Mine Falls Park Advisory Committee

Mine Falls Park Advisory Committee- Sept. 10, 2012 Minutes ATTENDEES: Leo Parker, Joshua Segal, Greg Andruskevich,David Silva, Nick Caggiano, Sherm Sewell, Richard Gillespie, Mike Dillon, Peter Testa, Mark Soucy, Ed Moran: Guests: Pam Anderson TOPIC LEAD DISCUSSION / CONCLUSIONS 1. Approval of minutes Joshua - Meeting called to order by committee chairman Joshua Segal at 7 p.m. - Minutes approved unanimously with no changes. 2. Park and Rec Nick - Called the second water chestnut harvest very successful with 230 tons of it removed this time for a total of 750 tons removed in two harvests from the Nashua River and Mill Pond. - Report due if another treatment necessary next year. - Mark Soucy asked if that would include the milfoil report and it will. - Commended John Fisher for volunteering in collecting the chestnuts close to shore in his boat and bringing them to the Dumpster. Summer interns Jennifer and Hannah collected the biomass he brought in. -Bases in for four new signs. Adjustments have to be made for others as utilities and water found in places signs were to be located. - Millyard entrance sign will be moved to base of Stairway to Seven. Will look to keep the old sign up as suggested by Joshua. - Skim coat on Whipple Street entrance: paving contract to go out in the fall. Will look at coating parts of the Red Trail also. -Log debris in the canal nothing done yet but eventually will be done. Dick Gillespie suggested project now wait to be awarded in the spring. Hope to remove years of stuff which has collected in the canal. - Amazed by the crowd pictures at the Gatehouse taken at Trail Day. - Working with DES and Pennichuck to see if 1, 5 million gallons of water removed monthly from the canal to irrigate the soccer and softball fields has an effect on the canal. The 1.5 gallons does not include that removed to irrigate the school fields. Water at 10 cubic feet per second flows from the Gatehouse to the Mill Pond. -To Maximize flow to the canal the sluices would have to be raised. - Water taken from the canal to water the fields appears to be m minimal but will still work on it to be sure. - It was mentioned the power company which operates the hydro facility gives the city only $100,000. Contract's 30th anniversary is 2014 and city has a 90-day window to enter discussion. - Nick called the park pretty clean in his visits to it recently and praised the committee members who regularly volunteer their time to pick up trash in the park. - Dave Silva was disturbed by the lack of enforcement on drinking in the leased lot by UPS and along Whipple Street. He related he picked up 45 beer cans last Trail Day in the lot and wonders why police don't enforce the no drinking laws in this area. He called it discouraging to clean the park and then find this mess just outside the park with people partying illegally and nothing done about it. - Suggested that those who issue permits to use the softball and soccer fields to read the riot act to those groups in violation of the city ordinances. - Nick stated he needs date and time of those doing this activity and it will be dealt with. Much discussion followed on this. Dave said when he calls police he expects them to show up. This activity has to stop. 3. Chair notes Joshua - Thanked Dave for bringing up the Whipple Street trash problem and the leased parking lot in particular so his notes wouldn't be as lengthy.  2009 Meetings: Jan 5, Feb 2, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, Aug 3, Sept. 14, Oct.5, Nov. 2 , Dec 7 WEB SITE: http://www.gonashua.com  2009 Trail Days April 18, May 16 , June 13, Aug. 22, Sept. 26, Oct. 24 Page 1 of 2  Mine Falls Park Advisory Committee- Sept. 10, 2012 Minutes ATTENDEES: Leo Parker, Joshua Segal, Greg Andruskevich,David Silva, Nick Caggiano, Sherm Sewell, Richard Gillespie, Mike Dillon, Peter Testa, Mark Soucy, Ed Moran: Guests: Pam Anderson TOPIC LEAD DISCUSSION / CONCLUSIONS 4. Old Business All. - Boulders or other method to block the cliff on the Red Trail Can't see placing boulders as an obstacle as people would just go around it. Suggested knocking down the cliff and that would entail getting too many permits to accomplish the work and then be more costly as the material which fell would have to be collected. - Nick is leaning to putting in a chain link fence though Joshua feels that is easy for vandals to just cut down. - Nick stated it could be a green fence and Dick said that eventually the fence would be covered with growth anyway and couldn't be seen as readily. - Suggestion made to put a boulder at the top of the cliff too. -Privacy fence suggested but that would be a target of taggers. 5. New business All - Trail Day tasks. - Main task the Red Trail which Dick termed badly rooted and eroded. He will lead this team which will utilize log water bars in several spots and fill in behind them. Will need 6 to 8 people starting at each end of the trail and meet in the middle. Leo Parker will lead the second team. - Dick will meet with Park-Rec crew for cutting some logs ahead of time. -Mentioned contacting EMS to see if they may help on our Trail Day instead or in addition to their Oct. 18th event. - Cove Trail reclamation and placing of wood chips headed by Joshua. - Peter and Mark heading up registration. - Pam and Mike will be docents in the Gatehouse. - Now is a good time to cut down knotweed with an axe, knife or sickle. Knotweed apparently has come out at the edges of the knotweed tarp experiment. -Nick thanked committee members and said the committee does good stuff in the park. Members thanked Nick for listening to the venting about beer cans in the leased lot and Whipple Street area. - The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m.  2009 Meetings: Jan 5, Feb 2, March 2, April 6, May 4, June 1, Aug 3, Sept. 14, Oct.5, Nov. 2 , Dec 7 WEB SITE: http://www.gonashua.com  2009 Trail Days April 18, May 16 , June 13, Aug. 22, Sept. 26, Oct. 24 Page 2 of 2