Town of Pelham, NH

Pelham Conservation Commission

6 Village Green

Pel= ham, NH 03076

MEETING OF June 9, = 2004 &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Approved 7/14/04

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Members Present &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Ab= sent

Robert Yarmo, Chairman &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Shirley Wakefield (alternate)

Paul Gagnon &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Bill McDevitt, Selectmen Rep.

Deborah Scott &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Amy Breault (alternate)

Chairman Robert Yarmo bro= ught the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Chairman Yarmo advised the public that there were only 3 members of = the Conservation Commission in attendance tonight and that that does qualify fo= r a quorum. A couple of members a= re on vacation and the Commission could use at least two more persons. He asked if anyone watching would = like to volunteer as a member of the Commission, that we could use them.

HEARINGS:

Map 26, Lot 2-79: Hinds Lane, Proposal to purchase pa= rcel to be acquired for use as Conservation Land

Chairman Yarmo explained the process for this and cited RSA:36A-4 is what controls t= he Conservation Commission. It s= tates that “the said Commission may acquire in the name of the town or the city, subject to approval of the local governing body which is the Board of Selectmen who have the final say on this.” It is the Conservation’s tas= k to bring this forward to the selectmen. The process is that we will vote on it this evening and submit it to= the selectmen. We are scheduled t= o go before the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday evening, June 15 to formally prese= nt it. Chairman Yarmo said he di= d not believe that the selectmen would vote on it that evening as they will proba= bly want to study it. They may wa= nt to do a site walk and then reconvene and then vote. Mr. Yarmo said the funds to purcha= se this parcel would come out of the Conservation Fund, which is funded by the current use tax, not the three million dollar bond that was recently passed= at town meeting.

Mr. Yarmo described the property from maps placed on the bulletin board. He went on to explain how this pro= perty came about and how the Conservation Commission came about the purchase pric= e, which is $780,000.00. This pa= rcel abuts the Musquash Road parcel and is made up of 135 acres; it is at the very end of Hinds Lane. The owner had a potential house development plan that showed 39 house lots. There are a couple of wetland issu= es, probably 1/3^rd of the parcel according to Mark West Environment. Mr. West describ= ed the various hardwoods available on the lot.&nb= sp; Timber management potential is relatively high based on the overall volume of trees, the quality of the timber and the internal working network= of wood roads. It has a signific= ant conservation value in that it abuts the Gumpus-Mushquash conservation area = in Hudson which is a= bout 500 acres. This would be 635 cont= iguous acres of open space land. A p= ortion of the land, between 7 & 8 acres, is in Hudson. There is no access through Hudson, it must be through Pelham. Ch= airman Yarmo presented 4-5 overlays that identify forested resources (forested blo= cks over 100-acres). There are 6 other parcels that are included in the forested block study and lend it to wildlife corridors. The second overlay points out the = prime wetlands and wetland configurations and includes the Gumpus Watershed area. A 3^rd overlay showed the endangered species and habitat, and plant communities.

The Conservation Commission had short notice that this parcel was available and= was listed on the MLS so we acted as quickly as we could and sought some professional help to try to determine the value of the parcel said Chairman Yarmo. We have a purchase and= sales agreement for $780,000.00 for 135 acres.&n= bsp; We sought the professional help of Dave Hennessey who works in the r= eal estate industry.

Dave Hennessey, 71 Dutton Road, Pelham, stated, upon request of the Open Space Committee and Conservation Commission he had set up a notification system through NERIN, the multiple listing services in New Hampshire so that we wo= uld all be automatically notified when any large parcel of raw land came on the market in Pelham. Twenty-four= hours after the property was listed Mr. Hennessey received notification that the = listing was on the market as well as several persons on the Commission at the same time. The listing sheet had a= price of $940,000.00. There was additional information by the listing broker and they were consulted. Mr. Hennessey did an analysis to m= ake sure that all the parties understood that trying to evaluate raw land is extreme= ly difficult. The seller of the property had an appraisal, in hand, of $940,000.00. Mr. Hennessey felt that this price= was too high and recommended an initial offer in the seven hundreds (700’= s) based upon looking at how many house lots he felt could be developed. The cost of engineering and the co= st of time in going before two planning boards, Hudson and Pelham, were believed = to drive the price down said Mr. Hennessey.&n= bsp; Initially, an offer was made in the low to mid seven hundreds and th= at bid was beat out. This happen= ed in the early part of March. Ther= e were a number of other offers ahead of Pelham’s, none of which was lower t= han the asking price. Several wee= ks later the parcel came back on the market.&= nbsp; The builder/developer who had interest in this parcel later declined= the purchase after going before their engineering firm and looking at the time = it would take to develop. A seco= nd meeting was made with the landowner. Pelham’s offer of $780,000.00 was accepted. Mr. Hennessey said he felt that th= is was a fair price for this property. Given the large contiguous parcels available in southern New Hampshire, M= r. Hennessey said it is almost impossible to find this size property. Mr. Hennessey offered his credenti= als as being in the business of real estate for 30 years, and licensed in NH for 29 years. He felt this is a good opportunity for the town to go ahead with this purchase.<= /p>

