Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC)

DRAFT Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Present: Chuck Bolduc; Don Davis; Barbara Hoffman; Debbie Lang; Lynn Wittman; Wally Baker, and Bonnie Hill.

Absent: Henry Howell, Chair; Jim Morris.

Members of the public present: Yvonne Howard, Joanna Murphy.

Call to order: Wally Baker called the meeting to order at 6:35 pm.

Previous Meeting’s Minutes:  The minutes from the last meeting on September 13^th were unanimously approved.

Financial Report:

Debbie sent out a financial report before the meeting. We had no expenditures in September, and she urged everyone to submit their bills. There is $6,051 left in the admin budget. The Conservation Fund had a balance of $200,972.12 at the end of September. The King Hill Fund had a balance of $1,610.24. The TD Bank Donation Fund has $101.40. The Capital Reserve is at $69,088.00.

Henry submitted the SCC budget requests for 2024, at the same dollar amount as this year. We have $6,051 left in the budget, but there will be money coming out for secretarial expenses, GIS license, and $55 for a bill from Henry. Chuck pointed out that we will have some large expenses for trail maintenance at the end of this year. Besides mowing, the recreational trails need drainage clearing (see mowing discussion below). There may also be plowing expenses, though maybe not until January. There is also $1,610.24 in the KHR fund, and we had already talked about spending that fund down and closing it. Barb suggested that we run the plan by the town attorney, as that fund was created for a specific purpose. Chuck said he already did this as part of setting up the donation system, and the new fund meets the original intent of the KHR fund. Barb cautioned us to remember this for the future, as people will want to spend the donation money on other things. Wally said he could ask the town attorney to put something in writing so we don’t have to rely on human memory.

 

Trail Maintenance and Development

Trails Advisory Committee Report

KHR donation system – Chuck reported that he has written more code that can pop up an Iframe on a website page. He has talked to Hilary Grimes and will be working with her to make the modifications needed to connect this to the SCC website, and put the maps there. He showed us a screen shot of the Iframe. He said the system will take donations by credit card only; it is too difficult to set up a PayPal account for a town and qualify as a non-profit.

 

Mowing at KHR – Chuck has reserved Dave Carey’s time for mowing at KHR, and the cost will probably be $3,400, as that was the cost last year for the same trails. Dave Carey pointed out that the edges of the trails have grown in a lot, and he recommended Neil Butcher, who has a brontosaurus mower and does this kind of work for the commercial ski areas. The cost is $200/hr, and the total for clearing the edges of the recreational trails would be in the area of $6,000. Chuck thinks he might be willing to invoice us so that part of that amount would fall into 2024. Neil has time available and Chuck thinks we should hire him. Wally made a motion to schedule the work, with $4,000 paid this year and the remainder in 2024, if Neil agrees. Chuck said the edges of the trails are where the drainage ditches are. As they get clogged with vegetation, the water spills out and flows across the trails, carrying sediment which ends up in the lake, so this is a watershed health issue.

 

ASLPT snowmobile concerns and gravel pile at Webb/Crowell – These were issues brought up in the ASLPT easement monitoring reports. Wally said he talked to Mike McManus and Mike will spread the gravel on the road near Webb/Crowell when the conditions are right. As for the snowmobile trail expansion, ASLPT is already aware of it, and it is allowed in the easement deed. Wally said since the one year agreed to with the snowmobile club is almost up, we should have Aaron Flewelling come to the next meeting to make an agreement for the next year. We will do this on a year by year basis.

Appointment at 7:00 PM: Jenn McCourt to discuss Shoreland Zoning

Jenn introduced herself as a Sutton property owner. She and some other people are looking to put a petitioned article on the town warrant to make a zoning ordinance change. The change would be to prevent shoreland property from being used for funnel development. What this means is the developer of a large parcel with many lots could not purchase a small shoreland parcel and and have it provide common access for all of the property owners in the development. The purpose is to protect the shoreland. She said our local lakes and ponds are small, and heavy usage of this nature would be detrimental. She said the owners would want a perched beach, and a marina to accommodate everyone’s boat access, and this would have a negative impact on wildlife. Jenn said there is situation like this in Henniker, and it is more difficult to maintain order in a private association than in a public access area, where one can all upon the police or Fish & Game to deal with problems. She has spoken to the KLPA about it, and the consensus is that people would like to keep development on the lakes similar to what it is now. She will be talking to the Planning Board, Zoning Board, BOS, Sutton Historical Society, and other groups. Don asked if there are any funnel developments on Blaisdell Lake, and she said no, but there is one on Kezar. Barb asked if this conflicts with the fact that our lakes are public. Chuck asked what the mechanism would be; would it restrict shoreland property, or what? Jenn said it would not allow cluster development within the shoreland buffer. The group discussed the procedure for creating this change. Chuck said the more robust process would be to go through the Planning Board and land use coordinator, and integrate this change into our existing zoning rules. After this is would go before Town Meeting. This would avoid ending up with conflicting regulations. He said this would probably take about a year, which would miss the 2024 Town Meeting window. Jenn said the Planning Board told her it would be more like two years. She would like to follow the same process as the Planning Board, but do it privately. Wally said he thinks it is a good idea, but every time you introduce a restriction, there is going to be blowback. Getting the support of the BOS, PB and ZBA would give it more weight. Wally advised her to get input from everyone. Jenn said she is going to speak at the PB meeting next month.

