[0:02] I'll call the meeting to order
>> and um
[0:06] » Mike, if you want to vote for Jean
>> and um Gary, if you can vote for the
[0:13] empty spot.
>> The empty spot. Okay.
[0:15] » And um
>> sounds like a
[0:18] » So we have we have two DRC's, but nobody
is coming to talk to us. Um so the first
[0:25] one is the 44 and 36 Pillsbury.
They're doing um
[0:32] a subdivision and a condo conversion
[0:38] and
not sure which pictures I'm going to
[0:42] see.
>> No. Was this
[0:45] » It sounds like
>> where they were having the
[0:48] » property lines. We saw this.
>> Well,
[0:51] » didn't we sort it?
>> Yeah.
[0:52] » There's
Laura Gandandy wrote us a letter. She
[0:56] said, "Sorry, nobody's coming. This is
what we're doing.
[0:59] » Yeah, the letter looks like it's the
same number of rentals and the same
[1:02] number of sold of for sales.
>> No, it's different by Let me get
[1:08] glasses.
>> Yeah, they they moved out
[1:13] almost
100. No, almost a hundred went from
[1:17] cottages to condos.
>> Yeah,
[1:21] » this is they were they were calling them
cottage. Yeah,
[1:26] » this is a good that go back to that when
you just up there, Mike. That was a good
[1:29] way to show it.
>> So,
[1:34] you remember that?
It used to be there was this line that
[1:40] was the 250 cottages
>> rentals.
[1:44] » Rental. Yeah, cottage rentals.
>> Okay, that's
[1:47] » And this here is going to be the 30
condos for sale.
[1:54] Now they've taken this line and
basically moved it like this. This
[1:59] tortured
>> little pretzel here.
[2:03] » Is that where some of the drainage water
is, though?
[2:06] » All those cottages that were for rent
are now going to be condos for sale.
[2:13] » Okay.
>> That's really what they're trying to
[2:17] accomplish here.
>> And by condos, are they individual
[2:19] structures or
>> Yeah, correct. They are. So, they're
[2:21] still individual structures.
>> Yes. You could go.
[2:24] » And the one thing they carved out was
that small plot or they're asking is
[2:28] carve out the small plot where the
pumping station is.
[2:30] » Right.
>> Y. Yeah. Right.
[2:32] » And I don't know if you saw in the
packet, one of one of the diagrams
[2:37] showed this subdivision but with the
units. So you see where the units are in
[2:43] within that new subdom.
>> Right. I think they stayed in the same
[2:47] place.
>> They stayed in the same place but it's
[2:49] hard to visualize without
>> Yeah. Yeah. If you go back to the one
[2:54] that's got all the units on it.
>> Uh, not that one.
[2:59] » Yeah, right there.
>> And they all share the clubhouse that's
[3:06] that right
>> in the middle,
[3:08] » the swimming pool. And they all all 310
of them with their estimated what 400
[3:17] cars or so
>> all use the same access road
[3:23] » right there.
>> So
[3:24] » just a little bit before Michael's way
with the new stoplight
[3:29] » with the stoplight.
>> So who's who's planning this? This is
[3:31] ridiculous. This is what I've been
talking about all along is why are they
[3:34] not putting some sense into what's
already there and how they fit it all
[3:38] in. That just doesn't fit as far as I'm
concerned.
[3:40] » That doesn't make sense for that not to
come out at a light if they're going to
[3:43] put a light.
>> Yeah. I mean, this doesn't show that.
[3:47] But
>> I thought they were going to come out
[3:49] through also hubby or whatever the back
road. Go ahead.
[3:53] » I think there'll be a crash gate there,
>> but no
[3:57] » no entrance.
[4:01] Yeah, looks like you can kind of see the
top.
[4:03] » Who who's planning this? The planning
board or the developers or
[4:08] » developers? But obviously planning board
will be discussing it tomorrow night
[4:13] » and they think this is the right way.
Uh what I judging from the letter that
[4:18] Laura wrote to us
that they they have made a business
[4:24] decision that they can make more money
selling condos than renting cottages.
[4:32] So they're increasing the amount of
>> condos at the expense of the cottages.
[4:39] And there's really no thing I can see
that would prevent them from five years
[4:47] from now condoizing all the cottages,
>> which was my
[4:52] prediction is that they would eventually
condize condominiumized them all.
[4:57] » Yeah. Right.
>> Like Mr. Ridge did. They started off as
[5:00] all rentals and then w we can't make any
money. We need to condo. It's
[5:06] » ridiculous. Makes me very angry. So, but
it's
[5:10] » the the problem
>> probably it's a smart move on their part
[5:14] business-wise, but that's not
really our issue.
[5:18] » So, are they coming there's a road
already there that the farm used to use
[5:22] a long time ago. Is that the little hill
road that they're coming down?
[5:27] » They're going to come down this road,
but Michael's hay is here,
[5:30] » right? It's
>> There's a road there. Yeah, there's a
[5:32] road there.
>> Very little road here.
[5:34] » It's steep.
>> I wonder because literally leads you in
[5:38] front of the pond basically.
>> Yeah. They're using the road that's
[5:41] right beside the pump house
construction.
[5:45] » Yeah. I don't know. But it's it's going
to come to it.
[5:48] » But that that you know
>> a tea with it
[5:52] » and then way
>> No,
[5:55] » it's 100 yards or so.
