Conservation Commission - Regular Meeting

so I will call the meeting to order and Mike if you can vote for L I'm not sure if she's coming or not but Susan is not coming because she's sick so we don't have any plans we don't seem to have any public comment so we'll get right into it Trails is the first thing on old business. We had a lot of things going on in the musquash, trees down, but trail angels taking care of them. But I did get another picture of something that is on Piper Rising, but that's the trail that the mountain bikers frequent, so I suspect they'll clear that out. i new hampshire or londonderry trailways sandy and her husband basically are walking the musquash and inventorying what needs to be done either signs that need to be replaced trails that need cleaning up trees that are down and need to be cut so we're trying to get picture of the whole musk wash what do we need to do and if we need to organize a work day like um i don't know if you remember those of you who were here doing when we blazed all the trails over again we it probably wouldn't hurt to go out and do that plus there's a couple of new trails that we've never blazed to begin with and then making sure that we have all the trails that are authorized on the map because we've acquired some illegitimate trails out there and we have to figure out how to stop the use of them. So work on that. So there's things going on with the trails which I'm happy about. People seem to be getting into it.

So when do we see the Forester?

Well, I thought about that this morning, that it's been a while since we heard from him, and I can't remember when he said he was going to start. He said he... May or June. Oh, because he said he had a big project to finish up.

Anyway, what you're doing, what we're getting done at the Musk question, on the trail, it's going to help him, too. I mean, it would be nice to get it to him when it's done. Oh, I'm sure.

Yeah. I'm sure we have probably still some maps right we don't need to order maps anytime soon I've got a couple hundred so we're good for a few months because I would love if we're gonna update the map have it updated before we print again right because yeah that would be helpful I think the other one we don't have is the Lofa loop trail over here we don't have a map of that

No. A lot of it uses trails that pre-existed but had other names. But it is an entity now and it's not on our map.

Okay. I don't know where we put it.

We have the trail map. They have the town trails on the back side.

And there's room on that side, do you think?

I think it can be superimposed on the one we have that showed all the little trails over here.

Oh, okay.

It'll be some work, but I don't think we need like another. We don't need to make it bigger or anything. I don't believe. I haven't looked at it for quite a while, but I think it'll fit.

Okay. Do they need GPS at all?

Trailways may have done that. I don't know. Again, I haven't looked for that recently either, but when they first... established it, they put out an email to people on trailways, and I'm on the mailing list for some things. They had a representation there. I don't know how accurate it was, but somebody just free-handed it.

Well, now there's several apps that you can use that create a file that we can just give to you, right? Because you can put it right in there.

Okay. A good chunk of it is trails that were already on the map. I don't know if they took the old names away or they just made those trails part of the LAFA loop.

Make a note of that, though. So then monitoring.

We have... Marjorie, do you want me to address the Lithia Trail during this topic or some other time?

Yeah, go ahead.

So I put in a, I think I told you, I put in a grant application with the Hampshire Trails Bureau, which is housed within the Department of I don't know. Recreation and cultural... Dancer.

What is it? Dancer. Dancer. Culture and natural resources. Heritage people call it.

And they don't like that, by the way. Oh, they don't? Oh, they hate it. The commissioner hates it. Well, she's gone anyway because she didn't tell anybody about the ice facility.

So it's a total project cost I put in for like $28,000, $29,000, of which we have a cost share that we would have to do of I think it's 20%. So if it comes to that, we'll have to vote that. We should find out sometime in August if we're selected for an award. And then if we are, you can start tree cutting after November. This is an issue that has to do with bats and hibernacula. And then we'd do the trail building after, I think it's April 1st next year. So then that would give us the, wherewithal to get the signs in, which are already under contract. We right now have a December 31 deadline to complete that project. We don't really need to have them have it done before the trail isn't done. But on the other hand, if we don't get the award, then we could move in sooner and perhaps get the trail done late fall, which would be a good time to do it, because it's dry. So we'll just have to see what happens with that grant. The grant envisions just a... what I call a footpath, and trying to keep it as minimized as possible because the DES and LCHIP both have executory interests in the easement that's held by the Forest Society. And if it weren't for our fact that we reserved a right to build a trail, then we wouldn't be able to do it because there are buffers that overlap 200 feet from both the north and the south. So we wouldn't be able to get there from here, but we do have that reserve right. We'll have to go through a process of getting permission to do it, but under the terms of the easement, we have to ask, but it seems to me they probably have to grant it because we're in accord with what's in the easement. So that's where that stands. And if we get the nice trail built and we get the signs up, we'll have a real good attraction for people.