 

Review of Intents to Cut and Logging Issues

• None.

   

Wetlands Review

Review of NHDES Source Water Protection Seminar of 10/4/23 – Lynn and Bonnie attended. Chuck recalled a similar seminar in the past and said most of the material was not relevant to Sutton, as it pertained to grants for protecting large public water systems, and most people in NH get their water from private wells.

 

Old Business

Update on road salt reduction – The NHDOT will finally hold the public hearing about creating a low salt zone on Rt 114. It will be at Town Hall on October 16^th at 5:30 PM..

“Stewardship of Your Land” seminar with ASLPT – The SCC plans to hold this in the early spring, and hopes to have some landowners speak who have experience with putting easements on their land and buying land that already has a conservation easement.

New Business

Welcome new prospective members – Yvonne Howard and Joanna Murphy have expressed interest in joining SCC as alternate members, and they were asked to introduce themselves. Yvonne said she lives in a wetland and is very concerned wetlands health. She is a big fan of Rachel Carson. Joanna said she served on SCC in the past, and now that her family responsibilities have lessened, she has time to get involved again. She said she talked to Henry about having Turtle Crossing signs made, after she had seen box turtles squashed on the road. She is very concerned about how we can protect our natural resources in the current environmental crisis, and she loves Sutton.

House site development on Roby Road – The lot at T/L #04-265-364 was recently sold, and there is now extensive tree cutting and a trailer on site, with no building permit filed. Wally said the road agent and building inspector have been to the site, and the trailer must be removed.

Current Use hearings – The New Hampshire Current Use Board will hold a series of public forums to accept comments on the State’s Current Use Program. The closest one to Sutton will be on 11/14 at 1:00pm in Concord. Bonnie brought this to our attention, as current use is important to us and has recently faced some attempts to eliminate it.

Sutton Mills village plan – Joanna Murphy brought up the Planning Board’s plan for an overlay district in Sutton Mills. She said many residents of the Mills are very upset about this, and she asked about the SCC’s role in it. Wally and Barb both said that we were not prepared to discuss this right now as it was not on the agenda and we had no time to familiarize ourselves with the issues. Wally advised her to get this on the agenda for next month’s meeting. Chuck said that as a townsperson, he asks that everyone collaborate and talk and learn together. Joanna said that a family in the Mills is interested in putting their land into conservation, and Debbie advised her to talk to Andy Deegan.

SCC members in the news:

— Shawn Davis, Grandson of Don Davis, featured as new manager for Wadleigh State Park. (Intertown Record 9/19/23).

— Lynn Wittman, KLPA president, received the NH Lakes Healthy Lakes Award on behalf of the Kezar Lake Protective Association (Intertown Record 9/26/23).

A fond farewell to SCC member Barbara Hoffman – The members wished Barb well in her new life out west, and we all said how much she will be missed. She has been an especially valuable contributor to the commission, with her DES and legal expertise, her writing skills, and her quietly diplomatic demeanor. We shall not see the like of her again.

Correspondence

• Email from Stephanie Alexander of the CNHRPC notifying us about an NHDES Source Water Protection Seminar on 10/4.
• Email from NHACC announcing the 2023 annual meeting and conference on 11/4, at Pembroke Academy..
• NHACC’s September eNews with an article about VRAP testing, children-related grant opportunities, and the remaining sessions in the Lunch and Learn Zoom series. The next one is “How to pass a conservation bond” on 10/24 at noon.
• Letter from The Land Pioneer, offering to buy part of Webb/Crowell.
• Postcard from ASLPT inviting us to their annual meeting on 10/22, at 3PM at the New London Historical Society meetinghouse.

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:08 PM.

Next Meeting: Wednesday, November 8th, 2023, at 6:30 PM, at Sutton Town Hall.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary