Town of Henniker, New Hampshire

 Conservation Commission

2003 Minutes

HENNIKER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Minutes of Meeting

January 15, 2003

7:00 p.m. – Grange Hall

Members Present:  Denise Rico (Chair), Mark Mitch, Holly Green, Martha Sunderland and Dawn Nelson. 

1. Minutes: The Minutes of Meetings of December 4, 2002 were approved.

2. New Mail: The Commission received the following:

-Notice of Intent to Cut Wood or Timber Lot #15 from Route 114 onto Warner Road by Hardwick and Son’s; possible site visit end of February.

-Zoning Board Minutes indicating Commission’s memo concerning Wetlands Conservation Chapter of the Zoning Ordinance was brought before Zoning Board Meeting of December 18, 2002.  Denise will call and clarify what if anything else is needed.

-Letters of Complete Forestry Notifications for Lots #15, 15 & 46 and 69 from the Department of Environmental Services Wetlands Bureau.

-Copy of Wetlands and Non Site Specific Permit to install culvert on Map 1/Lot 741.

-Executed copy of Dredge and Fill Application received on Bear Hill and Patterson Roads.

-Copy of a letter to Department of Environmental Services Wetlands from Gove Engineering with regard to a constructed wetland at Henniker Crushed Stone and what their findings were.  In short, it reported that everything is fine but they will reinspect sometime in the spring.

3. After-the-fact Permit Application:  A Dredge and Fill permit application submitted by New England College relating to Lot 405B/Map 1 for an irrigation project at the athletic fields was reviewed.   The Commission finds everything with application fine.

4. Budget: Denise to present 2003 budget request to Budget Committee.

5. French Pond Grant: Mark is continuing to get the numbers together and will send the Commission first draft of final report.  Mark will submit a draft report to the Department of Environmental Services if all goes well by January 27th, 2003.

6. Annual Report for Town Report: Was approved by Commission members with noted changes. 7. NRI: Commission to assemble NRI on February 19, 2003 meeting.

Meeting adjourned 8:15 p.m.

Next scheduled meeting February 19, 2003.

HENNIKER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Minutes of Meeting

February 19, 2003

7:00 p.m. – Grange Hall

Members Present: Denise Rico (Chair), Mark Mitch, Holly Green, Martha Sunderland and Dawn Nelson.

Also Present: Kris Blomback, Pat’s Peak, Jennifer McCourt, Keach-Nordstrom Associates, Inc., and Rick Patenaude, Patenaude Properties.

1. Minutes: The Minutes of Meetings of January 15, 2003 were approved with suggested changes.

2. New Mail: The Commission received the following:

-  Forestry Notification Letter for Lot#123 from Woodland Care Forest Management

-  Letter of Complete Forestry Notification from Vanessa Burnes from Department of Environmental Services for Lot #s 123, 123B, and 123X.

-  Note from the Department of Transportation letting the Commission know that they are replacing existing signs on Route 202

-  List of Intents to Cut

3. Pat’s Peak Water Reservoir: Jennifer McCourt and Kris Blomback presented to the Commission updates on the pending project.  Points made during the discussion were:

-  They have decided not to line the reservoir due to the finding of groundwater

-  A concrete pump chamber will be installed to help in the prevention of erosion for incoming water

-  Approximate amount of water the reservoir will be able to hold is 15 million gallons

-  Slope on underwater embankments is no more than 3 to 1

-  Top of bank at outlet end of the pond will be covered with rip rap on Mirafi fabric

-  A Standard Dredge and Fill application has been submitted for impact to 5840 sq ft of forested wetland. It is separate from the Craney Pond permit.

-  Construction expected to start in June 2003; Completion in September

-  Will keep as many trees as possible to avoid evaporation problems

-  The approximate distance from reservoir area and Craney Pond is 2000 feet

4. Hilltop Estates: Jennifer McCourt presented to the Commission an update on the proposed subdivision for Lot #95.  Jennifer is hoping to come back before the Commission with an expedited wetlands permit application for 2 roadway crossings pending Planning Board meeting on February 26 at 7:00 p.m.  The Commission expressed a concern about the individual driveways crossing over wetlands.  Jennifer said that once they had received the permit for the 2 crossings there could be no further wetlands impact associated with the project. Denise will look into this regulation. Jennifer will notify the Commission as to site visit date pending permit application.

5. Gould Pond Road Proposed Subdivision:  A Conceptual Plan that the Planning Board wanted the Commission to look at and comment on was reviewed.  The only aspect which the Commission was concerned with was the notation of “Approximate edge of wetlands” and that it needs to be more specific.  This Plan is for Tax Map Lot #328 which will consist of 14 individual lots for a cluster type subdivision.

6.The Commission discussed the increase of new construction over the past few years and what could be done to minimize the impact to ponds and wetlands. Denise will look into initiation of a wetland buffer and local shoreland protection regulations.

7. French Pond Grant:  Mark Mitch informed Commission members that he has run into some snags with the database and hasn’t been able to put together a draft final report yet.  Mark will call the Dept. of Environmental Services to let them know of the situation and ask about the target date for completion.

