Conservation Commission

City of Laconia Conservation Commission City Hall in the Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber Accepted Oct 2, 2019 9/18/2019 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Dean Anson called the meeting to order at 6:00pm 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Dean Anson, Deb Williams, Lisa Morin, and Wes Bates (6:41PM) Absent: Marnie Schulz, Mike Foote, and Richard Christopher Planning Staff: Dean Trefethen and Ashley Ruprecht Guests: Steve Smith The commission saluted the flag. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 3.I. Acceptance Of Minutes From August 21 D. Williams motioned to accept the minutes from August 21. W. Bates seconds. No comments. All voted in favor. The motion passes. 3.II. Acceptance Of Minutes From September 4 W. Bates requested a correction of a misspelling of his name. D. Williams motions to accept the minutes with the suggested changes. L. Morin seconds. All voted in favor. The motion passes. 4. NEW BUSINESS 4.I. PL2014-0158 Amended Site Plan- Lot #8 "Beechwood" Steve Smith presented the application representing the Remingtons. S. Smith provided a copy of the original site plan and CUP that was approved in 2014. S. Smith explains that since the approval, they have requested an extension each year. S. Smith said this time they will not be extending the original CUP but will be asking for a new CUP where extensions will not be necessary. Initially the wetlands buffer was 30 ft. The wetlands buffer is now 75-ft and the lot would not be a buildable lot with that buffer. S. Smith says the major change is the location of Lot 8. The lot has been shifted to the south to move it further out of the wetland to lessen the impact. Construction and approval notes on the amended site  CUP but will be asking for a new CUP where extensions will not be necessary. Initially the wetlands buffer was 30 ft. The wetlands buffer is now 75-ft and the lot would not be a buildable lot with that buffer. S. Smith says the major change is the location of Lot 8. The lot has been shifted to the south to move it further out of the wetland to lessen the impact. Construction and approval notes on the amended site plan are the same as what was on the original plan. The building is also the same as the original plan. S. Smith stated he has not filed his amended subdivision plan or conditional use permit but he plans to do so in October. This is the first board he's discussed the application with. Chair D. Anson asked what type of vegetation is in the buffer now. S. Smith said it is all wooded. D. Williams asked if the lot has been sold. S. Smith stated the lot has not been sold but there has been some interest shown. Chair D. Anson asked if the property will be connected to sewers. S. Smith confirmed there is municipal sewer. Chair D. Anson asked if this will be a condominium development. S. Smith said it is a unique cluster subdivision, because it is not classified as one in present or past ordinances, but is due to an agreement between the City and original property owner regarding a maximum number of lots and certain things that would happen. Chair D. Anson asked what the triangular area in NW corner would be, which was previously a part of the lot. S. Smith said it would be common area. D. Williams asked if the construction notes were from Conservation Commission. S. Smith stated he believes they are all from the Conservation Commission during past meetings. D. Williams asked if there are any invasives on the lot. S. Smith stated he doesn't know but does not believe so. There is discussion between the commission and the applicant regarding how to prevent future owners of the property from cutting within the wetland buffer. Chair D. Anson asked if a note mentioning "30-ft wetland buffer, no cut zone, not to be disturbed," could be placed on the plans so that when the lot is sold the new owner is aware. S. Smith said he will put a note on the plans. Chair D. Anson also recommended that the same Conditional Approval comments are shown on the drawing. Chair D. Anson would like for S. Smith to provide a list of acceptable activities, or bi-laws, for the common area within the Home Owners Association, to review at the October Conservation Commission meeting. 5. NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES APPLICATIONS There were no applications to review. 6. OLD BUSINESS 6.I. United Way Day Of Caring Event Chair D. Anson stated Conservation Commission will support the WOW Trail and removal of invasive species. A. Ruprecht stated that the meeting point is at the WOW Trail intersection of New Salem St. at 9am on 9/25. A. Ruprecht stated Parks and Rec will be supplying the tools and equipment, the only thing volunteers will need to bring is gloves. L. Morin and D. Williams are unable to attend. Chair D. Anson plans on attending. 6.II. Perley Pond Update  L. Morin and D. Williams are unable to attend. Chair D. Anson plans on attending. 