[0:01] I'd like to call the DER Conservation
[0:02] Commission meeting to order.
[0:05] Ask everybody to silence their cell phones
[0:08] and we will start off with the pledge of reasons
[0:15] aye.
[0:16] To the flag. Flag, the United States of America
[0:20] and to the Republic Nation Nation.
[0:24] God, Liberty, justice.
[0:32] Thank you. Emergency access are located at the back
[0:37] of the room in to my right.
[0:39] If there's a problem or emergency in the building,
[0:41] please don't use the elevator.
[0:43] If you need help getting out of the building,
[0:46] please ask one of the commissioners for help.
[0:50] We'll start with the introduction
[0:51] of commissioners, starting to my right.
[0:54] Cheryl Holbert, J Hildreth. Rick Metz.
[0:58] Bob Spro, Ppi. Lin Comy.
[1:03] Val Connolly, Elizabeth Carver, land manager.
[1:07] And I'm the chair. Ricardo Bazinga.
[1:09] We also have our town Council liaison.
[1:13] Charles Foote, president of the meeting.
[1:18] First order of business we have is the approval of minutes
[1:20] of April 6th, 2026.
[1:23] Jay sent those out to you.
[1:24] And there is a copy here if someone needs to see them.
[1:29] If, if they're acceptable, I'll entertain a motion.
[1:33] Just have one correction. Mr. Chair.
[1:35] Yeah. Mr. Metz On page two.
[1:37] The first full paragraph is a
[1:40] repeat of the one prior to that.
[1:42] So I, I'd like to strike the second one on page two.
[1:53] Okay. Does everybody see that? Yep.
[1:56] And is there any other amendments we need to make?
[2:02] Seeing none. I'll take a motion
[2:05] to accept those minutes as amended.
[2:08] So moved. I'll take a motion. I need a motion.
[2:13] Oh, you wanna make a motion Move to approve
[2:14] The amen.
[2:15] The minutes is amended.
[2:16] All right. Is there a second? Second that a first. By Mr.
[2:19] Metz. Second by Mr. Sperl. All those in favor say aye.
[2:22] A Aye. Opposed? Abstention. Okay.
[2:26] We also have to seat and seat a commissioner.
[2:28] We're gonna have Linda sit for Eileen.
[2:33] Linda, would you like, could you sit for Eileen? Yes. Okay.
[2:35] Thank you.
[2:40] Next we have our chairs, re chairs report.
[2:44] We, we maintain a a,
[2:46] we're still maintaining a pretty busy schedule in
[2:50] between meetings with correspondence with numerous
[2:54] town departments and town leadership.
[2:58] At least one weekly call with our land manager, Beth.
[3:02] Usually more than one usually turns into two
[3:05] or three weekly calls
[3:06] and a lot of correspondence moving our agenda.
[3:09] I'm gonna leave the, the meat of that to the land manager
[3:13] and have her give out the report.
[3:15] 'cause she's quarterbacking pretty much everything we're
[3:17] doing in between meetings as far as correspondence, we have
[3:22] the annual report from Rockingham County
[3:25] Conservation District.
[3:26] This is money that we, we send money to this group
[3:30] and they're gonna tell, they sh tell you in this report
[3:33] how they spend it and what they're doing.
[3:34] I'm gonna hand it to my left.
[3:43] Okay. We have a site plan review.
[3:46] It's PID 5 1 0 8 4 74 Beaver Lake Ave.
[3:53] Cuomo, Cuomo's Beach Redevelopment.
[3:56] This is, I think it's Brandon's second
[4:00] or third time here on this project.
[4:04] I myself have walked it twice. I know. Eileen.
[4:07] Anyone else that's here now walk it.
[4:09] I know Eileen walked it with me.
[4:10] Ricky, did you walk it with me? No, no I didn't.
[4:14] Someone else was there. Let's see. Probably James.
[4:18] Was it James? Who was with me that day? Was it Eileen?
[4:24] Yeah. So we, I've walked it twice.
[4:28] This is Comos Beach, if anyone's familiar
[4:30] with, with Beaver Lake.
[4:31] It's, it's, we, it used to be like a,
[4:35] like a private public beach area
[4:37] where people in the neighborhood would go down and,
[4:39] and, and use this beach.
[4:40] It's been abandoned for, I would say I,
[4:42] I've lived in the lake for 22 years and,
[4:44] and it was abandoned when I got there.
[4:45] So it's been a, been abandoned for a while.
[4:49] So it looks like Brandon has gone to DES
[4:54] and is was back in front of the TRC with Mr.
[4:57] Metz recently. He's gonna tell us all about it.
[4:59] Brandon, can you set up state your name for the record?
[5:07] Good evening. My name is Brandon Wing
[5:08] from Promised Land Survey.
[5:12] Yeah, this has been, been it called
[5:14] before. What's it called? I'm sorry. What's
[5:15] That? What's the new name?
[5:17] Brandon Wing from Promised Land Survey. Oh, it's still
[5:19] Promised land.
[5:20] It's still the same, same joint. Yeah. I
[5:22] Thought, I thought, I thought Tim changed the name. No.
[5:24] Okay. So Again,
[5:28] Yeah, this has been before the commission.
[5:31] Before I, I think just once.
[5:34] It's been before the TRCI think twice.
[5:39] Three once. Three times. Three times. I think I lost track.
[5:42] It's beens been seen a whole bunch.
[5:46] I I provided two sets of plans.
[5:48] One is what, what we will likely be taken
[5:53] to the planning board.
[5:55] Let's do, Brendan, if I could just get,
[5:57] just get you get some direction on this.
[5:58] 'cause there's a lot of material we're
[5:59] gonna have to go through.
[6:01] Why don't we do the, the subdivision plan first? Okay.
[6:04] Let's run through that and then maybe touch upon the d This
[6:08] is gonna have a DES permit on
[6:09] It, right?
[6:10] It it has, I I have already Yes.
[6:11] Gotten the permit. Yes. Okay.
[6:13] And just before you go through the site,
[6:15] well let's do the site plan
[6:16] and then we'll talk about that other piece.
[6:17] Okay. Let's do this, let's do the subdivision plan first.
[6:19] And, and for protocol reasons,
[6:21] this subdivision plan needs a vote by the commission.
[6:25] Yep. For the chair to sign the plan
[6:27] because of the subdivision in the wetland impact,
[6:31] maybe not the wetland impact.
[6:32] 'cause you're going right to DS on that
[6:34] or is it also for the wetland impact?
[6:36] Well, when I went to TRC before I went
[6:40] and came, I, I walked in with you
[6:42] and we kind of agreed that certain things had
[6:46] to be address down in the wetland.
[6:47] Right. There's a building in the wetland. Sure.
[6:49] There's a failed drainage, which is doing no good.
[6:51] It's just a pipe laying in the wetland
[6:53] and the wetland's flowing right by it. So, but,
[6:56] But protocol wise, the subdivision,
[6:57] the subdivision plan needs, needs,
[6:59] needs a signature by the chair.
[7:01] Right, right. And that's why, that's kind
[7:02] of why we walked it and we were like, and
[7:05] because you weren't gonna sign off on it
[7:07] before the first TRC, which under understood and I agree.
[7:10] Yeah. So
[7:11] We pushed back on it the first time.
[7:13] 'cause we've, we discovered even Brandon discovered some
[7:16] new stuff when we went to look at it.
[7:17] Right. So that part we need, we need to get a vote on that.
[7:20] And then do, is there,
[7:21] is there a vote needed on the DES stuff? Or is DES
[7:24] No, I, I already came for to you for that. Okay.
[7:27] And then, so what'll happen is when DES issues the permit,
[7:30] we'll get notified and then we can comment on that permit.
[7:35] So for tonight's work,
[7:38] we're gonna get a presentation for a subdivision.
[7:41] And if, if the presentation satisfies the commissioners,
[7:46] we're gonna, we're gonna potentially vote on that tonight
[7:50] for a signature on that plan.
[7:51] Is that, do I got, do I have that right?
[7:53] I I love it. Yeah. Okay. Alright. Alright, fire away.
[7:57] So I have, I have gotten the de the, the
[8:01] DES permit already.
[8:03] Okay. I have to go for shoreland also,
[8:05] but I've gotten the, the impact permit for the removal
[8:09] of the building and restoration of the wetland.
