Warner Conservation Commission

Minutes of Meeting (unapproved) 

March 2, 2011, 7:00 P.M.

Attending: Nancy Martin, Mimi Wiggin, Russ St. Pierre, Doug Allen, and Jim McLaughlin (recording).

Also Peter Ladd.

Minutes of the Meeting of February 14, 2011 - The minutes of the meeting of February 14, 2011 were approved as submitted.

Peter Ladd - Two Projects

Peter Ladd met with the Commission to discuss the status of his work on restoring a small, minimum impact dam in the Warner River on his property. He has secured all necessary State permits and has worked closely with Fish and Game on the project, particularly on the installation of a natural fish passage that will allow native fish to move past the dam. He said work on the dam will be complete this summer. He showed the Commission photos of the dam and fish passage. Peter said that his long term plans were to install a small hydro turbine at the end of a sluice way below the dam to generate power, but that the permitting process may be too long and expensive for him to pursue.

Peter’s second project is his plan to install an historic 1893 iron bridge that he acquired from the Town of Salisbury across the Warner River, connecting to a 12 acre parcel that he owns. He is bringing this land back to agricultural use and has cattle grazing there now. Without the bridge to gain access to this parcel, Peter must travel 2 1/2 miles through others’ property to reach this land. He spoke of raising vegetables there at some point. The bridge is in storage in Bradford, while Peter gets the necessary NHDES permits for the bridge. The abutments will be on either bank and not in the river itself. He asked for the Commission’s endorsement as part of his application to DES. Currently he is having hydrologic engineering done to determine the flood levels at this location. He has obtained supporting letters from NHDOT, Historic Resources, the Town of Salisbury, and the Merrimack County Conservation District. When asked about impacts on recreational boaters and the bridge height, Peter said that kayakers generally pull out of the river above this point. The only difficulty someone in a boat could encounter in navigating through the bridge would be at flood stage, when a portage might be necessary.

Recap - Meeting with Planning & Zoning Boards

Discussion of the meeting on February 14 with members of both boards to see how the Commission might be of assistance in land use regulation. There was general agreement that the Commission is ready to provide consultation on projects that come before the Planning Board. Jim observed that there has been next to no subdivision or site plan review activity this past year.

Conservation 

Sturms - An email from Brian Hotz advised that the draft easement document has been agreed to by Sturms. The next step will be to get out on the land when snow is gone. Things are progressing apace.

Town owned lands - Due to John Dabuliewicz’s absence, this topic was deferred to April.

Other - Jim informed the group that the owners of two small parcels, several acres each, next to the Warner River and near Tom Pond have offered them to the Town. These are essentially under water much of the year and are surrounded by other Town-owned land. Laura Buono is in contact with the land owners to accept their offers and prepare the necessary deeds.

Wetlands Issues 

Russ provided a summary of 16 wetlands and shoreline permits issued in Warner during 2010. These permits included seven forestry notifications, and six Town road projects. There are two applications this year; PSNH utility pole project and work by DOT on the invert of a large culvert/bridge on Rt. 103. 

Old Business

Storm Drain Stencil Project - Russ described the storm water outreach presentation that NHDOT can bring to Simonds School in connection with the stencil project, but they need a date to ensure its availability. Nancy will contact the School about possible dates, probably in June at the end of the school year. Jim said he had briefed the road agent on the project and received assurance of the cooperation of the Public Works Department.

New Business

The Commission voted to send a letter to DES endorsing Peter Ladd’s bridge project.

There was agreement to man a table at Town Meeting voting, next Tuesday as a means of soliciting people interested in being appointed to the vacant position on the Commission. Nancy, Jim and Russ offered to be there for some of the time.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M.

The next regular meeting is April 6, 2011.