Conservation Commission

City of Laconia Conservation Commission Wednesday, January 8, 2019 - 6:00 PM City Hall in the Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber Accepted 2/5/2020 1/8/2020 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Dean Anson called the meeting to order at 6:04PM 2. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chair Dean Anson, Deb Williams, Lisa Morin, Mike Foote, Richard Christopher and Wes Bates (6:40PM). Members Absent: Marnie Schulz Staff: Ashley Ruprecht Guests: Rusty Bertholet representing a proposal to donate land to the City. The Commission saluted the flag. 3. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 3.I. Acceptance Of Minutes From December 11, 2019 L. Morin motioned to approve the minutes of Dec 11, 2019 as presented. D. Williams seconded. There was no discussion. All voted in favor. 4. NEW BUSINESS 4.I. 2020-2021 Budget The Commission discussed the yearly budget that is approved each July. Chair D. Anson asked if money can be moved between line items and if funds are rolled over each year. A. Ruprecht said the budget is approved year to year and not necessarily a roll-over. A. Ruprecht said funds can be moved between sub-account, and will need approval if it's over a certain amount. These funds are separate from the account for milfoil management and purchasing conservation lands/easements, which are not listed. A. Ruprecht to find out what the O/S line item stands for, share the year-to-date funds with the Commission, and find out which sub-account the water quality testing comes out of, and if a separate line item can be created specifically for the testing. A. Ruprecht will also find out when the Commission needs to provide any input for the 2020-2021 budget that will go before City Council this coming July. When larger purchases are made, A. Ruprecht will provide an update to the Commission on the remaining funds. 4.II. Natural Resource Inventory Update A. Ruprecht provided a brief summary of the Natural Resource Inventories (NRIs) that have been conducted in abutting towns. A. Ruprecht pointed out the only person who had a distinction between Phase I and Phase II reports were ones conducted by Rick VanDePoll. A. Ruprecht said that Laconia's  remaining funds. 4.II. Natural Resource Inventory Update A. Ruprecht provided a brief summary of the Natural Resource Inventories (NRIs) that have been conducted in abutting towns. A. Ruprecht pointed out the only person who had a distinction between Phase I and Phase II reports were ones conducted by Rick VanDePoll. A. Ruprecht said that Laconia's NRI from 2009 was is not the youngest or the oldest on the list, and she could not find information on how often they need to be updated yet. L. Morin mentioned that "Sanbornton" is misspelled in the document. A. Ruprecht will correct this. The Commission would like to get an idea on how much an update to the NRI would cost to inform the City Council. Chair D. Anson would like to get information from Meredith to see what their experience was working with Mr. VanDePoll and whether they are thinking of updating their NRI as well. L. Morin recommends finding out from the other towns why they chose a certain level for their town's NRI, and what their costs were. The Commission discussed what changes they may see from updating the NRI and what they would like to potentially do with the updated information regarding development. L. Morin suggested that A. Ruprecht calls Barbara Richter, the Executive Director of the NHACC, to obtain more information and see what she recommends. L. Morin also mentioned that the company who did Laconia's NRI is no longer in business. The NRI will not likely be able to be updated until 2021-2022 at the earliest. R. Christopher expressed interest in potentially seeing if other towns have an interest in a regional NRI. 5. NEW HAMPSHIRE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES APPLICATIONS There were no NHDES applications for review. 6. OLD BUSINESS 6.I. Events 2020 The Commission discussed different ideas for events in 2020 and selected the following to plan for: World Water Day, World Turtle Day, Arbor Day, National Honey Bee Day, World Water Monitoring Day, Sustainability Day, and World Soil Day. 6.II. Perley Pond Update Chair D. Anson stated there is a shopping cart on the ice at Perley Pond that needs to be removed. A. Ruprecht will inform Amy from Parks and Rec. 6.III. Gilford Lake Shore Rd. Culvert Replacement A. Ruprecht checked with Carol Hall from the Gilford Conservation Commission and there were no additional updates at this time. 6.IV. Pickerel Pond Property Update A. Ruprecht said that the preliminary test results for assessing the buildings that the Commission wishes to demolish for hazardous materials were negative for containing asbestos. Additional time is needed to determine if there is lead or other hazardous materials. A. Ruprecht said the results and report are anticipated sometime this week or next. 6.V. Tributary & Paugus Bay Water Quality Sampling There were no updates at this time. Chair D. Anson would like to discuss date to begin sampling in the spring to get prepared. 6.VI. State School Property Update M. Foote stated he saw in the news that they looking into changing the committee that manages the property to an authority, like Pease, and discussed plans to test some of the buildings for hazardous materials. L. Morin will keep the Conservation Commission aware of the status of the project. 6.VII. Cyanobacteria There were no updates at this time. A. Ruprecht mentioned the State only tests from Memorial Day to  M. Foote stated he saw in the news that they looking into changing the committee that manages the property to an authority, like Pease, and discussed plans to test some of the buildings for hazardous materials. L. Morin will keep the Conservation Commission aware of the status of the project. 6.VII. Cyanobacteria There were no updates at this time. A. Ruprecht mentioned the State only tests from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 7. LIAISON AND SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS 7.I. Milfoil Management A. Ruprecht is working with Rich Tilton and Amy Smagula to get the 2020 milfoil grant approved. There were no additional updates at this time. 8. OTHER BUSINESS 9. STAFF REPORT A. Ruprecht will send out updated contact information amongst the Commission. 10. NON-PUBLIC SESSION (ACCORDING TO RSA 91-A:3, II) There was no non-public session. 10.I. Proposed Conservation Land Acquisition Chair D. Anson moved this agenda item after the Commission saluted the flag, and before the previous meeting's minutes were discussed. This topic was not covered during a non-public session. Rusty Bertholet provided a brief overview of a 3.1 acre property that he is proposing to donate to the City. He purchased the property in 2006 and planned to use it for mitigation of wetlands. The property abuts the State Forest. R. Bertholet would like to donate the property to the City for Conservation. He believes he paid approximately $15.5k for the property, which he purchased from the City. R. Bertholet stated that a few abutters expressed some interest in purchasing the property but he would rather have the property kept as conservation land. There is discussion about taxes, lot shape, potential future development in the area, and minimum lot size. The Commission would plan to access the property via the abutting state forest to conduct any walkdowns and assessments. R. Bertholet plans to donate the land at no cost to the City, and he would get a tax deduction. M. Foote asked if there was any waste dumped there that is known. R. Bertholet said no. Chair D. Anson said he will talk with the City Manager about this and if there are any other questions he has before it goes before City Council. A. Ruprecht mentioned she spoke with the City Manager before as well about the property, and provided questions he had at the time. The Commission discussed the environmental factors that would make preserving the land beneficial, and thanked R. Bertholet for his proposal. 11. ADJOURNMENT D. Williams motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:45PM W. Bates seconded. All voted in favor.