Members present: Mary Anne Broshek, Larry Chase, Tina Cotton, Derek Mansell, guest Sandra Graves; Excused: Nan Kaplan, Jerry Hersey

Correspondance

Wetlands Permit for building of new Proctor dining hall: Mary Anne to sign and bring to Town Office.

Capital improvements letter from Board of Selectmen: Think about potential projects for next meeting.

Saving Special Places brochure: No members attending.

DES compliance regions and contact information: The new Andover contact for reporting non-compliance issues is Jason Aube at Jason.Aube@nullDES.nh.gov or 271-4056.

Conserved Lands Charts: Derek has updated the conserved lands chart and will be doing as much monitoring as possible while he is in New Hampshire for the month of April.

Knotweed: Sophie Viandier is leaving New Hampshire. The Board of Selectmen would like the Conservation Commission to take on the knotweed project. Larry will check with New Hampshire stewardship group, Derek will make contact with Proctor, and Mary Anne will check with permaculture folks for new ideas on controlling and eliminating knotweed.

Other Business

New Bradley Lake sign due to change in rules: The Conservation Commission will vote at the May meeting on contributing to the cost of the sign at Bradley Lake. In the past, the Town has paid for the sign. Larry will get the measurements of the current sign and Mary Anne will give these to Lois to get a cost estimate. Larry will work on the new wording to coincide with the latest DES rules.

Halcyon Island in Highland Lake: The Conservation Commission recommendations have been sent to Tom Frantz, Chair of Recreation Committee for comment. Once they have reviewed, the packet will again be sent to the Board of Selectmen for final review and public hearing. Conservation Commission members believe there is a role for the Conservation Commission in contributing to the cost of new signs. Final decision pending Board of Selectmen approval.

The recommendations have been revised to reflect information received in a letter from the Loon Preservation Committee showing the partnership between that organization and the New Hampshire Bureau of Dams in lowering water levels to protect loon nesting sites.

Planning Updates

• Hike: Nan and Larry, with perhaps a co-sponsorship with the Andover Community Association.
• Rain Gardens: to be determined
• Plant Sale: Mary Anne and Derek
• Wildlife Plantings: to be determined
• Pollinators and Monarch Butterflies: Mary Anne
• Worm Composting: to be determined
• Trails: Derek is looking into re-establishing a trail around the heron rookery that could be used when herons are not nesting.
• Bog Pond and Business District: Mary Anne
• Town Forest: Larry will do some research on what and how.

Updating the Town Web Site

Natural Resources Inventory: Tina has given DVD to Elita. Larry will see if the library has hard copies.

Minutes: Larry will get the minutes from the last 12 months to Elita.

Banner: Larry obtained an Andover Conservation Commission banner to be used at events. Members voted unanimously to reimburse Larry the cost of $59.99.

Town Meeting: Warrant Article #21, sponsored by the Conservation Commission, was approved.

Miscellaneous

Non-resident meeting with the Selectmen: Larry will pursue.