Deb Waters brought some history about the efforts of the Open Space Commission = on this parcel to the public. She referred to a map that was created by NRPC from the build-out analysis. Through their GIS technology NRPC = mapped the remaining build able land in Pelham.&n= bsp; Pelham’s Master Plan directs the Conservation Commission to consider purchasing or acquiring land in certain areas of town that demonst= rate two important natural resource features said Ms. Waters. This parcel lies within the design= ated area in our Master Plan. A se= cond map was referred to and is identified as the REPP map. REPP stands for Regional Environme= ntal Priorities Program. Since it’s inception, about 7 years ago, the Pelham Conservation Commission= has participated in REPP. It is a= state program administered by DES where the communities are asked to identify high priority parcels for land acquisition.&nbs= p; This parcel was #5 on Pelham’s list of important parcels having honed down many in Pelham that are worthy said Ms. Waters. She continued on by saying one of = the issues of purchasing a parcel of land is how are we are going to take care = of it afterwards. There are a lo= t of state agencies and others who can contribute to this at no cost to the town. Ms. Waters said she had talked with Pete Helms who heads the LCIP Program – LCIP is the pre-curser to LCHIP. Mr. Helms headed the funding mechanism that purchased Musquash. He indicated that they come down and review the Musquash area from time to time and he indicated t= hat they would be willing to come down and visit our site in conjunction with t= hose reviews, give us advice and assist us with stewardship plans. Ms. Waters said she had also spoke= n with Phil Osher at UNH Cooperative Extension and they have an offering to conservation commissions that help with stewardship plans also. Ms. Waters also had spoken with De= borah Weymouth at the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and they offer restoration services and they were initially excited that there is a histor= ical gravel pit on the property that potentially could be a restoration site for pine bearings, which is a fast diminishing ecological system. They have a grant program where th= ey will come in and lay out plans and fund some of the restoration efforts so = that this type of eco system can come back.&nbs= p; It’s an eco system that requires dry sandy areas. Jonathan Nute who is our Hillsboro= ugh County Forrester is available to the town for no cost to make recommendatio= ns on stewardship plans and forestry services said Ms. Waters.

PUBLIC INPUT:

Bill Cook, 29 Hinds Lane said that this is a beautiful piece of property and tha= t if it gets developed it will change the whole area. He said this is one of the opportu= nities that we have to get a beautiful piece of land and that if we pass it up it’s never going to come back again and that we have his vote.

Alan Smigelski, 12 Lox Lane told the Commission that he lives on the pond. He is on the Board of Directors of= the Gumpus Pond Association. He f= elt he could speak for others who live at the pond and they are definitely in favo= r of the town purchasing this parcel. It affects their watershed area quite a bit.&= nbsp; He felt that if homes were built on it, no matter how “they= 221; engineered it, there would be a bad affect on the pond and felt that we sho= uld purchase it.

Wendy Smigelski, 12 Lox Lane said she has lived there most of her life.= She has seen a significant change from mostly summer rentals to year round homes and as everybody else, you drive around town and slowly the far= ms and the land is disappearing. There are many animals, hawks and cormorants in this area. Ms. Smigelski feels that if homes = were built in this area it would be devastating to the animal life. She is in favor of saving whatever= we have left.

William Hayes, 9 Pinewood Drive said he does not live near Gumpus Pond but congratulates the Conservation Commission for their efforts to purchase this parcel. He says he has a list of all the town-owned properties from the largest down to 10 acres. He says this is the largest privat= ely owned property. The only othe= r two larger properties are the Girl Scouts and Raymond Park. Mr. Hayes said that if this parcel= were developed it would create serious problems for the police and fire departme= nts.

BACK TO THE BOARD

Chairman Yarmo asked Mr. Hennessey if the owner had received an appraisal. The answer was yes, that the asking price was $940,00.00 based on that appraisal. Mr. Hennessey cautioned everyone t= hat an appraisal on raw land is notoriously soft numbers. The number that is arrived at with= a purchase such as this is what a willing buyer and a willing seller will agr= ee to. The purchase and sales is significantly lower than the appraised value.

Member Paul Gagnon said that when the 3-million dollar warrant article was brought before the selectmen a power point presentation was made. It showed town-owned land, the recommended protection for a town to work toward, is 25%. This does not include the Girl Sco= ut and Fish & Game Property and there is an approximate deficit of 1,500 acres presently. Mr. Gagnon said the Board of Selectmen were advised that if we got this 3-million dollar bond, along with the money we have in the Conservation Fund, and with some grants that we hope to achieve, we thought we could protect another 1000 acres. This would be outright purchases a= nd conservation easements. We sa= id we would buy land at an average price of $7,000 per acre. This = parcel is $6,000 per acre.