>> Well, I mean that's
[5:59] there's going to be a traffic circle
here.
[6:01] » T would have been
>> traffic circle. Well, I mean, a regular
[6:04] intersection would have been preferable
probably, right? But
[6:09] » I'm sure planning and engineering has
discussed this with them. So, we're not
[6:15] I don't
>> Well, they're just they're just letting
[6:16] them walk all over the town of Londere.
>> That's just too many.
[6:21] » It's not what they promised in the
beginning. supposed to be parks and
[6:27] » well the those two plans that showed the
original 250 plus 60 were approved by
[6:34] the planning board and they are just
working off their approved plans.
[6:39] » Correct.
>> All they're doing is changing the
[6:41] ownership arrangement.
the the problem that I see is that
[6:46] um
and I' I've mentioned this on many
[6:51] occasions other small people are you
know talking about having a homeowners
[6:57] association is the accountability. So if
you are an o owner of a piece of land
[7:04] that has 100 300 or 250 rental units on
it, there's somebody to go after, right?
[7:11] There's somebody that says, "Hey, um
there there is pollutants that are
[7:17] showing up in the duck t duck pond. M
>> I think it's coming from your your your
[7:23] renters and and then you can probably
force some action
[7:28] with a condo association that
potentially could just be you know a
[7:32] board consisting of three of the
residents there trying to manage
[7:39] you know two 100 whatever be over 160
let's call it condo units.
[7:46] It's a lot harder. How many units are
there in the Neans?
[7:49] 37.
>> Yeah. So,
[7:51] » this is 310.
>> There's five on the board.
[7:53] » Well, but they're not all in the they're
all not all
[7:56] » condos. Condos
>> condos.
[7:59] » But somebody's got to manage the other
side the the the rental,
[8:03] » right? But what my argument or my
concern I guess is that doing that from
[8:08] the town's perspective and and enforcing
the building code and the zoning is
[8:16] easier to do when you're dealing with
one owner rather than up to 310.
[8:25] » You know, and and I look at it from the
conservation perspective, you know, what
[8:29] you know what happens when bad stuff
starts happening there? But
[8:33] » hey,
>> it's
[8:35] there obviously other things and I don't
know how the fire department agrees to
[8:40] this but
>> well and that so that might be something
[8:45] we'd offer as a comment is that
it's important that many condos to have
[8:52] a functional condo association. So if
there is stuff getting into the duck
[8:56] pond, if they are infringing on the
water as they're in there now,
[9:02] » yeah,
>> that we know who to talk to.
[9:07] As you say, it can't it can't be three
random members who happen to buy there,
[9:11] » right? It's got to be better established
than that
[9:14] » because they do not have to observe the
conservation overlay district
[9:22] » because they're grandfathered in.
>> Um, however,
[9:26] » however, doing a subdivision like this
might imp them to be
[9:30] » Yeah, I think it would.
>> I think it might.
[9:35] » That would be convenient,
[9:40] » right? It's not
>> even though it's is it considered lot
[9:46] line adjustment?
>> A lot line adjustment is is a
[9:49] subdivision in the eyes of the law.
>> All right. So
[9:56] » yeah,
>> it's a good question now.
[9:58] » Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's
very appropriate. I think
[10:05] we should ask whether it is the view of
the planning officials that this
[10:11] constitutes a subdivision which imposes
conservation overlay district provisions
[10:17] on it.
[10:30] I think it'll only apply to the the
larger parcel
[10:34] on the east because it's still the the
one
[10:37] » that's considered existing.
>> Yeah, they haven't.
[10:41] Well, un when they once they add to the
existing one, then it's not existing
[10:46] anymore. So, no, I think it would apply
to all of it.
[11:21] Do we want to
say something about um
[11:27] suggest rules in the condo association
debt
[11:34] » require a a professional management
company, not not simply a homeowners
[11:39] association.
[11:43] » Well, and most things that size will get
management.
[11:45] » Yeah. But that there's no
>> require there's
[11:48] » And then I think a third one, third
comment should be that um that should
[11:55] keep when you're done. Write when I see
you stop writing. Oh,
[11:58] » thank you.
[12:10] Go.
The third comment would be that the
[12:14] there should be something
in the uh condo documents
[12:21] maybe I think it's the condo documents
that prohibits further condoization
[12:28] of the remaining part of that parcel of
the c remaining cottages.
[12:34] » Why would you do that?
so that there doesn't all become one
[12:38] huge condo association.
>> But I I think
[12:41] » for the same reasons
>> I think that's the ultimate plan.
[12:44] » But do we have the right to do that?
>> Yeah, I think that's
[12:46] » I don't I don't know
>> because I think I think
[12:49] » let's do it another way. asked the
question when the pl when the planning
[12:54] board approved
uh this plan for 250 condo cottages,
[13:03] did they rely on any
statements implied or given that
[13:13] that approval would increase the amount
of affordable housing
[13:18] in London?
And the reason I asked is because it's a
[13:24] lot easier people that there's a reason
that young people all rent instead of
[13:28] live in houses because they can't afford
the down payment. They can't afford to
[13:32] put the money up front.
>> So we we had an opportunity here to
[13:38] house 250 families with that, you know,
had at best moderate income.
[13:46] We're giving up that right or that
possibility for 100 families now.
[13:52] » I don't I don't think that's a
conservation commission issue though.
[13:56] » I know.
