TOWN OF SUTTON

Sutton Conservation Commission

Draft Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Present: Dan Sundquist, Chair; Don Davis; Barbara Hoffman; Henry Howell; Jane Williamson; Debbie Lang and Bonnie Hill, secretary.

Absent: Chuck Bolduc.

Members of the public present: Fred Sladen

 

Appointments: 7:00 PM Robert O’Neil and Andy Deegan.

 

Call to order: Dan Sundquist called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.

 

Previous Meeting’s Minutes: As there were no issues found with the minutes from the August 8^th meeting, Don made a motion to approve them and Henry seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously.

 

Financial Report:

There is still 73% of our town budget left, including 100% of the special projects money. The latest TD Bank statement shows $121,627.08 in the Conservation Account, and $5715.72 in the KHR account. There is a bill for mowing for $3000 and one for $25. Dan got a note saying the town budget process will be starting a month earlier than usual, so we need to come up with some creative ideas for one-off budget items. Henry said he has written up a whole itemized list of supplies, kiosks, signage and other needs that he forgot to bring but will email out to the group.

 

Correspondence:

• Forest Notes, SPNHF’s magazine, Summer 2018 issue.
• Membership renewal notice from NH Lakes. Dan will send them the payment.
• Letter from NHDES Commissioner Robert Scott seeking nominees to serve on the Warner River Local Advisory Committee. Dan said Sutton has only a small piece of the Warner River, but we do have the Lane River watershed. He said if we think we need a rep from Sutton, then we should decide by the next meeting.

 

 Review of Wetland Applications and Issues:

• Notice of Permit Approval 8/22/2018 for G. Dellert. DES File #2018-02173, Camp Kemah Rd, T/L# 2-485,102.
• Notice of Acceptance of Permit Application 8/13/2018 for the Jeffrey Family 2011 Trust. DES File #2018-02438, Lovett Road. T/L# 2-478,356.
• Expedited Wetlands Permit Application 9/5/2018 from and J. Manuel, for dock replacement, 133 Camp Kemah Rd, T/L #2-490,166. The proposal is to demolish and replace in kind an existing grandfathered dock. The members reviewed the application and Henry made a motion that Dan sign off on it. Debbie seconded, and the vote was unanimously in favor. Dan signed all the copies.
• Expedited Wetlands Permit Application 9/13/2018 from SPNHF, for habitat enhancement project, North Rd and Mastin Rd, T/Ls #5-14,369, 5-290,100 and 5-210,144. Steve Junkin of the Forest Society and Joel Destasio of Trout Unlimited came to the meeting to discuss this. It is unlike anything we have dealt with before. NH Fish & Game and T.U. approached the Forest Society about implementing this project on two streams (Mountain Brook and Trout Stream) in the Black Mountain Preserve with good populations of native brook trout. Two miles of stream would be involved, entirely on SPNHF property. Natural wood occurring in the streams would be assessed first. Then, approximately 200 pieces of large wood (i.e. trees of greater than 10 inches in diameter) per mile would be dropped into the streams. The aim is to have wood every 75 feet. Trees would be felled directly into the streams from within a 50 foot buffer area. Care would be taken not to produce large holes in the canopy that would lead to warming of the streams. No heavy equipment will be used, just manpower. Henry asked if the trees could cause dams. Joel said the goal is to immobilize the trees, and they have techniques for doing that, so they don’t pile up. In a flood situation, water should be able to flow around the trees and on the riparian banks. To Henry’s question about a 100 year flood, Joel said that water should be able to flow over the floodplain. The trees would help slow the velocity of the water, which would lead to deposition of sediment in the floodplain, which is good. Don said he has a story written by his great uncle describing a fishing trip in that exact area, and he will send it to Joel and Steve. Deb asked about studies that have been done around this kind of action. Joel said Jud Kratzer of Vermont Fish & Wildlife has written about some that showed an increase in biomass using this technique. Dan pointed out that it is not only fish that benefit, but also the macroinvertebrates that the fish feed upon. Henry wondered if this is the same stream that runs by the parking lot of the high school and has a high population of brook trout. He told Joel and Steve about the rain garden that the students created. Joel said there is a great teachable moment having this work being done so close to the school, and the students could really contribute to the survey data. Dan said there is already something underway at the school regarding this. Dan called for the question, and Henry made a motion directing Dan to sign the application. Deb seconded, and the vote was unanimously in favor, with Dan abstaining because of past and current affiliation with SPNHF. In answer to Deb’s question about when this would start, Steve said there would be a three day training with T.U. in October, and the work would start in earnest next summer. Dan signed all copies of the application.

 

 

Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues:

• Sliter, T/L# 10-505,340, Summit Rd, 5 of 15.16 acres, Troy Simino, logger.
• and M. Cloutier, T/L# 5-698,411, Shadow Hill Rd, 10 of 50 acres, Robert Cloutier, logger.
• Byfield, T/L# 6-191,244, Corporation Hill Rd, 40 of 76 acres, Nate Byfield, logger.