Deborah Scott said that this is a great opportunity especially because we are meeti= ng a few of the goals like the cost being under $7,000 an acre. It abuts several other conservation areas as well as contained endangered species and the habitat to support th= em.

Chairman Yarmo said that the Frenette parcel abuts the power lines and Musquash. The= re are between 25 and 30% wetlands, the flip side being 70 and 75% uplands said Mr. Gagnon and that any sizeable piece of land would most likely have wetla= nds on it.

Chairman Yarmo pointed out in the preliminary environmental analysis that was receiv= ed from West Environmental was that he mentioned that the wetlands on the prop= erty are very valuable and very unique. He did not know if they would qualify as prime wetlands or not.=

MOTION: (Paul Gagnon/Deborah Scott) To send positive recommendation to the Board of Selectmen to expend $780,000.00 for= the purchase of this land. VOTE:<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> 3-0.

Mr. Yarmo thanked everyone in attendance and advised that the Conservation Commission would be going before the Board of Selectmen on June 16^{th
to formally present this information.}

Map 2, Lot 5-75: Keyes Hill Road Realty Trust/George Charest, Trustee, Parkside= Drive Subdivision – Review of Proposal to donate land to the Town

Chairman Yarmo said that the selectmen sent Conservation a memo to comment on this parcel. This sub-division has= a small diamond-shaped piece of land that was kind of orphaned from the sub-division that abuts railroad tracks.&n= bsp; The developer proposed to donate it to the town. It’s a small parcel, less th= an an acre, but would be added to already town-owned property. Mr. Gagnon asked if it would make = more sense to just put a conservation easement on the property and not donate it= to the town. Mr. Yarmo didn̵= 7;t feel that would be good as it already abuts a town parcel and doesn’t= have a lot of conservation value.

PUBLIC INPUT: William Hayes, 9 Pinewood Circle, explained that this triangle has two sides that abut the original Raymond P= ark, and that back in the 70’s he had purchased the trolley right-of-way f= rom Mr. and Mrs. Provencal. The t= rolley rail had essentially separated this triangle from the main piece of land. This would be another addition to = the North Pelham park complex.

MOTION: (Deborah Scottt/Paul Gagnon) To se= nd a positive recommendation to the Board of Selectmen to accept this donation of land from the Keyes Hill Road Realty Trust. VOTE: 3-0

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Map 30; Lot 11-93= : Cormier & Saurman Building LLC – Elderly Housing Driveway Grading – Dredge & Fill Application

Mr. Gagnon recused himself from voting on this. He explained that he is not a dire= ct

abutter but is only one house away from this proposed development a= nd has recused

himself from previous hearings.

Mr. Yarmo explained that the Commission would not be able to proceed with this hearing

as there is no quorum. He stated that the dredge and fill applicati= on comes to the

Conservation Commission as a routine anyway but the Conservation Commission on

previous meetings have already taken a stand on this and he doesn’t see that changing.

Unless someone would like to comment on this, there is no further action this evening.

PUBLIC INPUT: Holly Saurman, 6 Scenic View Drive asked to refresh her memory<= /p>

with regard to the st= and taken by the Conservation Commission previously.

Mr. Yarmo said it was about the WCD crossing, it was the special exception. The

Conservation Commission’s stand was to not recommend it. Ms. Saurman asked if this

could be brought before the Commission again when there might be a quorum. Mr.=

Yarmo said that their position wouldn’t change to his knowledge. In either way he didn’t

think it would affect the action that DES takes.<= /p>

MEETING MINUTES:

Motion to Approve minutes of April 14, 2004 as written (Debo= rah Scott/Paul Gagnon)

VOTE 3-0

OTHER: Paul Gagnon ga= ve a report on a meeting that he had attended at NRPC. A

Gentleman named George = (last name not known at this time) that Angie Repp had invited. He is the chairman of the Salem Conservation Commission. He&#= 8217;s been the chairman of the conservation commission in <= st1:place w:st=3D"on">Salem for several years. George has an extensive history se= rving on various boards over the past 25 years, including on the board of selectmen. He went through a = number of topics that he felt were a healthy, involved, committed conservation commission. George was presid= ent of the NH State Association of Conversation Commissions. Salem maintains 2 alternate members and insures that they remain active. He made a point that they do not differentiate between the alternates and the full-time members with regard = to distributing the workload so the alternates feel as committed as the members. By doing this, an alternate feels comfortable stepping into the full-time status. Pelham Conservation is currently s= eeking an alternate to replace Marc Duquette.&nbs= p; George, emphasized spreading the work out and letting people do what they have interests in doing. In Salem he asks new applicants why they joined, what are they interested in doing and try to fu= nnel work towards them that they are comfortable with. George said, according to Paul, th= at the chairman can be his own worst enemy because he takes everything on himself = and the other members just cheer him on. George said there are times that the chairman just needs to let things fall on the floor, figuratively speaking,= and most times someone will pick up on it.

