Members Present: Jim Taylor, Roger Blais, Shannon Barnes, Bill Keating, Tim Dutton, Mike Ruggiero, Debra Huffman, Harold Watson, Newton, Coryell, Chris Christensen, David Rutzke, Ruth Roulx, Janet Cormier, Denise O’Dwyer, Cathy Provencher, Tim Tenhave, Susan Siena, Peter Khan and Lynn Wenz.

Also Present: Jay Minkarah, Community Development Director and Scott McPhie, Community Resources Planner.

Call to Order: Debra Huffman called the meeting to order at 7:10 PM.

Announcements: Debra Huffman announced that the Board of Selectmen has appointed Nelson Disco, Chairman of the Merrimack Planning Board, to the Greens Pond Master Plan Committee.

SnoBuds Presentation: Newton Coryell, a committee member and a charter member of the SnoBuds Snowmobile Club, discussed the use of snowmobiles on the Greens Pond property.

Newton provided a history of the SnoBuds. The SnoBuds currently have 90 members and membership is expected to climb to 100 to 150. He stated that snowmobiles can be used in emergencies, and the SnoBuds have purchased a sled and have helped in several search and rescue operations. They also groom cross-country ski trails at Wasserman Park and run snowmobile safety courses for Merrimack youth.

Newton gave a brief history of the snowmobile. He stated that 80% of snowmobilers are family groups. There are 6300 miles of snowmobile trails in New Hampshire, but Merrimack's trails have been removed from the state trail system because housing development has dead-ended the trails.

Newton explained that snowmobiles are classified as Off-Highway Recreational Vehicles (OHRVs), but he explained that they are very different from other OHRVs, such as All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and dirt bikes. Snowmobiles require a minimum of 4" of snow cover, ensuring minimal damage to trails. Since they run on tracks, the pounds per square inch is very low, about one tenth the pressure of a 250 pound person standing on the ground. Trails can be designed for minimal impact.

ATVs can share snowmobile trails in winter providing the trails are first groomed by the snowmobiles and then frozen. Snowmobile trails are shared with ATVs in North Haverhill, NH, with good results. When trails are not frozen, ATVs and snowmobiles are not compatible.

Use of trails by pickup trucks, on the other hand, is not compatible with snowmobile use. Pickup trucks have dug up the trail under the power lines near the sand pit so badly that snowmobilers can no longer ride on that trail. Trucks are very destructive.

Newton believes that snowmobiles are appropriate on logging roads, power lines, and hard durable trails. He has built bridges over streams on these trails and has examined the stream in the summer and found no damage. He does not believe snowmobiles are appropriate near sensitive areas such as White Pine Swamp.

Newton stated that the land is dead-ended, with private landowners blocking access to extended trails. This will limit use by non-local snowmobilers. He expects users to be local families taking short rides.

If snowmobiling is prohibited, renegade snowmobilers will go out there anyway and police don't have the equipment to monitor use in winter.

Newton believes that permitting snowmobiling can be a benefit because they could groom trails for cross-country skiers and could possibly provide rides for the physically challenged, as they have at Winter Carnival in the past.

Questions from the committee were then requested. Shannon Barnes asked if Newton thought snowmobilers from outside of Merrimack would make use of the property. Newton responded that he did not think so because you could cover the trails in less than an hour and they would get bored. If they load up a snowmobile and drive somewhere they are going to want to cover more mileage.

Lynn Wenz commented that snowmobile trails could turn into a river of ice and be useless to cross-country skiers. Bill Keating agreed, stating that once cross-country skiers establish their tracks they wouldn't want snowmobilers going over them. Newton responded that they could use the groomer as they do at Wasserman Park. He stated that in the Town Forest in Hollis they are successfully sharing trails with horses, cross-country skiers, snowshoers, and snowmobiles. Most riders are respectful of other users. He would support restricting snowmobiles to the roads currently in place and would support developing trails that would be for cross-country skiers only. Roger Blais, another SnoBuds member, agreed. He said that there wouldn't be any additional damage to the roads already in use.

