Conservation Commission Minutes 03.21.2012

Campton Conservation Commission Meeting minutes For March 21, 2012; 7pm

 

Members Present:  Jules Doner, Jane Kellogg, Lea Stewart, Tammy Wooster

Lea called the meeting to order and made a motion to accept the February meeting minutes. Jane seconded the motion and all were in favor.

1)      Town Meeting Recap:

Jane mentioned that she watched the town meeting on television and only recalled seeing one vote of opposition for the CC warrant article. The CC is grateful to the Select Board and to Patrick Miller for expressing support. All were pleased with the outcome of the vote and agreed that the take home message is that our work must continue to focus on the public education of conservation issues.

2)      Next steps:

The CC will get to work trying to encourage Campton landowners to engage in the conservation easement process.  A discussion of how to focus these efforts was had and Jane recalled a previous conservation informational session for landowners held a few years back, which was conducted by two state conservation specialists, Phil Auger and attorney Alexander Breed who specializes in Conservation easement and estate planning work.  Tammy suggested that the State Wildlife Action plan would be a useful tool in identifying which areas to target, adding that the plan was devised for use in conservation projects such as this. The plan identifies and ranks lands according to habitat value and Campton contains lands within the highest ranking, in particular Bog Pond. Lea suggested that the Forest Society might have some ideas of how to approach and engage landowners in easement option discussions. Jane suggested we hold a work session to study the tax maps and draw up a list of people who own land around high conservation value areas. A work session was scheduled for April 25^th @ 7pm in the town office. Jane will speak with Ann Marie about using the tax maps and resident address book for this project.

3)      Land Management Meeting:

For the past few years the month of April has been designated as our annual land management meeting. Tammy will ask Jess to put a notice in the Record Enterprise inviting the public to attend our meeting. A task list for each property was discussed which will set the course for the year’s work.

1. PCP :

This is an off year for mowing of the PCP field, aside from the perimeter walking trail which Jules agreed to mow. Jules suggested we recheck the poison ivy situation and re-herbicide if necessary.  Jane said that we should contact the Garden Club to ask if there is work needed this year at the elm tree site. Jules asked what the status of a community garden idea was and suggested that the flat behind the Lane’s might be a good location.

Jane disagreed, saying that the soils were poor in that area and that the area adjacent to the Blanchard house was previously identified as having fertile soils. All agreed that it would be worthwhile to mention to the garden club that the PCP could be a future place to grow flowers for town plantings.   Tammy will ask Jess to contact the Garden Club and invite their members to our next meeting. The last PCP item discussed was the pumpkin patch project proposed by the Campton A+ after school program. Tammy will contact Arianne Fosdick and ask if there is still interest. All agreed that the abovementioned ideas are all exciting but the lack of a water supply continues to be a problem. 

1. BWNA:

Jane said that she had just walked the BWNA trails and they are in great shape. Former CC member Lisa Doner had recently expressed concerns to Jules about two potential BWNA issues. Lisa had observed some gulley washing along the river bank that she thought was posing a threat to a small unknown structure.  She also thought that the back side of the newly constructed Whitten house was too close to one of the BWNA small wetland streams.  Jane said that a building permit note detailed that in January 2011 Charlie Brosseau had looked at the setback from the river but there were no comments relative to the wetland stream. Jane will try and locate the Whitten wetland permit paperwork to determine if the house dimensions are true to permit specifications.

Japanese Knotweed was discussed next and Lea mentioned that she had recently read about an effective method of knotweed control which involves cutting the plants in July followed by herbicide treatment when new growth emerges. Jules said that there was still some Roundup left from the PCP poison ivy project that could be used. Jane recalled learning of a permit requirement for herbicide use near a wetland. Tammy read aloud the knotweed control recommendation provided last year by DOT invasive plant specialist Christine Perron. The e-mail confirmed that a permit is required from the NH Pesticide Division, and Jane will look into how to go about acquiring one.

Tammy asked where the Rey Center BWNA nature walk proposal stood and it was recollected that Melissa was the last one in contact with the Rey Center on this project. Lea offered to reconnect with Audrey Eisenhauer from the Rey Center to follow up and determine interest.

The Adopt a Highway cleanup was discussed next and all agreed that April 22^nd which is Earth Day would be an appropriate date for our first cleanup of the year.  Jess has renewed the required DOT paperwork for the year, and Tammy will ask her to include this work date in the Record Enterprise posting.  Jules will take care of picking up the vests and bags from  the Ashland shed.

The last BWNA item discussed was the parking lot. Jane thought the lot could be re-opened any day since there is only a tiny patch of ice left, and Jules offered to do this.

4)      FYI:

1. Owl’s Nest
   

Jane reported that the Owl’s Nest is moving ahead with plans to construct a hotel conference center and indoor water park in town and reiterated that CC members should be attending Planning Board meetings.  The meeting room calendar was consulted and April 3^rd and 10^th are reserved as PB meeting dates. Tammy will review Town website minutes for any mention of the project, and Jane will try and find out which PB meeting is designated as a work session.

1. Upcoming events:
   

1.   The 2012 Saving Special Places Workshop will be held Saturday April 14, from 8am-3:45pm, at the John Stark Regional High School in Weare NH. Jane plans on attending this workshop with funds from the CCC budget.
2.   The Drinking Water Source Protection Workshop will be held on Wednesday May 2, from 8:30am-4pm at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord. Tammy will be attending compliments of her employer.

1. Town Report Error:
   

Jane noted that Jules name was left off of the CC member list in the 2012 Town Report. Jules thought that maybe this was because his term was about to expire and all agreed that this would not occur until April and so his name should have been included.

Meeting adjourned 8:20pm

Next meeting April 11^th 7pm