>> So, but it but it does go to why I'm
[14:00] concerned about the the the kind of
association
[14:07] enforcing rules that are affecting
conservation values.
[14:29] And this is going to be before the board
tomorrow night.
[14:33] » Yeah.
[14:37] » Mike, how how certain can we be that our
comments will make it to the board
[14:42] before their meeting tomorrow and that
it'll be available to them?
[14:47] » Um,
I will try to get it I'll get to Alicia.
[14:53] as soon as I can. Um,
[14:58] I guess I'll I'll do my best.
[15:03] I
>> mean, how does Does she normally have a
[15:06] requirement that, you know, staff
comments need to be in by a certain time
[15:10] before a
>> uh item is scheduled?
[15:14] » I thought there was. Um, I didn't
realize this uh this was
[15:19] on the uh tomorrow's
agenda.
[15:24] » I think according to the Laura's letter,
it is
[15:28] » it is on the agenda tomorrow.
>> Yeah. Okay.
[15:31] » Probably why they're not here today.
Um,
[15:39] yeah, I know that I did get
an email saying they want things back by
[15:47] a certain date, but we frequently get
that
[15:52] when when the date is before we meet.
>> Yeah.
[15:58] » You know, the cut off, they want it
before we even have a chance to meet.
[16:02] So,
I
[16:06] » we shouldn't lose our place in the queue
as it were,
[16:09] » right?
>> To get our information in.
[16:11] » Correct.
>> Do you plan on attending the meetings or
[16:13] » Yeah, I think I might
[16:17] » bring your notes. Well, yeah, especially
about the um
[16:23] conservation overlay
>> issue because I think that's a big deal
[16:28] » because they've got some units that are
in the the house is in the overlay.
[16:41] » Actually,
now that I think about it, um
[16:46] I'm
potentially in a butter. I think I think
[16:52] I've gotten a better letter. So, I'd
like to recuse myself from the vote on
[16:59] this. And
>> well, we don't have to vote. We're just
[17:01] commenting,
>> right? But, you know, consider my
[17:04] comments to be of a private citizen.
>> Right.
[17:13] » All right.
[17:19] Good. On to the next.
[17:50] I wasn't clear how this one changed
since the last time we saw it.
[17:54] » Well, we asked them to move their water
line or sewer line. I think it's water
[18:00] line to go through the narrowest part of
the wetlands and they show that they've
[18:05] done that.
>> Okay.
[18:06] » I believe is what has
>> that sounds right
[18:08] » transpired.
>> And we asked them to move the entrance.
[18:12] » Yeah. which is unfortunate because
there's a spectacular maple tree.
[18:19] » What?
>> A spectacular maple tree right on the
[18:22] front of this property that I hope they
can preserve.
[18:26] » And we asked them to move the entrance
closer to that tree.
[18:30] So,
[18:35] » I
>> I'm still going to ask them to try and
[18:39] preserve
[18:43] that tree.
>> The other thing is there is a a fairly
[18:47] significant
um buffer
[18:53] encroachment
that accommodates their storm water
[18:58] basin,
>> right?
[19:00] » That I mean to me it I I I don't I guess
we'd have to look up and see what our
[19:07] our comments were. I know that we
pointed that out. Um,
[19:14] » yeah,
>> that that that first unit on the
[19:19] northeast
corner
[19:23] shouldn't really be there.
>> Didn't you have either the minutes or
[19:27] something that showed our comments
included in the packet that you sent us
[19:32] » um
>> from when they came last time?
[19:35] » It's not in the packet.
[19:40] Not in the
>> No, that was um part of the email that
[19:43] he sent me.
[19:48] » And do you know do you remember when or
do you know when they last came?
[19:55] » I can I can grab it
>> because if you have a date I might have
[19:59] the
picture of our comments.
[20:17] January 14th
and November 25th
[20:22] of last year
>> of 25.
[20:26] » Yeah.
>> Yeah.
[20:30] » Really?
>> That's nice.
[20:44] Apparently, they still don't have
planning board approval if this is a
[20:49] DRC, right?
>> Correct.
[20:55] » I don't have anything in November.
[21:10] I could be wrong. Okay.
>> It changed quite a bit between the first
[21:13] two meetings.
>> Um, so in January of 24, no, December of
[21:20] 24,
>> some reason it's No, I don't know. Oh,
[21:25] January 14th of 25. Our comments were we
will need or they will need conditional
[21:33] use permit.
Um recommend reducing the buffer impact
[21:38] created by the detention pond. Buffer
signs need to be installed prior to
[21:42] construction. Pull houses away from
buffer on lots four and two.
[21:49] » Four and two. One, two. That's one, two,
three, four.
[21:59] I think lot isn't lot one the one I'm
talking about right?
[22:04] » Yeah. Lot lot one is the northeast
corner.
[22:06] » Yeah.
>> Two is the southeast corner.
[22:11] » I mean we're talking about the little
coass here.
[22:15] » Not you know some nondescript little
perennial or you know
[22:20] » right
>> seasonal stream.
[22:25] There's also,
you know, the 100 foot flood plane. I
[22:30] don't know what's going to happen when
we have the 500 foot 500year
[22:35] flood.
[22:40] » Yeah. This
we must have in the November version
[22:45] mentioned the move the pipe to go
through this narrowest part of the
[22:49] wetlands.
>> Yeah.
[22:50] » Because that comment isn't on there.
