= Town of Pelham, NH<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>=

Pelham Conservation Commission<= /o:p>

6 Villag= e Green

Pelham, NH <= st1:PostalCode w:st=3D"on">03076-3723

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MEETING OF 12/14/05= &= nbsp; &nbs= p; APPRO= VED 2/15/06

Members Present: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Absen= t: &= nbsp;

Chairman Bob Yarmo, Paul = Gagnon, &= nbsp; Shirley Wakefield (Alt.) &nb= sp; = &nb= sp;

Paul Dadak, Lisa Loosigia= n, &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Amy Breault

Glennie Edwards &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Jay Stearns

Conservation Chairman Bob= Yarmo brought the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.

Chairman Yarmo introduced= and welcomed new member Lisa Loosigian.

HEARING: Map 33, Lot 1-159 - 30 Sherburne Road – Proposal to purchase parcel to be acquired for use as Conservation Land

Member Paul Dadak gave a presentation on the location and elements of this 110-acre parcel that is before the public for consideration of purchasing. The land is located on the southwe= stern part of the town and includes 20 acres of wetland and abuts town-owned property. There are approxima= tely 2000 feet (or 1/3^rd mile) of frontage on Sherburne Road. The appraisal came in at $1,430,000.00. Members of the= Board of Selectmen and Conservation members did a site walk and have been working with the sellers for approxim= ately one year now said Mr. Dadak. = Mr. Dadak said the owners of the property had a conceptual sub-division plan dr= awn up that supported 29 house lots. Mr. Dadak said that the public could view the “Selection Criteria and Checklist for Open Space Acquisition” that is used by the Conservation Commission when considering purchases for the town. He said what the town looks at is ‘public benefit’. Criteria on the checklist includes:= Protection of water resources, land connectivity, outdoor recreation, educational value, scenic views, wildlife habitat, working lands, reduces housing units. Mr. Dadak said= that the landowners wished to keep this land as conservation land.

Mr. Yarmo added that this= land has great value with regard to conservation in that it has a prime wetland = on it that is vital to restoring the aquifer for our drinking water and it flo= ws into Long Pond, a natural resource for swimming and using the pond. Because this parcel abuts other conservation lands it increases its value.= One parcel that the town owns is 24 acres. Two other abutting town properties include the New England Forestry parcel and is about 200 acres. Mr. Yarmo also stated that the rec= ent purchase of the Fernette property and another smaller parcel next to the New England Forestry parcel is beneficial for the Merriam property. This creates a large conservation = area and a wildlife corridor said chairman Yarmo. Mr. Yarmo said the conceptual plan= for this parcel was completed by Granger Engineering and would support 29 house lots. He said the purpose of = the bond (money) was to reduce house lots that make demands on town services and this purchase was very significant in reduction of house lots. Mr. Yarmo said that from a conserv= ation standpoint this is the most exciting piece of property that the commission = has had the opportunity to purchase and has been over a year in process. Mr. Yarmo said that it takes a lot= of effort not only of conservation members but also by the selectmen and the sellers and we very much appreciate it.

PUBLIC INPUT: Eleanor Burton, resident of Sherburne Road expressed support of the town purchasing this piece of land. She said she appreciates and admir= es the family for doing this. She has known this section since it was a dirt road, practically all her life, so it’s important to her to keep this land as it is. She went on to say that she realiz= es the value to the town by not developing this land and what it could do to the o= ther constraints such as services for fire and police and schools.

Mr. Yarmo asked to put a = face with the names and asked the cameraman to scan the Merriam family members present at this meeting. Fred and Ellen Merriam have owned the parcel for q= uite some time said Mr. Yarmo and it’s through their generosity that allows this purchase and sale to be happening.&nb= sp; Another important item said Mr. Yarmo is that the property was appra= ised at one million, four hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Essentially the town is getting a $437,000 gift from the Merriam’s which is the largest gift that the conservation commission and town has gotten in land donations, that it is huge. He thanked the Merriam = family again. Mr. Yarmo said that the Merriam’s had had offers above this from developers and that the Merr= iam family is making a huge contribution to the town. Mr. Yarmo said that “Not onl= y do this generation thank you, but the next generation thanks you because as southern New Hampshire grows, the conservation parcels are going to become more and more valuable”.

BACK TO BOARD:

Mr. Gagnon added that one= of the things that hadn’t been accomplished so far is to protect a parcel th= at is a high visibility parcel. = He said that most of the parcels are disbursed around town in places that are = not passed by a lot of the townspeople. He made reference to the Fernette property on Hinds Lane and said that not too ma= ny people drive down this road and that there is only about 100-feet of the pa= rcel that is visible. Mr. Gagnon s= aid this Sherburne Road parcel is a scenic view in that the public can see the beautiful wetland and the big beaver house that sits there. You would have to have driven by with your eyes closed to not have s= een it he said.

MOTION to purchase this 1= 10-acre parcel of land for the purchase price of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) (Paul Dadak/P= aul Gagnon)

VOTE: 5-0 in favor of purchasing land ow= ned by the Merriam family as described on map 33, lot 1-159.

On a final comment from C= hairman Bob Yarmo, he said that conserving land comes from the heart and that the Merriam’s have made a huge contribution to the town of Pelham and that the Merriam’s hav= e a huge heart. He thanked them a= gain.

The next step in this pro= cess is a public hearing to be held at the selectmen’s meeting on Tuesday, December 27^th at Sherburne Hall.

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OTHER:

Chairman Yarmo said there= are two items that the Conservation Commission has been asked to act upon by the Bo= ard of Selectmen. There are a cou= ple of small parcels that were part of a developer’s development plan that e= nded up being conservation land. P= art of the process by the town to accept these parcels is for the Conservation Commission to make a recommendation to accept these. One parcel is off Keyes Hill Road on the backside of = Parkside Drive. Members of the Commission did a si= te walk for this 6-lot subdivision. It abuts the Boy Scout camp/lot and has a railroad easement across it. It is a small triangular piece tha= t is approximately .69 acres and pretty much useless to the developer. The developer decided to “lop” this off and donate it to the town.

MOTION: To accept .69 acres as Conservation land, map/lot # 5-71, that abuts Raymond Park: (Gagnon/Dadak)

VOTE: 5-0 to recommend to the Board of Selectmen to accept this parcel.

The second parcel being o= ffered to the town is off Irene D= rive. It’s a subdivision that the Commission looked at. The amo= unt of acreage is 18.375 and is a huge prime wetland. This portion of land is very valua= ble but not build-able. The recom= mendation by the Conservation Commission to the builder and part of the agreement of = the subdivision plan approval was that Irene Drive not be continued through to Thomas Avenue and that the wetland be protected. Jim Gove, environmental representative for the builder reported that this was a highly functioning wetland that included wildlife corridors and recommended that this not be developed.

MOTION: To accept 18.375 acres, map/= lot #34/ 6-206, deeded to the town as a conservation easement. (Gagnon/Edwards)

VOTE: 5-0 to accept this parcel.

MEETING MINUTES of 10/19/= 05 MOTION to accept (Gagnon/Edw= ards)

VOTE: 3 to approve, 2 abs= tain (Dadak & Loosigian)

MOTION to move to non-pub= lic session. (Edwards/Loosigian) VOTE: 5-0 to move to non-public session.

Meeting adjourned at 8:10= .

&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Respectfu= lly submitted,

&n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; = ; &n= bsp; Glennie Edwards, Recording Secretary