[8:14] So let's do the subdivision. But
[8:15] That was, that was kind of part
[8:17] of meeting the requirements
[8:19] for the subdivision from, from the commission.
[8:21] Okay. I I think that was my understanding. Got it.
[8:24] But yeah, the, the,
[8:27] the subdivision plan is the one with six sheets.
[8:30] You'll see on the right hand side
[8:32] subdivision overview plan sheet one of six.
[8:35] That, that set is the one we'll be looking at. I'm gonna
[8:39] Hold it up.
[8:40] It's this one of the two that you have. It's that one. Yep.
[8:44] Okay.
[8:47] Yeah. There's, there's enough frontage
[8:50] and land area for a two lot subdivision.
[8:53] We received a variance
[8:54] for access on a non town approved road,
[8:57] which is Jenny Dickey Hill Road for the second lot.
[9:03] There's, there's existing easements on the property
[9:09] for access to some people that live on the lake.
[9:12] Also. There's sewer easements owned by the town
[9:15] and there's rights to
[9:19] several, several of the abutters, like on Charleston
[9:24] and up that way to use the beach down there.
[9:29] So the subdivision plan, I'm trying to clean up the,
[9:32] clean up the math of the easements a little bit
[9:34] because there's, there's just ease.
[9:37] There's rights that are named
[9:39] but not clean, not not defined.
[9:43] So we're trying to define those.
[9:54] You guys probably don't necessarily care much about
[9:58] site distance, but I've, we've,
[10:00] we've achieved safe site distance per town regulations.
[10:06] The biggest the biggest issue
[10:09] conservation wise is the wetland down in the back,
[10:11] which were, which I've taken through the permitting process
[10:16] with the d the DES
[10:19] and we're proposing to remove the existing beach house
[10:24] and the failed drainage
[10:26] and restore the wetland instead
[10:27] of trying to fix the drainage.
[10:29] It, there was no point in fixing the drainage.
[10:31] The wetland flows right by it.
[10:32] It's, it's a pipe laying in a wetland.
[10:35] So that's, that's kind of a brief summary of the project.
[10:46] So You're, you're taking, you're taking one lot,
[10:49] you're dividing it into two,
[10:51] you have some proposed dwelling areas on it.
[10:53] Does everyone see where those are?
[10:55] We're kind of up near the road.
[11:00] It's on municipal sewer, which we'll be tying into.
[11:08] And we propose private wells, onsite wells,
[11:13] and Yes, a two lot subdivision.
[11:15] Two turning the one lot into two lots, two
[11:18] single family residential lots.
[11:29] And the lake is, the lake is one part of town
[11:31] that actually has towns soar.
[11:33] Which is, which is a good thing.
[11:37] Otherwise the lake would be dead. Yeah.
[11:39] So we, we got that back in the eighties.
[11:41] They, they tied all the houses into the town sewer system.
[11:55] So Brandon, based on the, based on the plan that I see now
[11:59] with the gravel path, it, it appears that you're only
[12:05] crossing, you're, you're just on the edge
[12:07] of the wetland delineated wetlands
[12:10] and you're only crossing the wetlands down
[12:12] towards the beach.
[12:13] And it looks like a small section
[12:15] of crossing with that gravel
[12:16] path. Am I correct or incorrect?
[12:18] Yeah, that is, that is correct.
[12:22] We'll, we'll talk about the impact plan in a minute. Yep.
[12:25] But yeah, proposing a, a walkway essentially through
[12:29] where the building is because,
[12:30] because there's, there's rights that exist to use the,
[12:34] the beach for, for bathing
[12:37] as you know, according to the deeds.
[12:39] Right. So we have to, you know,
[12:43] make sure people can get there, basically.
[12:58] And we'd like to define where they can get there instead
[13:01] of just going wherever they want through the wetland.
[13:03] We'd wanna just, just define where they,
[13:05] where they access would be.
[13:12] Okay. So on, on the subdivision plan,
[13:13] and we're going to, we're gonna take up,
[13:15] we're gonna have questions on the, on the other plan also,
[13:21] do the commissioners want to hear about the DES project
[13:25] before we act on the subdivision plan?
[13:29] We're kinda like wearing two hats on this project.
[13:32] From the d from the subdivision plan.
[13:35] Conservation commission approves the subdivision
[13:38] or doesn't approve the subdivision.
[13:41] On the DES piece, we can
[13:48] Comment to DES based on, based on the,
[13:53] the, the DES permit.
[13:54] So DES issues, the permit, we get noted, we get notified
[13:57] that that permit has been issued
[13:59] and then we that choose to
[14:04] comment or not comment on that, on that plan.
[14:09] Like, one of the comments we might wanna make is
[14:12] that we prefer the boardwalk over the gravel
[14:16] pathway or vice versa.
[14:18] May maybe, maybe we prefer it the other way,
[14:21] but just from a, from a protocol standpoint, do you want
[14:24] to hear about the DES piece
[14:26] or do you want to act on the subdivision first?
[14:29] Gimme some, gimme some feedback.
[14:31] I like to hear about The DES piece.
[14:33] Hear about the DS piece? Yes, that'd be great. Yeah. Okay.
[14:35] Alright. Definitely. Yeah.
[14:37] I, I think it's, I think that's a good idea.
[14:39] I think it's integral to the,
[14:41] Alright, good.
[14:42] So good. Fire. Tell tell us how this DESP.
[14:44] So, so there's a building there.
[14:46] You're gonna take the, the buildings in the wetland
[14:47] Built in the wetland, correct?
[14:49] Yep. Tell us, tell us all about that.
[14:51] How you plan on getting rid of that building
[14:53] and then how you plan on dealing with getting people down
[14:55] to the, down to the water.
[14:58] So there, yeah, there's obviously a building.
[15:02] When I delineated the wetlands, I, I went literally
[15:04] to the building corners
[15:05] and to the corner of pavement or whatever around it.
[15:09] 'cause if it wasn't there, the wetland would continue.
[15:12] But there's, there's a building, so it's not a wetland.
[15:15] Once you remove the building, it'll be a wetland.
[15:20] How you gonna move? How, how do you remove the building?
[15:22] I'm curious.
[15:23] Helicopter. Helicopter. No, just kidding.
[15:26] I'm not doing it personally.
[15:29] The, i, I got a impact permit to dredge
[15:33] and fill, to remove the building
[15:35] with excavators with equipment.
[15:39] It's a minimum impact. So it's less than 3000 square feet.
[15:43] So like those mats, you put the mats down and,
[15:45] and then pull 'em back up again.
[15:47] How do, how do you get an excavator down?
[15:49] Oh, there's a, there's a gravel, there's a gravel access
[15:52] through there already that's not in the wetland.
[15:53] So they can actually get to the building itself. Right.
[15:56] And the, and the southwest corner
[15:58] of the building is, is high.
[16:00] So that's not a wetland. And they can, they can get
[16:02] to it without, without impacting wetland. So they can
[16:04] Get that whole building from that, that corner.
[16:06] They don't have to go on the other side.
[16:07] Yep, yep. They can get to it
[16:08] that way They can pull the building out, break it.
[16:12] Oh wow. Remove it. Whatever they need to do.
[16:14] But they actually have, i, I have a permitted impact area
[16:18] that they can drive in the wetland
[16:20] and remove all the concrete
[16:23] or whatever they need to, including that drainage pipe
[16:26] and the concrete structure right on sheet one,
[16:29] right in the middle, you can see concrete structure
[16:31] of the chain link fence cover.
[16:33] It's like a concrete box that nothing can flow into it.
[16:37] I don't know why it's even there, but it was put there like
[16:40] years ago and it's doing no good.
[16:44] And you're gonna take all the car, all that whole
[16:46] Come out.
[16:47] Yep. We removing that, grading that out
[16:48] and seeding it with wetland mix,
[16:50] two different wetland mix seeds.
[16:53] Okay. So basically that section that's,
[16:55] that they're gonna impact to remove the building
[16:58] and that failed drainage will be restored
[17:02] as a wetland, accept the path.
[17:09] But to get there, machinery can get
[17:13] to it without impacting the wetland.
[17:15] But they do have to impact the wetland.
[17:17] Where, where they're gonna do the work, retrieve
[17:20] The building.
[17:22] Is that gonna be a raised boardwalk?
