Courtroom at Town Hall
7:30 P.M.
Members Present: Helynne Wenz, Janet Cormier, Debra Huffman, David Rutzke, Newton Coryell, Harold Watson, Tim Tenhave, Karen Mattor, Jim Taylor, Bill Keating, Shannon Barnes, Ruth Roulx
Also Present: Scott McPhie
Call to Order: Tim Tenhave called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.
Announcements:
There is a wetlands presentation at the next Conservation Commission (CC) Meeting on June 14th at 7:00 p.m.
The Board of Selectmen (BOS) approved the Eagle Scout projects on the property and now the Scouts are moving forward.
The Jeep incident driver was David Gagne. Captain Doyle emailed Tim and said his sentence was continued for 6 months.
There is no July meeting, but we will meet on August 2nd. The subcommittees will still meet.
The Forest and Resource Management Plan is being done this summer by Dan Cyr and Ann Poole. They went in front of the Merrimack Conservation Commission (MCC) and explained what they are doing. Their project is handled by the MCC since the MCC is financing it.
Ruth, of the Heritage Commission, said work on creating a passive recreation trail on the Old King’s Highway is going ahead. She will keep us informed.
The Watanic Bowmen will have a shoot on the property on June 19th and 20th, and are doing prep work on the 18th. John Hall, President of the Club, Walter and Tim had a meeting to discuss the shoot. There will be warning signs.
Pat Morse (423-8501) is the contact person for subcommittees to get conference rooms for their meetings.
Tim said John Buckley, Denise and Connie called to say they could not attend this meeting. He said you could see the meeting on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday on the Town cable channel 20.
Since there were no public participants at the meeting, the committee went over the minutes of May 3rd. Janet Cormier made the motion to accept the minutes. All approved with Ruth and Karen abstaining since they were not at the last meeting.
Tim said he finalized the minutes of August 18, 2003, which was the last meeting of the Master Plan Committee, before the project was given to the BOS and the town. He wanted to put it on the web and wanted to bring closure to the Master Plan Committee. All approved while Shannon and Ruth abstained since they were not at that meeting.
ATV Wetland Signs: Walter is ordering them and they will take 1-2 weeks to have done. He will speak to Ernie at DPW to find out the color for the signs. They may not want to use trees but instead use posts although Karen said the MCC uses the trees and if they’re put higher up they are less likely to be taken down. Tim also told Walter they need carry in, carry out signs to let people know they should carry out with what they bring in. John Buckley, Tim, David, Denise and her son Ryan put out more signs. Tim catalogued and mapped them and gave a map to Walter and Captain Doyle. Three of the old signs had been removed and were replaced. The newer signs are more rugged, orange, and especially reflective. One was put at the Gauthier access road. During the time the group was installing the signs, Tim and others took a picture of a motorcycle and rider who should not have gone on the property. Tim passed information about the rider to the Police Department.
Bill Keating said he was riding his bike and saw a makeshift bridge at the end of “Spaulding Trail”. Bill had wanted to know if this bridge could be removed. Newton thought it was built originally more than 20 years ago. Karen thought that because it’s part of the trail, it has a benefit of a crossover of the wetlands. Debra said this trail might be discontinued because it goes to someone’s backyard.
Trail Subcommittee: Debra said she, Dave Cote (leading the Eagle Scout project for the Wasserman Heights Trail), and Ernie Buck (the Parks Maintenance Foreman) had walked the Wasserman Heights trail. Ernie is also looking into trail standards for the town. Ernie would like to see all of the trails uniform in town and that trail makers should follow established standards. The Trails subcommittee got a copy of a Trail Master plan template. Tim talked with Walter about the Trails subcommittee doing the Trail Master Plan and Walter said it was ok for them to proceed. Debra said the subcommittee had divided the property into nine sections and will be working to learn, sketch the current trails, and propose trails for the Trails Master plan. The subcommittee will need the input from the Forest and Resource Management Plan. The subcommittee has representatives from a local mountain biking club looking at possible areas for trails for mountain bikes. Harold said he is concerned with the open wells. He was told that one is actually in Wasserman’s Heights Development so it is not on the HHNP property. The question was asked how you temporarily block up an old well. Sand was mentioned which can be sucked out and is safe. You don’t have to fill all the way up. Dave Rutzke said the one in Helynne’s district should be covered even if it’s not on the trail. Shannon has the historical aspect of the property.