[23:09] It would be nice also to review the
conditional use permit application,
[23:16] see if everything still applies.
[23:29] There's the crossing.
[23:35] Another
[23:41] thing that I
know there's that the corner on the
[23:48] little lot on the northwest corner
>> that they cut off
[23:53] » that they cut off and previously sold or
developed. I'm not Is there a house
[23:57] sitting there now?
>> So yeah, on the plans it looks like
[24:00] there is.
>> Yeah. So at at the time they did that
[24:04] in a way they shot themselves in the
foot because now they forced themselves
[24:10] to run a sewer line
>> to that lot
[24:14] » to that lot or just use a septic field
which for some reason they maybe they
[24:19] can't do because of the you know the
proximity of the wetlands.
[24:25] It shouldn't be it shouldn't be our
problem
[24:29] that they that they put themsel painted
themselves in that corner and that we're
[24:34] now have to make concessions
to them to put put this sewer line in.
[24:48] Is it it also impacts them a little bit
farther up toward the road? I think
[24:59] so. Maybe we could say something like
the commission remains concerned about
[25:05] the unduly large impact
[25:10] to the buffer to Little Kohas stream
Brook
[25:16] » and that would include the area in the
from the what the detention pond is
[25:20] impacting.
>> Yes. Yeah. You can you can say by the
[25:25] extension pond
or the storm water structure.
[25:41] There's a at at the end of the
stack of slides, there's a thing that
[25:50] just shows the wetland impacts.
[25:54] Well, we have a buffer impact policy
that requires
[26:01] » mitigation
>> mitigation,
[26:02] » but we don't state what that mitigation
is,
[26:05] » right?
>> So,
[26:07] » we well, we we give them a list of
suggestions
[26:11] » spec specific to their location,
>> right?
[26:15] » Do we have any suggestions?
[26:20] Well, I think part of our consideration
at the time was the fact that they are
[26:24] donating
[26:28] a strip of land on the east side to the
town to be added to the cemetery.
[26:33] » They donated it or sold it.
>> No, I think they don I think it says I
[26:37] think not on the plan says to be
donated.
[26:46] Yeah, I think we that or to be
transferred,
[26:49] » you know, discussing that concept,
>> right? Because it was a win-win. They
[26:55] needed to get rid of they didn't didn't
have a use for it,
[26:59] » right?
And actually, you can't bury people in a
[27:02] wetland either. So, but it makes I'm
okay with that.
[27:06] » At least it makes a buffer, you know.
But I but I think this I think to my
[27:13] original comment that we continue to be
re you know concerned about the unduly
[27:18] large buffer impact from the storm water
structure in the norththeast corner.
[27:27] » But if we do that and they move it out
of the buffer, they're going to move the
[27:32] entrance. Oh,
>> they they'd have to give up that unit. I
[27:35] think that's the only way they can do it
that I can figure out.
[27:39] But maybe, you know, hey, they're smart
engineers. They've got this far.
[27:52] So, we mentioned
perhaps
[27:56] that first unit needs to
>> Yeah.
[27:59] » be eliminated.
>> Yeah. If Yeah. If there is no other
[28:04] engineering solution,
consider eliminating that unit.
[28:22] There goes my tree.
[28:32] They haven't cut anything down for three
years yet. So,
[28:34] » no, somebody's been dumping trash and
used furniture on their lot.
[28:49] Good
[28:53] as can be.
[28:58] It's hard to believe that putting all
those units in there close to that
[29:02] wouldn't have some sort of impact with
all the fertilizers and the run.
[29:10] » Yeah.
[29:26] Okie do.
Um,
[29:34] we have a public hearing.
Um,
[29:39] regarding the acquisition of 144 Rear
Wildwood Road.
[29:44] Um, I did have comments from one
resident.
[29:49] Why would we pay for land that can't be
built on because it's worth nothing?
[29:55] Worth a little bit. According to the
assessor,
[29:59] my observation as well.
[30:05] » Yeah, I think still go through the
slides and then people that are at home
[30:09] can watch can see it.
[30:20] Is that in our file here or not?
>> Oh,
[30:23] » yeah.
>> Is it?
[30:24] » Oh, yeah. I put it in there.
>> Oh, good.
[30:26] » It's under hearing slides.
[30:35] » Ah, yes. Thank you.
[30:40] » You having trouble opening it, Mike?
Uh it's
[30:44] » thinking
>> thinking yeah very slowly but there's a
[30:48] percentage slowly going up.
[30:54] » Must be too many people checking
election returns.
[30:58] » Right.
[31:02] » I made the mistake of trying to go in
there just as the school buses were
[31:05] coming out.
>> Uh I bad timing. I left just as they
[31:11] were getting ready to come out.
Hot on my tail.
[31:15] » I went in the morning. That was my my
and it was perfect.
[31:18] » Just driving me crazy. Should be using
SharePoint.
[31:24] » Do you want to like do the minutes or
something while this loads? I don't know
[31:27] how long this is going to take.
>> Multitask.
[31:31] » Yeah.
[31:37] » 65%
[31:44] Oh my god, there's so many.
[31:49] » Oh,
here we go.
[31:52] » All right,
>> got it.
[31:57] » I think I'll I'll talk from up there uh
just because it might help people at
[32:02] home. Okay,
>> it takes
[32:09] » Well, the purpose of this public hearing
is to uh get a folks opinion on whether
[32:18] we should proceed with a project on NAP
3 lot nine and we are located just off
[32:26] of uh Mammoth Road on the on where
Blackbrook heads on down toward South
[32:33] Um,
[32:37] this is just a a picture of the brook.