[17:25] Well, there was a lot of conversation about
[17:27] that at the TRC boardwalk
[17:32] sounds nice and pretty and it would be nice,
[17:35] but it won't last forever.
[17:38] So there's gonna be a point where it'll need maintenance.
[17:42] So there was discussion about how would you police that?
[17:46] Who who would maintain it? Who would pay for it.
[17:51] And when you do, if, if someone were to maintain it,
[17:55] it's gonna require additional wetland impact essentially.
[18:00] So the conversation we had at TRC is that, and,
[18:03] and it seemed like there was consensus
[18:06] that people would rather just have a trail
[18:08] or a path through the wetland instead of a raised boardwalk.
[18:15] Beth, you were there
[18:16] and that kind of sounded like what people were saying.
[18:20] I, I think Yep, I agree. And Rick was there as well.
[18:23] So I I don't necessarily disagree.
[18:26] I think it would be nicer looking to have a boardwalk
[18:31] but less practicable and practical.
[18:34] Does he, is that gonna change the,
[18:36] the wetland permit at all?
[18:40] I don't know. I don't know probably.
[18:44] But when the building is removed, it, it, we might have
[18:48] to see how the wetland behaves, how it looks,
[18:50] what it's gonna, what it's gonna look like.
[18:53] And then if I have to go back for an amended permit,
[18:55] then I'll do so at that point.
[18:57] So, but I, if the commission has to agree
[18:59] with it, you know. Yeah. So
[19:00] If you don't do the, so if you don't do the, you've been,
[19:04] so the permit you have now is for boardwalk, right?
[19:06] Yep. Yes. Right. So if you don't do the boardwalk
[19:08] and do the gravel, you're gonna more likely than
[19:10] not need an amendment permit.
[19:11] I don't think they'll consider Right.
[19:13] The gravel path and,
[19:15] and that, so if that happens, just so you know,
[19:18] from our perspective, so if they amend the permit,
[19:21] then we get notified again
[19:23] and saying, Hey, this previously approved DES permit has
[19:27] been amended for these reasons.
[19:31] And then we get, we have another opportunity to,
[19:34] to kind of chime in on it.
[19:37] Yeah. All right.
[19:42] Any, any questions for the commissioners on,
[19:44] on, on this project?
[19:52] It's come a long way from when I walked it
[19:56] the two years ago, probably Bernard,
[19:59] There was snow on the ground.
[20:00] That's all I remember. It's
[20:01] Definitely not this one that cold.
[20:02] It was the winter winter before, right?
[20:04] Last year maybe, or the year before. I don't know, year or
[20:06] Month ago.
[20:07] Maybe you'll, you are likely aware of the, the new DES
[20:12] department, the ecological review committee
[20:15] or whatever, ecological, it's, it's like a new thing.
[20:19] Every, everything you take to the state wetlands
[20:24] and shoreland wise
[20:25] and a OT wise, it, you have to send a packet
[20:29] for ecological review to, to look at and they give you it.
[20:33] It's, it's related to the NHB Natural Heritage Bureau.
[20:38] So you'd go on, you go online and,
[20:40] and mark out your boundaries on the data checker tool
[20:43] and you send it to them and they review it.
[20:45] They can no longer legally tell you if there are endangered
[20:49] species on your on.
[20:51] They can't tell me if I work for you.
[20:54] They can tell you if there's endangered species on your
[20:56] land, but they can't tell anyone else.
[20:59] So they just give you like a general,
[21:02] you'll see on sheet four of four of
[21:04] that plant set blandings spotted in wood turtles.
[21:08] Those are in the vicinity.
[21:11] But I happened to get this in before the law changed
[21:14] and I saw where they were
[21:16] and it was like two miles up the road
[21:18] and one was like a female blandings turtle
[21:20] with a damaged eye.
[21:21] And it, it's, you know, it's just habitat for these turtles,
[21:26] but they weren't spotted on the property.
[21:33] My opinion is that neither a boardwalk
[21:37] nor a gravel trail will harm the turtles at all.
[21:42] I think if, if we were to build something so that the,
[21:47] the water was like rerouted from the wetland to a pipe
[21:50] or something to cross the gravel trail
[21:52] or whatever, we, whatever it would be proposed in the
[21:55] future, it would impound that wetland
[21:58] and that whatever the, the dam
[22:01] or whatever it is, re retaining wall, whatever,
[22:04] that would be more detrimental
[22:07] to turtle habitat than just a trail.
[22:17] And this is only foot traffic by the way, on, on this.
[22:19] It's only foot traffic allowed.
[22:29] So with the recommendation from TRC against maybe against
[22:32] the boardwalk with long-term maintenance and stuff,
[22:34] and then gravel trail already kind
[22:36] of being positioned there, especially with access.
[22:38] Sounds like it'd make the most sense to just continue
[22:41] that gravel trail after
[22:44] The consensus was, and especially from the town engineer
[22:47] that the gravel trail versus the boardwalk would be
[22:51] a much more palatable.
[22:52] Yeah. Again, lower maintenance, less intrusion.
[22:56] How are you gonna build a boardwalk through the wetlands?
[22:59] How are you gonna maintain it? All of those things
[23:02] where the gravel walk kind of goes around
[23:04] beside it crosses at a small section and,
[23:07] and heads to the beach.
[23:09] So
[23:22] Any more comments or questions from the commission?
[23:25] Alright, so protocol would be, if, if, if it is the,
[23:31] the intent of the commission would be a motion
[23:33] to have the chair sign the plan
[23:36] and then we take that, we take a vote on that.
[23:39] If so, if anyone interested in making that motion, they may,
[23:43] we need to first, a second and then a vote.
[23:47] Move to approve the plan
[23:48] and have the chair sign the plans as presented
[23:52] for 74 Cuomos beach second.
[23:55] Alright, Riva, first and a second on the floor.
[23:58] I'm gonna ask for a roll call on this starting
[23:59] to my right shall yes? Yes.
[24:02] Jay? Yes, Rick, yes, yes,
[24:06] Yes, yes, yes.
[24:08] I'm gonna vote no. So there'll be, it'll be
[24:13] 1, 2, 6
[24:14] to
[24:14] 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6 1 6 yeses.
[24:20] One. No, thank you Brenda. Thank you.
[24:26] Thanks Brenda.
[24:52] Okay, moving on.
[24:53] We have Jay with the community garden report.
[24:57] Okay. This is a really the most exciting
[25:01] time of the year for us.
[25:03] The snow's melted and the mud kind of
[25:06] didn't really appear like you'd expect.
[25:09] Certainly wasn't like last year. A much drier early season.
[25:14] And we are ready to
[25:19] create the, to execute the plan to get
[25:24] the garden amended with soil and manure
[25:28] and tilled In the week
[25:33] before, during the weekday,
[25:36] before we have an event on that next Saturday, which will be
[25:41] bringing our gardeners together help
[25:45] and asking for help to stake the plots,
[25:51] doing a demo on how to create a raised bed,
[25:55] doing a plant exchange
[26:00] and just something to bring in the new season.
[26:03] By that point, we should, people should be able to
[26:09] start gardening and putting seeds and, and plants in.
[26:13] We're looking at, this is being a much earlier season than
[26:16] last year, which was the end, literally the very end
[26:21] of May last year.
[26:23] It's much drier.
[26:24] I've done two soil squeeze tests
[26:28] and falls apart.
[26:31] I just tonight going by, I did it again.
[26:34] Even with the rain still soil's breaking apart.
[26:38] There's not that excess moisture
[26:40] that would prevent us from being able to till now.
[26:45] We have to get the, we have to get the amendments together,
[26:49] the manure and the fertilizer.
[26:51] I have procured a dump luck, a
[26:57] he told me a 10 wheel dump truck load, which is about
[27:02] 275 to 300
[27:05] and cubic feet worth of
[27:08] 6, 6 5 to six month aged manure,
[27:13] cow manure right across my street.
[27:16] We sometimes smell the results of that.
[27:20] And so he is willing to take his
[27:26] 200 square feet trailer and,
[27:33] and haul it over.
[27:34] It'll be multiple halls
[27:38] until he gives up, I suppose. But
[27:40] Who's he now, Jay?
[27:42] Okay. So his name is Manny
[27:44] and he's, he's my neighbor on
[27:48] 1315 Walnut Hill Road.
[27:52] So he is doing it just in kind. He,
[27:54] He has cows and he is a farmer.
[27:57] He's just doing it as, as
[27:58] A, just doing it to, because donation, the cows have been
[28:02] in inside so long, they've been busy this year
[28:04] that the pile's extra big.
[28:06] So he's, he's actually given us the manure and hauling it.
[28:09] He's giving it and hauling it. And
[28:11] So we, we need to write this gentleman a letter.
[28:13] Yeah. Beth. And, and thank him please for, for that.
[28:17] And can we, can we say his name in public? Is that okay?
[28:20] Sure. What's his name?
[28:22] It's Manny. Oh boy.
[28:25] What's his, he's, he's Portuguese.
[28:29] I'll have to get that last name. Yeah, let's
[28:31] Make sure that we let the public know
[28:32] that Manny's hooking us up with some primo manure.
[28:36] Yeah, Manny and Maria, they have a including
[28:39] And delivering It.
[28:40] They have a, a little farm stand
[28:42] and they have some good produce coming off those
[28:45] cow feed. Wow,
[28:47] That's great.
[28:48] That's, that's awesome. Good.
[28:48] Jay, that's, that's really good's you.
[28:50] So when it comes to the fertilizer, the
[28:56] gardening subcommittee had a, a live
[29:00] meeting last week, last Monday.
[29:03] And it was really a good synergy
[29:04] that was created by meeting together.
[29:06] And we decided that the fertilizer we would a,
[29:11] we would ask the commission to try to fund the,
[29:16] the fertilizer that was commend recommended.
[29:20] Now I worked off of a soil test I took in the fall
[29:25] and those recommendations from the soil analysis, I
[29:31] converted it into the entire 7,200
[29:36] square feet of the garden plot.
[29:39] That's 36, 10 by 20 plots.
[29:44] And I wrote up a analysis, a calculation,
[29:48] and I also did work on finding
[29:52] the best products, best price and best analysis.
[29:56] And I have that to submit
[29:59] tonight for approval.
[30:03] I have that up too. So I'll take care of
[30:05] that motion. Jay, when you're
[30:06] Okay.
[30:07] When you're done with your report.
[30:09] So what we're feeling is that this,
[30:12] based on the soil analysis, the, the soil was really,
[30:15] it was impoverished.
[30:18] You could tell it had been really gardened a lot
[30:21] because there was a lot of phosphorus,
[30:22] which accumulates year
[30:24] after year, people putting in various kinds of fertilizers.
[30:27] But the phosphorus builds up,
[30:29] but yet the potassium in the,
[30:31] the nitrogen in the organic matter we're extremely low.
[30:35] So we really would like to give a nice boost
[30:38] to this, to this garden.
[30:40] We can't let it go fallow for a year.
[30:43] We need to keep working it.
[30:44] But with manure in these amendments,
[30:47] these organic amendments,
[30:49] we think the gardener's gonna have a real quality year.
[30:55] So that's it.
[30:57] Thank you Jay. And thank you for
[31:00] all your hard work on that.
[31:01] That's, that's, you did a lot of work on that.
[31:05] So Jay has recommended two types of,
[31:10] of fertilizer for the, for the gardens.
[31:16] And he, we did have a conversation before the meeting.
[31:18] He thinks that this will probably be
[31:20] not be an annual thing, right Jay?
[31:23] It's gonna be, we we're probably not
[31:26] gonna do this again next year.
[31:27] The, the organic part of it.
[31:29] The manure, yes. But maybe not the
[31:30] Manure.
[31:31] The manure, yes. And we'll do an analysis in the fall,
[31:36] so we'll determine if there's an improvement.
[31:38] Okay. And go from there. I'll come back and comment.
[31:42] Okay. So, so what he's recommending is
[31:46] that we get two types
[31:47] of fertilizer.
[31:51] One is from a company called North County Organics
[31:55] and another one is from Greenway Biotech.
[31:59] The one from North Count Country Organics is $376
[32:03] and 84 cents, including the shipping.
[32:07] The one from Greenway Biotech is $387
[32:11] and that includes the shipping.
[32:13] The total for both of them is $763 and 84 cents.
[32:19] So if it is the pleasure
[32:20] of the commission, I'm gonna make a motion.
[32:25] I trust Jay's diligence on this project
[32:29] and I'd like to make a motion
[32:30] that we authorize the treasurer to app.
[32:35] We authorize the commission approves to spend up to
[32:41] $780 on
[32:46] the fertilizer that I just talked about.
[32:52] And we need a second on that. Second.
[32:55] So you were first and a second. All those in favor say aye.
[32:58] Aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, that's unanimous.
[33:02] So, so Jay, you're gonna coordinate with Eileen on getting,
[33:07] getting that taken care of.
[33:09] Okay. Okay. Alright. Thank you Jay. Mr.
[33:14] Metz personnel. Nothing new on personnel
[33:19] and public outreach, Cheryl?
[33:22] Well, we had a great meeting a week ago Thursday,
[33:27] and there have been, there have been a number of really
[33:32] colorful looking Facebook posts,
[33:34] the last one being the Earth Day cleanup.
[33:37] And Eileen was at Coffee Factory passing out gloves
[33:41] and plastic bags.
[33:42] So that was a really nice presence there.
[33:45] We did get some good events on the calendar.
[33:50] Of course, she was there on the 18th.
[33:53] Beth is working on the Wildfire Community Preparedness
[33:56] for May 2nd, June 27th, the BioBlitz day.
[34:01] Another thing that Beth is very involved in,
[34:03] and the idea is that we come alongside that
[34:06] and document that and make the public aware of that
[34:09] through our social media and things.
[34:11] Another exciting one that came up is that we are going
[34:13] to be at the dairy farmer's market.
[34:16] There is a, we grow Wednesday in August
[34:19] and I'm actually a vendor at the market,
[34:21] but I will be doing, putting on a different hat
[34:24] for the commission that day.
[34:25] And I think a couple of the others will, will join me.
[34:28] And the idea is to just like, has it have it as it's,
[34:31] we're gonna be in the communitarian booth that day.
[34:35] I think I did hear from the vendor committee
[34:37] that we could do another week if we wanted to as well.
[34:40] So we'll talk about that at our next meeting.
[34:42] But we definitely bookmarked August 12th
[34:47] and I submitted an application for us as vendors.
[34:50] That will be like a small fee. I think it's $25 for the day.
[34:53] Or is it for Communitarians? It's free.
[34:55] Oh, free for communitarian. That's right.
[34:58] So that will be coming up
[34:59] and the idea is to, to bring promotional materials,
[35:01] maybe having some kind of like IDing plants, a hands-on
[35:05] for kids that are coming to the market
[35:08] or an a t-shirt raffle,
[35:10] just like make it a really fun experiential
[35:12] but also promotional material.
[35:14] So we're very excited to being at the farmer's market.
[35:16] Linda and I will be there anyway and yeah, so that,
[35:20] and we'll be meeting again I think this Thursday.
[35:23] So we're just gonna keep that moving forward.
[35:27] That's great. Thank you Cheryl.
[35:29] I, I like the, the energy and the enthusiasm.
[35:32] That's fantastic. Mr. Metz. TRC. We had
[35:36] One TRC this past Friday.
[35:39] They, it's a two lot subdivision,
[35:42] but it does have significant wetland impact on it.
[35:47] So they're gonna hopefully schedule to be, we,
[35:50] we gave 'em the date, right Beth?
[35:52] We Did had to by to be for the fourth. So May 4th.
[35:56] Hopefully fourth, yeah. And it was Brandon again. So it's,
[35:58] What, what's the address?
[35:59] Do you know? Remember?
[36:01] Yeah, it's Furland Drive. Oh, Furland, okay, got
[36:04] It.
[36:05] That's part of the Shields Brook. Yep.
[36:08] Wetlands on that side. Okay, got it.
[36:10] Yeah, so it's, it's only two lot.
[36:12] It's two lots, but since it's a wetland impact then it,
[36:16] it has to come before us.
[36:17] And that's coming, that's gonna come May 4th
[36:19] I think.
[36:20] May 4th If he's, if he got it, yeah,
[36:21] He hasn't sent in about it yet,
[36:23] but we did talk about that at the TRC. Yeah.
