1. MINUTES: On motion made by Bill Parker and seconded by Bob McEttrick, it was voted unanimously to accept the Minutes of the December 13, 1990 meeting as presented, with the correction that Bob McEttrick's name be added to the list of members present at that meeting. This name was erroneously omitted.
   
   
2. HITCHINER TOWN FOREST: Lorraine advised the members that whereas a total of $1,600.00 had been authorized to be spent on the cleaning up of the brush along the stone walls in the two fields, the work had taken considerably longer than anticipated, and an invoice in the amount of $2193.00 had been received from Trees Are Us. She reported having made an inspection of the work done, and felt very satisfied. Trees Are Us had not only cleaned out the encroaching brush, but had saved good trees growing in this strip, and the end product gave a good look to the edge of the fields. When she received the invoice for the higher amount, Lorraine talked both to Bill Kucharski, owner of Trees Are Us, and to Russ Monbleau. He authorized payment of the higher amount. This was made out of the Accumulating Fund to be reimbursed on January 21 1991 by the Town Forest Fund when its certificate of deposit matures.
   
   
3. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL: Margaret reported she had received a run-around in her attempts to obtain bridge building information and costs from the AMC, and to date did not have any information. Lorraine reported she had had a response from the Stowe, Vermont, Recreation Trail Committee, and had then contacted the bridge manufacturer. Brochures were received and the members were impressed with the looks of the bridges. Relative to a cost estimate bridges of the nature as would be needed to span the Souhegan River amount to $15,5000 to $20,000. Two would be needed, and it was suggested that when the time comes, a fund drive be started for the cost. The price range includes delivered on site, but not installed. Relative to crossing the Fish and Game Dept. land with the trail, Lorraine reported having received a response from that Dept. which supported the trail system. The letter did point out that hunting and trapping are allowed on the State owned lands (it also exists on other private lands involved in the trail system), and suggested that the trail be closed during hunting season and that pets should not be permitted on the trail. Fish and Game Dept. reserve the right to be involved in design, construction and clearing needed in the building of the trail over its lands. Relative to a conservation easement on a subdivision plan for land owned by Stanley Trombley and which houses the Souhegan Aquaculture, Lorraine reported that Mark had met with Mr. Trombley and had received a list of concerns he had, which also pertain to other lands he owns and which would be crossed by the trail system. Lorraine suggested that it might be better if the Commission meets with Mr. Trombley and/or all the property owners involved in this. After a discussion of this suggestion, the members asked Lorraine to ask Hub Seward to prepare for the January 10 meeting a synopsis of the trail, its progress to date, a list of property owners involved, and then a decision will be made as to the meeting with those owners. For that meeting, Lorraine will prepare a map to be hung on the wall.
   
   
4. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST ENTRANCE: Lorraine reported making several unsuccessful attempts to reach Harold Webster for a progress report. She had not yet received an invoice for the work, and so it was assumed he had not done it yet. She will continue to try to reach him.
   
   
5. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported that on December 4 1990, she had met with Atty. Carol Rolf relative to the violations taking place, and as agreed, Carol will write to all the Shady Lane abutters advising them of the existence of the Conservation Land Ordinance. She will write a special letter to O'Connor who had violated the Ordinance the most. It was not known at this time if these letters had been sent. This visit to Town Counsel was authorized by the Board of Selectmen who had referred the Commission's request for enforcement of the Ordinance to Carol.
   
   
6. CONSERVATION LAND ORDINANCE AMENDMENT: Lorraine presented the draft she had prepared as an amendment to Section 3 - 1 Prohibited Conduct in order to take care of dead wood on Town Conservation Lands. The draft submitted was as follows: Add Section e: Destroy or remove any standing or fallen dead wood except if the standing wood poses a danger to human life, and then only with the authorization of the Milford Conservation Commission. Except fallen dead wood of a diameter less than l-2 inches which may be used for camp fires provided a Special Purpose Permit has been obtained from the Milford Conservation Commission prior thereto. And except for forestry management practices specifically authorized by the Milford Conservation Commission. After discussion, Bob McEttrick put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Bill Parker and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, that the draft as presented, be presented to the Board of Selectmen for enactment, together with a letter detailing the rationale behind the request. Lorraine was asked to take care of this matter.
   
