TOWN OF SUTTON

Sutton Conservation Commission

Draft Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, August 14, 2019

Present: Henry Howell, Co-Chair; Don Davis; Debbie Lang; Amy Highstrom; Chuck Bolduc; Barbara Hoffman and Bonnie Hill.

Absent: Wally Baker, Co-Chair. Bonnie sat in for Wally.

Call to order: Henry Howell called the meeting to order at 6:38 p.m.

Previous Meeting’s Minutes: Debbie made a motion to approve the minutes from July 10^th’s meeting, and Don seconded. As there were no issues with the minutes, the vote was all in favor, with Barb abstaining.

Financial Report:

Debbie reported that there were no expenditures last month, so the amount spent this year remains at $1103. As of the end of July, the Conservation Fund contained $145,006.11 and the KHR fund contained $2751.59. The two remaining LUCT payments were finally paid, so $14,367 will be posted to the conservation account in August.  Chuck looked into applying for a grant from the state for mowing expenses, but there is no money available now because the budget hasn’t been passed and the state is operating under a continuing resolution. He said the info and grant application are all available online.

Correspondence:

• Lakeside, the quarterly publication of NH Lakes. Summer 2019 issue. Articles about proposed lake-related legislation, response to last summer’s cyanobacterial bloom, lake aging, stream restoration project.
• Conservation News, newsletter of the Merrimack County Conservation District. Order form for MCCD fall bulb sale, article about the annual dinner, events calendar.
• Letter from FEMA with 30 Day Engineering Models notification, regarding the ongoing flood risk project in the Contoocook Watershed. Includes a list of flooding sources, the hydrologic and hydraulic models selected for each, and the rationales for selecting those models. Henry read the letter out loud and passed around the map and list. The issue was tabled.
• Emailed copy from Elly of Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Program 2019 Capitalization Grant Intended Use Plan, with supporting documents (project priority list, ranking criteria for wastewater and storm water projects, etc.) These were copies of documents that were sent to the select board. Barb pointed out that Sutton does not have storm water and wastewater infrastructure, so this does not apply to us.

Review of Wetland Applications and Issues:

• None.

Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues:

• L. and B. Harper, T/L# 05-973-179, 05-981-338, and 04-126-518. Pound Rd, 100 acres out of 286, Eric Oxman, forester. Don said there is a massive beaver dam on this site and Pound Rd is actually underwater. Since a forester is involved, we decided not to worry about it.
• E. and E. Fowler, T/L# 04-683-028, 02-745-482. High Mowing Rd, 50 acres out of 70, John Whyte, logger. Bonnie said there is a large beaver pond next to these 2 lots, and they are on the edges of it. Henry said he may give Betsy Fowler a call and alert her to the possible wetlands issue.

Old business

Tax-deeded properties – Bonnie had sent an email to the members listing information about the properties including size, proximity to other town-owned land, and habitat ranking. Based on this, a motion was made by Barb and seconded by Amy that the Holloway, Nista and White properties, tax lot numbers 04-194-375, 04-207-389, and 04-212-391, respectively, should be retained by the town, and that the SCC would endeavor to place a conservation easement on the properties. The vote was unanimously in favor. The three lots are contiguous, abut the Lane River, and are in highly-ranked habitat. Barb pointed out that the select board was given a presentation of the Sutton Strategic Action Plan by representatives of the SCC and they now have our map of where the highly ranked habitats are in town. Debbie said she took this same recommendation to the Planning Board and they also support retaining these properties. Henry made a motion, and Debbie seconded, that the Emerson Bailey Heirs property, TL # 07-790-226, be donated to the SPNHF, as it abuts property owned by SPNHF. Don said this lot is under water and not buildable. The vote was unanimously in favor. The other properties were discussed, with no further recommendations for having the town keep them.

NHDOT’s I-89 paving project – Chuck spoke with Melilotus Dube at the NHDOT and got more detailed information, which he shared with the SCC via email. He said this project is more extensive than the one just completed in New London. There are two projects, with the smaller one contingent upon funding. They plan to address deficiencies in drainage, scrape back rock outcroppings, and replace perched culverts. There is not much reason for us to go and look just yet, as it is not yet surveyed. Other agencies will be policing this, such as Fish & Game. This will not be our only opportunity to have input. Chuck wrote up answers to the 11 questions posed by the DOT, and went over his answers with us. Question 1 asks if the town has a list of priority mitigation projects (Top 10 Priority List) that the DOT may evaluate and consider undertaking if the project requires mitigation. Barb pointed out that this concerns the ARM fund, which is what the seminar she attended in April was all about. Once the town officials have signed off on the Strategic Plan, she said we should form a new sub-committee to come up with a Top 10 list. Chuck said the road agent needs to be involved in this, too. Henry said the subcommittee should go around and look at culverts. Don said old culverts on trails (at KHR, for example) should also be considered. Amy asked about back roads that flood, and if these funds only apply to culverts, and Chuck replied that it could be other water-related issues. When asked about Class VI roads, Chuck said probably not. Barb said we might need to hire some expertise to help us come up with the Top 10 list, to ensure that they are feasible projects. Debbie asked if we should invite the road agent to our meeting. Henry said the road agent cares about 100-year floods, while we care about fish. Don said we need to identify barriers to fish. Bonnie said that Fish & Game is doing culvert surveys in the Warner River watershed to look for these. Don asked if DOT would fund a beaver deceiver. He is thinking about North Road. He said Andover has 6 or 7 of these now. Chuck said that we have to come up with specific plans. He said we should respond to Meli and say we don’t have the top 10 list yet, but we are going to talk to the road agent and get back to her later.  Henry asked Barb why we need professional help, and she said that she doesn’t have the expertise. Chuck pointed out that even if we don’t come up with a top 10 list, the money from DOT will be placed in the ARM fund and will still get used for good purposes. Debbie offered to touch base with Jen McCourt. Henry said let’s talk to Adam (the road agent); our recommendation might help get money for culvert projects. Chuck agreed to talk to Adam and to respond to Meli. The last question was about invasive plants along the highway. Don said there was Japanese Knotweed below exit 10 that he thinks was treated with herbicides. Amy said there should be no herbicide use in these areas, as they are full of wetlands and drinking water could be affected.