[36:26] Okay. Other than that, that's it.
[36:28] Alright. Thank you Mr. Metz. Property management.
[36:32] We, we did get a communication from a gentleman by the name
[36:36] of Mr.
[36:38] Fong. Kby Fong.
[36:42] And he is with an organization called Eco Ecological Land
[36:47] Management and Stewardship, LLC.
[36:52] And this, this is a, this is a, an organization that kind of
[36:57] is something we've been looking for for a long time.
[36:59] They basically provide support services
[37:01] to conservation commissions in the form of mowing and,
[37:04] and you know, stuff that we kind
[37:07] of have always had a little trouble securing.
[37:10] They, they kind of offer it, offer a, a menu
[37:14] of different services to conservation commissions.
[37:19] So we corresponded actually, I, I sent it to Beth,
[37:23] Beth corresponded back to them saying that as, as projects,
[37:28] they do forestry, they do aous stuff, they do, you know,
[37:32] even trail maintenance I believe, right?
[37:34] Yeah. Trail maintenance. They do, they do it all.
[37:39] And for us, you know, it's,
[37:40] you can't always get volunteers to do stuff.
[37:42] So we're gonna, we're gonna be reaching out to them
[37:44] as projects come up that we can handle.
[37:47] I think it's a, it's a great business venture
[37:50] because it's, I'm sure
[37:51] that most conservation commissions are in the same position
[37:53] that we are with, you know, having,
[37:55] having needs for that stuff.
[37:57] So Beth Replied said, thanks so much.
[38:01] We'll we'll be reaching out
[38:03] to you in the future if we, if we need your service.
[38:05] So that was, that was cool.
[38:06] And it'd be nice to have a backup like that when, when we,
[38:11] we have a list of projects to take care of and,
[38:13] and have a professional organization be able to do it.
[38:19] And other property management stuff.
[38:22] We'll have, we'll leave it to Beth,
[38:23] but we have some tree work happening.
[38:26] Kind of an interesting new piece of equipment.
[38:29] One of the, one of the people that
[38:32] provided a price on a, on a,
[38:34] on a tree removal, it's called a spider.
[38:36] Spider, right? It's kind of a low impact machine
[38:41] that can get in really tight quarters
[38:45] and it's more economical than bringing in a big crane.
[38:48] And it's kind of like, almost like when a guy climbs a tree
[38:51] for hazardous take down.
[38:52] So it's kind of like a climber,
[38:54] but it has a little bit more ability.
[38:57] And Beth will go over those, those proposals at her.
[39:02] And then the other thing I'll just touch upon is we have a,
[39:04] we had a problem with the Margie
[39:09] Ives conservation property.
[39:10] The sign there got pushed on a little bit from,
[39:15] from, and I'm not even sure if that happened all this year,
[39:17] but there the, there was some snow pushed against it
[39:20] and it's leaning over and we talked
[39:23] to the town administrator
[39:24] and there's some funds available to, to help fix that up.
[39:28] And I think BET will probably touch upon
[39:30] that in her report also.
[39:32] So that's what we're doing on property ma management.
[39:35] Next is Bob Spro at Land Maintenance.
[39:41] So we did have one more meeting
[39:43] and we've got one scheduled for the 14th
[39:46] talking about stewardship, the file that the people,
[39:50] the stewards would get.
[39:53] Other than that, I haven't got anything.
[39:55] Okay, thanks. Pope Lee acquisition.
[39:59] Has anyone walked that, don't say the name of the property,
[40:02] but is has anyone walked that property
[40:03] that we were considering pursuing?
[40:07] No. Alright, so I think it's been kind of too long.
[40:10] So if I'm gonna ask for a a,
[40:14] I'm gonna ask for a motion,
[40:18] maybe we should do that non-public.
[40:25] No, I don't think we have to.
[40:27] I think we can have a motion without talking about
[40:29] what the property is to pursue next steps.
[40:34] How do you feel about that? No. Okay. Alright.
[40:37] So we'll, so we'll we're gonna have a quick non-public
[40:40] after this meeting and
[40:45] other land acquisitions.
[40:47] There's three projects that we're, we're pursuing.
[40:49] Nothing has moved forward on any of the three.
[40:53] And then when we in, in non-public, we'll talk about maybe
[40:56] pushing on one of the three a little bit higher
[41:02] reporting compliance, well
[41:04] Nothing new to actually report on reporting compliance.
[41:07] Okay. And you're also on net zero?
[41:09] Yes. Net zero. We did have that meeting. Lemme pull up.
[41:13] I thought I had it ready. So they are
[41:17] continuing watching legislation that project
[41:20] that they had me do some educational kind of brochure
[41:24] for people in terms of international energy
[41:27] conservation codes.
[41:29] Basic yeah efficiency codes and stuff.
[41:32] The state was looking to push them up to 2024
[41:34] as like required for new builds.
[41:37] However, it kind of fell back again. So we're still in 2018.
[41:40] So that's something that they've been kind
[41:42] of keeping on their docket to outreach to the public
[41:46] hearing back on things for contracts for, you know,
[41:49] the new parking garage, things like that.
[41:52] Metering getting done at the solar field.
[41:55] And they're getting some feedback too about the hybrids
[41:57] and EVs that the town has had to kind of see
[41:59] and recommend that more for the town to transition.
[42:04] And yeah, I think that about covers it. Quick rundown.
[42:06] Great. Thank you Val, this councilor foot,
[42:12] anything from the, from the council?
[42:14] You'd like to talk about town? Town related stuff?
[42:17] Yeah, real quick Mr. Chair. Thank you.
[42:19] So at last meeting you had asked about more
[42:22] funds for the conservation.
[42:23] I did reach out to you and the vice chair, so
[42:26] For rest and, and you and you hit a home run. Yeah. Yeah.
[42:28] Thanks. So just for the rest of the committee, I,
[42:32] I did speak with the town administrator
[42:33] and we're gonna propose this year
[42:36] roughly $12,800 in addition to the 5,000 you normally get.
[42:40] That's only gonna be for three years.
[42:42] And then that will go away
[42:43] and it'll just be resort back to the regular 5,000.
[42:45] So this year potentially you get close
[42:48] to 18,000 for the next three years.
[42:52] Tomorrow we have a public hearing
[42:54] and that's to accept the easement
[42:55] for the Ashley Drive SCOBY Pond Road area
[42:59] and also there'll be new business for the acceptance
[43:03] of the Broadview farm agreement that you guys are aware of.
[43:07] Is, is everyone aware
[43:08] of the Broad Broadview farm agreement?
[43:11] Sorry to interrupt you. Council foot?
[43:13] No. Is that like the renewal of the easement?
[43:16] So no, the Broadview farm, we've had this handshake deal
[43:19] with the guy that Oh, that farming it,
[43:22] that farms Broadview farm.
[43:25] The cornfield in the back.
[43:26] Yeah, I don't, I don't love handshake deals.
[43:28] So we've, we, we actually have a contract.
[43:32] We're, we're executing a contract with the numerical value.
[43:38] It is that he is to provide
[43:43] either $750 in, in kind
[43:47] services to the town.
[43:49] And if he's unable to do that,
[43:50] he's gonna write the town a check
[43:52] for $750 if he doesn't have time to do in kind services.
[43:57] As far as long as I've been on the commission,
[44:00] it's been a handshake with Phil and Margie
[44:05] and Paul Dion and, and even James.
[44:08] It's just kind of been an understanding.
[44:10] I, and we, at least while I'm chair I want to get rid
[44:13] of anything, anything like that.
[44:15] I, I'd like to see everything papered up
[44:16] and make it a little cleaner for the person
[44:20] that sits in my chair later.
[44:21] So we, we talked to the town administrator about that
[44:25] and he's got it on Charlie's agenda
[44:27] for tomorrow to be approved.
[44:29] So thank you Charlie, continue. Sorry. So
[44:31] That, that's it.
[44:32] And that would basically erase any ambiguity moving forward
[44:34] and it's, it is what it's, so regardless who the people are,
[44:38] it will always be something there in, in writing. So
[44:40] Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's
[44:42] Good.
[44:43] If he doesn't provide in kind, does that money come to us
[44:46] or does it go to the general fund?
[44:49] Not sure. I, I know we did the contract here,
[44:51] I can't remember what that, what the
[44:53] stipulation was in the contract.