 

 

Appointment

At 7:00 Sutton resident Rob O’Neil and Land Protection Specialist Andy Deegan of the ASLPT spoke to us regarding a pending conservation easement on the shoreline of Russell Pond. Rob owns about half of the Russell Pond shoreline, which includes a beaver dam and the stream that flows into Blaisdell Lake. He has decided to donate a conservation easement on his land and is working with Andy Deegan. ASLPT requires $5000 from Rob to endow the project for stewardship purposes. ASLPT sets aside $18,000 for each project in their stewardship and enforcement fund, and they ask for a portion of this from the landowner. Pierre Bedard will survey the parcel for Rob, and this will cost $3000. Rob’s attorney is Carl Anderson of Sulloway and Hollis, and he has already billed $400. This is likely to add up to another couple of thousand dollars. A real estate appraisal will also need to be paid for. The land amounts to about 25 acres, and includes a major portion of Russell Pond shoreline, and will help protect the stream that flows into Blaisdell Lake. It abuts conserved land that the town already owns. Rob is hoping that the SCC will help him with the expenses for the easement. Don asked if there was anything unusual in the easement, and the answer was no. There will be public access granted in the easement. Rob reserves the right to cut timber, and to have pasture usage with a fence. He would like restricted access to the parcel, since there is already public access from the parcel owned by the town. He has a forestry management plan. Henry said that the Blaisdell Lake Association is already concerned about runoff from the parcel on the other side of the road that was clear-cut. Rob said he isn’t planning to log the parcel with the easement; he is only going to be taking firewood. Dan said Rob is giving away his development rights, and the question is money. “And authority”, added Barbara. Some of our money has restrictions on it, and Barbara looked up the statutes. We would need to go before Town Meeting in order to give money to ASLPT. Deb asked, what about to Rob? Barbara said there is nothing in the statute about that. Dan thinks the LUCT money can be spent however we want, but we would have to verify with Elly. Henry asked what if we became an executory interest in the easement, and Barbara said this would clear the way with no need for approval at Town Meeting. Andy said ASLPT cannot pay for Rob’s attorney fees or appraisal fee, as that would look like influence was being exerted. But if we give ASLPT money for both stewardship and the boundary survey, they can give a portion of it to Rob to cover his survey costs. Barbara said, if there are wetlands involved, there is a state fund, the Wetlands Reserve Fund, that will pay for attorney fees and appraisal fees. Dan asked Andy if he would look into this. Henry made a motion that we expend up to $10,000 from the Conservation Fund to help cover the expenses associated with a donated conservation easement on a portion of tax map 2 lot number 446,487 donated to the ASLPT, pending approval of town counsel and subject to an executory interest in the conservation easement. Deb asked, once he speaks to town counsel, can Dan act without us having another meeting, and the answer was yes. Andy will add the language for the executory interest to the easement document and will get it to Dan so he can get it to town counsel. Barb seconded Henry’s motion and the vote was unanimously in favor. Henry said we’re closing in on complete shoreline protection around Russell Pond. He’d like to suggest that we vote to set aside $10,000 to be offered as incentive to the owner of the last shoreline parcel to put a conservation easement on it. Dan responded that he’d like to table that, as Rob’s property needs to be done by the end of the year. If there is a favorable climate around the other property at that time, then he invited Henry to bring back his motion. Henry said this kind of upfront cost is really an obstacle to people giving conservation easements. Andy said we are getting to the point where it is difficult to find people who are willing to donate property. LCHIP looks for town involvement when making grants. Don said, we realized some years ago that we could use our money to buy one property or to assist with conservation easements on many properties.  Henry stated that he thought we should take the latter approach in light of landowner costs these days.

 

Old business

Strategic Conservation Plan – Dan asked us to review a list he will send out of natural resource features we are considering and let him know by email if there is anything missing. He will add any missing material and bring it to the next meeting for discussion in hopes of initiating the Delphi process used to weight various natural resources in the conservation plan.

 

New business

KLNA Issues— Jane asked us if the area near the road should be kept lawn-like. Now is the time to cut the small trees there; is it all right if she goes ahead and does it? The answer was yes. We need a KLNA sign. KLPA wants to re-do the bulletin board area – do we care? Jane will meet with Chris Kuhlman, the lake host coordinator, to talk about the kiosk. Dan asked if we want to build a 10 by 10 structure with a cement pad. Jane said that an umbrella seems to be working fine for the lake hosts. A cement slab would require a wetlands permit. Jane pointed out that when it rains, we lose a large number of parking spaces, for days. Could that area be built up somehow? Dan said this sounds like a KLPA / NSIS discussion.

Miscellaneous

NHACC annual meeting — Barbara said that this will take place on November 3^rd, and if we want to get the early bird rate we need to sign up by October 19th.

Speaker — Jane said we haven’t had a program in quite a while, and she wondered if we could get the bat expert to speak. Barbara said that we could have someone from DES talk about the new wetlands rules. Jane said we should try to set something up for the winter.

Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:25 PM.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 10th, 2018, at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary