WESTMORELAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION

September 4, 2008  Meeting Minutes

The September 4th meeting was called to order at 7:04 pm with Marshall Patmos-Chair, Dick Schmidt, Russ Martens, and Selena Gallen (alternate).

Minutes from the August 7th meeting were read. Dick said that the last sentence under the Connecticut River Joint Commission needed to be corrected. It should read that he would send a letter to the Selectmen's office letting them know that John Lukin was interested in serving as Jim Blake's replacement on the commission. A motion to accept the minutes with the correction was made. Motion carried.

Old Business

Community Conservation Partnership –

Dick and Selena reported that the CCP meeting was held on Wednesday evening, September 3rd, at the Town Hall with the staff from the Monadnock Conservancy and Antioch New England Institute. Dick is working on a document that summarizes the status of the project and it will be posted on the Town website, at the Town Hall and the Library. Selena is working on a post card similar to the post card that was used to advertise the first forum. The post card will be used to alert the town that a document summarizing the status of the CCP project will be posted on the Town website, at the Town Hall and Library. It will also mention that they are welcome to participate in the Conservation priorities work and that the date of the second forum is scheduled for Tuesday, Novem-

ber 18th.

The next CCP meeting is scheduled for September 17th at the Town Hall at 6:30 pm. The six-session Conservation Leadership Training Course will begin on September 24.

Zoning Administrator/Building Inspector Wetlands Checklist –

Marshall passed out a revised checklist. Additional items were added to the updated list that was worked on at the August meeting. Discussion followed and additions/revisions were made. Marshall said that he would update the form with the additional revisions and schedule a meeting for the Zoning Administrator and the Building Inspector to meet with the Conservation Commission.

Water Resource/Property Line Maps from Southwest Region Planning Commission –

Russ reported that he had not heard back from Mike Blair at the SWRPC. Marshall said that we did have the software for Art View but he would rather have the digital information supplied as a writable jpeg file. Russ said that he would follow up with Mike Blair on its availability.

W.C.C. Minutes 9-04-08

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Steep Sloop Driveways –

Russ reported that he checked into the State Highway Regulations for driveways. New Hampshire DOT recommends that driveways for commercial activities should not exceed an 8% grade, and residential driveways should not exceed 15%. Towns may set lower thresholds if they choose.

Russ said that George recently had a conversation with Gary Hudson regarding the State Highway Regulations for driveways on state roads and mentioned that the Conservation Commission wanted to recommend adopting it for town roads. Gary said that he could adopt the state regulations for driveway grade on all new driveways installed on town roads, but requested that the all season safe sight distance of 400 feet in both directions should be reduced to a lesser distance due to lower speed limits on town roads.

Discussion followed with regard to safe sight distance and examples of steep slope driveway grades. Russ said that he would discuss it further with Gary Hudson and would prepare a draft to be submitted at the next meeting. It was recommended that the driveway grade regulations be added to Article IV -General Regulations, Section 414 - Location of Driveways, and also be referred to under Building Ordinances, Article IV – Section 4:05: “Building Inspector.”

Cersosimo Gravel Pit –

Marshall asked what was happening with Cersosimo. Russ stated that he attended the Planning Board Meeting in August and Cersosimo had filed for a 30-day extension.

New Business

Resignation from Walter Derjue –

Marshall said that the Selectmen had received Walters's letter of resignation and that he would be sending a letter to Walter thanking him for his service on the Commission. Marshall passed out a sheet listing the current Conservation Commission Members as of 9/01/08 with their contact information and term expiration. Discussion followed regarding replacements for Jim Blake and Walter Derjue.

Meeting adjourned at 8:54 pm

Russ Martens, Secretary Unapproved Minutes