Andover Conservation Commission
November 08, 2017, 7 PM
Final Minutes
Members Present: Nan Kaplan, Jerry Hersey, Tina Cotton, Jesse Schust, Alan McIntyre and guest, Harvey Pine
Minutes:
Alan made a motion to approve the October minutes with small corrections/additions, Nan seconded, and all were in favor.
Correspondence:
Invitation from ASLPT to Holiday Cocktail Party
Forest Society request for submission of monitoring report on Fenvale Easement
ASLPT: Feedback from Mary Anne regarding the recent ASLPT region Conservation Commision Chairs meeting hosted by ASLPT. Andy Deegan will collect wetlands ordinances and issues and send this out to all CC chairs.
Also discussed problem of Off Road Vehicles – all towns are experiencing the same concerns. In Andover this issue has been noted in the Newman/McKenna easement near to the falls. There will be an Outreach presentation on November 16 at the Wilmot Community Association.
Harvey Pine update: Harvey attended the meeting. He has been working on joining together map data layers from different sources into a version of the Andover Tax Map. He showed us maps he had created which displayed the locations of Andover’s known wetlands, and he discussed the different sources available for this. We discussed various potential ways to display data and make various maps available as a resource. Harvey will be coming back in future meetings to discuss things further and update us on his progress.
Bradley Lake Logging: Jason Aube (NH Dept of Environmental Service) plans to visit site this week. We noted that the Planning Board minutes from February 2017 seem to indicate that the White/Bendixen property owners may be considering implementing a subdivision in the future. The minutes are here:
andoverbeacon.com/index.php/27398/planning-board-minutes-february-14-2017/
We discussed the importance of checking the lake water for turbidity after storms, as this would indicate a problem in the erosion controls.Website: SRKG photos have been added. The site needs more photos, links, and permit info.
Bog Pond Wetlands: Jesse has spoken with John Thompson and there are no plans to do further excavation in the land near to Bog Pond Wetlands during this year. Jesse will look into wetland marking and keep people informed about any further matters.
Wetlands Ordinance: Jesse, Alan, and Tina will be looking into drafting a version of wetlands zoning ordinance that would suit the town. Currently, the ordinance that seems best suited to this area would be something similar to that used by the NH towns of Sutton or Hampton Falls.
NHACC Conference: Jesse gave feedback of his experience at the conference and spoke about his conversations with Jason Aube.
Monitoring: Tina, Nan, Jerry and Mary Anne visited the house lot section of the Newman
easement on October 15. The owner was not present but was notified and the owner stated that the open land would be mowed soon. In late October, Jesse visited the Newman/McKenna easement, and noted that there was significant erosion caused by what appeared to be 4 wheel off-road vehicles (ATVs or ORVs). This confirms reports that have been coming in. The evidence on the ground also suggests that these vehicles are accessing the site from Hill or Danbury side of Ragged (not from Andover trails or Elbow Pond Road). The town administrator has contacted ORV enforcement at NH Fish and Game. Mary Anne has contacted Steve Walker at LCHIP to report the violation of the conservation easement. Jerry has notified the landowner of the damage.
Late October Storm Event: Several culverts were damaged and Elbow Pond is closed at Mountain Brook.
ZBA to consider Verizon Cell Tower: On Tuesday November 21, the ZBA will meet to consider the proposed Verizon Cell Tower. Verizon has requested several things that require variances, so the ZBA will be reviewing the proposal. The Conservation Commission noted that the Planning Board had made a recommendation regarding a required landscape easement which will preserve the forest cover surrounding the tower. The PB suggested that the easement might extend from the tower to Route 11. Several CC members expressed interest in attending the meeting.
Adjournament:9:30 PM