Present: Jerry Hersey, Tina Cotton, Jenny Bodwell, Jesse Schust, Alan McIntyre. Also present were all members the Selectboard and Shawn Upton for part of the meeting.
Minutes: Review of minutes from March 20, 2019. Alan made the motion to accept minutes as corrected, Jerry seconded and all were in favor.
Coyote Hunting Bill- HB442: Shawn Upton voiced concerns for hunters, as some groups are trying to change the composition of the NH Fish & Game Commission. He would like the Mission statement for our commission to include interests of hunters/fishers. In the future, a letter or email from our commission to the legislature will be taken by vote at a posted meeting. Apparently some supporters of the coyote bill said it was supported by wildlife biologists at New Hampshire Fish and Game. While the legislation was supported by some wildlife biologists, the testimony from New Hampshire Fish & Game did not support HB442. The Conservation Commission expressed appreciation to Shawn for taking time to share his concerns in person.
Correspondence: None.
ASLPT Outreach Meeting: Members are from town conservation commissions within the areas served by Ausbon-Sargent Land Preservation Trust. Jesse said they are planning a workshop in the autumn to educate people who may want to put land into a conservation easement.
Andy Deegan prepared a “NOTICE OF THE EXERCISE OF RESERVED RIGHT” to legally change Mary Anne’s conservation easement to to show that the allowed house lot has been sold to a family member. Alan made a motion to approve the notice of the exercise of reserve right, Jesse seconded, all approved. Jerry will sign in the presence of Andy, who needs to notarize it.
Tim Fleury, county forester, has a chart of town forest lands. He also knows how to use LiDAR to understand the land better.
Conservation Commission Chairs ASLPT Meeting: The main issue was with ATVs on class 6 roads. The recommendations were that Selectboards should talk with other towns who have opened these roads to ATVs before making any decisions.
White Oak: Dave Blinn reports that we are almost to the end of the 30-day period for NHDOT interdepartmental checks to ensure that no one has any interest in the land. Currently Andover has a temporary use agreement and the sale of the property to Andover must be approved by the Governor and the Executive Council. Things are moving along nicely, and once all is set, we will be updated. Once the sale is approved, the ACC can proceed with marking the wetland boundary.
Earth Day Event: We have no plans other than the annual May cleanup. We will think about one for next year.
Emails: Members were asked to respond to emails to make sure emails are being received and that comments are received in a timely manner.
Amphibian Big Night Walk: Amphibian big night walk in Wilmot led by David Patrick has an online signup, date TBD due to weather—rainy with nighttime temperature in the 40s. His wife, Elizabeth Harper is the new Chair of Wilmot’s CC.
Review of leftover items: There was no progress on 2018 items.
2019 items: Tina made a motion to reimburse Jesse the amount of $7.11 for aluminum nails to nail wetland markers to trees. Jerry seconded, all approved.
The tentative Schedule for presentations is: Thursday nights in the stone chapel at Proctor at 6:30 PM. May 23 will be Save the Bats! By Jesse Mohr. Jane Kelly will present on May 9 on Raptors, and Skip Lysle will present on May 16 on Beavers. April 28 will be a bird walk with Alan at 6:30 a.m. at Proctor Ski Hill. Alan will prepare flyers and a press release once information is finalized.
Jerry is working with Tim Fleury and Steve Lord on the forestry workshop which will be held on Tucker Mountain Road, possibly a Saturday near the end of June.
Mary Anne will talk to Lois and get us a headcount of people who have properties impacted by the Shoreland Water Quality Protection Act to determine cost of mailing Jenny’s shoreland article to landowners. The article will be handed out with building permits. Jenny will print out color copies to go Pat Moyer.
Wetlands Ordinance Discussion:
These are the things Mary Anne is considering as she writes the draft ordinance. The draft will be circulated for comment soon.
· Buffer limits – Vernal Pools 50 feet, Prime wetlands 150 feet, other wetlands 100 feet.
· Allowed uses, prohibited uses and conditional permits exceptions come from the state innovative practices and the 1997 Guidebook.
· Do we want to include a 25 foot or greater no disturbance buffer that would not allow conditional uses?.
· Use of a wetlands scientist to delineate wetlands when there will be major soil disruption- i.e., primary residence, driveway, buildings over a certain size. Sutton feels that this protects the town and reduces liability if the town must enforce the removal or restoration of something that was done against the town ordinance.
· Impervious surfaces and calculation of minimum lot size?
· Setbacks for buildings and major disturbances like permanent foundations, septic systems, driveways?
· NH Lakes has provided wording that would provide greater protection for the woodland buffer of changing the 25% requirement to 50%
· NH DES has a model ordinance for drinking water supplies – Do CC members agree with recommending this to the PB. The exact DES ordinance would be sent to the planning board
· One of the prohibited buffers uses is gravel excavation and processing. What will CC recommend for Bog Pond and White Oak- grandfather in with 50-foot buffer?
Jerry made a motion to adjourn at 9:32PM, Alan seconded, and all were in favor.