Tim Dutton asked how often trails should be groomed. Newton responded that grooming is best right after a storm while the snow is still wet but not fluffy, so it will pack and freeze. In years when the snow was good, he groomed Wasserman Park every Saturday but recently his path from Amherst Rd has been shut off.

Chris Christensen commented that there seems to be potential synergy between snowmobiles and cross-country skiing since the trails could be groomed. Bill Keating clarified that once the tracks are established snowmobiles should not disturb the tracks.

Ruth Roulx commented that she was once involved in a skiing accident in Vermont and had to ski to a snowmobiler to rescue her companion who had a broken leg.

Debra Huffman commented that there are some areas of the property that are currently very quiet. If a non-motorized trail system is developed into these quiet areas, she asked if snowmobilers would respect the non-motorized trails. Newton responded that he believed they would if there is appropriate signage. Violations will be investigated by the Fish and Game department, which has snowmobiles to patrol if they are told of a problem.

Mike Ruggiero asked if any part of the property could connect to the state trail system. Newton said no, it has been cut off by development.

Chris Christensen asked if trails had to be connected to the state trail system to receive money from the Grant and Aid program. Newton said yes, he believes they have to be connected.

Debra Huffman asked for clarification of whether ATVs and snowmobiles could successfully share trails. Newton said the state received so many complaints about ATVs that they separated the licenses and trails have to be separately marked for ATV or Snowmobile use. They are currently trying to combine usage at Bear Brooks State Park and it works as long as the ATVs allow the snowmobilers to groom the trails first. If the ATV runs on the trail first, they dig it up and it freezes over and snowmobiles can't ever use it.

Lynn Wenz commented that there have been ATVs out there this winter, and Shannon Barnes asked how ATVs affect cross-country skiers. Debra Huffman responded that they make it difficult because their tire track is too narrow to ski in one, too wide to ski in two, and too awkward to ski in the middle of their track.

Shannon Barnes commented that it seemed like ATVs interfere with other users of the property.

David Rutzke asked if there is an ATV organization. Newton responded that there is one at the state level and there are some local clubs. They realize they have a problem. Parents were allowing children to ride with no helmets, no instruction, no registration, and no regulations. They are working to correct this.

Debra Huffman stated that she believed there would be legislation introduced in Concord to restrict ATV use during mud season and asked Chris Christensen to watch for this legislation. He said that he would, since it would come before his Resources committee.

Chris also stated that the SnoBuds are a service organization with 30 years of history in the town. ATVs are less known and therefore a more open question.

Cathy Provencher asked about state insurance. Newton explained that the state insurance was limited to trails connected to the state trail system.

Debra Huffman expressed the opinion that she believed snowmobiles should be allowed on the existing trails because they have been good neighbors and have kept the trials open through the years, but they smell and are loud. She believes five or ten on a given day would be acceptable, but beyond that it would be disruptive. She suggested having a demonstration day for committee members to experience it for themselves. It was decided that the committee would spend time with the SnoBuds at the Winter Carnival on February 22^nd.

In response to a question, Newton reported that children under 12 can operate snowmobiles on their own property but require adult supervision off their property. At age 12 they can take a safety course and ride by themselves.

Sue Siena wondered if usage would go up when we post it to permit snowmobiles. Newton does not believe it will increase by much. Roger Blais noted that people are not likely to trailer to it, and there are more trails in north Merrimack so they are unlikely to come to this property. There are lots of rocks out there so it requires fairly deep snow. Tim Tenhave noted that there is nothing stopping them from using the property now.

Debra Huffman thanked Newton for a very informative presentation.

Goal Statements from Visioning Session: Jay Minkarah distributed goal statements derived from November's visioning session. He stated that this is a first draft to be used to develop a final list of goal statements. He identified items that were repeatedly listed in the composite and aggregate rankings and restated them as goals. He described each goal, showing how each related to the raw data.