[44:54] I'm not a hundred percent sure. Okay. I was look into it.
[44:57] It Doesn't specify in the contract.
[45:00] It does not. Okay. Alright.
[45:02] So there's a little homework then How about,
[45:04] how about, sorry Rick. No,
[45:05] Go ahead. Go
[45:06] Ahead.
[45:07] How about, how about a communication
[45:07] to the town administrator that when he presents it
[45:10] to you guys tomorrow night, that the,
[45:12] if there is funds exchanged, if
[45:14] that those funds go into the,
[45:21] We, we probably need to, we probably need to have a,
[45:23] we probably need to have a a we, so what I suggest
[45:27] is a motion that that $750 if it comes
[45:32] to us in the form of payment, then it goes
[45:36] to us in the land acquisition account.
[45:40] And the reason for that is the land acquisition account
[45:45] carries over year to year.
[45:47] The administrative account does not.
[45:49] So the administrative account, we spend it,
[45:52] what's not spent goes into the general fund
[45:54] and then we get a new administrative account
[45:57] balance for the following year.
[45:58] The land acquisition account, that money stays
[46:01] with the commission and just renews at the same rate.
[46:05] So I think a motion
[46:11] to have a council liaison
[46:16] communicate with the town administrator
[46:19] that those funds come to that land
[46:23] acquisition account.
[46:25] Would someone consider making that motion
[46:28] Move to direct town council to negotiate
[46:30] with the town administrator that the funds if
[46:35] can't be, if if the seven 50 can't be given in like,
[46:38] in like kind and Ocean, that
[46:40] that $750 in funds goes into the conservation commission.
[46:44] Land man. Land management fund.
[46:47] Land acquisition fund, Sorry. Land acquisition fund.
[46:50] Alright, so is the first and the floor
[46:51] is there a second? Second.
[46:52] Second. We have a second and a third.
[46:54] All is in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed?
[46:59] Charlie can you do that? Thank you.
[47:00] I'll send an email right now. Thanks very
[47:02] Much.
[47:03] He, he answered the question.
[47:04] So that extra money we're getting,
[47:05] if we don't spend it, we lose it. Is that
[47:08] Correct?
[47:09] On the admin money? Yes.
[47:13] Okay. Spend it. Huh? Spend it.
[47:15] I'm, I'm not that kind of person.
[47:17] Just yeah, spend money just 'cause we have it. No,
[47:20] We could have A help of a party,
[47:21] but that would be inappropriate.
[47:22] We're sure you'll have some good projects.
[47:24] So Beth and I discussed a, a potential purpose
[47:29] since we don't even newer from them,
[47:31] which would be a in kind service.
[47:34] They have plenty of that, but we are all set for that.
[47:37] We were thinking that adding straw
[47:39] to the gardens is something that's very vital.
[47:43] Is there any Yeah.
[47:44] Change in that conversation that we had today.
[47:46] I did speak with him today about that
[47:48] and he said that he'd be willing to,
[47:51] he doesn't grow, he doesn't have straw.
[47:54] Like he doesn't grow straw, he grows hay,
[47:57] but he would be willing to buy the straw
[47:59] and, you know, deliver it and stack it for us.
[48:04] Provided he said with an asterisk that it's available.
[48:08] So he said that it is possible
[48:10] that it's not available at this time,
[48:12] but if it is, then, then he would purchase it and,
[48:15] and, and deliver it.
[48:19] Okay. So as, as far as spending the admin money
[48:23] after the, we had a, we had a
[48:27] budget set aside through a forestry fund that pays
[48:33] Tammy and Beth,
[48:37] that fund is gonna be exhausted this year.
[48:39] So next year we'll be using the admin fund to,
[48:43] to pay the two staffers that we have
[48:45] so it will get expended.
[48:47] 'cause we'll expend that first
[48:48] and then go into the land acquisition fund after that.
[48:53] And as far as the straw, are you saying that,
[48:55] that Phil doesn't have straw?
[48:58] So the where, where, I'm Sorry. Fernando Farm.
[49:00] Yeah, the Fernando farm.
[49:03] They, they may
[49:04] or may not have straw available. Yeah, basically.
[49:07] Got it. Okay. And it's
[49:09] definitely gotta be straw, right Jay?
[49:10] We don't want, we want straw because Right. Hey has
[49:12] All kinds Of seeds in it.
[49:13] Seats. Seats. Okay. Got it. Alright, thank you Charlie.
[49:17] Thank you. Next we have Beth with the land manager report.
[49:21] All right. A lot of it has been covered already,
[49:24] but so with the community garden,
[49:27] all 36 plots have been claimed, including the raised beds
[49:31] for 37 and we have 30 individuals involved
[49:35] with the community gardens.
[49:38] And an email went out
[49:40] to those gardeners today we thought So we have
[49:43] actually some new gardeners.
[49:44] So we thought they would appreciate just an update on like
[49:48] here's how the community garden works and,
[49:51] 'cause we were getting kind of some questions about that.
[49:54] So we just sent them all a communication.
[49:57] Today I connected
[50:02] dairy cam with the Weatherby family, if any
[50:06] of you know, Neil and Wendy
[50:09] and Aurora Weatherby, they are big fans of coal marsh.
[50:12] They're there often. And in a previous meeting
[50:17] with Dairy Cam that Rick
[50:19] and I had, we discussed doing like a guided tour,
[50:23] like a film filming, a guided tour of coal marsh.
[50:27] And so we asked
[50:30] the weather bees if they would be interested in
[50:32] that in Aurora, raise her hand
[50:33] and said that yes, she would love to do that.
[50:35] So that is in the works.
[50:37] And she's the land steward at,
[50:38] And she's the land steward at Coal Marsh.
[50:40] Yep. Yep. And let's see.
[50:45] So in addition to the farmer's market, as
[50:49] for public outreach, Marion Garish just put out a request
[50:53] for community groups to participate in what's the scoop?
[50:56] And that's on Monday, May 18th from six to seven 30.
[51:00] So for those who don't know, what, what's the scoop is,
[51:04] it's basically, it's a community event
[51:06] where you come get ice cream at Marion Garris.
[51:09] So they give out ice cream to attract all the kids there.
[51:13] And it is a place where if you are looking to volunteer,
[51:19] this is where you go
[51:20] because you, you will find all of the community groups.
[51:24] The idea is to get all of the groups in our community
[51:27] that are doing volunteer work together in one place so
[51:30] that you can just walk around to everybody's table
[51:33] and see what's the scoop around town.
[51:39] I did mention this at our last meeting,
[51:40] but we have confirmed the date of June 27th for the
[51:45] bio blitz at Broadview.
[51:47] We also are going to be having an online training for
[51:52] where a member of Moose Wood Ecological is going to come
[51:56] and train us all on how to use iNaturalist, which is
[52:01] what we'll be using to, to do the BioBlitz.
[52:04] So that's gonna be June 1st during our meeting
[52:08] and it'll be televised.
[52:09] So if there, and members of the public are also welcome
[52:12] to come to this as well.
[52:16] And it will be, it will be recorded.
[52:18] So we'll have this training in
[52:20] perpetuity, which will be great.
[52:25] The CWPP is progressing.
[52:29] We are very, very close to wrapping it up.
[52:32] We were trying to hit, you know, before April vacation,
[52:35] but we'll be,
[52:37] we're looking at more like early May to wrap it up.
[52:39] But we're very, very close on that.
[52:43] And I want to just right now, thank you Beth for
[52:46] the amount of work that went into that CWPP from
[52:50] Thank you.
[52:51] Yeah, that was, and thank you Val. Incredible.
[52:53] Yeah, incredible amount of work went into that.
[52:54] And I think we're, we're probably gonna be one
[52:57] of the first communities in
[52:58] New Hampshire to actually have one, right? Gonna
[53:00] Be the first, second I think second.
[53:01] I think the second Heer is the first
[53:02] and dairy is the second.
[53:03] Yeah. So, and yeah, I, on that note,
[53:06] I wanna give a huge amount of thanks to Val and Jack Webb
[53:10] and Ryan Bump and John Neely.
[53:12] They've all done incredible work on this. Chief,
[53:15] Chief LA Chief Laro. Yes.
[53:17] Yeah, Yeah, yeah. So that's a big, big project.
