Meeting of the Andover Conservation Commission
Condensed from approved minutes:   August 14, 2019 Final Minutes

Present: Jesse Schust, Lee Wells, Mary Anne Broshek, Jenny Bodwell, Jerry Hersey, Alan McIntyre

Minutes – Jesse made a motion to accept the June minutes as revised, Lee seconded, and all were in favor. Jenny made a motion to accept the July minutes as corrected, Lee seconded, and all were in favor.

Correspondence – July newsletter of the Merrimack County Conservation District

ASLPT – Alan has the monitoring reports from ASLPT and will update our conserved lands chart with the most recent monitoring date.

Lake Smart Program – Several CC members were in attendance at the July 20 presentation.  The program was recorded and should be on the town website. Lake Smart is an educational program developed by NHLAKES to teach property owners how to protect and improve their nearby water bodies.   Lee also brought materials from the presentation to be put in our files. More info can be found at nhlakes.org/lakesmart.

Beacon Articles- updates
Lake Smart- Lee will check if her article, which was only available online, will be printed in an upcoming Beacon. She will also check to see if there is a way to make sure our articles get into the print version.

Bats and Beavers – Alan wrote an article on Bats, but it was only available online. 

Wetlands- Jenny will have an article by the October Beacon.

Bog Pond – Mary Anne attended the August 3 Selectboard meeting.  Followup from David Blinn stated that David Blinn, John Thompson and Marj will do a site visit, and create a plan for future excavation and restoration. All seem to be in agreement, but the details need to be hammered out. Once that is done, the map and GPS points can be updated for the conservation easement boundary. 

Jesse has been working on generating maps in QGIS that show wetland boundaries and information surrounding the snowmobile trail. He is still working on how to create buffers on the existing features that need them. Jesse will research available training offered by UNH Cooperative Extension.

Mapping for Bog zPond  will be turned over to a professional mapmaker to get it out sooner as the map is needed to determine the boundary for the conservation easement.

Loons- Highland Lake loons still have two chicks!

Beaver Deceivers  – Alan and Jesse are taking on a project to identify and photograph all of Andover’s Beaver Deceivers and write an article for the Beacon on what they are, how they are designed and how they work.  The information can then be used to document and educate others in the future. Alan would also like to write up maintenance plan and further discuss the idea of CC members monitoring the Beaver Deceivers.

Jesse will research beaver deceiver maintenance procedures and determine if there is criteria for when a beaver deceiver should be removed. The design of Beaver Deceivers allows for water flow even when it looks like debris is blocking the culvert.  Jesse reported that Shawn Upton is concerned that the Beaver Deceivers may not be good for the health of fish due to water level. Jesse will research more about how Beaver Deceivers may affect fish and will contact Trout Unlimited. He is not sure if the siltation next to it is supposed to be removed or not. Culvert size may need to be increased to allow for greater water flows. Lee will find out more about the beaver deceiver testimony during this last legislative session.

Co-occurrence map- Alan (and Jesse) have the disk from 2010 co-occurrence maps and file extensions. They will be working with Harvey Pine on updating the co-occurence maps with the latest tax maps and natural resource information.. The two main questions to consider for the update: 

Are there any additional layers that we want to add?
Do we want to change the weighting of the layers from equal weight to higher and lower?

White Oak – From David Blinn 7/7/19
“The survey is about to be submitted to DOT for review and then, if report is ok,  presentation to Gov’s Exec Council. We are awaiting timing and direction from DOT.”

Beach Advisories – Listed for fecal matter and Cyanobacteria:
The website where testing results and advisories are reported is:
www4.des.state.nh.us/WaterShed_BeachMaps/?fbclid=IwAR1LmRmPa7Ssf69kJTqjHu2CkSql4fIv0LxXFpaqhJZsW-nzI8Rk36UKVTo

Compliance Issues – We heard from Jay Aube about concerns on Emery Road, and the landowner is cooperative and in touch.

Wetlands Ordinance-  We discussed how best to combine all this research into an ordinance that will be acceptable to the Planning Board and town residents.

Mary Anne made a motion to hire an expert professional to finalize our draft ordinance using up to $2000, subject to the availability of grants and pro bono work, which would be used first.
This ordinance would protect the rural character of Andover from floods, droughts, and property damage by preserving ecosystem services while being acceptable to the Planning Board and town residents. Alan and Jenny seconded, all were in favor. A second meeting was scheduled for August 22, 2019 at 7 PM, to allow for time to go over and vote on specific aspects of the  wetlands ordinance. For protection from floods and property damage, the map should include the most recent FEMA maps.

Other: Mary Anne announced that effective at the end of the year, she plans to resign from the Conservation Commission.

Motion to adjourn was made by Alan, Jerry seconded, and all were in favor at 9:28 PM.