Present: Chair Mary Anne Broshek, members Larry Chase, Tina Cotton, Jerry Hersey, Nan Kaplan, Derek Mansell; guest Sandra Graves.

Ausbon Sargent Land Preservation Trust (ASLPT) update. Nan reported on:

• an ASLPT Volunteer Appreciation Day, to be held in Sunapee on May 22 for 200 volunteers and easement donors
• a new map of Andover, showing all town easements, displayed in the Pizza Chef restaurant on Main Street
• a “Thursday’s Child” ASLPT fund-raiser that will happen at the New London Inn on May 29
• a Wednesday afternoon, June 11, Easement Monitor Training Session to be led by ASLPT’s Andy Deegan
• a Saturday, September 6, ASLPT bicycling fundraiser that will bring participants through Andover and for which help is needed in providing refreshments
• a total of eight new ASLPT-conserved properties in the last 12 months, the latest being the Old College Road Preserve conservation easement in East Andover, which brings the total of such properties to 10,500 acres in all

Nan also mentioned that the Sunapee-Ragged-Kearsarge Greenway Coalition would sponsor activities on its trails on Saturday, June 7, in recognition of National Trails Day.

Review of Recent ACC-sponsored Events

Re: the May 10 plant sale, it was suggested that the next event could benefit from more tables, from a more visible location in front of Town Hall, from better labeling of plants, and from more coordination with other events occurring on the same day.

Re: the May 12 talk on local natural resources, it was suggested that the title of the talk provided in advance and the content of the talk as actually given could be better coordinated. The need for finding ways to boost attendance at such presentations by members of other municipal committees in Andover and neighboring towns was also identified. Tina volunteered to pursue a speaker for a presentation in 2015 on the natural resources of the Andover area.

Event and Activity Planning

Nan volunteered to try to identify an August date for a workshop on conservation easements.

Larry will arrange for Kittie Wilson to speak on “Little Loon Grows Up,” on Tuesday, July 15, at Bluewater Farm. Susan Chase to provide refreshments, to be offered beginning at 7 PM. Illustrated talk to begin at 7:30 PM. Free, open to the public, donations to the Loon Preservation Committee accepted.

Because of an ASLPT climate-change workshop to occur in October or November, members decided against sponsoring a similar workshop in Andover.

Mary Anne will pursue a “Taking Action for Wildlife” presentation focusing on the Elbow Pond area.

Larry will gather more information about a possible loop trail around Andover Village and another, shorter possible trail between Lawrence Street and Bridge Road. It was noted that the Board of Selectmen should approve such efforts.

Derek discussed possible New Hampshire Fish & Game children’s programs with AE/MS teacher Ryan Murphy. He agreed to check on grants for funding new educational projects and to check with Stacey Luke, district manager, Merrimack County Conservation District, on creating a pollinator garden for Proctor Academy.

Easement Monitoring

Derek agreed to create a monitoring schedule, to continue to write monitoring reports, and to attempt to update the ACC easements-monitoring binder. He has signed up with the Registry of Deeds to have access to its electronic database.

Derek spoke with Dennis Fenton about sand and gravel disturbances in the Bog Pond easements and will update ACC at a future meeting.

Other Items

Larry reported on an upcoming May 21 Andover Energy Group informational meeting with Eolian Energy to discuss the potential for wind turbines in Andover.

Mary Anne reported good feedback from the Selectmen on the recommendations for signage relating to Highland Lake’s Halcyon Island. The need for a public hearing was discussed, as was the question of where funds for the new signs would be found. Members voted 3-2 that, as with other Highland Lake signage, funding for any new signs should be the responsibility of the Selectmen.

Larry noted that with the state’s adoption of new Bradley Lake rules, a new sign would be needed for the kiosk at the dam.

Mary Anne reported that there is a Roads Scholar program on controlling invasive species. She will provide contact information to the Selectmen re: sources to guide road crews in this work.

Tina noted that ACC no longer receives copies of “dredge and fill” permits issued to local landowners by the state. Mary Anne will ask Joanna Sumner to notify us of permit applications so we can provide input in the process.