests” will be presented on June 2nd at 7 PM in the Andover Barn at Highland Lake Inn in East Andover. Henry will not be able to attend but asked if any of the SCC members would like to go and say a few words about why the SCC chose to discontinue its Town Forest. Kate pointed out that from the standpoint of recreation, Sutton has less need than some towns for a Town Forest, since we have Kezar Lake and Wadleigh State Park. Old Business Update on Jeffrey and Wright conservation easements – ASLPT is working with Bob Wright, and the property is still waiting for a survey. The easement on the Jeffrey property may be done by mid-summer. Conservation Commission appointments – Lynn still needs to be re-appointed, and Nancy needs to be sworn in. . Henry said Lynn should ask for a term ending in 2026, and Nancy should ask for one ending in 2027, as we now have too many terms ending in 2028, and they need to be staggered. Publicity Possible community talk on invasive insects – Kyle Lombard of the NH Forest Health Bureau gave a talk at the LSPA recently about bugs that are destroying our trees. The talk was well-attended and highly recommended, and Henry said he would try to get Kyle to do a presentation for us this fall. Miscellaneous June meeting – Henry will not be here to conduct the meeting, so Bonnie said she would do it. Aquifers – A folder of information regarding Sutton’s aquifers was left in Joanna’s car and will be discussed at next month’s meeting. Correspondence Letter from ASLPT notifying us that a donation was made in honor of the SCC by J.Lennon and M. Goettlemann, in gratitude for Joanna Murphy having donated a mini-fridge to them. Henry will write them a thank you letter. Email from Tim Eliassen recommending presentation by Kyle Lombard of the NH Forest Health Bureau on bugs that are destroying our trees. Email from Ansley Peacock about an expedited wetlands permit application. Email from NHACC about training series on conservation easement monitoring. Email from NHACC about webinar series on balancing conservation and housing. Email from NHACC with legisative update. April eNews from NHACC with news about Earth Day, news from other concoms, training sessions, and grant opportunities. Letter from SPNHF thanking the SCC for our $100 membership renewal. Letter from NH Lakes thanking the SCC for our $100 membership renewal. Letter and certificate from ASLPT thanking the SCC for our $100 membership renewal. Postcard from NH Lakes announcing the 2025 Lakes Congress on June 5th. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM. Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 11, 2025, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall. Respectfully submitted, Bonnie Hill, Secretary
