APPROVED 08/08/2012
Sutton Conservation Commission
Meeting Minutes
Wednesday July 11, 2012 @ 6:30 p.m.

Present: Present: Betsy Forsham; Chair, Ben Dobrowski, Garrett Evans, Don Davis, Gerry Putnam, Jean LaChance and Rachel Rupple. (Ricia McMahon and Ron Murray were absent.)

6:30 p.m. Betsy called the meeting to order and appointed Gerry to sit for Ricia and Ben to sit for Ron.

Previous Meeting Minutes:
A motion was made by Garrett and seconded by Jean to approve the minutes of June 13, 2012 as written. Unanimously approved.

Financial:
The Town account, as of the end of June, was $2,266.09, which is 77.87% of the budget. There were expenditures for secretarial and dues. The Conservation Account was $88,029.76, the KHR Fund $10,215.56, for a total in the Conservation Fund of $98,235.32. Betsy reported the parking lot at the Maple Leaf Natural Area is finished and Chipper Rowe was paid $4,332 from the conservation account.

Correspondence:
– Forest Notes with an interesting article on Muster Field Farm written by David Anderson.
– NH Coverts Project
– Town Tree Farm decertification letter, dated June 2012
– Misc.

Wetlands:
None.

Intents to Cut:
None.

Old Business:
The SCC Educational Program will be scheduled for September 5th at 7:00 p.m. The topic will be on forestry and good forestry practice. It will be at the Town Hall and Eric Johnson of the NHTOA will be speaking. Betsy will look at the current use list. Don will make fliers and Garrett offered to hand them out.

Garrett reported he figured the paint needs for blazing the Wells property at 12 cans at $3.25 each. The Board decided blue was a good color. Betsy will order the paint in September.

New Business:
Betsy mentioned the SRK Greenway article that discussed work to be done on the Lincoln Trail with the help of the Student Conservation Association (SCA). There was discussion regarding the possible use of the SCA, or a similar group, for work with the SCC. Garrett suggested an outreach program with the local students led by a teacher. Rachel will be meeting with the SCA and will look into this further.

SCC Properties:
There was an update on the Sundell property Japanese Knotweed. Betsy and Rachel worked on the property and Gerry brought an old rug that was placed on top of most of the area. There is still a section to do in the swale. Betsy will try to get to it in the next couple of days. Rachel said she saw some re-sprouting and pulled it out.

The mowing of the Route 114 entrance to and parking area of the Enroth/Leffert’s property was discussed. There was a question as to whether the mowing was encouraging the growth of the bittersweet, which has sprung up everywhere since the PSNH tree removal. Don researched this and found out unless the mowing is on a regular basis it will increase the growth, not subdue it. Additionally, the parking area has some debris which needs to be cleaned up and some exposed rocks which might need to be marked.

Betsy reported on finding someone to make signs. Betsy mentioned the email she sent out regarding Seth Benowitz as a possibility. The Board agreed to look into this further. Betsy and Garrett will visit Benowitz. Garrett and Don will get pictures of SCC signs to show to him.

The Maple Leaf Natural Area press release was discussed. Don and Rachel will work on an article. Betsy said the parking area is beginning to dry out. The sign will be incorporated in the timing of the public noticing of the area.

Betsy said Wally talked to Chipper about putting some small stone over the large stone presently covering the King Hill Road entrance to the KHR.

There was discussion of the Russell Pond property. Betsy said there appeared to be a message to Linda Ford but that she hadn’t been notified of the haying, as it required. She also said she received an email from Leon Malan expressing concern about the nesting birds and the timing of the cut. Betsy said she had written back to him explaining the cut was for haying and not just mowing the grass down. Malan had also commented he didn’t feel it was right that one tax payer was benefitting from Town owned land. The Board didn’t entirely agree with this assessment as the St. Cyr’s help the Town by haying the field, otherwise the Town would have to pay to have it mowed. There was also some question as to whether the field was being fertilized or not. The Board discussed the possibility of no longer haying the field and just mowing it every few years, or to hay only sections, as a way to preserve some of the grassland for the nesting birds and general wildlife. Betsy will invite the St. Cyr’s to come to a meeting to discuss the options.

There was an update on the Webb/Crowell bridge. Garret said Kevin hasn’t found a source for the metal trusses yet. Kevin will contact Garrett when he has some estimates.

8:15 p.m. A motion was made by Garrett and seconded by Gerry to adjourn the meeting. Unanimously approved.

Respectfully submitted,

Jennifer Swett
Secretary