6.II. Perley Pond Update Chair D. Anson asked if they plan to trim the tree rain or shine. A. Ruprecht stated she is not sure but will let Chair D. Anson know if the plan changes. Chair D. Anson recommended Staff has a statement prepared for when public inquiries come in. D. Williams asked if the limbs can be used as memorabilia if they just plan to take them away. A. Ruprecht stated she will ask what Parks & Rec plans to do with the limbs. 6.III. Tributary & Paugus Bay Water Quality Sampling Chair D. Anson said WWN is planning to do another round of sampling of their tributaries which is Durkee Brook which he will be participating in. Chair D. Anson stated it could be helpful for A. Ruprecht and will let her know when they plan to do the sampling. L. Morin added that she knows last year someone was complaining about a discharge in Durkee Brook last year. Chair D. Anson said Durkee Brook has the highest conductivity readings of any of the samples, which he suspects is caused by runoff from the parking lot of the adjacent business. L. Morin added it could be from snow storage. Chair D. Anson stated we can test further upstream to see if we can determine the source. W. Bates joins at 6:41PM A. Ruprecht stated she has not yet heard back from NHDES about supplies since the buffers have expired. Chair D. Anson stated this year we can use WWN's supplies and then purchase buffers for early next year. A. Ruprecht stated she scheduled the next round of deep water samples on Paugus Bay for 9am on October 3rd at the Water Dept. Chair D. Anson will be attending. 6.IV. State School Property Update D. Trefethen stated there was a meeting Tuesday and they are in limbo since the State budget has not yet been approved. They are proposing to change the commission to an authority, which would give them more power to manage and sell the property. L. Morin asked if there would be a public hearing. D. Trefethen stated it would be done as a legislative action at the state level. D. Trefethen stated that it wouldn't change the process in Laconia since the State is exempt from local regulations, although they usually go through the process as an advisory. D. Trefethen stated the State would sell the land to private owners, and the land would likely be subdivided for specific proposals. 6.V. Pickerel Pond Property Update Chair D. Anson asked when the City would do the cleanup work at the property. A. Ruprecht stated it would likely be when the ground is frozen, in the winter, and she will talk with DPW to establish a tentative date. 6.VI. Cyanobacteria No update at this time. 7. LIAISON AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS 7.I. Milfoil Management  No update at this time. 7. LIAISON AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS 7.I. Milfoil Management Chair D. Anson stated that ProcellaCOR has been applied and divers are working in the water currently. 8. STAFF REPORT A. Ruprecht stated that the NHACC Annual Conference is on Saturday, Nov 2 and requested that members RSVP to her by October 17 with the 3 sessions they would like to attend. L. Morin added that NHACD has a stream conference on October 17 and Local Food Dialogue October 18. A. Ruprecht stated she will send out the information once L. Morin provides it to her. Chair D. Anson mentioned a study the Lakes Region Planning Commission (LRPC) has done and discovered the cell service in the area is not as good as what has been told. The LRPC will be following up with the carriers to make sure something is done to improve the service in the Lakes Region. L. Morin asked if A. Ruprecht would be maintaining the Facebook page for the Conservation Commission. A. Ruprecht stated the page no longer exists. D. Williams stated there is still a page on the website. D. Trefethen stated that there could be a Facebook page for making announcements that does not allow for comments. Chair D. Anson mentioned LRPC's initiative to look at sceptic systems and making it a requirement that when a residence changes hands that they need to test the system. D. Trefethen stated he's not sure how Council will receive the request to implement something similar in the City. A high percentage of the City is on public sewer. D. Trefethen will discuss further with Susan Slack from Moultonborough since they are in the process of implementing the ordinance. Chair D. Anson asked for an update on wake boats. L. Morin stated September 23 there is an organizational meeting to discuss the topic. There will most likely not be public input. L. Morin will send the information to A. Ruprecht who will provide it to the rest of the Conservation Commission. Chair D. Anson stated in a survey of 500 boats at the NHFG ramp off Water St., none said they have a ballast tank. 9. ADJOURNMENT D. Williams motioned to adjourn the meeting. W. Bates seconded. All voted in favor. The meeting adjourned at 7:18PM