[53:20] I think that'll be, you know, that'll be tremendous.
[53:25] And I'm sure we're gonna get contacted by other communities
[53:28] as soon as it's, it's rolled out.
[53:30] Yeah. On, you know, how can, how can we do that? So
[53:33] John wants to hire Val to, to do more towns.
[53:36] Yeah. Okay.
[53:39] And we'll come back to that.
[53:43] And then the Margaret Ives sign was mentioned.
[53:46] I just wanted to let everybody know
[53:47] that we did file a report with the DPD just to let them know
[53:52] that the sign had been damaged so
[53:53] that there's a report on record if
[53:55] something like that happens again.
[53:57] And we're going to communicate with public works just
[54:01] to make sure that it's not public works doing that,
[54:05] you know, pushing the snow in that direction anyway
[54:08] and monitor it over the winter.
[54:10] So we are all set to move forward with plans on
[54:15] replacing or fixing up that sign.
[54:17] And that is the event
[54:19] that the land maintenance committee has planned for July.
[54:22] So that'll be exciting.
[54:25] And then the Broadview lease will be up at the town council
[54:29] for a vote tomorrow night.
[54:32] And then I have a couple of items
[54:34] that you all need a vote on.
[54:37] So one is to go back
[54:39] to our discussion on dog fouling, right?
[54:42] So there actually is an RSA that is on the books already.
[54:46] We don't have a town ordinance on it,
[54:48] but there is an RSA 4 66 31 B.
[54:53] And I went
[54:56] to McGregor Park today to take some photos of signs
[55:00] that they, that they have up at McGregor Park.
[55:03] And it just says in all caps, please pick up
[55:06] after dogs RSA 4 66 31 dash B.
[55:12] And I would like to
[55:18] bring it to you all to vote that we make a sign
[55:23] that just says that please pick up after dogs
[55:25] and then cites the RSA
[55:28] that we can post alongside our leash, you know,
[55:32] the sighting of the leash law, or not the leash law,
[55:36] but the, the town ordinance that refers to
[55:40] dogs running at large at Broadview
[55:42] and any other conservation properties that we might
[55:46] feel need reminders about dog fouling.
[55:53] So a a as far as the broad view sign,
[55:55] because I feel like we're,
[55:58] I feel like we're putting up signs, like different signs
[56:02] and I think we're gonna end up
[56:03] with another sign there probably for something else.
[56:05] Should we, at least on the broad view property,
[56:09] get one sign that has as this,
[56:14] this property is owned
[56:16] and managed by the Dairy Conservation Commission
[56:18] with some rules instead of having a bunch of spa
[56:21] We could do that.
[56:22] So just so, just so that you're aware of like
[56:25] what it actually looks like.
[56:26] It's just a piece of paper, you know, that is put
[56:31] behind the plexi glass that's on the trail head.
[56:35] There is a small wooden, like eight
[56:40] and a half by 11 size with a wooden frame that has,
[56:45] that's from Parks and Rec.
[56:48] And I believe it's, it's about, you know,
[56:52] that it's open from dawn until desk.
[56:54] So it has that on it or no, no, no.
[56:57] There's a metal sign that says
[56:59] that it's open from dawn until dusk.
[57:01] And then there's a, a sign that's framed in wood
[57:05] that says please pick up, you know, carry
[57:07] and carry out, please pick up your trash.
[57:11] And then on the trail kiosk, there's the new sign
[57:15] that we have about dogs running at large.
[57:19] And then, you know, we could potentially have another piece
[57:23] of paper in there that says, please pick up after dogs.
[57:27] But Yeah, I see what you're saying.
[57:29] 'cause there's, there's a lot of different
[57:30] Things.
[57:31] It's a good idea that we, that we have like a message board,
[57:35] a marquee maybe we'll call it a
[57:36] marquee or, or a message board.
[57:38] Yeah. Mr. Met suggests a message board that said
[57:41] says something like, welcome to Broadview Farm with the,
[57:45] with the Dairy Conservation Commission logo allowed, uses
[57:50] and then rules for use.
[57:52] Yeah. And then we take down all the other stuff
[57:54] and just have one sign
[57:55] and then maybe we can also say,
[57:58] talk about the public gardens, which are also there
[58:03] and have even maybe have some contact info
[58:08] on it like dairy conservation. Yeah.
[58:11] So we wanna keep in mind too that,
[58:14] 'cause I, I think that that is the dream, right?
[58:17] To have that on there
[58:18] and we will be addressing a lot of that with the BioBlitz.
[58:22] So part of what, part of the grant that's
[58:26] provided with the BioBlitz is
[58:27] that Moose Wood Ecological can actually do some help,
[58:31] can help us in designing our trailhead kiosk
[58:35] and putting things like that on it.
[58:37] Which I think would be a bit of a more involved project.
[58:41] Like if we are trying to just put people on notice
[58:44] and address the dog filing issue sooner rather than later,
[58:49] you know, we can just put up a sign is,
[58:52] is a very quick thing that, you know,
[58:53] we can do in an afternoon
[58:55] and make a goal to, you know, have a more detailed kind
[59:00] of overhaul that has the allowed uses
[59:02] and has a lot of things about it with a list of Yeah. You
[59:05] Know, what's allowed after the bio blitz do the,
[59:07] do the bigger, right.
[59:08] Yeah. I love the sound of that.
[59:10] People like the sound of that Jay, Jay look like you have a
[59:14] To have, you know, nothing but negatives, you know.
[59:17] Yeah. For our communications with the public and yeah,
[59:21] It would be great to have a balance.
[59:22] Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking say, you know,
[59:24] welcome to, here's the things about homeA, the, the,
[59:27] the town you all that stuff.
[59:28] Alright. So, but I do think that the bio blitz thing needs
[59:32] to get in our rear view before we do that.
[59:34] So I, I don't think you need a motion.
[59:38] I think when we put Okay.
[59:39] Put yeah, everyone's nodding, right? Yeah.
[59:41] We're gonna put up the sign about the dog f do dog fouling
[59:44] in the ex existing kiosk.
[59:46] So wait, yes, do that or no, do not do that. Yes,
[59:49] Yes.
[59:50] Yeah, let's do that and then have a, have a goal.
[59:51] Why don't you, why don't we put it on, on our,
[59:55] on our, on our our sheet.
[59:57] We didn't talk about that sheet.
[59:59] We probably should talk about that sheet Beth. Sure.
[1:00:01] You wanna do that before we do the,
[1:00:03] the do the tree falling stuff?
[1:00:04] Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Again, talk about the sheet that we have
[1:00:07] and, and how we're, how we're managing the,
[1:00:09] So we have a spreadsheet, 400
[1:00:10] projects we got going right now.
[1:00:13] Yeah. So we have a spreadsheet where I'm trying
[1:00:16] to capture, you know, all these little things,
[1:00:19] all these like big goals, little goals and,
[1:00:23] and all the things that kind of happen in between.
[1:00:26] Right. And sending that to Rick once a week so
[1:00:30] that he can review it
[1:00:31] and kind of set the priorities right Because, you know,
[1:00:35] I kind of just go through
[1:00:36] and I've been, you know, deciding myself like
[1:00:41] what looks like the most urgent thing or,
[1:00:43] or the next thing that needs to be worked on.
[1:00:44] So we're working on that more together so that, so
[1:00:47] that he can set the priorities for
[1:00:49] where my time is being spent.
[1:00:52] And once we have that completely,
[1:00:54] 'cause I think we're real close to having the it
[1:00:56] done, we can include Mr.
[1:00:59] Metz in that distributions. Okay.
[1:01:02] So we're, we're still developing the,
[1:01:05] so we have the spreadsheet and we have the legend.
[1:01:08] We're gonna put it all in one document.
[1:01:09] So it's gonna be a quick glance.
[1:01:13] This is what, this is
[1:01:14] what the conservation commissioner is working on
[1:01:17] and this is the prioritization, prioritization of, you know,
[1:01:21] what we're working on first, second, and third.
[1:01:25] So something that can be handed to, to a commissioner
[1:01:27] and say, or even the tout administrator
[1:01:30] or you Charlie saying here's our, here's our,
[1:01:32] the 40 projects we got going
[1:01:34] and this is the, the basically the urgency of some
[1:01:38] and the, the less urgent stuff down to our wishlist that
[1:01:43] Beth uses as filling stuff.