Typical. Uh, the interesting thing about
[32:42] this brook is it is
like this. Now, I intentionally went in
[32:49] the driest possible time that I could
find in August because it's a jungle out
[32:55] there.
Uh, and I wanted to see what was what
[32:59] was going on on the ground. But
according to the the owner, the this
[33:04] thing expands out into its flood plane
and almost fills the entire area that
[33:11] I'll show you on the next slide. Go
ahead.
[33:14] So, this is this is the parcel that
we're talking about here. And it
[33:19] actually comes in two pieces. There's
another little sliver of it right here.
[33:25] And you see here's Mammoth Road and
right up there is the underpass where it
[33:30] goes under Mammoth Road off of um
[33:38] sawmill property.
So, and you can see that it's pretty
[33:42] much all marked as wet because it truly
is. And basically I uh this I am using
[33:50] the survey that the subdivider of this
land
[33:55] had and this land down here. So, we have
a survey on on both sides of it. This is
[34:02] a stream that's easy to identify on the
ground, this little segment here.
[34:07] And it is all u very densely vegetated.
Next slide, please.
[34:17] You see that here?
That might pop a little bit.
[34:23] So, the
you can see that there there's houses
[34:27] all along here. In most cases, they're
back a little bit, which is great. I
[34:34] know down on this side, they're they're
back a lot farther.
[34:38] And that is good because the extent that
they are fertilizing, and I'm sure they
[34:43] are, they're
we're treating that that fertilizer as
[34:48] it it comes off and slopes down into the
this little basically it's a it's the
[34:55] flood plane. When the surveyors did this
survey, they
[35:01] uh used the wetland bound as their their
rear bound which was, you know, handed
[35:08] down from property owner property owner.
But basically, there's only one other
[35:14] property that goes from here all the way
down to
[35:19] South Road, and it's shaped looks kind
of like that, only longer, and it's
[35:24] longer than this by quite a bit.
Interestingly, the the uh assessor's
[35:31] data card says this is only one and a
half acres, but that's not possible
[35:37] because like this is probably a typical
one and a half, two acre lot here. And
[35:42] you can see how you could fit quite a
few of them. So, we're probably talking
[35:45] five or six acres, something like that.
But then as the question, well,
[35:52] let me go to the next slide.
This is a typical if you like jewel weed
[35:59] which is what this stuff is that orange
here
[36:01] » it's pretty
>> it's everywhere and it is so thick you
[36:05] can barely walk through it but it's very
typical. So it's a combination of this u
[36:11] low hang a low growing herbaceous uh
material and then trees that are growing
[36:20] you know closer up along the sides of
the bank. This probably represents the
[36:25] area where it it's flooded enough during
the spring and the winter that trees
[36:32] can't get established.
Um,
[36:36] next slide, please.
There's some pictures of the
[36:42] the stream that it when it c you can if
you look up carefully here you can see
[36:48] there's like a light area
>> and that's light because that's Mammoth
[36:51] Road and it's just the light that's
opened up coming down Mammoth Road. So
[36:56] it's you can see it's very bouldery down
here. I'm not sure if if all this is
[37:00] partly was from construction when they
um you know originally built Mammoth
[37:06] Road or or what? But it's um
it it's changes very uh rapidly from
[37:15] this bouldery configuration to the
earlier gravel bed stream that I showed
[37:20] you before.
Um
[37:24] next slide please.
So I want to get down to the question
[37:31] why do we want to do this? Uh the short
answer is to protect
[37:38] um Black Brook from whatever may happen
in the future and to continue uh a a
[37:46] long
set of protections that are along the
[37:50] brook. So Blackbrook is actually a part
of this watershed here
[37:56] number seven up here. It goes down into
Hudson. But the black brook itself
[38:05] dumps off into the beaverbrook before
it, you know, heads heads on further
[38:12] out. So this is one of, if you look at,
you can see this is one of the the
[38:17] longest brooks.
The starts right up in here, pulls all
[38:23] the way down here into
Brook. One of the longest stretches of
[38:28] stream that we have. That's entirely in
London area.
[38:33] And I just trying to this here is this,
you know, piece here. Trying to show you
[38:41] what among all of the other
subwaterheds that are in London area.
[38:46] And you can see, you know, they pretty
much all leave town, right? They go this
[38:52] way to the Marramac River, you know,
through Hudson or Lichfield. They go
[38:57] this way into Derry and then back down
Beaverbrook that way. This one is pretty
[39:03] much stays in London area except for
this part here and then you know goes
[39:08] down into Hudson. Next slide.
