Conservation Commission

MINUTES OF THE LACONIA CONSERVATION COMMISSIONS July 6, 2016 CITY Hall Room200B Approved at the July 6, 2016 meeting I. CALL TO ORDER: Dean Anson opened the meeting at 6:00 PM. LACONIA MEMBERS PRESENT- Dean Anson, Deb. Williams, Lisa Morin, Marnie Schulz, Mike Foote and Dick Christopher STAFF PRESENT- Scott McPhie, Conservation Planning Technician, (final meeting) II. Review of the Minutes: Review of the minutes of the June 6, 2016 meeting minutes. L. Morin made a motion, seconded by M. Schulz to approve the June 6, 2016 minutes as written. The motion passed 6-0-0. Dean Anson made a motion that was seconded by L. Morin to forgo the majority of the agenda tonight. In its place the Laconia Conservation Commission will make this meeting a summary of the multiple projects and goals S. McPhie, planning staff, created or managed and successfully steered to completion over the past six plus years. The Conservation Commission, as a group, wanted these minutes to reflect there positive recommendations of his work. PLANNING DEPARTMENT RELATED: • All tree cutting within 50-feet of water. A site visit is required along with photographic documentation, and a follow up letter citing the ordinance. • All tree cutting within landscape buffers of cluster subdivisions require a site visit and letter approving the cutting. • Weekly or bi-weekly site walks of all construction sites predominately focusing on those approved by the Planning Board. Site checks forms to be filled out and recorded in hard copy and electronic form. Weekly e-mails sent to the Planning Director before the finalized site plan is completed. • Generate all follow up calls and letters to the owners, engineers or on site decision makers to assure the approved PB signed site plan is continually being used on site. • Bring attention to the Planning Director concerning any deviation from the site plan so it can determine if a waiver is required. • Communicate closely with Public Works, Water, and Fire to justify why onsite changes to the plan make sense and should be supported. • Send all completed site checks to the Planning Director who reviews and forwards to Sheila to place on file. • Analyze the complete site plan for planning related comments, in particular for environmental related items and wetlands CUP questions. Complete the TRC 1 & 2 memos to be sent to the Planning Board. • Create letters to the Planning Board, when necessary, to address any environmental applications that do not need to go before the Planning Board. • Finalize the Mike Redding drafted, Shanna Saunders, Luke Paul, and Scott McPhie approved stormwater changes working with the Conservation Commission and Planning Board. • Follow up on all site plan conformance with a final site check before the CO is issued. Taking this action will make sure the official as built is stamped, contains finalized language, and agrees with the final on site results. • Provide feedback to the Planning Director on the need for a temporary Co. • Follow the PB approval process for tree cutting at the AKWA Vista development. Visit the site and pass information to the Assistant Planning Director who will generate a letter of approval with any conditions. A follow up visit is always required in case additional trees need to be added. • Write all enforcement letters for any non-compliance for stormwater, brownfield related items, improper storage of toxic materials, and sediment movements off site or toward wetlands. (any environmentally related concern) • Attend all preconstruction meetings at Public works to make sure the official PB signed plan is in hand. The contractor is made aware of all site stability BMP's at this time. (Rocked Construction entrances etc.) • Write and create and co-present all Con Com related ordinance changes and updates • Comment to Council when any land decision may impact our ordinance structure • Act or assist on any zoning related violation that impacts the environment • Assist the zoning administrator with occasional enforcement picture taking etc. • Work with all residents to guide them through the CUP wetland process • Assist the Public Works Department with Innovative stormwater device testing, maintenance, and support letters for various projects • Work with all residents on basic State wetland and dock related forms with the understanding that they must contact the State as well before they submit their application. • Cre~eamo~h~PBu~a~ • Expand the water quality overlay district ordinance language to require or request water testing for any site plan located within the Paugus Bay water supply watershed area. • Continue to remove as many direct discharge pipes as possible from our water-bodies. Since this is a difficult task with current conditions always consult with Public works to make sure this is possible. • Consider developing language for a local porta ""potty"" ordinance. It should require them to be removed after any event. (See State restrictions Chapter Env-Wq. 1600 and Wq.1400) • Conservation and Planning Board approved buffer awaiting Laconia City Councils signature for the 