8. NRI: Commission to assemble NRI on March 5, 2003 meeting.

9. Other Business:  Denise attended the January meeting of the Regional Resource Conservation Committee where the NH Dept. of Environmental Services Wetlands Bureau Enforcement Office gave a presentation. Due to the severe understaffing and backload of cases the Wetlands Bureau recommends that each Town should be looking into regulations that help with local enforcement of wetlands regulations.

Meeting adjourned 9:05 p.m.

Next scheduled meeting March 5, 2003.

DRAFT

HENNIKER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Minutes of Meeting

March 5, 2003

7:00 p.m. – Town Hall

Members Present: Denise Rico (Chair), Mark Mitch, Holly Green, Martha Sunderland and Dawn Nelson.

1. Minutes: The Minutes of Meetings of February 19, 2003 were approved with suggested changes.

2. New Mail: The Commission received the following:

- Complete Forestry Notification Letter for Lot#1/653.

- Copies of Intent to Cut Wood or Timber for Lots 1/656A and 1/588A.

- Note from the Department of Environmental Services, Land Resources Management Program indicating they have received a Site Specific Permit for Lots 1/ 655& 656 to disturb ~294,303 sq ft to construct 4.73 acre pond for snowmaking purposes.

- Newsletters from Fox Research Forest, Comprehensive Environmental, Inc.

- Executed copy of Standard Dredge and Fill Permit application for Lots 1/ 655& 656 to construct 4.73 acre pond for snowmaking purposes.

3. Hilltop Estates: Denise briefed the Commission about the Planning Board hearing on Feb 26 and her consultation with the Wetlands Bureau. The Commission reviewed the subdivision plans. A memo to the Planning Board outlining the Commission’s concerns regarding the proposed lot configurations was reviewed and revised. The two issues are: the small lots bisected by a wetland create a situation where further wetland impact would be highly likely, and at least three lots do not meet the criterion outlined in DES Subsurface rule 1005.02, Section A which states, “a minimum of 20,000 contiguous square feet of soil suitable [is required] for a receiving layer.”

4. French Pond: Mark will work on the final report through the spring break period.

5. Natural Resources Inventory: The Commission assembled the final reports and discussed a press release to announce its completion.

6. Next meeting: The mid-month meeting will not be held unless new business arises.

Meeting adjourned 9:00 p.m.

Next scheduled meeting April 2, 2003.

DRAFT

Minutes

Henniker Conservation Commission Meeting

November 19, 2003

Henniker Grange

Members Present: Mark Mitch, Martha Sunderland, Holly Green

Guests: Drew Major

Meeting began at 7:05

1) Discussed the purchase of a DO meter: The commission voted to purchase a YSI 55A Dissolved Oxygen Meter from Forestry Suppliers Inc. using the remaining French Pond Grant funds and unspent lake monitoring funds. 

2) Drew Major made a presentation on a group that is trying to form a Mink Hills Land Trust and asked us for names of people who might be interested in joining the effort.   He also said that there would be a public informational meeting held in Henniker sometime in the future.

3) Holly reported on last Monday’s Meeting of the REACH committee in Hopkinton.  She reviewed what the group is doing to address issues around BIO- Energy and reported that there was no immediate action needed from us.

4) Conservation Plan: Martha presented a draft outline for review.  After revision it will be sent to all members for comment at a later meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:05

Minutes submitted by Martha Sunderland

HENNIKER CONSERVATION COMMISSION

Minutes of Meeting

December 3, 2003

7:00 p.m. – Town Hall

Members Present:  Martha Sunderland (Chair), Mark Mitch, Holly Green, and Denise Rico

1.   Minutes: The minutes of the following meetings were approved with suggested changes: June 4, 2003, June 18, 2003, July 20, 2003, September 3, 2003, September 17, 2003, October 13, 2003, November 5, 2003, and November 19, 2003.

2.   New Mail: The Commission received the following:

-          Letters of Complete Forestry Notification from the Department of Environmental Services for Lot #s 1/59,60,84 and 1/36,37,38,61.

-          Notices of Intent to Cut Timber for Lot #s 2/238 and 1/253.

-          A memo from Laura Scott, Town Planner, asking for feedback on proposed changes to Zoning Article XXIII, Wetlands Conservation.

3.          Zoning Article XXIII, Wetlands Conservation: Proposed changes to the Zoning Article were discussed. Concerns were raised about the proposed elimination of local oversight over wetlands impacts. It was suggested that a set of criteria be used to determine projects with significant wetlands impacts which would still require a special exception from the Zoning Board. Smaller projects would not require a special exception. Martha will schedule time with the Planning Board to discuss the Commission’s concerns.

4.          Dissolved Oxygen Meter: Mark determined which model the Commission will purchase and Martha will order it before the end of the year.

5.          Conservation Commission Website: Holly noticed the minutes are out of date and some of the links are not working. Martha will contact Russ to fix the links. Denise will check on the minutes and submit any that are in her files.

6.          Conservation Plan Outline: The outline was reviewed briefly and members were asked to come prepared to expand upon it at the first meeting in January.

7.          Other Business: New members with an interest in land conservation are needed.

The meeting adjourned at 8:30PM.

Respectfully submitted, Denise Rico

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