MINUTES

HORSE HILL NATURE PRESERVE (HHNP)

06/19/06

DRAFT

 

Members Present:

Tim Tenhave, Chair HHNP Ad Hoc, Master Plan  Robyn Goinsalvos, Horseback Riding, Abutter

Andy Powell, HHNP Ad Hoc, Conservation   Harry Watt, Mountain Biking

John Hall, Watanic Bowmen’s Club             Linda Reid, Abutter

Mike Ruggiero, HHNP Ad Hoc, MYA            Debra Huffman, HHNP Ad Hoc, Master Plan

Connie Kreider, HHNP Ad Hoc, Heritage     Roger Blais, Right Riders (ATV)

Janet Comier, HHNP Ad Hoc, Parks            Bob L’Heureux, Hunting

Tom Vaillancourt, Mountain Biking             Bette Philo, Abutter

Denise O’Dwyer, HHNP Ad Hoc                  Helynne Wenz, HHNP Ad Hoc

Ruth Roulx, HHNP Ad Hoc, P&R, Heritage Comm.       Harold Watson, HHNP Ad Hoc

Shannon Barnes, HHNP Ad Hoc                 Newton Coryell, HHNP Ad Hoc

Nelson Disco, HHNP Ad Hoc                             Terry Bernhardt, HHNP Ad Hoc, MYA

Amanda Boerner, HHNP Master Plan

 

Members Excused:

Ron Simard, Watanic Bowmen’s Club

Chris Christensen, HHNP Ad Hoc

Others Present:

Kerrie Diers, NRPC Assistant Director

Karen Baker, NRPC Administrative Assistant

 

Meeting Opened

The meeting was called to order by Tim Tenhave at 7:08 PM.

 

Announcements:

Tim Tenhave relayed to the group that the new date for Merrimack’s special election was pushed back to June 27th.  In addition, he informed the group of a call that he received from an abutter regarding a Blanding’s Turtle that was found in the area HHNP.  He let the group know Blanding’s Turtles were a rare species, but not endangered.  He proceeded to pass around a few handouts showing what they look like and other informational sheets on the species as well.

 

Public or Press Comment on Agenda

There were no comments/questions from the public.

 

Agenda

Kerrie Diers spoke next explaining the changes that were done to the HHNP Definitive Plan per agreement from the CBG at the June 5, 2006 meeting.  Per the CBG, the outline was changed and several maps and supporting documents were moved to Appendix A, to be available at the Merrimack Community Development Department.  Kerrie let the group know that she spoke with Walter Warren and the he would put it on the agenda for public hearing and request action.  She then asked for any last or final comments regarding the Definitive Plan and the changes done.  Most of the major changes are listed below:

 

*     List the handouts from Robin Goinsalvos in Appendix A

*     Add the updated Acknowledgments list (after everyone present confirmed their title and affiliation).

*     List of Appendices and Minority Reports were moved to the same page as the TOC (page iii to page ii).

*     The name of Mike Ruggiero’s minority report was listed in the TOC and to the slip page at the end of the document.

*     A blurb of how many people were invited to the organizational meeting was added to page 5, second paragraph.

*     A footnote and page reference was added to the Objective Criteria on page 6, under General Considerations, 6th bullet.

*     Delete the last sentence on page 10.

*     Page 29, both instances with the bolded text, delete “immediately following this document” and replace with “at the end of this report”.

 

There were some other minor formatting issues along with a few small editorial changes.

 

In reference to the 5th bullet listed above, Bette Philo asked why some abutters were not invited.  Debra Huffman explained that the organizational meeting was published everywhere (cable, newspaper, town hall, etc).

 

Linda Reid asked if there would be copies of the plan available at voting time.  Kerrie responded that a color handout of the Executive Summary would be useful.

 

Tim asked the group if everyone thought the Definitive Plan represented the culmination of the work done since December.  The consensus was in agreement.  He also made a few comments representative towards the Minority Reports and asked the group if they were done with the Minority Reports.  Again, the consensus was in agreement.  Tim said that Walter would recommend the Definitive Plan to the Town Council, and then would add it into their agenda (hopefully done by August).

 

Bette wanted to know when NRPC would be handing it to Walter and Kerrie responded by the end of June (corrections to be done this week).

 

Tim let the group know that he would not do anything to stall or delay the process and that everyone would receive a final color copy of the report but was unsure when.

 

There were no public or press there for any additional comments.

 

Denise O’Dwyer thanked everyone for their help during the whole process.  Tim reiterated the same sentiment adding that he appreciated everyone’s work and that it went very well for a group of this size.  Those present thanked Tim for his work as chair of the committee. 

 

Motion to adjourn came from Denise O’Dwyer seconded by Connie Kreider.  All were in favor and the meeting adjourned at 7:45 pm.

 

 

KD/kmb

 

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