WESTMORELAND CONSERVATION COMMISSION

APRIL 3, 2008 - - MEETING MINUTES

The meeting convened at 7:04pm with Marshall Patmos (chair), Walter Derjue, George Duke, Dick Schmidt, and John Lukin in attendance. Dick volunteered to issue the meeting minutes.

The minutes from March 6, 2008 were read and approved as submitted.

George Duke said that he will not attend the GPS training in North Sutton by UNH Cooperative Extension, Conservation Land Stewardship, as the proper sequence of courses is not available.

OLD BUSINESS

Zoning Administrator Checklist Proposal – Marshall spoke to Bob Moore, Zoning Administrator, with agreement that a checklist would benefit both the Zoning Administrator and the landowner. Jim Blake’s draft 2/29/08 document was reviewed. It was agreed that this document is useful as instructions, and 1) the second paragraph should be deleted and 2) a list in a formal checklist format should be attached (with yes/no boxes similar to the Walpole approach). Marshall will discuss this with Jim. In this discussion, it was agreed that our resource maps (those on the wall in the meeting room) should be on the Westmoreland/Conservation Commission website.

Spring Roadside Cleanup, April 19, 9:00 AM to11:30 AM – Jeff Smith and Russ Martens have done fine preparatory work.

County Farm Conservation Easement Issue – no new developments. The County Farm Committee will discuss conservation easements at their meeting on April 14, 2008 at 7:00 PM in the Keene Library.

Surface Water Protection - no new developments.

County Jail Wetland Mitigation – The County has decided not to put an easement on any of their property to satisfy the wetland mitigation issue for the new jail site in Keene and in lieu will pay a fine.

Community Conservation Partnership (CCP) – The Conservation Commission is thankful for and supportive of the Monadnock Conservancy/Antioch initiative to develop a five-town conservation plan, including Westmoreland. The Monadnock Conservancy/Antioch provide the leadership and administrative work to implement the effort. Peter Throop of The Monadnock Conservancy has published the evolving invitation list, for a forum tentatively planned for mid-May in town. The invitation list will be used to call/mail interested parties about the meeting, and Conservation Commission will support where they can be effective. Mr. Throop also has distributed “Talking Points and FAQs” to assist in the invitation process. The CCP Task Force, including some Conservation Commission members, will be attending several training sessions. The members agreed on the importance of identifying and involving the large landowners in town.

NEW BUSINESS

Parcel adjacent to town barn property – Marshall resent the email to the Selectboard regarding wetlands on this property.

Lot R13-8C Hurricane Road – For a house being designed, Mr. Bakalar wants to locate a deck pillar 10’ into the 75’ wetland buffer. Marshall will ask for a formal request, and may respond favorably if the formal request reflects the marked-up drawing that we reviewed.

Dick Schmidt made a motion to adjourn, seconded by George Duke, and approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

UNAPPROVED MINUTES