The meeting was officially opened at 7:45 pm when a quorum was achieved; however, we began discussing the Draft Open Space Plan with the public at 7:00 pm.

Commissioners Present: Dave McKay, Laura Bonk, Phil Trowbridge

Guests Present: Jenna Gray, Dan Howe

1. Approve the minutes of the 5/12/04 meeting

• The minutes were unanimously approved without correction.

1. Open Space Plan

• The ConCom reviewed and edited the draft list of parcels and priorities prepared by L. Bonk.
• Action Items:

• L. Bonk will add the parcels at Map 407 Lots 34.1, 33, and 35 to the "Other Bear Brook State Park Inholdings" section.
• L. Bonk will add the parcels at Map 402 Lot 151, Map 407 Lot 18, Map 410 Lot 20, and Map 105 Lot 45 to a new section for "Land Connecting Bear Brook State Park to Open Space in Epsom and Deerfield".

• The group decided that the text of the Open Space Plan should describe the actions the ConCom will take to conserve the priority parcels. A tiered approach will be taken. For top priority parcels on the Suncook and Merrimack Rivers, the ConCom will actively seek out funding for conservation easements and will approach the land owners. For lower priority parcels, the ConCom will send information about easements to land owners and will ask the Planning Board to notify the ConCom if any of these parcels are proposed for development. The ConCom set a deadline to complete the Open Space Plan for the fall. The Open Space Plan will be sent to the Planning Board and the Selectmen for comments before it is finalized.

1. Sale of Town-owned parcels

• The Commission received a letter from the Board of Selectmen on June 2, 2004 regarding the sale of properties that are currently owned by the Town. The Commission reviewed each of the parcels for its relevance to the Natural Features goals and objectives in the Master Plan, as well as its potential relevance to the draft Open Space Plan. The Commission decided that the Town should retain ownership of two parcels. In addition, the Commission decided that five parcels could be sold. The following table summarizes the rationale behind these decisions.

*However, we understand that the Cemetery Commission may be interested in this parcel.

• The remaining 13 parcels need to be studied further in order to make a decision. The Commission has scheduled meetings with foresters from the UNH Cooperative Extension Service to examine the parcels for their wildlife habitat. We are also exploring the option of managing the parcels for timber harvests to generate income for the Town, while still maintaining Town ownership. Finally, the Commission is developing an Open Space Plan and wants to complete this plan before making final decisions on these properties.
• Action Items

• P. Trowbridge will write a letter to the Selectmen describing the decisions made at this meeting and requesting a deadline of 10/31/04 for the final list.
• P. Trowbridge, D. McKay, and J. Gray will use a GPS to navigate to the center of the parcels that might be useful for forestry (Map 402 Lots 109, 109.1, 115, and 116; Map 408 Lots 5 and 6; Map 410 Lots 23, 25, 29, 32, and 35).
• L. Bonk will visit the parcels at Map 102 Lot 6 and Map 409 Lot 5 to determine if they have decent boating access.

1. Summer Community Event

• The summer community event will be a river cleanup on July 17, 2004 from 10 am to 12 noon. The cleanup will cover the section of the Suncook River from the Twin Oaks Campground down to the rapids and Irish Pond. We will plan for a potluck picnic lunch on the lawn of the Town Hall following the cleanup.
• The ConCom will also staff a booth at Old Home Day on August 28, 2004. D. Howe has a canopy for a table.
• Action Items

• L. Bonk will contact the Twin Oaks Campground and Dan and Linda Murray to secure access to the river and the pond.
• L. Bonk will prepare a flier and will announce the event to the media and to the ConCom mailing list.

1. "Welcome to Allenstown" signs

• J. Gray researched the costs of manufacturing signs. With a $1000 budget for three signs, we could only afford metal signs. L. Bonk mentioned that Armand Verville had built very nice wooden signs for the cemeteries in the Town and may be willing to do similar work for the welcome signs.
• Everyone agreed that the signs should say "Welcome to Allenstown, Incorporated 1831". Some ideas for tag lines below this were: "Home of Bear Brook State Park", and "Home of the Great Outdoors".
• Action Items:

• J. Gray will contact Armand Verville about building the welcome signs.
• All will think of other tag lines for the signs.

1. Review and Distribute Mail Received

• 5/31/04, Allenstown Historical Society re: Burgin Cemetery Restoration – D. McKay will follow up.
• 5/20/04, David Jodoin re: 2005 budgets and budget subcommittee meetings – No action
• 6/2/04, NHDES re: Forestry Notification – Reviewed by D. McKay. No action needed.
• 5/04, Letter from Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Fleury – L. Bonk will schedule a meeting with the Fleury’s
• 5/04, NH Lakes Association, 11^th NH Lakes Congress, June 19, 2004 – No action
• 5/04, NHDES Fact Sheet on Residential Trash Burning – No action
• 5/04, Directory of Watershed Resources (CD-ROM), Boise State Univ. – P. Trowbridge will review
• 5/04, A guidebook of Financial Tools (CD-ROM), Boise State Univ. – P. Trowbridge will review
• 5/04, After the Storm (Video) – No action
• 6/2/04, Allenstown Selectmen re: Sale of Town-owned parcels – Discussed previously
• 6/14/04, Allenstown Building Inspector request for a wetlands consultation – L. Bonk will follow up.

1. Confirm Next Meetings:

• The next ConCom meeting and Regional Resources Conservation Commission meeting were confirmed for:

• Allenstown Conservation Commission, Wed., July 14, 2004, 7:00 p.m., Town Hall
• R2C2 Meeting on 7/15/04 at 7 pm (NH Fish and Game, Concord)

1. Adjourn

The meeting was adjourned at 9:15 pm