Sutton Conservation Commission (SCC)

Meeting Minutes

Thursday, July 27, 2017

 

Present: Dan Sundquist, Chair; Don Davis; Jane Williamson; Wally Baker; Debbie Lang; Barbara Hoffman and Bonnie Hill, secretary.   Absent:  Henry Howell, Chris Ashton, Chuck Bolduc.  Barbara sat in for Chris and Debbie sat in for Chuck.

Many members of the public present.

Call to order: Dan Sundquist called the meeting to order at around 6:30 p.m.  A motion was made by Don and seconded by Jane to pass over the agenda until August 9^th’s meeting, in light of the public information session taking place tonight. The motion passed unanimously.

Public Info Session regarding the Kezar Lake Natural Area (KLNA): Dan called the session to order at about 7:00 PM. There were approximately 15 members of the public in attendance. The session began with a PowerPoint presentation by Dan Sundquist giving an overview of the KLNA.

Opening remarks:

Dan began by saying that the goal is to have a management plan for every town-owned property. There are some existing plans, but they do not address recreational activities. The comments heard tonight will become part of the management plan, as they will be included in its appendix. Just today, Dan learned that there is a “difference of opinion” regarding the ownership of the beach frontage. This will be taken up with town counsel to resolve. KLNA is a very visible and busy recreational area. The final decisions and recommendations for its management will be made by the Sutton Conservation Commission.

Background:

The land originally known as the “Stevens Lot” was acquired by the Town in 2015. Its 4.6 acres are mostly wetlands, with 200 feet of frontage on Kezar Lake. It is adjacent to Smiley Grove and the town wetlands, and contains a stream. Maps were displayed that showed a jurisdictional wetland boundary. With the 75 foot setback, it was clear that this leaves a very small buildable area. Pictures were shown of the road frontage, the interior portion of the land, the view from the parking lot and bridge showing the property boundaries, the parking lot at Smiley Grove, the property marker monument on the beach, kayaks being launched at the boat launch, and one of the mileage markers for the “around the lake” walking loop. Dan pointed out that as many as 150 people a day have been counted walking around the lake. The highway right of way extends all of the way across the beach, and the edge is armored with large rocks.

Natural Resource Values:

The KLNA is valuable wildlife habitat, protects water quality, provides opportunities for nature study (birding, etc.), and is scenic.

Known issues:

Parking and vehicular congestion, litter, dog waste, and human waste are some of the issues of concern.

Limitations:

The KLNA is located on a state highway, which means that permits are required from NHDOT. It is within the NHDES Shoreland Protection Zone, which also means that permits are required. Dealing with both of these restrictions will require engineering support. The Town does not currently manage any recreation areas, so, for example, there are no trash cans at any of these areas.

Public Comments:

At 7:18 the floor was opened for public comments.

Wendy Gilker of New London serves as a Lake Host for Kezar Lake. She said conditions are hard for the lake hosts as there is no shade, and no place to go to the bathroom except at the Vernondale Store, which means leaving one’s post for the time it takes to trek over there. She is concerned about safety, as there are potential accidents all over the place on Saturdays and Sundays. She said the boaters and fishermen are very compliant, for the most part; only one refused to unplug. She does have some problems with other users of the area, however. People parking in the boat launch parking lot get upset when she explains that she needs to save space in the lot for boat trailers. People swim in the boat launch area when boats are trying to land and won’t get out of the way. People let their dogs off leash and the dogs chase cars, or they tie their dogs up to go swimming and the dogs sit in the road. She thinks having a trash can there might help with the dog waste issue. She sees a lot of young families coming in to the area and pointed out that this means the usage of the area is going to increase. The parking situation is made worse by people parking in the boat launch area and walking in to Wadleigh State Park to avoid paying the small entrance fee. She says a lot of people don’t realize the boat launch is a boat launch, and the parking area is for people using the boat launch, and suggests that signage be put up about it.

 

Francisco Aguilera of Penacook Rd, North Sutton, has a long family history at the lake.  He says the quality of the water is great, but the quality of everything else is lacking. He said the road crew is terrible. There are going to be more and more people using the area and no way to limit them. He would like to see the area left as natural as possible, and thinks its main purpose should be educational.