Now, the signs, somebody's designing those?

Yeah, they're in design right now.

Will they send us a draft?

Yes.

And do we have to get that draft approved by whoever gave us the money?

Yeah, I don't think it's going to be a problem because they recommend the Historical Resources Division. I got the sense they were kind of picky. Yeah, for sure we'll do that. And they're working hand-in-hand with the Londonderry Historical Society. Oh, nice. we'll all be in the loop when we get the draft. And they're doing a really thorough job. David Ellis has found some really good stuff. Oh, nice. He's amazing. It's fascinating. There was a 1905 article, I think, in the Buffalo, New York paper about this reporter that visited Londonderry, visited the sign, got a full briefing and then saw the bottling going on and went to Nashua and saw the bottling. It's very complimentary of the company and it's really interesting. So hopefully some of that will make it into the signs too.

That is cool. All right, anything else on trails? All right, so monitoring. We have certain properties that we're required to monitor. There's two Ingersoll properties. There's Merrill's. Max has, I think, three parcels. Sunnycrest Farm has three parcels. And then Plummer. which doug johnson sold his house i i don't know if he moved out of town so i don't know if he's going to be our contact so he's still the owner right or is it his wife yeah because that the house was separate from the land that's in conservation so you know maybe he's like a million others retired yeah probably retired gone to the condo but so Those are the ones that we have to monitor each year. So some of them are covered. Right. Ingersoll is monitored by RCCD. Merrow is monitored by RCCD. And? Sunnycrest. Sunnycrest. So that just leaves us with Max and Plummer.

Up until this past year, I've done all the Max properties that I could get to for like the last five years. I got slow this year, but I did the one that we own, the townhomes now.

let me know offline what the other ones are that have to be done because i at least have the history form so i'm okay i'm happy to do them again those are ones they want the report done on their online format okay which i just took your stuff and put it in there last time It was a piece of cake.

Oh, they accepted that?

Yeah.

Because I didn't get that from the state. I got that from something I got here. Well, yeah. The one for the property the town owns, somebody gave me a form that I used. Yeah. I think that was a state form.

Because I just took the information off and put it in their online fill-in-the-blank thing.

Okay.

So... It was good with them. OK.

So yeah, just let me know which ones. Because like I said, I have all the history for every year except this past year.

And so that leaves a ton of other properties that we should be monitoring. But I think with the GIS quality that we have, we should be able to do a lot of preliminary monitoring just online. And then it's What's the most recent flyover? Paul?

Not the one on the website, but what do you really got?

No, we've got in the last three or four months probably. Oh, really? Yeah.

Okay, so the point is it's current.

Do you have one before Leafaun?

I haven't looked in a little while, but probably. There's usually like three or four at least they do every year.

Yeah, wow. Yeah, the latest leaf off is the one we'd want. Okay. And if you're reluctant to put it on the town website, just can you devise a way to get it to us on a more controlled access? And then I think, like we did this before, we just divide them up and everybody takes however many parcels it needs to and looks carefully at it on the line. And then when you see something that ain't a tree, you know, or a straight line, that's when we go out on the ground and look at it. Right.

Yeah, because there's a lot of ground to cover.

A lot of little...

things yeah and there's well you know there's high risk and low risk like boundaries in the middle of the musquash not so much risk but boundaries that abut you know into a development with 14 houses along one boundary those are ones we probably want to zoom in pretty good and look to see you know are they throwing their their brush in the conservation land or is there shed in the lane you know over the boundary and then when I was kind of looking up conservation properties Mike noon made this fabulous spreadsheet and he had a lot of data on there and thing that I was looking for and I would it was right there in 2019 there were four thousand one hundred forty seven acres of conserved, conservation, which equaled 15% of Londonderry's property, which part of the master plan was 30%. So the people who think that we already have 30% are way off. And of that 15%, 4% of the town is by easement. Everything else is unowned. Really? Yeah.

Oh, I guess because Musquash is so big and we own so much of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, probably. It skews the numbers to the beginning of count. Right.

So if we could just look at what has happened since 2019 and update that. But we clearly didn't conserve another 4,000 acres. So I was glad to have those numbers because it was driving me crazy I know I had seen it somewhere.

Who did the last count? We did this count in 19. Because I was doing it all along at the beginning. You're right. And then I stopped.

Yeah, Mike Noon, I mean, on this spreadsheet, he's got...

