HORSE HILL NATURE PRESERVE

AD HOC COMMITTEE

Minutes of Monday, May 2, 2005

Courtroom at Town Hall

7:30 p.m.

 

Members Present:  Denise O’Dwyer, Shannon Barnes, Karen Mattor, Helynne Wenz, Connie Kreider, Debra Huffman, Chris Christensen, Janet Cormier, Newton Coryell, Tim Tenhave

 

Also Present: Andy Sylvia

 

Call to Order: Tim Tenhave called the meeting to order at 7:37 p.m.

 

Announcements and Updates: Tim Tenhave made the following announcements:

*      The parking area on Amherst Road is mostly cleared of trees.

*      Tim met with Walter Warren and Tim Tieperman and briefly discussed Article 23. He asked them to consider how the Horse Hill committee might be able to help and gave them background material. They will review the material and will let the committee know when they devise a plan. They also discussed the parking lot and a vehicle that was on the property.

*      Karen Mattor stated that ten years ago the Conservation Commission began a project to document the highly valued wetlands in town and identify the prime wetlands. They would now like to update the information and finish the project and are looking for volunteers. Volunteers would be trained to assess wetlands based on 20 categories, then the data would go through the town's acceptance process and voters would have to approve any wetlands designated as prime as that would imply more protections for those lands. Since three of the wetlands fall within the Horse Hill property she is hoping that some of the Horse Hill committee members will volunteer.

Janet Cormier asked for a listing of the properties and stated that people watching at home might volunteer if there are wetlands near their homes, and if they are near a park the Parks committee might get involved.

Chris Christensen asked about how volunteers are trained. Karen replied that it would be a few hours in a classroom, a few hours in the field, and they are given a training notebook.

Shannon Barnes noted that the Nashua Conservation Commission had contacted the first Horse Hill committee to discuss potential cooperation, and perhaps they would want to be involved or had experience with this.

*      Newton Coryell noted that there was a black Toyota pickup truck with two men in it on the property and they had done a lot of damage. They ruined the drain near the top of the trail that leads down into the sand pit from the side of Horse Hill. He called the police who waited at the Gerard entrance, but the truck left through the Watanic Bowman entrance, so they were not caught. Since Newton had provided the license plate number, the police were able to contact the owner (a former Merrimack resident who now lives in Pembroke) and placed him on notice. He apologized. The police advised Newton to tell the committee that whenever they see an ATV or truck to try to get a registration or license number.

Newton also caught two youths on an ATV who were digging up a mud hole. He advised them of what they were doing wrong and they left.

 

Comments from the Public: Tim introduced Andy Sylvia. Andy said he is looking for  ways he can help out the town. He is taking a surveying class and has also done sociological surveying, so he might be able to help with some of the work outlined in Article 23. The committee welcomed him and encouraged him to get involved.

 

Approval of Minutes: The minutes of 4/4/05 were approved with minor modifications, on a vote of 7-0-3.

 

Parking Lot: Newton Coryell reported that the DPW is making progress. Most of the trees have been cut, but one of the crew was injured so progress slowed. Walter Warren will be contacting Brad Knight (the developer) to organize the bulldozer work. John Lastowka (neighbor across the street) has staked where the water line is so it will not be damaged in the parking lot construction. John and Newton looked at the well, which has water about 3' deep. Previous loggers have pushed in the rocks that made the rock wall of the well, and John wants to restore it to its previous condition. (The well was built by earlier generations of his family.)

 

Chris Christensen asked if the developer was going to scrape the topsoil then truck in gravel, and if they could use the gravel from the pit on the property. Newton said yes, they will need gravel and they are looking for a donation from local contractors. They want rockier gravel than what is available in the sand pit.

 

Janet Cormier noted that the DPW has a list of contractors that used to deposit material at the dump and perhaps they have extra material.

 

Newton stated that once the cubic yards of material needed is known the committee might help the staff in locating a donation of the material.

 

Tim Tenhave noted that Walter is eager to keep the momentum going on the parking lot. He is also working on the wetlands permit to create the path connecting the parking lot with the trail system, but he has not yet filed the paperwork for it.

 

Chris Christensen noted that it would be good to plan a ribbon cutting ceremony for the parking lot opening and maybe invite town and state officials. On a motion from Newton

Coryell, the committee voted to assign Chris the task of arranging a ribbon cutting ceremony.

 

Spring Trail Walk and Clean-Up: Tim Tenhave noted that the date is still aligned with the parking lot opening, but if the lot will not be done in June than the committee should hold the walk separately. Newton stated that he believes the committee should not tie the two events together. Debra Huffman stated that the walk should start at the new parking lot anyway since that will be of interest to many people.

 

There was general discussion about the clean-up event, and it was decided that the focus this year should be on the trail walk so more people might become familiar with the property. It was noted that the property does not need much clean-up this year except for the few remaining larger metal items that cannot be handled by walking volunteers anyway. It was decided to separate the walk from the parking lot opening and to postpone it until June. It was then decided to have a trail clean-up starting at 5:00 on June 6th, the night of the next committee meeting. Members and others should meet at the end of
Gerard Drive and shuttle to the Amherst Road entrance.

 

Newton Coryell stated that he would be willing to try to remove some of the old cars that are on the property in the Farmer Road area if he could get access through one of the abutters' property. Helynne Wenz said she would work on that.

 

Spaulding Foundation Project: Connie Kreider reported that the Heritage Commission and Ernie Buck of the DPW are applying for Operation Brightside, a Budweiser program, to get teenagers to clean up around the foundation. Tim Tenhave stated that the project will begin in late June or early July and will last until mid-August. The scope for this year is just to open up the foundation, being careful to preserve the growth around the homestead. It is beyond the scope for this year to work on signs or trails around the foundation. Ernie asked Tim if some committee members could meet with the teens at the beginning of the project. Connie, Harold Watson, and Debra Huffman said they would meet with the teens. Connie said her Historical subcommittee will meet in June to discuss the project.

 

Reports from Subcommittees:

 

Funding Subcommittee – Shannon Barnes reported that the subcommittee met. She stated that before they can apply for donations or grants they need to have outlines of specific projects. They wondered if they should speak with subcommittee chairmen to get an overview of what projects might be on the horizon.

 

Janet Cormier stated that there can be no plans until the Definitive Plan is completed, and asked if there has been any progress on that. Tim responded that Walter has sent an outline of the Request for Proposal to Andy Powell, Nelson Disco, and several members of staff. They will firm up what is being asked for and then send the RFP to several open space planners.

 

Trails Subcommittee – Debra Huffman reported that they did not meet and that they can make no progress until they get approval of the Trail Plan from Walter Warren.

 

Historical Subcommittee – Connie Kreider reported that they met in April and discussed the Spaulding foundation. They will meet again in June.

 

Wildlife Subcommittee – Helynne Wenz reported that they will meet at 7:30 on May 10th in the Finance Conference Room. She mentioned that May is shotgun season for wild turkeys so people should be aware of that. She also mentioned that spring is nesting season for many animals and people need to be respectful of that. If an animal is acting odd it could be being protective.

Helynne noted that tree stands are supposed to be removed at the end of the season, but some are not. Young boys might be attracted to climb up them. She knows of one that the boys use. Tim responded that the town would have liability concerns so Helynne should send Tim the location of the stands and he will report it to the town.

 

Comments from the Public: Andy Sylvia noted that at the 5/3/05 Planning Board meeting there would be discussion of the environmental issue around Horseshoe Pond. Committee members and others might be interested in attending.

 

Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m.