Condensed from approved minutes.

Present: Jesse Schust, Nancy Robart, Lee Wells, Tina Cotton, Jerry Hersey, Sooze Hodgson

Correspondence: Letter from New Hampshire Department of Transportation concerning District 2 guardrails. They will be replacing cable guardrail to meet current safety standards on Routes 4, 4A, and 11. 

Nancy or Jesse will send them a quick message not to spread knotweed, not to set any new posts in wetlands, and to use best practices of using silt fences and not allowing machinery in wetlands. They will be crossing prime wetlands.

ASLPT Update: Heated discussion about knotweed. There are two thoughts about eradication: 1. Use poison, or 2. Cut it, mulch it, cover it with plastic in the spring and again in the fall over many years. Knotweed was deliberately planted to prevent erosion.

ASLPT has recently purchased a large Andover property (200+ acres) that abuts the Newman conservation easement by Mountain Brook by Elbow Pond.  They have put some signs up and they may want to put in some trails. Jesse will be in touch with Anne Payeur (ASLPT Stewardship Manager) for us to get a tour. Neighbors have indicated interest in conserving their land.

Wetland Buffer signage at White Oak Pit:  Lee has been in touch with the sign shop at the New Hampshire State Prison. We will want to put them up as soon as we get them.

Derek and Jesse checked out the White Oak site. Our sign posts at White Oak are still in place, and they have moved the sand pile. The new Andover Highway Department buildings will be there; we’ll need to make sure that the 50-foot buffer is observed. Could be a good location for kayak/canoe put in.

Beaver Deceiver: Stakeholders meeting on Monday, May 10. The meeting was supposed to be informational for the Select Board and not a debate or a decision-making meeting. 

Beavers clogged the downstream side of the Flaghole Road Beaver Deceiver (BD). Culvert size was the limiting factor. Road crews did not contact Skip until after a week, but Skip showed up and cleared it quickly and easily (for free).  

Beavers are not looking for culverts; the culverts have been built in their habitat. We need to learn how to maintain BDs, and some abutters have expressed an interest in maintaining them.  

Skip would be willing to give us a tour and educate us about them without the controversial debate. John Thompson has a good long-term perspective on the situation before BDs were installed – especially at Elbow Pond. 

Nancy will write a letter to the Select Board to thank them for the meeting, encourage them to learn about the BD directly from Skip, express concern over the adversarial nature of the meeting, and ask for a breakdown of the $10,000 bill.

Commission Membership: 3-year term renewals. Minimum 3 members, maximum 7 members. Timing of terms expiring needs to be spaced out. Alternates also have 3-year terms. Nancy will check to see when terms expire.

Monitoring Update: Derek and Jesse did Newman – noted no damage on the Falls trail. Derek has been doing regular monitoring and submitting reports (Fenvale, Jones, Bernhard/Mayman).  Boundaries need to be re-marked. Sooze and Lee would be happy to help with that.

Tools for digitally accessing tax maps: “Intent to cut”, wetlands applications, and other matters.   Town subscription to Avitar allows access to maps and history of ownership. It can be a good tool for us to use.  

State websites list intent to cut, and we can look that up. We were able to address concerns about a logging operation on Old College Road quickly, thanks to these websites. 

Jesse would like to offer a workshop for those interested in being able to use these tools. This could be helpful for the Planning Board as well.  We might want to proactively designate members of the Conservation Commission to keep an eye on various applications: intent to cut, wetlands applications.  

We are supposed to receive copies of permits, etc., but timing can be off. Do not have permission to go on land without permission from the landowner.

Other Business

Get information to Alan for website: pictures, bios.

Beacon articles: Jenny – Pullerbear Pro; Lee – NH LAKES; Mary Anne – articles on pollinators

Can we arrange a talk/presentation?

When do we meet in person? Our meetings are public, but we don’t want to put others at risk.