[1:01:45] Yep. So we're,
[1:01:46] And I have a to done tab,
[1:01:48] which is very, a very useful Yeah.
[1:01:50] Memory jogger. Yeah.
[1:01:52] Yeah. So we're done in our, in our, you know, 30 minutes,
[1:01:56] 30 minute phone calls that we have.
[1:01:57] We, we, we cover a lot of material.
[1:01:59] So this kind of gives us a, an opportunity
[1:02:01] to, to help with that.
[1:02:03] Thank you Beth. Go ahead. Continue. Yeah.
[1:02:05] Great. Okay, so the last thing on my list here is a quote
[1:02:09] for tree felling at 17 Holiday Ave.
[1:02:15] So I did, I prepared a staff report,
[1:02:18] my first staff report that.
[1:02:22] So the purpose is to approve one of these three quotes
[1:02:28] for contractors to file a potentially dying tree along a
[1:02:32] boundary shared between Cornelius and Farm property
[1:02:34] and 17 Holiday Ave.
[1:02:36] I do have one that I recommend from a SC Tree Services.
[1:02:41] So just to refresh everybody's memory on the background,
[1:02:44] the residents at 17 holiday have reached out to us last year
[1:02:48] with concerns about a tree limb overhanging their barn.
[1:02:51] The tree limb is attached to a tree
[1:02:53] that's on conservation property and we
[1:02:56] provided the residents with a letter of permission
[1:02:58] to fill the tree at their own expense
[1:03:01] and they requested financial assistance fell the tree.
[1:03:05] So with the direction from the property management
[1:03:07] committee, we obtained three quotes from dairy base business
[1:03:11] to have the tree filled.
[1:03:14] So after I reviewed the three quotes,
[1:03:17] there was a pretty widespread between the lowest estimate
[1:03:19] of $1,300 and the highest estimate of $3,000.
[1:03:24] So I looked into why they were so different
[1:03:28] and it basically revealed
[1:03:30] that the companies all have three different ways they, they,
[1:03:34] that they were gonna approach this work.
[1:03:36] And I wanted to be sure that, you know,
[1:03:38] I don't wanna just recommend that we go
[1:03:40] with the lowest quote because it's the lowest quote.
[1:03:42] So I wanted to know how they were going to handle the work.
[1:03:46] So the highest estimate is the highest
[1:03:48] because the worker would need to climb the
[1:03:53] tree in order to remove it in pieces
[1:03:55] and climbing poses a higher risk.
[1:03:58] So that's the highest price.
[1:04:00] The middle estimate was going to use a bucket truck,
[1:04:03] but the homeowner spoke to me
[1:04:07] and said that they do not feel comfortable having a bucket
[1:04:10] truck in their backyard for fear
[1:04:12] of like ripping up their backyard, et cetera.
[1:04:16] And then the lowest one from a CS tree services,
[1:04:21] I mean, sorry, A SC Tree Services Inc.
[1:04:26] Will use an aerial tracked lift boom is the name
[1:04:31] of the, of the machine, A KAS spider.
[1:04:35] And it is a smaller, lighter
[1:04:37] and more maneuverable than a bucket truck
[1:04:40] and it's safer
[1:04:41] for the worker than actually climbing the tree.
[1:04:44] So it's basically this pretty thin machine that,
[1:04:48] you know, they bring in.
[1:04:50] It's not, it's not a vehicle that goes on the road, right.
[1:04:52] It's just a small vehicle that they would,
[1:04:56] that they would truck in.
[1:04:57] And then that vehicle has like a remote control
[1:05:00] that you can move it through, you know,
[1:05:03] either the yard or through the woods.
[1:05:06] So it's really good for getting into tight spaces and yeah.
[1:05:10] And it's a lot safer for the worker
[1:05:12] 'cause they're in a stabilized machine
[1:05:15] cutting down the tree in much the same way
[1:05:17] that they might be if they were climbing the tree.
[1:05:19] But it's just a lot safer
[1:05:21] 'cause they're not in a, you know, in a tree So
[1:05:24] that is the one that I recommend, which also happens
[1:05:26] to be the lowest quote at $1,300.
[1:05:31] And we always, we always do our best to try
[1:05:34] to hire dairy based businesses
[1:05:36] when we're, when we're doing this.
[1:05:37] And all three of the, all three
[1:05:39] of these are dairy based businesses.
[1:05:43] So if we had a, a, I agree
[1:05:47] with Beth's recommendation for thir,
[1:05:49] for choosing the $1,300 one.
[1:05:51] And it's not, not solely because of cost.
[1:05:53] I did look at some, I looked,
[1:05:55] I looked at the machine how it works.
[1:05:59] And I think, I think we're probably gonna be using
[1:06:01] that company quite a bit.
[1:06:02] 'cause it's a, it's a low impact, low impact
[1:06:08] machine that, you know, around homes and stuff like that.
[1:06:10] I think it's the perfect, perfect situation.
[1:06:13] So we would need a, a motion
[1:06:18] for $1,300 in the name
[1:06:20] of the tree service is a SC Tree Service Inc.
[1:06:26] Move to approve $1,300 to use a SC tree service
[1:06:31] for tree removal on Cornelius
[1:06:35] and 17 Holiday Ave or Lane second.
[1:06:41] Okay. We have a first by Mr. Metz. Second by Cheryl.
[1:06:45] All is in favor say aye. A Aye. Any opposition?
[1:06:49] Hearing none. Motion carries anything else, Beth?
[1:06:53] That's my last thing. Okay.
[1:06:58] Nice work, Beth. Thank you. That's doing a Thank you, Beth.
[1:07:01] That's doing a lot of work.
[1:07:08] Okay. Next meeting.
[1:07:10] Date is May 4th, and I believe Mr.
[1:07:14] Metz, is that yours or mine? I will not be here.
[1:07:16] So that's mine. Mr. Metz won't be here.
[1:07:19] I'll be looking for someone to make motions for me. Then.
[1:07:23] Our right. The proposed meeting dates have been adjusted
[1:07:28] to reflect some suggestions from the previous meeting.
[1:07:33] Everyone take a peek at that. Peek at those.
[1:07:46] All right. Hearing no objections.
[1:07:48] We're gonna carry that forward to the next meeting.
[1:07:50] Wait. Right. The non-public meeting minutes? Hmm.
[1:07:55] Is that what you just said? The non-public meeting minutes?
[1:07:57] No, the proposed meeting dates. Oh, the
[1:07:59] Proposed. I'm sorry. I'm That's
[1:08:00] Okay.
[1:08:01] Yeah. Other business. I have none.
[1:08:05] Beth, did we cover everything you and I need to cover? Yes.
[1:08:08] Any, any commissioners need
[1:08:10] to bring anything up that we haven't covered?
[1:08:14] No. Okay.
[1:08:16] So we are gonna have a,
[1:08:21] like a, like a two minute non-public meeting.
[1:08:25] So, Mr. Met you, help me with the protocol, please.
[1:08:28] Yep. Move to
[1:08:30] Go into non-public session per RSA 91, A three section one
[1:08:35] for the purpose of property acquisition.
[1:08:39] And we don't have to close this
[1:08:40] meeting or anything like that yet?
[1:08:41] No. Okay. All right. So there's a motion on the floor.
[1:08:45] I need a second. And then we're gonna have a roll call
[1:08:48] Second.
[1:08:49] We have a second by Val.
[1:08:51] And we'll start with the roll call to my right. Yes.
[1:08:55] Yes, Yes, yes,
[1:08:58] Yes, yes, yes.
[1:09:01] And chair votes? Yes.
[1:09:02] I need a motion to invite Beth and Charlie
[1:09:08] Move to invite, invite Beth Carver
[1:09:10] and Councilor Charlie Foot into the meeting.
[1:09:12] Is there a second? Second. First by Mr. Metz.
[1:09:16] Second by Cheryl. Roll call. Starting to my right. Yes.
[1:09:20] Yes, Yes,
[1:09:22] Yes, Yes, yes.
[1:09:25] And the chair votes. Yes.
[1:09:26] We don't have to invite you, Pam,
[1:09:28] because you're, you're, you're an alternate.
[1:09:31] Okay. So we're in, we're in non-public.
[1:09:33] Owen, once you gimme the word, we'll have a quick chat.