Conservation Commission

PO Box 365

Walpole, NH 03608

 

 

February 2, 2009

 

Present: Marcia Galloway (chair), Tom Beaudry, Bradley Fletcher, Peter Graves, Mel Schupack, Lew Shelley, Mary Lou Montgomery (alt.)

 

Ms. Galloway called the meeting to order at 7:30 PM.  Ms. Montogomery, alternate, was seated in place of Duncan Watson who was absent. Alternate P. Palmiotto was not present.

 

1. Minutes of January 5, 2009

            Mr. Schupack pointed out a correction needed: Mr. Shelley was the one who made the motion to retain Peter Rhodes as forester.

Mr. Schupack moved to approve the minutes of January 5, 2009 as corrected, Mr. Beaudry seconded. With all in favor, the motion passed.

 

2. Comments on the Hodgkins property (pursuant to the Public Hearing)

            Ms. Galloway clarified that the commission had approached the Hodgkins, they did not approach the commission. She thought this fact was not made clear at the hearing.

            She also pointed out that, although involvement of the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests was mentioned at that meeting, it would only happen if the town did not accept the money.

            Furthermore, Ms. Galloway wants the commission and the public to know some other relevant facts that she found in the document of March 2000 that specifies relief from the terms of the original Mason Forest Trust of the Will of Fanny Mason. These items are excerpted or paraphrased below:

Item 5 (Page 2): “The Fannie P. Mason Will does not define the term ‘town forest’.”

Item 11 (Page 3): “The town forests in Walpole are managed for responsible forestry, watershed protection, recreation, and education.”

Item 13 (Page 3): “The management plan for the Mason Forest points out the difficulty of gaining access for forestry management without additional access points.”

Item 14 (Page 3): Using the Mason Fund to purchase surrounding land could allow more access and better management and watershed protection.

Item 16 (Page 4): “Without additional access points for forestry and timber management, the Trustees will be unable to properly care for the Mason Forest, and the quality of the forest will decline.”

Item 17 (Page 4): Route 12 bisects the forest and decreases the wildlife habitat of certain species. Expanding the acreage on either side of the highway will enhance habitat.

Item 18 (Page 4): Expanding the Mason Forest would further protect the Connecticut River watershed.

 

The commission entered executive session at 7:45 PM.

 

Executive session ended at 8:04 PM

 

3. Community Conservation Activities

            The snowmobile event on Feb. 22 will happen at Fosters Four Corners on Wentworth Road, south of Graves Road. The snowmobile club will have hot dogs. We will encourage the wider public to come for snowshoeing, skiing, etc.

            The Sugarhouse Tour will be March 22.

 

4. Conservation Training Series

            Ms. Galloway went to the conservation training sessions, as did two other residents. There were about 25-30 attendees. Another series will happen in perhaps late spring. The idea is to train citizens to be advocates so they can talk to landowners and officials about conservation. There were fabulous speakers, and a large binder was handed out, which is available for commissioners to look at. Ms. Galloway shared a comment from Fred, one of the Walpole attendees: “There was a good case made for conservation of open space. It’s very important to prioritize areas for this purpose. This does not have to mean a loss of income to the community. It is offset by the decreased infrastructure costs.”

            Mr. Schupack suggests a mini-review of the topics might be offered at each of our commission meetings.

            Ms. Montgomery said that prioritizing properties would be a good project to do over the next few months, and then we could start being proactive and prepared about how to approach conservation of those areas. There was a general positive response to this idea.

 

5. Land Conservation Summit

            Mr. Schupack attended this event at Keene High school by the Monadnock Conservancy. He highlighted the fact that other commissions have been doing a outreach to the public, and building involvement of other town boards, and it has been very productive but does take time. The research on tax rates was very useful. In most cases, residential development causes taxes go up, while conservation does not. With greater industrial/commercial development, the tax rate also goes up on average.

           

6. Financial topics

            Ms. Montgomery feels a need for commissioners to be more informed on the financial aspects of the commission. For example, what happens to income from timber harvest on conservation land or town forest? What happens (or should happen) to funds in the budget not used? A brief presentation would be helpful.

 

7. Ballam Farm Monitoring

            Ms. Galloway reports that the Trust for Public land that the Federal grant requires an annual monitoring report on the Ballam Farm. We need to find out if there’s a form or system that should be used.

 

8. Hearing on Merriam/Frink annexation

            Mr. Shelley alerted us of a Planning Board public hearing on Feb 10th, regarding Merriam Farm and the Frink property. The farm wants to annex some property from Lot 50 to Frinks. This is of interest to the commission.

 

8. Mason Forest Trails

            Mr. Beaudry asked, “How much would it take to make those Mason Forest logging roads useable for skiing, snowshoeing, etc?” Mr. Shelley said it depends on several variables, but we could request the forester or logger to build this consideration into the plan. The idea was met with general acclaim.

 

9. Terms of Commissioners to Expire

            Mr. Schupack’s and Ms. Galloways’ terms are about to end. The selectmen need an application letter from anyone who wants to be appointed as a conservation commissioner for the first time or for a renewal.

            Ms. Galloway alerted the commission that, while she will seek another term, she will not continue as chair.

 

10. Hooper Institute

            Mr. Fletcher questioned why a bill for brush-hogging the Hooper Institute’s field and trails was paid by us and not the Hooper Institute.

            Ms. Montgomery said Eloise Clark asked if an easement on the Hooper Forest might be possible.

 

11. Ms. Galloway will be out of town on the date of our March Meeting.

 

Mr. Schupack moved to adjourn the meeting. Mr. Fletcher seconded the motion, with all in favor, the meeting was adjourned at 9:03 PM

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Janis Hall-Fuller, Recording Secretary

 

(Note: These are unapproved minutes. Any corrections will be found in the minutes of the next meeting.)