So the nice thing about this project is
[39:15] that it continues a lot of work that
we've already done. This is the uh this
[39:22] black dark line. That's Blackbrook
just and going all this is from our
[39:29] water study by the way these many years
ago
[39:33] » with the you know that's some of the
tributaries showing on it and here's
[39:36] where it flows in this is beaverbrook
coming down here shows where it goes in
[39:43] but if you look you'll see that most of
this brook is protected you know it
[39:48] starts up on the ever source where the
you know if you were going up Um,
[39:57] not high range cross between Mammoth and
High Range. The
[40:02] » Adams
>> Chest. Thank you. There's there's a
[40:06] power line there and just that power
line is kind of where the headarters
[40:11] are. It comes down comes past behind the
schools and that's all controlled by the
[40:17] school district. Airross has the other
part. We got uh then we got the the
[40:22] orchard land. Then we have the SD
conservation easement and then we would
[40:27] be adding this parcel here. Here's
Mammoth the road. So it's this area
[40:34] right in here and then um
the town of London area owns a strip of
[40:41] land that protects Beaverbrook. So all
we're trying to do here is add to this
[40:49] stream of protected areas one more
little little piece here and and make
[40:56] sure that in the future if
you know 100 years from now, 50 years
[41:00] from now, 20 years from now, something
happens so that yeah on either side and
[41:05] somebody gets a great idea to knock down
some houses and do something else, we're
[41:10] going to have an interest. We're going
to have a control. We we could go in
[41:13] there. We also have as as being land
owners the right to go in there and and
[41:18] inspect it and make sure there's nothing
untored going on. And we did find that
[41:26] it was in pretty good shape, but most of
the butters have respected it pretty
[41:29] well. It's really so thickly
grown in that there there isn't a lot of
[41:37] bad stuff you can do. you know, a few
things thrown over the fence that we
[41:40] were able to replace back on the side
that they should have been on, but um
[41:45] generally speaking, they're pretty
good. Taken pretty good care, which is
[41:49] great. And now what we want to do is
make sure it continues to be taken care
[41:53] of.
Next slide, please.
[41:59] One more view of it. You can see here,
it's a gravel bed, right? And then you
[42:05] can see up here there's more silty
uh material. What's happening is the
[42:13] the spring flood scour this out and then
drops what it picked up along the way
[42:20] and the part that's or the river when
the water slows down. So it's a actually
[42:25] a great conservation um
hydrogeeomorphology
[42:31] teaching tool if you wanted to to use it
that way. Um so but the details are the
[42:38] uh assessor carries it at a value of
$23,300.
[42:43] The owner has said that he is willing to
accept the excess excess value,
[42:50] you know, would cost us a quarter of the
purchase price if we're trying to get it
[42:54] appraised. So, it just doesn't make any
sense. But he also agreed that if there
[42:58] are any transa transaction costs that we
incur u that he would be willing to
[43:07] reduce the price to match that
transaction cost.
[43:11] » What could that be?
Well, it could have been a survey. It's
[43:15] and I suppose it still could if the
lawyers don't like my approach to
[43:19] describing this.
>> Like I said, I'm relying on those two
[43:23] surveys on either side as as sufficient
to to describe this, it's really a very
[43:29] low risk. And then um you know that if
they decide that they want to
[43:36] have a legal review um on it that you
know
[43:41] and unfortunately the town is not doing
well on its legal account right now.
[43:46] » So uh and they may ask us to you know do
that.
[43:52] » So you know there could be a few hours
of legal review. Um but
[44:00] It ought to come out very close to
$23,000, I think. And as I pointed out
[44:04] earlier, the deed says one and a half
acres. It seems like there's a lot more
[44:08] than that. It'd be good, Mike, if you
could uh query the database, you know,
[44:14] for the
lot map, you know, the property
[44:19] database, not assessor's database, but
the database attached to your, you know,
[44:24] your data layer.
>> Yeah.
[44:25] » And tell me what it thinks that area is
how big that is.
[44:31] » Yeah, I can do that.
>> Yeah, the deed may very well just copy
[44:34] what's there because it makes it easier
for a title researcher to follow when
[44:42] the acreage doesn't change. But, uh,
probably be my most
[44:48] » a lot of times the acreage isn't
referred to in the deed.
[44:51] » Yeah. Yeah. Possibility too.
>> They just do the meats and pounds and
[44:55] and not mention
>> as shown on plan or something like that.
[44:58] Uh so we'll see. But uh that's the idea.
So
[45:04] uh the intent here was to allow the
public to tell us their thoughts. We
[45:08] have the one I guess response saying why
are we buying land that's already
[45:12] protected? But really it isn't
protected. It's it's right now it's
[45:16] depending on the good graces of the
neighbors.
[45:18] » And what we want to do is is have some
ability to go in and control it.
[45:24] So other than that, without any other
comment, the next step is for us to then
[45:30] as a commission make a recommendation to
the town council to uh allow us to
[45:36] purchase the property using our our
conservation funds. And we have more
[45:40] than sufficient funds on hand to to do
that.
[45:46] So
bring it back to the commission and they
[45:50] can ask questions if they take a vote.
Any
[45:56] questions?
I think it's great.
[46:07] » Anybody?
>> Yeah, I think it's great.
[46:10] » Very informative.
No disagreement. I think it's a good
[46:13] idea.
>> So, we could use a motion to
[46:19] » that we recommend the town council
purchase map three lot nine as outlined
[46:26] in the slides.
>> Second.
[46:33] » Any further discussion?
>> No.
[46:36] » All in favor?
>> I
[46:39] » opposed. Abstain. Motion pass unanimous.
>> The town database does list it at one
[46:46] and a half acres.
>> Does it?
[46:50] » Huh. But but I agree with your visual
that
[46:52] » Yeah, that's the assessor's database
you're looking at though, I think.
[46:56] » Yeah,
>> you can't you can't get at his database,
[46:59] » right? I'm looking at the
>> mere mortals.
[47:03] » I'm looking at the one that's on the
town website.