30-foot wetland protection buffer for perennial and intermittent streams. Conservation Related Tasks: • Deep water testing twice a month from June to late September or when the water temperature turns over. Take additional total phosphorus samples and process some samples in house. All final samples should be sent to Pat Tarpey. WWA, via-Fay's Boat Yard in Gilford. • All tributaries of Paugus Bay tested twice a month June -September. TP Phosphorus samples. E-mailed forms to NHDES (Ted Walsh). • Take samples with Laconia owned water testing equipment for smaller contractors to test outflow pipes before, during and after construction when needed to assure the site is actually stable. • Require larger projects to hire a water tester when older stormwater infrastructure upgrades are completed. Doing so actually test the required stormwater report. (Pre, During, and Post) • Act as the Bacteria Grant primary water tester for e-coli, suspended solids, and total phosphorus. All samples to be delivered to the State Health Labs in Concord. Ask VHB to handle the testing in my absence. Other Con Com members may need to sign up as secondary testers to meet grant requirements. • Create all agendas for the Conservation Commission to include all subcommittee items on the same agenda to reduce the need to meet at separate times. • Currently the Con Com has an: 1. Open space subcommittee which Mike Foote is the Chair of. Staff does all the follow up and correspondences and research. Mike does the outreach and resident needs research as well. 2. A streams Subcommittee which Dean Anson and planning staff are currently targeting (Black Brook). Lisa Morin and Planning and Public Works Staff (Durkee Brook). Jewett Brook is being worked on by (Lisa Morin and Deb. Williams). 3. Invasive Aquatics, Susan Perley, Chair and Dean Anson. An Agricultural Subcommittee was created. Lisa Morin, Chair and Dick Christopher (This is a follow up on one of the suggestions of the Draft Natural Resources section of the Master plan). They hope to be heavily involved with the State School process. • The United Way Day of caring volunteer event in September creates environmental cleanup projects to educate invasive species removal and stream clean-up projects. • The Conservation Commission has trained individuals to act as advisors for small rain garden projects in the City. Lisa Morin, in her capacity as the Coordinator for Belknap County Conservation District has offered to be the contact point. (We should consider adding language to our zoning ordinance for rain garden or similar device installs depending on soil conditions. Doing so will improve water quality at the house lot level).  • Serve on the newly created Winnisquam Watershed Association to provide technical expertise and information to the LRPC for improvements to this watershed. Particular emphasis now is on milfoil controls. Staff, Dean & Lisa(Belknap County Capacity) • Attend Winnipesaukee Watershed Association Sessions to assist with various tasks. (Staff). • Pursue grant funding for either open space acquisition projects or Water quality infrastructure projects. • Send a fall and spring clean-up letter to all open or soon to be open construction sites to emphasize the need to stabilize in late September to early October and add additional erosion controls in anticipation of the spring mud season. • Continue to send Amy Reardon at Public Works information that can be used on various GIS map layers to benefit future projects. Currently there should be an invasive map, a Paugus Bay direct discharge map, and the State created invasive Aquatics map. A Laconia well map will be generated soon.(this meets a Con Com Master plan objective) • I have created an open space map and taken the NRI map and overlaid various layers on it showing aquifers and other relevant useable information. (You might want to keep some of my hard copy maps in case the data gets lost over time). • The wildlife action plan project at the transfer station has full participation from the entire Conservation Commission. Pollinator gardens, Blue Bird habitat restoration, and Girl Scout participation. Invasive species education material will be located in the recently completed kiosk that will be installed soon. The Master Gardner's listed below will help Waste Management maintain the project. (Marnie Schulz and Lisa Morin/ Belknap County). • Lead the process of open space easement purchases or outright use of current use funds. The Pickerel Pond Area is designated at the Primary focus area. The secondary focus is the Langley Cove/ Prescott Farms area. Property linkage with trails and other easements helps establish priorities that agree with the Master plan. • Walk all City managed Conservation easements and fill out yearly forms as required in the deed. The time frame is Early October to early November. Follow up letters are required when deviations from the easement language exists. • Continue to use the new Natural Resources section of the Master plan to finalize any remaining goals. Scott McPhie, Planning Technician, Conservation Dean Anson, Conservation Chair