WESTMORELAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION

June 4, 2009 – Meeting Minutes Draft

The June 4 Meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm with Marshall Patmos (Chair), Ken Wright, Dick Schmidt, Paula Page and Gary Dermott in attendance.

Minutes of the May 7, 2009 meeting were read. It was noted to change the Jail Study Commission to Jail Study Committee. It was also noted that Selina Gallen reported on the Community Conservation Partnership and Dick Schmidt asked about water quality monitoring.

Gary Dermott was introduced as a new member.

Secretary

As no secretary has been named, it was agreed to pass the duty of taking minutes among members. The standard as set forth in NH public meeting guidelines of making minutes available in a timely manner (preferably within 6 days (or 144 hours) in draft form) was agreed upon by members present. Minutes will be forwarded to the Chairman, Marshall Patmos, who will forward them to the Board of Selectmen.

Old Business

Distribution of Resource Map CD’s

Marshall reported that a copy of the Natural Resource/Property map and the 11/18/08 Town Forum CD’s have been given to the school. They were also distributed to the Town, Planning Board and Zoning Board of Adjustment earlier. Copies were given to members present who did not have the CD’s.

Community Conservation Partnership

Barbara Richter of the Monadnock Conservancy was not able to make this meeting to survey the Commission on the effectiveness of the CCP process. Marshall stated that Peter Troop would like to meet soon concerning the status of the project and fine tune the priority conservation areas of town.. The date of June 24 at 3:00 pm has been set to meet with the Conservation Commission and the members of the Steering Committee members to meet with Peter to review the project.

Shoreline Protection Issue – Partridge Brook

Marshall Patmos read a draft of a letter to the landowner reminding them of the guidelines and regulation of NH RSA 483B, the Comprehensive Shoreline Protection Act which apply to activity along Partridge Brook, a fourth order stream. Reference was made on how to access further information from the NH Dept. of Environmental Services website. They were also asked to remove brush left along the road adjacent to the brook. The letter was presented to the Board of Selectmen who gave support to the Conservation Commission in advising residents of the rules that apply in this case. The letter will be sent to the landowner.

County Jail Usage

There were no updates reported. Dick Schmidt presented a list of thoughts for future usage which members added to:

· Training site for police, firemen, jail personnel, etc.

· Storage including secure storage / climate controlled storage

· Bays for vehicle storage and/or maintenance

· Hostel / tour center with access to the Connecticut River

· Educational center: River/ Connecticut River educational center

The suggestion was made that it might be helpful for the Commission to tour the facility in order to have better input.

It was discussed that having public access to the Connecticut River was identified as a priority at the Community Conservation Partnership Forums and should be advocated by the town. The County property is a potential site for such access.

New Business

Wastewater Treatment Plant at the County Farm

Richard Cate informed the commission of the completed study on the improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant on the county property. Three alternatives have been proposed in this study and he feels it should be brought before the Conservation Commission as public information and to foster goodwill with the town where the work will be done. The question was raised if the Conservation Commission was the appropriate group to raise the issue. It was agreed that this was an issue that should be brought to the Board of Selectmen. The members present agreed that the Conservation Commission supports the proposal for Selectmen to make the request for information to be brought before the town. Dick Cate will raise the issue with the Selectmen.

Conservation Commission Membership

Gary Dermott was welcomed as the new member filling out the term of Gina Gitchell who submitted her resignation. His term runs through to April 2011.

The suggestion was made to stagger term of members so multiple terms are not expiring on the same year.

River Monitoring Project

Dick Schmidt researched information available on the website of the Connecticut River Joint Commission on water monitoring in our town. Information is available on www.crjc.org. Reports give information on water quality and impaired stream info. The three streams monitored in our town are: 1) Connecticut River on the north end of town, 2) Partridge Brook at the bridge on Hatt Road and at the intersection of the brook on Route 63, 3) Mill Brook below Route 12. There is a mercury presence in all three streams and there are traces of e coli in Partridge and Mill Brooks according to information on the web site. All agreed it is interesting information and a good resource on stream quality.

Wetland Issues on Route 12

A copy of a letter from the NH Department of Environmental services was read that states Lift All is in compliance with all state environmental regulations. No further action is needed.

The date for the next meeting is set for July 9, instead of July 2 due to the holiday weekend.

The meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Paula Page, secretary pro tem