So do we have a good list of what came after 2019 as far as purchases and easements?

Which I think all I have to do is go through the annual reports that I write. Because I do... do list all that stuff so it should be pretty easy to figure out what we've done so I'll try and update that and come up with a more current number so get that done That's all I have for old business. Do you have old business that you can remember talking about?

I got the April Treasury, and then I just got the May one. I didn't do April. I don't know where I was. And we still have one more before the fiscal year is over. Nothing has really changed. We haven't gotten any more money. We had a couple bills come in. We have been given our percentage of what we got our $100,000. just recently, within the last two months, and we got our percentage. I don't know why they've chosen to do it that way this year, but they are, and if anything more comes in, they'll just put the formula to it.

So it's pay as you go now?

Don't ask me. All I know is that it's easier to understand. It looks the same, and it's minute print, but it's easier to understand. They're not, you know, she's not giving me Some of the accruals, this is going out in two months, or this came in two months ago. But anyway, it's very close to the same. We just got interest, more interest. But we still have money to do something with, which is positive.

Good. So new business. remember a year ago we were asked to come up with ideas for a strategic plan and we came up with this the things on the white page so that all got well the town-wide strategic plan came out in the draft a couple weeks ago and the town council chopped it up a little and now they're going to have to come back and review it in the so this doesn't reflect the council changes we don't know what those changes are but i think there's no reason we can't do some of this stuff or at least come up with a plan right right anticipate a direction that we're going to head um

Because in addition to this particular objective, there are a bunch where you see how it says potential partners. I'm sorry, it says boards. So like in this one we have, it's not just us, it's budget, town council, planning board, recreation. And we appear in several other of these objectives that we have to also figure out what our contribution should be. I think from what Kristen told the Utility Committee, there's going to be a lead department On each one of these? Yeah, you know, pointed for each one, and then that lead will be able to coordinate with all the other boards and potential partners.

Which grouping are you talking about?

This is Objective E2, so there's some major, major objectives, one of which is Objective E, which is on environment, water, and conservation. Within that, there are like one, two, three, four. This is only two, which is the one most relevant to us. Right.

I have the other ones that we're named in. Oh, good. It's E3. which is environment water and conservation well that's the same as us that's the same as this well what's the sub what's the subtitle up here um integrate sustainability and environmental compliance into municipal operations yeah it's different so that's not we're not i think we're primary on e2 we're you know support supporting very supporting on this other one it's not we're not writing zoning ordinances and stuff we have input exactly but we're not driving that bus then we're also on growth land use housing and economic vitality improve predictability speed and coordinating in development review so i think that's contributing to How does the process of these plans work? How can we speed it up and make it easier? So we would have input in that, but kind of on a different angle.

Well, I've been saying at other venues that we have to be careful with our housing plans because we have to take into consideration the environment and the quality of life. You can't just keep, you know, we need houses, but you can't just build houses willy-nilly. And I think that's where... We need to take a strong stand.

Which would be C2, which is growth, land use, housing, and economic vitality. It says align zoning, housing, and growth management with infrastructure capacity and community character.

Yeah. And I think that we don't know where we are at that. We're just on the list.

Right. We have input, but it doesn't look like we have a major job to do other than, you know, think we have a major job to do yeah and then it's not it's not defined and then growth land use housing and economic vitality enhance economic development opportunities to strengthen londonderry's economic identity so we're a contributor on that one too may i look at those absolutely briefly i copied them kind of funny so they're upside down

Did you see the population growth in New Hampshire, in Londonderry? Oh, good. It just came out. No. So between 2020 and 2025, we're at 6.7%. Increase? Yeah. And New Hampshire as a whole was like 2% or something.

Yep. I think southern New Hampshire is growing faster than any other. Yes. Absolutely.

But Londonderry was, like, dairy actually went down a little bit.

Oh, no kidding. Interesting.

I guess what I would suggest is I don't know how we want to we probably should wait until this is gonna it's just it's gonna change from the what the council did it could yeah once we get that then we should figure out you know what are we primary and they'll kind of tell us that we make a pretty good guess here and where are we secondary and then I think each of us should review that list and express where they wanna get, where we, each of us, wanna get involved. We can then turn that over to Marge, and she can, from there, make assignments. And if we have, almost it would work like a subcommittee, but I'm hoping we don't have to. actually form a subcommittee because then you've got to do minutes and records and all that. So that we may just do the work at home and then bring it to our meetings. But that way we'll have some accountability and we'll have Because this is too much work for any one person to do.

