Conservation Commission

City of Nashua Conservation Commission City Hall, 229 Main Street, PO Box 2019, Nashua NH 03061-2019 (603) 589-3105 www.nashuanh.gov MINUTES OF THE NASHUA CONSERVATION COMMISSION Tuesday, October 21, 2014 A. Call to order A regular meeting of the Nashua Conservation Commission was called to order on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 at 7:00 PM, in Room 208, City Hall, and Second Floor - 229 Main Street. B. Roll call Chairman Michael Gallagher, presided; Members of the Commission Present: Nicholas Frasca Peggy Trivilino Carol Gorelick Sherry Dutzy Donald Cederquist, Alternate Richard Gillespie, Clerk Members of the Commission Absent: None Also in Attendance: Chris Sullivan, Planning Department Roger L. Houston, Planning Director Chairman Gallagher asked Roger Houston to give an update on the Society for the Protection of NH Forests. Mr. Houston said the City has had discussions with the Gleeson family about obtaining a Conservation easement on the family’s acquired property west of Yudickey Park. We are getting ready to engage the Forest Society to hire a surveyor to mark the bounds of the easement area. We would like to get this done prior to snowfall. The easement will be approximately 10 acres, though there are still some issues Public Works and the Mayor are trying to work out in regards to specifics. Tonight I am seeking the Commission’s approval to contact the Forest Society about getting this work done. Commissioner Gillespie said since they are going to hire someone to post the “No Hunting” signage could this be done at the same time as the survey, and by the same hired crew? Chris Sullivan said no, the signs are going to be put up by the same contractor working on the trails. The surveyors are only going to be dealing with the easement area of the property, and not the area where the signs will be posted. Commissioner Gillespie asked if they needed to specify a limit to the fund for this project. NCC Minutes 10/21/14 Page 1 Mr. Houston said he does not want to specify an amount before speaking with the Forest Society first. Chairman Gallagher said there is roughly $30,000 set aside through the City’s existing contract with the Forest Society. Mr. Houston added that the City has a three-year contract with them. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER DUTZY, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GORELICK, TO ALLOW THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT TO ENGAGE THE FOREST SOCIETY TO HAVE THE EASEMENT PROPERTY SURVEYED IN 2014 MOTION CARRIED C. Approval of Minutes  October 7, 2014 - regular meeting MOTION BY COMMISSIONER GILLESPIE, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GORELICK, TO ACCEPT AND PLACE ON FILE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 7, 2014 MEETING MOTION CARRIED D. Old Business—None E. New Business—None F. Other Business and Updates  Discuss changes to the application review form Chairman Gallagher said the form provided to everyone for the meeting reflects all of the proposed changes. He asked if anyone else had any additional edits. Commissioner Cederquist said he thinks #8 should be moved up. Commissioner Gorelick said it would make sense to reverse #7 and #8. Commissioner Frasca said they should be consistent to how they refer to the NRO. Sometimes the NRO is listed and sometimes just the chapter is listed. The NRO should always be listed. Mr. Sullivan asked why the statement “may be required for a Special Exception” was added in #7. Does this just apply to presenters who come in for informational purposes? Commissioner Gillespie asked if there were ever cases heard by the Conservation Commissioner where a Special Exception was not required. Mr. Sullivan said no, all cases require a Special Exception to work within a wetland or buffer. The “may be” should be changed to “shall be”. He said #9 also needs to remain on the form, for out-of-town applicants. Chairman Gallagher asked if, under #9, they wanted to specify that meeting minutes could be listened to. Mr. Sullivan said yes. NCC Minutes 10/21/14 Page 2 Chairman Gallagher suggested that “wetland application review form” in #5 be changed to just “wetland application”. Also, on a separate note, not all of the email addresses on the City website are correct. Mr. Sullivan said he would have staff check on this.  2015 NCC Meeting Schedule Chairman Gallagher said there was an adjustment made for Labor Day this year, which is not reflected on the 2015 schedule. Is anyone interested in making that change again? The Commissioners agreed that the change was not necessary and did not apply to the 2015 schedule. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER TRIVILINO, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GORELICK, TO ACCEPT THE PROPOSED 2015 NCC MEETING SCHEDULE MOTION CARRIED  Talk about educational signage for the Southwest Trail Project Mr. Sullivan said the educational signs will be 4’ X 24” boards. They are vandal-proof. The maps in the informational kiosk will also be made of vandal-proof materials. He briefly explained the different educational areas that would be covered. He handed out a packet containing research that was done by an intern. He said he wanted to make sure that the Commissioners are in agreement about the topics he is planning to focus on for the signage. Commissioner Dutzy asked how the Boards are built. Mr. Sullivan said he will send the text and pictures to a company in California. This company laminates the information onto the boards. Chairman Gallagher asked how many kiosks there will be. Mr. Sullivan said right now there will be four, possibly a fifth around the Gleason property. The Parks Department requested that solar lighting be added to all of the kiosks. Commissioner Gillespie asked if all of the proposed signage was necessary, or was it possible to eliminate some of it. Mr. Sullivan said a lot of the signage is “private property” signage. Much of the signage is necessary to keep people from getting lost. Commissioner Frasca said the amount of signage at Mines Falls is much lower. Chairman Gallagher said the trails at Mines Falls there are simply indicated by colored markers. Commissioner Trivilino said they could blaze the trails and just post signage that tells people to stick to the trail. Mr. Sullivan said he does not like to blaze trees because it causes damage. NCC Minutes 10/21/14 Page 3 Chairman Gallagher asked if anyone has been to Benson’s in Hudson since it has been converted. They have a kiosk similar to what was envisioned for the Southwest trail. The kiosk has park rules and a map, and also a community calendar and suggestion box. Instead of maps, there is a QR code. Many people have smart phones and would use this feature. Mr. Sullivan said the QR code is how we are going to get our donations. The code will lead people to a website where they can make a contribution. Commissioner Trivilino volunteered to work on the verbiage for the signs. Commissioner Gillespie said he felt as though they could start off with a few fewer signs and add more later on if they felt it was necessary. Mr. Sullivan said there are certain signs he is required to post, but there are certainly signs that can be removed. Commissioner Dutzy said she agreed with Commissioner Gillespie. Chairman Gallagher said in regard to the education portion of the signs, Alderwoman Melizzi- Golja reached out to him. She sits on the Board of NH Project Learning Tree. She will be presenting at the upcoming Annual Conservation Commissioners meeting in Laconia. We may be able to engage them to discuss our educational signage. Commissioner Dutzy said she was planning on attending the meeting. Commissioner Trivilino asked if the trail map and related information will be on the City website. Mr. Sullivan said yes, there will be a small website created in order to obtain donations, and this will contain that information. Chairman Gallagher said he would like to see this website linked from the Conservation Commission page on the City website. Commissioner Gillespie said someone should go through all of the signs to determine which ones can be deleted. Mr. Sullivan said he would do this and will send out the edited sign plan electronically. Commissioner Gillespie asked if there were going to be additional parking spaces at Yudickey. Mr. Sullivan said no, the parking spaces will be at Old Ridge Road. Chairman Gallagher asked when this was going out to bid. Mr. Sullivan said this Friday. Chairman Gallagher asked the Commissioners to have their comments regarding signage to Mr. Sullivan before Friday. G. NCC Correspondence and Communications. H. Items—None I. Project Updates by Commissioners NCC Minutes 10/21/14 Page 4 Commissioner Gillespie said they received a correspondence from Ms. Overby regarding her resignation from the Commission. The Commissioners discussed getting Ms. Overby a gift for her service. He said he would also like to upgrade Commissioner Cederquist to a full member instead of alternate. Commissioner Dutzy said she is receiving weekly updates from Nick Ippolito of Gale Associates. She said she was at the site over the weekend and clearing has been done near Deerwood Drive. The contractor installed an orange safety fence and removed portions of the existing fence along Charron Ave, Pine Hill Rd and Perimeter Rd. They provided access for the tree clearing along the railroad tracks. Due to heavy rains, the tree clearing has been suspended until the weather improves prohibited. Commissioner Gillespie asked if there has been any effort to clean up the debris in that area. Commissioner Dutzy said she knows they are supposed to but she hasn’t been able to check if it has been done yet. Mr. Sullivan said he spoke to Oliver LaPointe, and he would like to know of a date the Commissioners would like to go view the property at 29 Monica Drive. Chairman Gallagher said a lot of the construction has been completed on the house on Main Dunstable Road. Commissioner Trivilino asked what the status was of the Nashua Motor Express. Mr. Sullivan said they are still cleaning the site. The contaminated ground water is undergoing a process called “pump and treat” whereby the ground water is being pumped out into a trailer where it is cleaned and returned into the ground. Commissioner Gillespie inquired about the current list of active projects and stated that it has been a while since projects have been assigned to members of the Commission. J. Nonpublic Session—None K. Adjournment MOTION BY COMMISSIONER DUTZY, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GORELICK, TO ADJOURN MOTION CARRIED Meeting adjourned at 8:00pm. NCC Minutes 10/21/14 Page 5