Present: Members Larry Chase, Tina Cotton, Sandra Graves, Jerry Hersey (chair), Nan Kaplan; guest Mario Ratzki, candidate for New Hampshire House of Representatives, District 1
Mr. Ratzki asked about Andover Conservation Commission (ACC) members’ concerns with regard to local conservation issues impacted by state government actions. Members discussed the Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act of 2011, the New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage Investment Program (LCHIP), and legislation recently proposed that would have changed the way local conservation commissions could use revenues received from the Land Use Change Tax.
Correspondence: Received notice of an invasive species workshop sponsored by the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension; notice of the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions annual meeting; a request for proposals for New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) Watershed Assistance Grants; a DES notification approving a timber-cutting plan in Mount Kearsarge State Forest; and an invitation to the Merrimack County Conservation District annual dinner, at which Debbie Stanley, executive director of the Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust, was the featured speaker.
Old Business
Larry reported that the New Hampshire Division of Forests and Lands has invited ACC members to participate in a guided walk in the Kearsarge Wildlife Management Area either before, during, or after a logging operation scheduled there in 2013. Members voted a preference for a walk during the operation.
Members approved a motion authorizing expenses of up to $300 for a photographic exhibit depicting local conservation easements and honoring easement donors. The exhibit will be mounted in the Town Hall meeting room.
Dates in October for monitoring two Andover easements were discussed.
New Business
Members voted that a 2013 ACC budget request for $600 be submitted to the town Budget Committee.
Nan reiterated the invitation to the invasive species workshop noted under “Correspondence,” above.
Larry described plans for a November 3 Andover Energy Awareness Day.
Members confirmed that term length for ACC membership is three years.
Sandra observed that ACC’s ongoing work should always incorporate the idea of preservation (of wildlife and natural resources) as well as conservation (for human uses).
Members voted an expenditure of $50 to help defray costs of replacing an evergreen tree on Town Hall property, to be used as a Christmas tree. The tree-planting is a project of the Andover Lions Club.