Another piece of inform= ation from George was that there is a member on his commission who is interested = in maintaining town forest, bike trails, canoeing, and this person maintains t= he Spicket River by keeping fallen trees out = of it, etc. Another person enjoys writing, so he is happy in that capacity. There was plenty of work for both = of these members. George spoke extensively about conservation easements.&= nbsp; One of the challenges his commission is facing is that a number of sub-divisions have resulted in conservation easements being donated to the = town. Salem leans toward accepting easements rather than the parcels because there is s= ome minimal amount of taxes paid on the parcel. Mr. Yarmo said that by having conservation easements, it is the lowest level of protection.

George, spoke about how= to keep members on the Conservation Commission. He said they are seriously conside= ring requiring granite monumentation at the intersection of all privately owned land, on a going forward basis. This gives the landowner knowledge of where their private land ends, i.e., where can they mow to and where can they put fertilizer, etc. Mr. Yarmo as= ked if Salem&#= 8217;s Conservation Commission does stewardship monitoring every year and the answ= er was they are trying, but it is one of their challenges because they have so= many parcels. Another thing discus= sed was the inability for the Conservation Commission to enforce anything, as t= hey don’t have any teeth, per se. It is not in the charter says Mr. Gagnon. George suggested that the Conserva= tion Commissions take that on and at least get some education on enforcement issues. George said that Salem is in the p= rocess of putting together a brochure for homeowners to educate them on the dos and don’ts with regard to wetlands. Mr. Gagnon made reference to the 23-acres on Dutton Road, where there was a comp= romise of a small sub-division and 3 of the homes cross the wetlands. There is no way the homeowner knows where the boundaries/easements are if the small metal ID’s are remove= d, whereas the granite markers are a permanent reference.

Mr. Yarmo was in full agreement with Mr. Gagnon about the placement of granite markers for easeme= nts and once the meeting minutes reflect this information a copy should be highlighted and forwarded on to Wil, our planning director. This issue comes up at planning bo= ard meetings quite frequently said Chairman Yarmo.

Ms. Scott asked how many easements does Pelham have. M= r. Yarmo wasn’t sure of the number of easements and said that that has b= een a problem through the turnover of planning directors and not a lot of good record keeping of these easements. Mr. Yarmo knows where the recent ones are and the ones while he̵= 7;s been on the Conservation Commission. The only way of accurate information on the easements would be to go through the subdivision plans. Mr. Yarmo said the donations would be easily sought because the town owns them.=

Mr. Gagnon said that an= other point George made was to foster a relationship with the media. It always pays off especially when= a crisis arrives and you don’t want to be trying to build a relationshi= p in the middle of a crisis. It= 217;s more likely they would attend meetings and they would get the word out that= you are trying to get out. Mr. Ga= gnon felt that there was good communication from all the medias at the time the Commission was going for the 3-million dollar bond. He also felt that a newspaper arti= cle might be forth-coming with regard to William Hayes’ comment earlier t= his evening when he said we are protecting the largest privately owned block of land left in Pelham. Mr. Gagn= on will contact Lynn Ober of the Pelham/Windham News to have an article done.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Mr. Yarmo suggested that Mr. Hayes= be asked to bring his report to the next Conservation meeting where he had the blocks of land sorted, down to 10-acres.

Mr. Gagnon says that the process used in Milford for potential members to the Conservation Commission is that they have to attend 3 meetings before they apply to the Board of Directions to become a conservation member. The reason is two-fold, so that candidate understands = what the Conservation Commission is all about, and that the Conservation Commiss= ion understands what the candidate’s interest are to make sure that there= is some common ground.

Mr. Yarmo said that the= re may be people in the town that would like to get involved but might be a little uncomfortable coming to the meeting and talking on public TV, etc. There are many opportunities for p= eople to get involved and participate, whether it is to organize an Earth Day or clean up a wetland, or just be a liaison between the girl scouts and boy sc= outs or to do some environmental projects – that’s who we need. Mr. Gagnon mentioned that Ms. Scott organized and manned the booth at Old Home Day where there were about 100 signatures collected for endorsing the bond issue. Mr. Gagnon said that maybe we have= to knock on neighbor’s doors to see if they might be interested in becom= ing a part of the Conservation Commission.&nbs= p;

MEETING ADJOURNED: 9:= 00 P.M.

= &nb= sp; = Respectfully submitted,

Glennie M. Edwards

Recording Secretary