Oh, yeah. There's a way to do that from my world, and I'm going to get a little technical about project planning, but it's called a RACI matrix, responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. And it tells you what your responsibilities are. So if you're responsible for something, you're doing the work. If you're accountable, you're keeping track of the person doing the work. If you're consulted, they're asking you for your opinion.

so i can put a matrix together if you'd like that would crosswalk all the things that we're responsible yeah i bet you that's what we'll end up needing but on on this you know page that we created not all of this made it to that yeah right so some of these things we still want to do it and maybe to come up with ideas to do some of this stuff and one of them the second one we have here is communicate the value of conserved land to the public and some tasks after that i we all need to look at litchfield conservation commission's facebook page they just put up an awesome video touring around some of their properties and i'm like It was awesome. I didn't go to, it just popped up on my Facebook, so I didn't go to their Facebook page and look at what else they had, but we, that's an unused asset, exactly, that we could be using.

When this gets rewritten, can we

Rewrite this or at least highlight the things that are we're supposed to be doing we we submitted this to create this This is our original thoughts, but the one things that didn't make it to here which This had to kind of be streamlined of this because otherwise it'd be completely overwhelming and if it's going to be basically re-upped every year. You take off the things that got done, you add something in that you wanted to do. But some of these things we can still do. We can just do it because we want it done.

No, you're exactly right. So don't throw this away because we can recycle it next year. And we can add to it and see other things that need to be added. And if we get some victories, we can cross them off the list.

Yeah, there's more on the back in case you didn't see that.

And I think it's OK to keep this as is. So it's historical.

It's a reference.

Oh, yeah.

So we don't really need to. Well, I was just trying to find a way to thin it out.

How many acres did you say we have conserved as of 2019?

No, what's in this and what's still left? We can color code highlight a bunch of things.

Yeah, that's what it meant. I'm into color coding. 4,147.

And that's roughly 15%.

That probably includes Goldcrest Orchard, which we no longer have considered.

Right, because that happened after 2019. So it also doesn't add in What was the subdivision that was supposed to give us open space yeah and i i heard you know the deed was being drawn up and then i never heard anything else after that i never saw the deed did it ever happen

I don't know. I mean, you could prove it by me. I did notice that the tree clearing is getting awfully close to the wet one. Which one? The one that's off South Road, that it's the one I think you're talking about.

Yeah, I think it was South Road where they were going to give us a chunk of that.

Oh, no, that isn't even, well, maybe it is. Turtle habitat there.

Yeah. They are supposedly going to give us a chunk, but most of what they're going to give us is the marsh.

Right. Right.

Anyhow, that is the one that one big disconnect we have them if 4,000 acres is 15% and we're saying we want to have 30% by 20 by 2030 we don't need a hundred acres a year. We need a thousand acres a year We need to have 4,000 acres in four years. Yeah good point So our target is way way way off.

Well, it says number one. It's aspirational. Yeah number two you can't I mean, it's one thing to get, you could get 1,000, but not every year, right? I mean, if we could find two big projects, we'll undoubtedly get some from this new one up at an Auburn line. Right. I don't think that the thing actually included the, you know, in the city's development on cross-farms. I don't think there's conservation land there that's been set aside. I don't think it included that. So, you know, there's a little bit.

Well, the fourth house, though, is town-owned. The one at cross-farm is an easement.

Right, but it's still considered land.

For our goal, I think either one counts.

Right. If it's legal protection, that's the key. Permanent. Yeah, permanent legal protection, exactly.

Yeah, everybody, not everybody, there's a lot of people who are gun-shy now thinking, well, if Gilchrist can be developed, then why can't everything else? And they don't understand that there was a clause written into that that's not in any other of the easements.

And we still owe the town property of equal conservation value. And once they see that that happens, maybe then they will, you know, realize that, yeah, there's, we did get something for our money.

Any closer to doing that?

No.

I would say farther away.

Yes, yeah, it's the most likely candidate wants a lot more money than we've been offering. But yeah, check out Litchfield Conservation Commission's Facebook page. We need to aspire to that.

Who updates the pages, Marge?

Well, I think Deb's the only one that knows how to get on there.

I can get on there, but I couldn't figure out how to get Marge on there.

Yeah. Can you show her how to do that?

What do you want me to do?

I would need login credentials, I think.

That's what we can't. So does she. Well, you can log in.

I can log in. Yeah. You can probably do it on one of these computers, right? Yeah, go. Do you know your... Do I know my pass? Your name and password? No. It's written down at home?

