HORSE HILL NATURE PRESERVE
AD HOC COMMITTEE
Minutes of Monday, December 6, 2004
Selectmen’s Conference Room at Town Hall
7:30 p.m.
Members Present: Denise O'Dwyer, Debra Huffman, Karen Mattor, Tim Tenhave, Janet Cormier, Nelson Disco, Connie Kreider, Harold Watson, Helynne Wenz, Newt Coryell, Shannon Barnes, Bill Keating, Jim Taylor
Also present: Visitors
from the public, Richard Maloon, Peter Johnson, and Greg Kennedy
Call to Order: Tim Tenhave called the meeting to order at 7:38 p.m.
Announcements and Updates:
Deer hunting is still in progress through the
middle of the month and visitors are encouraged to wear orange.
The committee has put up 12 ‘Permitted Use
Signs’, showing “Hunting is permitted.”
The sign says what people can do on the property.
Tim has no update on a walk for the Forestry
Management Plan. Andy is at another
meeting tonight and Andy will update the committee when he learns the exact
plans.
There is new beaver activity in the sand pit
area and because of it, this area may be changing in the next year or two.
Bill Lott who is working on his Eagle Scout
project is still working on the GPS map.
He was going to superimpose the trails on an aerial map. Debra said she prefers topographical
maps. It is hoped that this map would
become the official Trail map.
Comments from the Public: An abutter, Greg Kennedy, who owns land on the corner of Amherst and Fuller Mill Road, was at the meeting since he is concerned about the new parking lot being built in the vicinity of his property. Tim provided some details and mentioned we would be talking about the parking lot later in the meeting. Richard Maloon said he is interested in helping with the wildlife survey and does a lot of hiking in the area.
Minutes from past Months: The minutes from October 4th and November 1st were reviewed.
In the October minutes, the section referring to Walter Warren’s use of a zoning map being in the definitive
plan was questioned. Nelson said Walter had used an analogy setting up the zoning map and suggested we cross out “zoning map”. The minutes were approved as amended, 12-0-0.
The November 1, 2004 minutes (public hearing on the Forest Management and Ecological Assessment Plan) were approved 10-2, with 2 abstaining since they were absent.
Roundtable with Board of Selectmen: Tim passed out the notes of the Roundtable meeting with the
Board of Selectmen (BOS). Tim spoke how Dick Hinch had come up with the idea of the Roundtable, involving the Chairmen of the Merrimack Conservation Commission and Planning Board, Ed Chase of the Department of Public Works, Walter Warren of the Community Development Department, and the Town Manager with the idea of moving things forward. The following topics were reviewed...
Parking Areas: The first two Parking areas recommended as part of the HHNP Master Plan were discussed with the BOS. One starts at the trailhead, going east, on Amherst Road. The parking lot will hold 10 cars and will be dirt. Greg Johnson wanted to make sure it is away from the two properties nearby and wanted to ensure tree cover since he was concerned it was close to the corner of his lot. The dimensions of the Parking area were discussed along with proposed setbacks from the property lines and wetland areas on HHNP. Debra said that parking lots are usually along main roads so the Police can monitor them. Greg asked about a trash barrel because of the litter situation in parking lots. Tim told him that he lives near the Heritage Trail and initially there was a trashcan at that location. Then a carry-in/carry-out policy was in place, and now a trashcan is there again. Greg added that if you provide the place for cars, more people are apt to use the property and litter. Tim said it would happen on occasions. Karen suggested maybe having Scout groups clean up the parking lot a few times per year. Harold said in the past he has had trouble with cars on his long driveway so created a floodlight to shine on people and scare them away.
The other parking lot proposed would be on the PSNH property on the opposite side of HHNP. The Palmeri Road area will not be initially considered since Tim made the recommendation that it is not the appropriate place and the BOS agreed not to pursue this area.
Newton will be the project lead from our committee on the Amherst Road Parking lot and he will work with the Walter and the DPW, including Ed as the contact person. The town does not have the resources to do all the work so volunteers will do it. Construction equipment is needed to stump it and push the loam. The project will need a lot of fill and it could be stockpiled at public works. Jim said that there is room to store fill at the Bishop Property by the new Middle School. Newton has the name of contractor that can help. Tim said they’ll need material to create berms and Andy has some other ideas on the parking area. Shannon said behind the transfer station the huge boulders could be used.
Debra asked for a date and a plan. Newton will work with Ed and Walter to get it going. Nelson said he knows people too and reminded everyone that they need to have a hearing to notify the abutters.