 

Charlie Ash of North Sutton lives on the lake and is the 4^th generation of his family to do so. He supported the acquisition of the KLNA, and walks through it on weekends to pick up trash. He would be willing to commit to help manage the land. In his opinion, when you acquire land, you own the management of that land. He did a study for the KLPA looking at other towns’ lakeshore management, and he will share the study with SCC. Dan asked him who owns the boat launch.  Don Davis answered for Charlie that the launch was put in by the DOT to prevent more erosion from the boat trailers. Don added that Fish & Game does not want to get involved with it because it involves cars having to back up across a state highway.

 

Brenda Digilio of Keyser St, North Sutton asked if we could have a sign put up saying that there is more parking available near Maple Leaf. She is against putting out a trash can. She asked Elly if Sutton has a leash law and the answer was no. Many people expressed surprise at this. Brenda thinks the town should have a leash law.

 

Christine Kuhlman of North Sutton is a member of the KLPA, and advocates sharing information between the association and SCC. There is a lot of confusion about whose responsibility it is to clean up the beach area, and this needs to be addressed. Many people were distressed this past spring at the amount of trash along the lake. Dan stated that the beach isn’t actually a public beach, and that he will come back to addressing NSIS involvement.

 

Roger Wells of North Sutton recommended that a kiosk be built in which the lake hosts could sit to get out of the sun. This would also provide a place to post signage and notices to help people behave better. The parking lot needs proper demarcation to show the area needed for boat trailers.

 

Bob Defelice of North Sutton said that there is no way to put markings on the gravel parking lot. He admitted to being one of the instigators behind removal of the trash cans. Vacationers were piling up all their personal trash next to the cans on their way out of town, and Bob was having to pick it up. Dan acknowledged Bob’s role in the acquisition of KLNA. He proposed that there be a cooperative effort between NSIS, KLPA and SCC about how to deal with this kind of thing, with meetings, and Bob agreed. Bob wants to keep the area natural, not developed. Dan said we have definitely been discovered by non-resident recreational users.

 

Wally Baker of North Sutton, a Sutton selectman, said that safety is a disaster. Whatever hurdles we need to go through definitely need to be gone through in order to resolve this. He wants to take some of the land to make space for head-in parking. Jane Williamson asked whether this might be unsafe, since it requires drivers to back out of the spaces. Wally said the parking lot boat launch area delineation can be done by using different types of building materials, for example, bluestone. He said porta-potties are ugly, but we could put one behind some kind of screen. A small dumpster could go behind the screen, as well. The biggest issue is money. The town owns the land, but how do we put the onus on the town? He said the rubble alongside the road is an accident waiting to happen, and he would like to see it replaced by something like granite slabs. He said cleanup of the area should be done by the town, 2 or 3 times a year. Bob Defelice asked if perhaps it is time for the town to create a Recreation Department.

 

Marne Thompson of North Sutton said that her son cut the grass alongside the road, and she asked if he could cut the bushes along the lake, as well. She asked that a sign be put up instructing people to walk on the left side of the road, and many people concurred. Dan said that two signs were put up a couple of years ago, and people still didn’t walk on the correct side. He said we could probably have the police enforce it if we wanted to, since this is actually a state law.

 

Pete Thompson of North Sutton said that there are a lot of people from out of town parking and walking into Wadleigh. He said volunteers used to clean the beach area, but they don’t any more. Dan said we will take it up with the state DOT.

 

Cathy Baker of North Sutton asked who would be responsible for posting all of these signs? She feels that trash barrels are not the answer and will only make things worse. Don Davis agreed with her, saying that when you put trash barrels out, you are saying that the property is a dump. A simple sign carries a big message: carry in, carry out. This gives people ownership. He said this policy works great in the state park system.

 

Closing remarks:

Dan said we have a very complex situation here, and will need to put our heads together to solve it. We need to have meetings with the DOT and other people. It will take a while to work through this. Charlie Ash said it doesn’t have to be expensive to do something about these problems, like putting up a few signs. The KLPA has a fund and works with the state on controlling weeds, etc. We can look to the other lakes and see what they’re done, and use volunteers. Dan said this needs to be brought up at the KLPA’s next meeting – whose volunteers? Francisco Aguilera said the KLPA wants to help in any way they can and offered to give Dan the association’s email address. Dan said he has been dealing with Vic Delvecchio, the president, who will forward everything.

 

Adjournment: There being no further comments, Dan adjourned the meeting at 8:05 PM.

The next SCC meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 9, 2017, at 6:30 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Bonnie Hill, Secretary