Parking Subcommittee: Andy was not there but Tim said he corresponded with Walter and there is a slight disconnect there. It will be looked into. The Forest Management Plan needs to be done. The MCC will ask that the 2 areas, (the Amherst Rd. parking lot and Wasserman Heights Trail) be looked at early to be sure they are ok. Ed (DPW director) will determine what DPW can do. Tim explained that you have to figure out what tasks are to be done, the volunteers or business people who could possibly help, etc. with the clear cut as an example. They haven’t gone forward yet with the Amherst Rd. parking lot and will look into the PSNH parking areas on Naticook Road as well.
Cleanup Subcommittee: Tim said they will meet again in August and haven’t met since the cleanup. For the large items the Parking subcommittee will need to meet with DPW so DPW can determine budgeting impacts and determine if they can remove them. It is a possibility for the committee to do this without town money.
Funding Subcommittee: Shannon said the subcommittee needs to look at the funding needs, prioritize, and ask what the full committee wants for funding. Then they need to learn what ways are available.
Historic Subcommittee: Dave said they met on May 25th and talked about the Old King’s Highway and are continuing their research.
Athletic Fields Subcommittee: Janet said they are determining potential areas for fields. And they can’t proceed because they are waiting for the Forest and Resource Management Plan to be done and won’t meet until this time. They are leaning towards the NW corner.
Update from staff: Scott said that the large trash items should be pinpointed on a map with a GPS and mentioned this could be part of the Eagle Scout project. A map could be given to Public Works. He said they are progressing with the Forest and Resource Management Plan and when it is done many things will be able to get approval. Signage will be here anytime and he will follow up on it. The State division that makes the signs in the past has taken only 2 weeks. He again reminded everyone about the wetlands presentation on June 14th at 7 p.m. He said it would be good for ATV clubs to see since ATVs can’t go through wetlands without an approved crossing and the speaker will talk about Best Management Practices. Scott said he will follow up on things with Walter.
Tim said the new BOS representative is Chuck Mower and Tim had a discussion with him. Tim told Chuck that the “door is open” to new community residents who want to be part of the Committee. Tim talked to Chuck, about the budget, makeup of the committee, and current subcommittee actions. Chuck did not see any roadblocks. Tim said he also talked to Walter on May 28th. Tim said his focus is to have money so the Town can accomplish what they would like to. Thus far, HHNP has no budget for the next year so we have to determine a way to get money in. Possibly through grants. The Funding subcommittee has to develop a justification for money. The Funding Subcommittee will have a plan done by August to make recommendations to staff. Walter is in favor of this and Tim and Walter discussed a line item in thee budget, Capital Improvements, and possibly a Capital Reserve account. Another possibility is donations by individuals and businesses who can donate money or human hours/service (ie parking lot). Walter is encouraging a donation account. The Committee would have to go before the BOS and then have a public hearing. Tim didn’t cover grants yet with Walter. Dave asked how much money is required and Shannon commented that they need the priorities established first (ie trails, historical signs?) Harold thought that a line item budget is a good way to go but it takes time. Donations would be better since it could be immediate. The line item in the budget also needs to be spent in the fiscal year. Ideas mentioned were a 50/50 raffle instead of just contributions, marathons, silent auction and sponsoring space (ie parking lot).
Dan Cyr will identify the boundaries of the property and Tim said he offered to help. The Eagle Scout who is putting the trail system on the map with his GPS could also accompany him. They will involve the abutters too. The complete definitive plan done by staff should be done by the end of the month but Scott said they are so overloaded this might not happen. Tim offered the Committee’s help and reaffirmed the importance of funding since for them to be good stewards of the property they need money to maintain it.
Assistance to Emergency Staff: Tim said the emergency folks in Town might need help to develop their plans. Tim also said Dave from the rescue squad at a BOS meeting said Dave would like a GPS map to help him get around the property. Walter said the subcommittee could organize this. Tim will make contact with the police, fire and emergency crew. Shannon asked if they could get through trails with their equipment and Debra said only through the bigger ones. Tim said they should just wait until the emergency staff tells them what they need.
Other Tasks: A list was passed around of other project ideas for the property including marking the boundaries, dealing with target shooting and stopping the trucks from going on Old Kings Highway and Gauthier Roads. Debra said she would like to move forward on naming trails since these are needed but it was decided that they need a map first. Karen said that the Eagle Scout who did trail work on the Wasserman’s Park conservation property got to name the trail, Bear Facts Trail. Janet thought this property was different since that went through Parks and Recreation and there were not as many hoops to go through. Tim thought maybe colors were a possibility at this point. But Debra thought they should wait until the trails are created. There were 8 items on the list and two were already being worked upon: #1 marking the boundaries although Dan said he’s not a surveyor and #5 GPS property which was being done by the Eagle Scout. Debra and Dan talked and she will walk around with him and contact abutters to deal with any problems. Newton thought that abutters should be contacted by postcard since this is cheaper postage. Shannon thought that maybe a nice slogan, “Greetings from HH!” should not alarm residents about a government letter. Scott said the MCC already sends out folded messages notifying residents. Debra said she has a list of all the abutters. Bill Keating said maybe the Assessors office could go over the list.