[47:04] » Yeah. No, that has to be the same as the
deed.
[47:07] » Okay.
>> All right, that's good. Um,
[47:12] so we can move on to old business. Um,
trail work. Um, our friend Josh Cook,
[47:20] who used to be on the commission, who
works with Trailways, is um rounding up
[47:26] the troops to help do a trail workday on
the Matis Trail. So, we've got some
[47:33] power tools and he's just lining up some
bodies. Hopefully, he'll give me a date
[47:40] and then I'll I'll let you all know,
anybody who wants to join in some weed
[47:45] whacking.
We can
[47:48] get that all cleaned up.
>> I got it opened as far as the where the
[47:52] map box is back on the edge of the
woods.
[47:55] » Oh, good.
>> It's it's it's single track. You get
[48:00] through it walking. You get through it
on a bike, but I didn't go all the way
[48:05] down.
>> Yeah.
[48:06] » And usually that stayed passable, but I
haven't been down there for a couple
[48:09] years, and I don't know what it looks
like down there. It It was a green hell
[48:13] up on the flat. You just you you
couldn't even tell it had been there.
[48:16] There was a trail there.
>> Well, and and that was I think that I
[48:20] mentioned last time. Is it overgrown
because no one's using it or no one's
[48:23] using it because it's overgrown?
>> Yes.
[48:26] » You know, so maybe if we make it not so
angry looking, people will
[48:34] » Yeah.
>> It was it was popular with the mountain
[48:36] bikers.
>> Yeah.
[48:39] Um, and
>> so we really should send a quick note to
[48:46] for fish and game. Um,
[48:51] let me see if I can figure out the right
off.
[48:54] » Okay. Because I was going to say once we
have a date.
[48:56] » Yeah.
>> Let them know what our plans are.
[48:59] » Yeah. Right. Right. Right. Right. Good
idea. In the meantime, I'll I'll try to
[49:03] find a uh
an appropriate email and I'll send that
[49:07] to you and then you then it'll make it
easier to
[49:10] » All right.
[49:14] » Which I am having a Zoom call with
someone from fish and game on Thursday
[49:21] regarding the rabbit habitat.
>> Oh. So he just his initial email was he
[49:29] wanted to talk to me about what we'd
like to see. So
[49:35] » I thought that was great because
>> you know in combination with our
[49:41] forester that is about to give us his
plan. We'd like to get in there and
[49:47] recut that.
>> Yeah. Well, that's what what we went
[49:51] into the project thinking we would have
to do that,
[49:53] » right? But yes, you know, I understand
the bunnies
[50:00] that project was less than successful,
but the birds came, so let's let's, you
[50:08] know,
>> keep that going and and maybe
[50:12] » get better.
>> Yeah. Yeah,
[50:15] » absolutely.
>> Timing will be everything in that
[50:17] regard.
because that's I mean if you've been out
[50:21] there even the the the last one that was
cut I believe was the Cooper.
[50:28] It's it really needs cut
>> dense now.
[50:31] » Yeah.
[50:35] which relating to that, there's a the
Cooper parcel has power lines and
[50:42] there's a Eversource gate right on
Lichfield Road
[50:47] and the gate is not locked so it's
frequently open and I don't know who
[50:54] who to get to lock it.
>> I think those locks belong to
[50:59] Eversource.
>> Yeah.
[51:00] » Yeah.
>> Glenn had keys for him but
[51:02] » Yeah. Well, I I actually have a key.
There's just no lock.
[51:06] » Yeah. Yeah.
>> So, somebody keeps opening it and going
[51:09] in there, but I don't know what they're
doing. I think they're just driving
[51:13] right through Wattsbrook, which
>> Yeah, I'm sure
[51:16] » is not making me happy.
>> ATVs probably.
[51:19] » No, fullsize trucks.
>> Oh,
[51:22] » I think they're I think they're going
through pickup trucks,
[51:27] » but can't prove it. So
>> if you talk to um maybe Tanya Pinter
[51:34] might be able to tell you. We have a a
Ever Aversource
[51:39] » contact
>> contact point.
[51:40] » Well, I was going to ask the the
conservation ranger if he has Glenn's
[51:46] » Yeah. Right.
>> contact list
[51:50] » because I mean we've met this person
before. It's it's a a guy now. I can't
[51:54] remember his name. used to be another
lady but
[51:58] » oh yeah
>> their job to work with towns and then in
[52:01] they
>> right
[52:02] » London area is in that guy's portfolio
>> and then a lot of it a lot of it too
[52:09] » I had some business cards maybe
[52:17] » but that would be the person to put you
in contact with yeah rightway people
[52:23] » it it seems like a good idea to lock
that gate cuz they added big stumps and
[52:31] boulders on either side of the gate to
keep people from going around. So, they
[52:36] recognize it's an issue,
>> right?
[52:38] » But we just need that lock back on that
gate. So, yeah, I'll work on that.
[52:48] If if you're going to be talking to fish
and game about rabbit hat, that's that's
[52:54] probably close to where we want to be
for the trail work.
[52:57] » Matthysse. Yeah.
>> Yeah. So, if you could just say while
[53:00] you're talking, by the way, we've we
have this agreement with you to maintain
[53:03] this trail. Just letting you know
>> we're going to do that.
[53:07] » Do that. Okay. That might be sufficient.