Trail Making and Signage: Tim reported the locations of the Permitted Use signage was shared along with the Wetland signs at the Roundtable. Tim said the Committee was granted permission to erect “Direction” signs similar to what Jim had done in the past. Jim recommended a standard sign noting HHNP. It was noted that the AMC uses signs on the White Mountain Trails. Greg, who is a carpenter, said he would help create a standardized sign.
Access Points: Tim spoke of how the Town should be trying to stop the trucks going into HHNP. A gate would be proposed and erected to limit access off of Old Kings Highway along the PSNH easement. Tim reported Andy and Walter are working the idea. Janet spoke about gates used in conjunction with her condominium association.
Old Kings Highway: Gate and Bars are being considered to stop traffic on the Old Kings Highway. It is a Class 6 Road, however, and there are state RSAs to follow. Debra noted that if there already is a gate at the Old Kings Highway then maybe one is not needed at the PSNH gate. Nelson said the complications with the Class 6 Road might require a vote at the Town Meeting so he suggested just going on with the PSNH easement gate.
Definitive Plan: Tim spoke how the big question from the Definitive Plan discussion was who is going to manage the property long-term. This was controversial. Tim said the BOS tabled the discussion until the end of January.
The committee continued to share ideas about the definitive plan. Tim said he talked to Dick Hinch after the Roundtable and Dick said we could help if Walter asked us to. Tim said we could help Walter, as Walter does not have the time to put a plan together since his department is burdened with statutory needs. Connie said nothing has been done since Walter is so busy but Walter can give us the outline and we can help. Walter only has to delegate. Connie said she is waiting for Walter to come to us. Shannon said we know what needs to be done since we wrote the Master Plan so we could write the definitive plan. Tim added that Walter needs time. Harold said that we need movement on this while we have someone who knows what is going on. Janet added the new Town manager is from the Town of Tolland, CT and they have great recreational areas as shown on their website.
Forest Management and Ecological Assessment Plan: Tim started a discussion of the Plan by relating how the MCC, in early October, talked about the Forest Plan and it moved from there. Within the plan there were 21 recommendations made. One recommendation was related to doing a wildlife study and survey. Committee members wanted to do the wildlife surveys. Those interested at the meeting included: Richard, Debra, Tim, Peter, Connie, Greg, Helynne, Harold, and Karen. Helynne said it was good to do it by habitats. A new subcommittee was formed and Helynne will coordinate the first meeting. Tim told them to make minutes of their meetings and notify him about the agendas and fieldwork. It was mentioned the survey should be done at different times over the year. Connie said that deer cross over at certain times of the year. Debra made a motion to form a wildlife habitat study subcommittee and Connie seconded. It was approved 13-0-0.
Tim spoke about the landings on the map where the Foresters bring their logs. These are areas cleared of all trees and it was discussed how we could use them for other purposes such as wildlife. Debra said the Trails Committee has not discussed it this year. Harold said that loggers have to determine wildlife impacts and the area has to be cleared of brush every few years. Harold said he keeps them around his property and the underbrush grows in. Landings are located for trucks to get to them. Dan’s plan was to open up the spots in the forest. Janet said now she understands why these are areas for trucks. And wondered why a cleared area would not be for fields. Connie said the gravel roads made for landings are just for emergencies when not used for forestry.
Subcommittee Reports:
Trails – Debra spoke of how they met on November 8th and have a preliminary outline of the trail master plan. They will show it to Walter Warren. They have talked about redirecting the trail through the wetlands near Amherst Road in conjunction with the Parking area. It was noted the state recommendations talk about ditches, wetlands, etc.
Cleanup - Tim spoke how Helynne, Debra, Newton and Tim removed shingles near the Spaulding
Foundation and took 2 trailer loads with Newton and Tim’s truck (F150). They have taken care of the automobiles in the sandpit areas and now there are no large cars anymore, except for a single pickup frame. There used to be four auto chassis in the sandpit. They thanked Newton for doing the special work with his equipment and trailers. Tim said the subcommittee has to start talking about the annual spring cleanup.
Funding - The Funding Subcommittee will talk after the meeting and had not met.
Athletic - The Athletic Fields committee has not met for 2 months.
Historic - The Historic Committee will do some work in January with the archives.
Parking - The Parking Subcommittee have not met but they are getting a meeting together.
Update from Staff: There is no update from staff.
Public Comments: Greg Johnson said it was very interesting to hear about what was going on at the
meeting and that he heard everything he needed to know. He said he grew up in Merrimack and then moved
to Nashua.
Adjournment: The meeting ended at 9:20 p.m.
Next Meeting: January 3, 2005