Okay. On a sticky under your keyboard?

No, on a large piece of paper.

There's so many of them.

On a 10-page Word document with all my other passwords.

Something like that.

Oh, you guys are killing me.

Oh, but I have a really cool password code. Oh, good. Very cool.

Good. So... That's all I had on strategic plan. And then I have some interesting things.

I really wanted to do that, but I'm also doing two other things that day, so it's just like, how can I do everything?

Gary is having a bio blitz at Broadview Farm on...

June 27 Which is this Saturday Saturday?

Yeah this Saturday and It's like it looks like an all-day gig you can do There's the bird walk the trees and shoves wetlands or butterflies so you can do whatever thing interests you so that was some information and then There is a hearing In Concord on June 24th, which is what tomorrow from 6 to 8 p.m. about The Trump administration is going to Remove the roadless area conservation Or he's talking about doing it and There was a lot of opposition which is good we don't want roads in these pristine areas and And if there's roads, that means there can be logging, mining, and et cetera, et cetera. So there's a hearing tomorrow. Or you can contact your Senator Shaheen Hassan, Representative Pappas, or Representative Goodlander. She's not ours.

She won't help us.

Oh and Mike's figured out on the Conservation Commission web page on the town The recreation guide is gone. It says retired or expired or something. So he...

It might just be gone. I think there was a window to convert it to whatever they switched to. I can't access it anymore.

That cost us a lot of money.

We spent so much money on that.

Yeah.

Can we contact the guy who developed it for another copy or something?

I don't know if you could try. I don't know.

I'll have to look through my records to see who that was.

Well, it's somebody from Santa.

No, it wasn't. We hired a web designer. Oh, I thought it was.

Well, that's just awful.

Okay. I will see what I can find. Okay. I thought I was telling you that he figured it out, but we figured out we can't do it.

Usually you can just convert it to the next, you know, whatever they update it to, but for some reason you can't.

Well, they want more money.

Yeah. Yeah.

Well. And I'm not sure... How that worked, the contractor definitely wrote words and took pictures.

We have some printed things, don't we, somewhere? Yeah, but this was, you clicked, you got a map, told you what you could do in that recreation.

I just don't know who on staff put it together then. I don't think it was a finished product when we got it, but I'm not sure.

Well, I'll see what I can find. Information is still available.

You could re-enter it to something. But then we'd have to buy a whole new program to put it online?

I wouldn't.

I mean the town or us.

You mean to recreate that? I have the ability. I could make one. I'm not a graphic designer or anything. I'm not pretty. I could make it, but I could just do it. I could give it a shot.

Well, let me see what I can find. Yeah. Because I think, you know, at least somewhere in my bills paid, I have at least contact information that I can come up with.

Each one had a table that had permitted uses and, you know, Pictures, maps. That was really good. You all were probably looking for some embedded Excel files.

Yeah, OK. Yeah, I'll see if any of those still exist somewhere.

Yeah, that's a bummer. Yeah, that really is.

It was like $20,000, $25,000.

Oh, I think it was $35,000. Oh, wow. Well, they were well paid, some of them.

Yeah.

I want to do a non-public. Do you have anything else you want to talk about before we do non-public? Do you want to do minutes first and then non-public? Sure. Let's do that. It's been a while.

I don't know if you remember what happened at that meeting.

Who's CC? I'm sure they're fine. Unless it's down there in that folder file.

I looked at it when Mike sent it, and I'm good.

Okay. I looked at it and can't remember if I made a change or not, but I know whenever I send one, Mike always makes them, so I'm good.

Anybody want to make a motion?

Move to accept the minutes of Tuesday, April 28th as presented.

Second. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. All right. I would accept a motion to go into non-public session per RSA 91A, 3, 3 for the purpose of discussing a possible acquisition of property. So moved. Seconded. OK. And I would take a roll call vote. You can start with you. Say aye. I Gary Delegrette. Yep. I David Heapy. I Deb Levens. I Marge Bedoye.

I Gene Harrington. I Harry Schwartz. I Mike Speltz.

I Bob Maxwell.

And we'll go into non-public starting at 8.10.

Okay. I will make a motion that we close the non-public session.

Second. And it is 8.32. Oh, then here you go. All in favor? Aye. That was unanimous. That's all I have unless anybody else has anything.

I'll make the motion we close the meeting.

Okay. I'll second.

I'll give it to Deb.

Okay meeting adjourned at 833