Conservation Commission

City of Laconia Conservation Commission Wednesday, May 29th, 2019 - 6:00 PM City Hall in the Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber Amended/Accepted June 5, 2019 5/29/2019 - Minutes 1. Call To Order Chairman Dean Anson calls the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. Members Present: Chairman Dean Anson, Vice Chair Deborah Williams, Marnie Schulz, Lisa Morin, Richard Christopher, and Michael Foote. Members Absent: Wesley Bates. Planning Staff: Evan Rathburn and Dean Trefethen There are no guests. There is no one in the audience. 2. Review Of The Previous Meeting's Minutes L. Morin makes a motion to accept the minutes as amended. M. Foote seconds. All in favor. The motion passes. 3. New Business 3.I. Pickerel Pond Easement Walk Discussion about the Pickerel Pond Easement Walk begins. D. Anson says that he and W. Bates meant to perform a walkthrough last weekend but they were not able to perform the walk. The things they will look for during the walk are major issues the property has such as building demolition that is needed and what kind of parking is needed on the property for the public. The commission will ask DPW where to get materials for the parking lot. M. Foote asks whether it would be possible on future easement walks to have a shapefile in the GPS unit at the beginning of the walk so the commission can trace the boundaries of the file and determine where the boundary points of the easements are. E. Rathburn says that he is not sure if they can do that with the GPS unit they have currently but he will check with the GIS coordinator over in Public Works. 3.II. Lakes Congress Meeting Thursday And Friday D. Anson inquires about who is going to the Lakes Congress meeting on the 31st. D. Williams, L. Morin, and E. Rathburn are going in addition to D. Anson. No one has signed up for the session on the 30th. 4. Old Business 4.I. Discussion Of Transfer Of Weed Watcher Money To Lake Host At The Water Street Ramp  D. Anson inquires about who is going to the Lakes Congress meeting on the 31st. D. Williams, L. Morin, and E. Rathburn are going in addition to D. Anson. No one has signed up for the session on the 30th. 4. Old Business 4.I. Discussion Of Transfer Of Weed Watcher Money To Lake Host At The Water Street Ramp Discussion about transferring funds from the Weed Watchers budget items to be used to fund a Lake Host begins. D. Anson says that the commission has $1,000.00 dollars currently in Weed Watchers. He says that the easiest would be to write a check to NH Lakes to be used to fund a Lake Host and then let NH Lakes take over from there. D. Williams gives a brief overview of what grants the commission received for Lake Hosts and at what ramps will have a host posted. E. Rathburn gives a brief report that Eversource is done at the Messer Street ramp. D. Williams asks if the one porta-potty is Eversource's or the City's. E. Rathburn states that the one that is left over is the City. D. Williams says that the City will need to move it away from the water because all porta-potties are required to be 50 feet from the water per state law. D. Trefethen tell the commission they should take a formal vote to transfer the money from the budget item to the Lake Host program. M. Foote makes a motion to transfer money out of the Weed Watchers budget item to NH Lakes to fund a Lake Host at the Fish and Game ramp. L. Morin seconds the motion. All in favor. The motion passes. 4.II. Lake Host Training For Volunteers D. Williams begins discussion about the match hours for Lake Host volunteering. D. Schulz asks when the Lake Host hours are and D. Williams says they are during the week and weekend with it being more intense on the weekend. D. Williams also states that she will be doing a training session for volunteers in the future. 4.III. Perley Pond Update E. Rathburn says that he has not heard from Parks and Rec Department or the State about the Perley Pond property. D. Anson says that now it would be easier to see what limbs would be left behind after a trimming because the tree is blooming. D. Anson also says that when the commission has a estimate to trim the tree, they should present it to City Council. E. Rathburn also updates the commission and says that the City Manager along with the Parks and Rec foreman visited the property with the individual who sent the letter of complaint about the property in the first place so that individual is in the loop about what the City is doing. E. Rathburn also states that he spoke with the surveyor at DPW and that they will look into getting topographic information also about the property. D. Anson also asks if they could do a bathymetric survey also. E. Rathburn is not sure but will ask. Discussion shifts to the drainage for the pond on the property and D. Anson says that when he was at the property it looked like there might be some blockage and that they should think about looking and see if they can unblock the drain. It might be what is make the water level higher than in the past. He is not also sure what the elevation of the outflow is. D. Anson says he is not sure where the outflow connects and E. Rathburn thinks it actually going into the storm drains. E. Rathburn will look to see if he can find information to where the pond pipe outflows. There is some discussion about what will be planted along the edges of the pond. Multiple species of plants are proposed but a specific one is not decided. 5. General Business  There is some discussion about what will be planted along the edges of the pond. Multiple species of plants are proposed but a specific one is not decided. 5. General Business E. Rathburn gives a brief update on where the City is on the subject of the proposed partnership to extend the WOW trail and acquire the easement to access Ahern State Park. He has put together a letter to send to the homeowner who owns the land the easement would be on and will distribute it to the commission for feedback. E. Rathburn also informs the commission that he received their feedback about the milfoil letter draft he sent out and he concurs with the feedback that there should be a letter for each shoreline. One for Winnisquam and one for Paugus Bay. 6. Liaison And Subcommittee Reports There is a brief discussion about the State School property and where the City is in relation to that. D. Trefethen says that there is minimal soil contamination but some buildings are contaminated with Asbestos. The Lakeshore Redevelopment Committee is deciding what to do with the buildings due to some being salvageable. L. Morin gives a brief update on various programs that are currently going on involving the Belknap County Conservation District. 7. New Hampshire Department Of Environmental Services Applications There are no NHDES Wetland permits for the commission to review. 8. Staff Report There is no staff report. 9. Adjournment M. Foote made a motion to adjourn at 7:00 PM. L. Morin seconded. All in favor. The motion carried. The meeting is adjourned. 10. Non-Public Session (According To RSA 91-A:3, II) As amended by the Conservation Commission on June 5, 2019 This meeting facility is ADA accessible. Any person with a disability who wishes to attend this public meeting and needs additional accommodations, please contact the department at (603) 527-1264 at least 72 hours in advance so necessary arrangements can be made.