>> If not, he I'm sure he can say
[53:11] » Yeah. You got to talk to Yeah, exactly.
Good.
[53:18] All righty. Um, anybody have any other
old business?
[53:22] » I had mentioned last meeting that
Hickory Hill kiosk was inaccessible.
[53:27] To my surprise, I found that some people
were hacking their way in there to get
[53:30] to some maps. So, so I cleared it out
today.
[53:34] » I emailed Dave Wallally and I think DPW
is a little busy right now. Yeah, which
[53:41] I get. Um, but I'll circle back because
I think the flooding on the beavers is
[53:50] » more pressing issue. But
>> anyhow, as of today, you can follow the
[53:57] trail from the old parking lot to the
kiosk and you can follow the trail from
[54:00] the new parking lot to the kiosk. Okay.
>> I don't know that people will, but you
[54:03] can
>> without being a tick farm,
[54:08] » right?
[54:12] Anything else?
>> Uh, I tried to get in contact with the
[54:17] owner of the penny the old penny fence
company. I can't remember the new name
[54:21] of it now.
>> Yeah, I can't either.
[54:23] » Oh, yeah.
>> To see if they would talk to us about
[54:26] cooperating on providing parking for
Lithia Spring. And I haven't heard
[54:32] anything back. So,
I'm going to have to try to find another
[54:39] way to work around that.
may involve
[54:44] kicking the can up upstairs a little
bit. I think eventually I'll someone
[54:49] will get their attention.
[54:53] » So
[54:57] » any other old
>> Oh, actually I should also mention they
[55:00] had promised that the trail uh grants
would be announced in August. as far
[55:06] either they're either we lost so bad
that they're not even bothering to tell
[55:10] us or they haven't announced them yet.
[55:15] » Wow, that'd be nice to hear.
>> Yeah, be good.
[55:20] » So, I do have financial updates. Okay.
And we have 109,000
[55:26] » plus in that uh Habitat account. So, we
have more than enough to to tackle a
[55:32] small project in there, I would say. and
still still keep some money in hand. U I
[55:38] have only here through June 30th. I
don't know if we've had any any
[55:43] expenses. We've had so few meetings that
I missed once. I don't know if there
[55:46] have been.
>> Um it's no big deal because it's just
[55:49] comes out of our line item budget
probably. But that I I will get that
[55:54] caught up. I hope by the next meeting.
>> Yeah.
[55:57] » Just takes them a while to get through
the fiscal year which was June 30th.
[56:02] And um
>> I don't have anything since April.
[56:08] » Okay.
>> Any expenses?
[56:09] » Okay. Um and so we had um going into the
open space protection fund, we have
[56:15] 1,650,129.71
[56:19] in the account as of June 30th, but
there was um about 90,000 going into it.
[56:26] So our current balance should be by now
1,740
[56:33] 16489.
So it it just keeps it keeps growing,
[56:38] you know, and to the whole story is for
last this year. Sorry. Um, we
[56:49] Sorry.
[56:53] I guess I I guess um I didn't put a
title on it, but we've we got I know we
[56:58] got more than $36,000 this year. So, I
can't tell you what we got this year. I
[57:02] apologize. We did get um
[57:08] well, maybe that's that's about right.
Um, we keep getting in the 50 60 $70,000
[57:15] range. Recently, a couple years ago it
was more. Anyway, um, that's what's it's
[57:21] in the bank now. So, that's the good
news, right?
[57:27] Um, any other new business?
[57:38] That's it.
We can do the minutes now
[57:42] » for real this time.
>> Yeah,
[57:45] drop that. They just disappeared.
[57:55] » I had no changes. I thought it looked
okay.
[58:01] » Oh, I know. My Oh, I'll wait until we do
this. I just had a question. How many
[58:06] more bills do we get for the $10,000
we've been paying out for that project
[58:11] for Lithium?
>> Uh I I think I've seen two invoices. I
[58:17] just
>> So where is that money coming out of
[58:21] » us? It should come from a grant, right?
>> Well, we haven't got any money from the
[58:27] grant because we haven't invoiced
>> Oh.
[58:30] » them.
>> Oh, okay. Okay. So, it's going to be a
[58:32] borrow payback
>> cuz I sent the invoice to finance and
[58:37] said, "I think you guys have the money
for this."
[58:40] » No, it's it's pulled out of our accounts
>> and then I never heard anything.
[58:44] » So,
>> I guess the question is, has anybody
[58:46] paid him?
>> Well, Deb says it's paid two $10,000.
[58:52] » Oh, yeah. Okay, good. So,
>> so we'll eventually get it back, which
[58:56] is good news, too.
[59:03] Did you have something else?
>> No, that was it.
[59:05] » Okay.
[59:10] » Anybody want a motion for the minutes?
>> Move to accept the minutes of Tuesday,
[59:17] August 11th as presented.
[59:22] » Second.
>> Uh motion by Bob, second by Mike. Any
[59:28] further discussion? All in favor? I
abain was abstained. Deb abstains and
[59:35] the motion passes.
That's all we have.
[59:41] » I'd note that I think Gary's up for
review by town council
[59:46] » on Monday, right?
>> Yep.
[59:48] » Is that true?
>> Yeah. So,
[59:50] » you don't have to go. I'm going for
>> Oh, thank you.
[59:58] We good?
>> I move to whatever adjourn.
[1:00:05] » Go home.
>> All in favor? I I meeting adjourned.