Tim Tenhave questioned whether items identified as features necessarily translated to things we wanted to preserve, and cautioned that we should be very careful when we develop goals. Debra Huffman responded that as the committee evaluates each goal they might decide to remove or modify them.

Jay continued by explaining the Additional Considerations section and the Constraints, which are more objective issues to be considered. Any use has to be evaluated against both goals and constraints.

Jay then described two sample matrix formats that will allow readers to evaluate uses at a glance and a sample of a written description of how a particular use is or is not consistent with goals and constraints.

Jay described how the New Hampshire Plating Plan used a series of filters to help categorize potential uses. For example, one filter was Likelihood of Implementation. If a use is not in any plan, the CIP, the town's Master Plan, etc., the property is less likely to be developed for that use.

Ruth Roulx wondered if we should have fewer goals and should clarify which are objectives and which are goals. Jay agreed that we could develop objectives for each goal.

It was decided that the list of goals would be discussed and hopefully finalized at our next meeting. Debra thanked Jay for his efforts.

Timeline: Debra Huffman distributed a schedule for reports from subcommittees. The schedule was agreed upon with minor changes, with the understanding that the end date might slip if need be. It was decided that presentations should be limited to the first meeting of each month, leaving the second meeting for discussions.

Update on Future Speakers: Newton Coryell reported that he spoke to the President of the New Hampshire ATV club. He is tentatively scheduled to make a presentation to the committee on February 3^rd. Debra Huffman reported that the Executive Director of the Beaver Brook Association will present on January 20^th and Brian Wilson of the Merrimack Village District will present on March 3^rd. She has also contacted the Merrimack Police Department.

Tim Dutton asked if the committee might want foresters Jon Nute or Dan Cyr to speak. He will follow up. Lynn Wenz reported that she has spoken with an orienteering group for a possible presentation. Janet Cormier reported that she saw an excellent presentation on trail management on public lands. She and Newton Coryell will follow up.

Reports from Subcommittees:

• Natural Resource Inventory subcommittee - Jim Taylor reported that he has started his report on the stratified drift aquifer map. Debra Huffman reported that New Hampshire Audubon would conduct a wildlife inventory this spring. Janet Cormier suggested that we make it available to the schools. It was decided that Debra would clear it with Audubon and Chris Christensen will bring the idea to the Superintendent of Schools.
• Broader Context subcommittee - The subcommittee report was distributed and will be discussed at a future meeting.
• Template subcommittee - Tim Tenhave reported that they are on track to present a draft template in February.
• Town Liability subcommittee - The subcommittee report was distributed. In essence, RSAs protect the town from liability. Volunteers registered with the town are also exempt from liability.
  
  Tim Dutton questioned how volunteers would be chosen. Tim Tenhave stated that we are not the implementation committee. It was agreed that the master plan would have to state that the town must establish a volunteer registration system in order to comply with protection under the RSAs.
• Naming subcommittee - Denise O'Dwyer is now the spokesperson for this committee since Greg Kirby will be teaching a class and cannot attend committee meetings for the next two months. Denise distributed the report from the subcommittee. The suggested names will be discussed at the next committee meeting.

Approval of Minutes: The December minutes were reviewed. Jim Taylor asked the status of the committee's request to have the Chairman speak to the BOS. Debra Huffman responded that now that there is a timeline to discuss she will request to be placed on the BOS agenda. On a motion by Jim Taylor, the minutes were approved.

Comments: Debra Huffman reported that she has been contacted to discuss a potential Eagle Scout project on the property. She will discuss this with the BOS.

Debra Huffman suggested that it would be best to place some directional markers on the trails before the trail map is widely distributed. Harold Watson strongly agreed. Debra Huffman, Jim Taylor, Lynn Wenz and Newton Coryell volunteered for this task. Sue Siena commented that there are various colors of marking tape on the trails and non-essential ones should be removed.

Adjournment: The meeting adjourned at 9:30.

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