Allenstown Conservation Commission
Date: February 11, 2004
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Allenstown Town Hall
MINUTES
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm.
The minutes were approved unanimously.
The hike was a big success. There were 18 people on the hike, including 5 Boy Scouts from Troop 97. The hike lasted two hours. Eric Orff of NHF&G gave an excellent wildlife tracking lesson during the hike. The ConCom has sent Eric a thank you note. Future projects in the Town Forest are marking the southern boundary of the forest, which is unmarked, installing signs at the corners, and making a map.
ConCom members staffed a booth during the Presidential Primary. Many people took NHF&G wildlife tracking cards and the NHDES brochure on the protected wetland. The other materials were not as popular. Twelve people signed up to be involved with the ConCom. People on this list will be notified when we have our next event. P. Trowbridge will contact Ed Cyr to ask permission to set up a ConCom display during the Town Elections on 3/9/04. D. McKay will cover the early afternoon and P. Trowbridge will cover the evening.
D. McKay attended the session for the ConCom. There were no questions about the ConCom warrant article or the Town budget. The warrant article was approved by the Budget Committee and the Town Selectmen. P. Trowbridge will write a letter to the Hooksett Banner in support of the article.
SB349 proposes to weaken the fine filter criteria governing the location of new OHRV trails. P. Trowbridge and L. Bonk and other Allenstown officials attended a hearing on SB349 on 2/4/04 held by the Senate Transportation Committee. P. Trowbridge and L. Bonk provided testimony against the bill.
L. Bonk met with the Selectmen, Planning Board, and Police Chief about purchasing the balance of the Osgood property that is left over after the new Route 3 bridge is built. There was unanimous support for the project. The goal is to create a public park with the land, which is a peninsula that juts out into Irish Pond. The Planning Board added $10,000 (available in 2006) to the Capital Improvement Plan for the project. L. Bonk prepared letters to the NHDOT and to the owners of the property. These letters were reviewed by the ConCom at the meeting. The letters will be sent on 2/12/04.
L. Bonk presented the final report on the Bear Brook Illegal Activities Survey. The report will be sent to 14 people in Allenstown government, NHF&G, DRED, New England Mountain Bike Association, Derry Trail Riders, Deerfield ConCom, Candia ConCom, and Hooksett ConCom. The three commissioners signed the report at the meeting. The report will be mailed on 2/12/04. The cost of film developing and Xeroxing for the report amounted to approximately $250.00, which was donated by P. Trowbridge and L. Bonk.
L. Bonk will prepare a letter to BearPaw about forming a partnership but saying that no one on the ConCom or the Planning Board is able to join their board at this time. The letter will state that the ConCom has money in the budget to make a donation of membership dues in 2004.
The ConCom received a letter from DRED Division of Forests and Lands on 2/2/04 about a 150 acre timber sale in Bear Brook State Park. Public bidding will begin in the summer of 2004. D. McKay will contact the regional forester and ask to be involved with the process.
On 2/5/04, L. Bonk noticed 20 truck loads of what appeared to be septic system waste dumped in a sand pit behind Bear Brook Gardens I in Allenstown. This is a popular sledding area for kids in the neighborhood, so there was the potential for exposure to this waste. L. Bonk reported the dumping to the Allenstown Police and the NH DES. The Allenstown Police visited the site. The waste was removed by 2/8/04.
M. Durgin noted that April 22 is Earth Day and the spring event should occur on the following weekend (4/24/04 or 4/25/04). The Friends of the Suncook River fly fishing event is on the weekend before (4/17/04). The event will be trash cleanup along River Road in the morning followed by a hike and trash cleanup on the Town owned parcel at the Old Reservoir. D. McKay will contact the Boy Scouts and see if they are interested and are available on that date. M. Durgin will contact the Deerfield ConCom. P. Trowbridge will notify the Selectmen.
All the people who signed up at the election will be notified of the spring cleanup event. We will make a push to have some people join the ConCom at that event.
There is a proposal to develop 85 elderly housing units in Allenstown. The issue is before the Planning Board currently.
P. Trowbridge passed out a draft of the bylaws for the ConCom. The group will review these bylaws and discuss them at the next meeting.
The meeting date and location were confirmed. The meetings for the second quarter will be on 4/14/04, 5/12/04, and 6/9/04. The Town Hall was booked for these meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.