The #2 item on the list was about target shooting and because of all the legal issues this could get complicated. Debra and Karen offered to work on this. It was said that Chris Christenson had a lot of information on target shooting at the State level and he would be a good advisor on this issue.
The #3 item was how to stop trucks on HHNP and maybe Old King’s Highway and Gauthier Road. They don’t have permission to do this now on HHNP. Someone noted there was an article in the Telegraph on Class 6 Roads. Shannon asked how many people should contact a lawyer? Dave Rutzke thought they should ask the BOS if there could be temporary barriers to stop them. They could stop first with the barricade and then deal with the legal issues. It could be a Jersey barrier or a gate. It could be blocks with 4-foot on center spacing so someone can get through. Harold said this is an immediate way and it will go to court possibly. Dave added that because it is Town property they have the right to limit access to the property especially since trucks are dumping junk there. Debra said that we can’t block PSNH and the Class 6 road. Jim Taylor thought the Class 6 road can be blocked. Newton said he’ll work on this issue since he has contacts with PSNH. Debra and Helynne want to work on this issue too.
The #4 item was seasonal activities and Shannon said she definitely wanted to work on this. Possibilities include Earth Day, cross country ski day, snowmobile day, mountain bike day, a Fall hike through the foliage. Helynne thought it was important to keep having activities. Shannon said they could bring bags for trash pick up when they hike. Shannon thought Tim’s idea was good about cleanup when you hike.
The #6 item was about crossing through the sandpit. Debra said this should be covered through the Trail Subcommittee and they are looking into this. It was noted that the water is getting worse in that area.
It was decided that it was too soon to discuss item #7, partners with schools.
Already discussed #8.
Assisting with definite plan was discussed since the definitive plan was not done yet. Tim said it was something that the full committee is willing to help on.
Dave asked what happened at the end of the real Committee last year. Dave was told the Master Plan was all approved by the BOS except Section 9.1, the Management Section. The Staff instead was charged with creating a definite plan and would use the recommendations of the Master Plan. Meanwhile our Committee would become an Ad-Hoc committee. The BOS would need to approve any future recommendations for what could happen. Dave was concerned that were not getting back up and the recommendations are not moving forward. Shannon said that because the Town Manager and Community Development Director are gone and they’re in the process of filling these 2 positions it might be due to this. Scott said after the Forest Management Plan is done everything can be moved forward and reminded everyone that it had only been 6 months and we need to wait for this Forest Plan to see what areas of the property have restrictions. He said it had been a busy year for the Community Development Department. The Forest Plan will be done at the end of September and we can’t speed this up (eg. To determine wetland crossings.) Janet added that they are actually ahead of schedule since it takes many town projects an average of 4 years to get done and thought that having a Master Plan done in 2 years is an accomplishment. While we have just been planning we already have the foundation and have experienced committee members with experience on other committee. She added that we should be very grateful for the MCC since the MCC funded the Forest Plan and once this is done we can move forward. Debra added that we are better off now than we were 6 months ago. Walter has been a good guy to work with, said Debra, and in a year they will see a quantum leap in everything. Shannon asked to support Committee and staff who are overwhelmed. Tim brought up it would be a change in the charge of committee but it was decided that it’s too early to change the structure without the Forest Plan. Walter is now the new permanent Community Development Director and he will let us do what we want within the current tasks of the committee. Tim told Shannon that we have to wait for the definite plan. Ruth concluded that after the Forest Plan (thanked the MCC for the funding) everything will come into place and we can focus on activities and plans. Scott said the ‘ducks are in a row’ and Janet added that people have to have a chance to get comfortable with their jobs. Scott said that Walter was deemed good in that he is a physical planner and has the required background. Debra added that the Town was fortunate to get Walter. Helynne said she was looking forward to the grand opening and getting it approved.
The committee unanimously voted to have Tim contact Walter and let Walter know that the full committee would like to work on items #2 through #4 on the list.
Comments from Public: Mike Thompson (99 Joppa Rd.) said he felt the Forest and Resource Management Plan was important. He said it would let the Public see the committee is doing something.
Comments from Committee Members: Debra mentioned that Ann Poole said that Ann has recommended our Master Plan to another Town.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:11pm.