Condensed from approved minutes
Present via Zoom: Jesse Schust, Jerry Hersey, Nancy Robart, Tina Cotton, Alan McIntyre, Lee Wells.
Correspondence: Jesse received an e-mail from Ann Payeur, stewardship manager of ASLPT. They just received Mountain Brook Preserve in Andover information about the Newman Easement. She walked there with Andy Prokosch and noticed fresh ATV tracks.
Ann was wondering if we are trying to restrict ATV access, and if we have had any success. Andy owns the land that abuts the road; we might be able to arrange with him to post signs.
Beacon Articles: Jenny will write about the Pullerbear Pro. Lee will be in touch with Jenny to offer some pictures for the article.
Mountain Brook Trail: Alan has the off-road vehicle signs – metal signs. Once it is posted, law enforcement can be involved. Rail Trail people are also concerned about ATV use; they are discussing having Fish and Game and/or local law enforcement involved.
We can put reflective tape on the signs to make them more visible at night. The Newman Easement ends at the Andover/Hill town line, so that would be the place to post the signs to discourage incursions from Hill. Derek or Andy Prokosch may know exactly where the town line is.
Action item: Next Tuesday at 8 AM, Alan, Jesse and Nancy will hike the trail and post the signs. The trail-head is actually on Andy and Susan’s land, so Jesse will be in touch with them to ask them if they would like to join and ask their permission to post the sign.
State Road Knotweed Interventions: Derek tried calling DOT, left messages, and hasn’t heard back from them. It is sprouting up now.
White Oak: Still waiting to hear from the Select Board. We are allowed to go and look at the property. Alan would be interested in checking out the birds that are there. Gravel and sand pit areas can be good breeding grounds and habitat for bank swallows and cliff swallows. Some concern that refuse has been left there by the Highway Department.
Morey Pond Trail: Jay Lyon of Wilmot wants to install a bridge over the outlet creek from Morey Pond to make the trail more accessible. Morey Pond is located entirely in Andover. Lee will write a letter and ask Jerry as Acting Chair to sign. There is a history of bridges being built in Andover to make trails better. Important that nothing will go in the river.
Jesse moved that a letter be drafted, that Jerry will sign in support of putting a bridge there in accordance with the Forestry Department requirements. Jerry seconded: all in favor.
Wetlands Ordinance for Andover: Mary Anne has worked on the ordinance. We voted to have a wetlands scientist review, evaluate, and edit the document. We need a map to go with it, and the map done by the Colby Sawyer students needs some tweaking. We can make the changes.
Nancy Teach and Paul Currier might be willing to look over the document. Mary Anne recommends Rick Van de Pol. Should we ask the Planning Board to see what kind of document they are willing to work with?
The steps we need to take:
1. Have a wetlands scientist look at the document
2. We review it again
3. Planning Board looks at it
4. We review it again
5. Planning Board has two public hearings on it before Town Meeting
6. At Town Meeting, there would be a ballot vote on the ordinance.
The DES has model ordinances. Jesse moved that we contact Rick to see if he would be interested, seconded by Nancy: all in favor.
Action Item: Nancy will contact Rick; Jesse will to give the ordinance an initial edit. We can reconvene to see if it is ready to go to a Wetland scientist.
Beaver Deceivers: Skip Lisle has agreed to come to meet with interested parties who want to learn more about Beaver Deceivers ($250 fee). Alan is finding people who would be interested in meeting with him. Proctor Maintenance (Stephen Cline), Jon Champagne (Road Agent), Proctor CFA (John Ferris).
The focus will be to go to Elbow Pond and look at that Beaver Deceiver there. Goal: raise awareness about Beaver Deceivers and dispel misconceptions about them. Want to learn the maintenance that we can do. Should also invite Select Board members (John Kinney, Michelle Dudek, Todd Goings). Members of Conservation Commission were also invited.
John Thompson (former Road Agent), Shawn Upton (fisherman/hunter concerned about impact of Beaver Deceivers) might be interested in coming as well. Need to find a date. Alan will let us know when he can come.
Hopkins Pond Testing: Alan will look into it. Hopkins Pond is not in the volunteer monitoring group.
Wildlife Action Plan: Last update was May 2020. Information is on GRANIT. Andover has a lot of prime habitat.