Update on invasive water celery – Debbie, Amy, Bonnie, and Donna Catanzaro met at Smiley Grove on July 15^th and pulled water celery out of the stream. They filled 10 trash bags with weeds that Bonnie has been drying out and plans to burn. They will keep an eye on it and maybe do some more pulling in the fall. If they do it again, Debbie suggested putting a small blurb in Judy Lowe’s column to alert the public about it.

Trail work status – Henry reported that a trail work session was held at KHR on August 3^rd. He recently walked the Lefferts trail and said it is a very pretty trail, but untended. We need a trail work session there. A gate for the Bean Quarry was purchased from SPNHF and will be delivered by Dave Anderson. The road agent said he is understaffed and too busy to install the gate for us. Henry wants to hire a contractor to install the gate, place some boulders at the entrance, and perhaps push back earth to make a small parking area, and he said this could cost as much as $5,000. Bonnie asked that the parking lot piece be separated out, as it seems like a lower priority. Don made a motion that Henry seek out 2 contractors’ estimates for installing the gate and moving boulders, and investigate the cost of making a small parking area for 3 cars. Debbie seconded, and the vote was unanimously in favor. Don suggested a few people to try: Perkins Landscaping in Sutton and Matt Ordway, and someone else suggested Joe Messer.

Strategic Action Plan – Barb said that she and Wally attended the last select board meeting and gave a brief description of what was done to come up with the plan. They showed the map, and went over the recommendations for implementing the plan. The BOS asked what we wanted from them. They said they would read the report and bring up any concerns they have at the next select board meeting. If they have any concerns, they will ask SCC representatives to come to the meeting on the 26^th. Once the BOS has signed off, Barb said the next step is to present the plan to the Planning Board.

Amy’s Butterfly talk – Henry thanked Amy for the wonderful butterfly presentation on July 18th.

New Business

Email communication and the public record –Some members had expressed concern about the difficulty of making decisions on issues in a timely manner while trying to comply with right-to-know laws, especially when we are trying to limit the length of our meetings to two hours.. Elly gave input on this and said we can’t hold a meeting over the phone, we can’t make a decision to actually do something in an email exchange, but we can exchange information to enable making a decision at a public meeting. Barb added that email discussions could be considered meetings, and the problem is that there is no public notice for them. Amy asked if asking questions in an email is all right. Barb said asking for factual information is fine, but not for opinions. Deb asked about keeping emails in a public record. Barb said all of our SCC email exchanges are a matter of public record, but we don’t have to keep them in a file. We do have to be able to produce them if asked to do so. Barb passed out copies of the relevant statutes from RSA 91-A, for our information. Chuck said that it is important to avoid discussing issues in email that affect an individual party. Don suggested that if we want to send out something for our commission’s information, that we send it to the chairman and let him decide whether it is appropriate to pass on to the other members. Amy said that as long as we can exchange factual information through email, then she is OK with ending the meetings at 8:30. Barb said that if we need more time on something, we can always schedule a second meeting for that month.

Discuss scheduling a presentation by NH Lakes on their “Lake Smart” program –Debbie talked to them about this and decided that there is not enough lead time to get it set up this summer. We will try to get this scheduled at the beginning of next summer. NH Lakes does not charge money for these programs.

September Meeting – Henry said there is interest in creating a butterfly garden at KRHS and he would like Amy to think about this. He is also interested in creating a self-guided historical trail on KHR. Don said Sutton had two remarkable history teachers, Lydia Wadleigh and John Eaton, who both have high schools named for them in NYC. He would like to see some kind of link created between KRHS and the Wadleigh school. Henry asked that people let him know if they would like to do a presentation at the next meeting.

Adjournment: Debbie made a motion to adjourn, and Amy seconded.The meeting was adjourned at 8:34 PM.

Next Meeting:  Wednesday, September 11th, 2019, at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary