Greenfield Conservation Committee Minutes

Greenfield Conservation Commission

Meeting Minutes

Recorded by Janice Pack

May 23, 2018

Attendees: Neal Brown, Karen Day, Candi Fowler, Carol Irvin, Stephanie Kokal, Roger Lessard

The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by Chairperson Roger Lessard. The following items were

addressed:

Accept or Amend Previous Meeting Minutes –Roger Lessard distributed the minutes and commission members

reviewed them prior to the meeting. The minutes were accepted as written.

NRI Review Status – The GCC has been working on the Natural Resources Inventory (NRI) for some time, and it

is about 80% done. The edits will be finished, and Karen can do any last-minute revisions necessary. A copy of

the finished NRI will be given to the Planning Board. Carol asked if there was a recommendation from the State

on how often it should be updated. Karen will check.

Dunklee Hill Road culvert replacement – Roger heard from DPW manager Todd Mason regarding a stone

culvert that needs to be replaced. When there is a high-water event, the water goes over the road and it is

washing the road away. There are only 3 houses on the road. The culvert appears to be collapsing. Sanford

Engineering is working up a plan and will give the GCC a copy when it is finished, before any work is done.

Roger is very pleased that Todd is being proactive in communicating with the GCC.

GCC Sponsored program offerings – Loon program May 30 th at 7:00 PM – There is a Loon program coming up,

and posters have been put up announcing it. Roger plans to have Catherine do an email blast. An

announcement has been sent to the Ledger-Transcript, and Karen also sent it to the NHACC. Neal will take

care of adding the event to the sign.

Candi said that the next event will be about butterflies and pending availability, will be held at the Library on

September 19th.

There was also discussion of a possible program on coyotes; Roger said it would be best to find a free program

to stay within budget. Stephanie will call the “coyote lady” to find out the best time of year to hold a program

on coyotes.

Karen wondered if we should save the coyote program for next January and do one on bobcats this year.

Signage for Town Conservation properties update - There is a sign up at George Proctor, so that a new one

won’t be needed. Neal said that David Bridgewater has laid out the font. The GCC decided to produce one

saying “Town Forest”, and erect it on Savage Rd. beyond the George Proctor Recreation Area.

Well water testing for Greenfield residents offered by NHDES - Roger said the program is scheduled for August

13th at 7:30 PM in the Wensberg Room. People will pick up the sampling bottles at the program on Monday

and bring them to the Town Office on Sunday, August 19th. All of the details including pricing will be in THE

SPIRIT. There is a suggested minimum of 15 participants requested for testing, and ways to get the word out

were discussed, including links on the website Candi administers and sending to the EDAC mailing list. The

Commission discussed Candi’s website and sightings and pictures posted.

Pollinator project update - The soil samples were mailed last week to UNH. Roger saw Maggie Sauvain who

said she would try and swing by the meeting house to see what was coming up and make recommendations

for additional planting. Jeremy Gagnon dressed all of the beds this week, and Roger is waiting to see what else

he might be going to do.

The Community Gardens are having a plant sale on Saturday, May 26.

Schedule work sessions to clean up GCC files – The new date to go through the “stuff” is Thursday morning at

9:00, June 14th.

Primer for new members – Discussion on what to leave for the new members when the current Commission

has moved on. This will be discussed further while cleaning up the GCC files.

The CNBRLAC report – Roger has a seat on the Contoocook and North Branch Rivers Local Advisory Committee

which is charged with reviewing what goes on along the rivers. All of the towns along the rivers have members

except Hopkinton and Deering. They do periodic water testing for the rivers. This is the 30th anniversary of the

protective rivers program and Roger suggested having an event to commemorate that sometime in the fall.

Other Business:

Karen asked what happened to the Koch Brown forestry management plan. She thought that was going to be

done at the same time as the George Proctor cut. Carol said different people had become involved and its

been awhile; maybe the plans should be reviewed one more time. The Forestry Committee doesn’t have

jurisdiction over that. It only oversees the town forest off Savage Rd.

Carol still needs to be sworn in to the Commission.

There was discussion on holding a Bee program, or one on protecting our pollinators. Karen will try and find a

presenter. Different options were discussed, including Ray Cilley’s bee house. A budget for the proposed

program was discussed and due to the timing, a vote was taken to allow the event to move forward. Candi

made a motion to allow Karen to look into and book a program costing up to $150. Stephanie seconded the

motion; all were in favor (6-0).

Stephanie made a motion to adjourn; Candi seconded. All were in favor (6-0).

The meeting adjourned at 8:52 pm.

The next regular meeting of the Greenfield Conservation Commission is June 27, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Janice Pack to Roger Lessard for approval, corrections,

distribution, and posting.