   
7. FALCONER AVENUE EXTENSION: At her December 4 1990 meeting with Atty. Carol Rolf, Lorraine reported also having discussed this paper street and the trash and debris placed thereon by William Crawford. The request to Carol was to send a letter to Mr. Crawford requesting him to remove the mess and thus make this entrance way to the Mayflower Hill Town Forest better available to the public. Carol had explained that because this paper street was created in a 1964 subdivision plan but had not been accepted by the Town as a street in more than 20 years, by State law the land involved reverts to the ownership of the abutting properties. Therefore, the Town has no legal right to request Mr. Crawford to remove the mess. She said, however, that she would send him a letter anyway. In further discussion of this paper street, Carol put forward the suggestion that seeing Mr. Crawford had not proceeded with quieting title, that the Conservation Commission begin court action. Carol added that the initial cost would be about $300 to $400, and that it would take 3 to 4 years for the Court to take action. At that time additional costs would have to be paid to the court for its time etc. After discussion, Bill Parker put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, that Atty. Carol Rolf be requested to begin the procedure to quiet title to this paper street. Relative to Hub's proposal of a land swap in this vicinity with Crawford, it was decided to table this until the title has been quieted.
   
   
8. PUBLIC SERVICE CO. DREDGE AND FILL: Lorraine reported having received a notice from NHACC that a permit had been issued to Public Service to work in wetlands to erect two utility poles. Having no record of this Dredge and Fill application, she contacted the Town Clerk. He had no record of having received it. Lorraine then wrote to the Wetlands Board requesting a copy of the application, and upon receipt found it had the Town Clerk's signa- ture. Because the map and lot numbers on the application were incorrect, Lorraine could not locate where the work had been done, and so called Public Service. From this she learned that the work had been done on Town owned land at the location where Union Street joins the Route 13 South. She also supplied the Town Clerk with a copy of the signed application. What happened to the original application, which filed with the Town Clerk on September 21 1990. is unknown. The permit was issued by the State on November 13 1990, and it is assumed the work has already been done. Though this situation was no fault of the Wetlands Board, Lorraine sent a letter to Dr. Kettenring giving him the details, and stressing the fact that the Commission always responds to applications and that if there is no response from Milford, something is wrong. In reply, a very nice letter was received from Dr. Kettenring, stating he would supply copies of the Commission's letter to all Board members and others involved in the review process, advising them of the fact that input from this Commission is always provided and when not available, that input should be sought because something is wrong. Lorraine stated she had not had the time to do an on site inspection of this location, but Margaret said she would as she passes the site daily.
   
   
9. DANA LORDEN CONSERVATION EASEMENT/KASEY DRIVE: Lorraine reported that while working on the Commission's filed in the Town Hall and bringing them into better order, she came across an unsigned unrecorded deed from Dana Lorden to the Town relative to a conservation easement on two abutting properties in the Kasey Drive subdivision which was done in 1986. Questions to Mark Fougere about this were to no avail as Mark knew nothing about it, but it was established that the conservation easement is recorded on the sub- division plan which is registered with the Registry of Deeds. In further investigations of this case, Lorraine learned that the two lots are now owned by two different individuals and Dana Lorden is no longer involved. She also found that this conservation easement is mentioned in the current deeds to these two lots. The Conservation Easement is along Birch Brook to a width of 25 feet on either side of said brook. In Dana Lorden's deed, one of the two lots involved is given the right to cross Birch Brook wetland area with motor vehicles. This lot is divided in two almost equal parts by the brook, with the buildings being on the road side of the lot. This vrovision concerned the members and the desire was expressed to exclude this condition. It is not known if either of the current property owners have ever read this easement deed, and it is also not known if at this point in time, the wording of this deed can be changed. To bring this matter to a close, Lorraine explained it would mean contact-ing both current property owners, rewriting the easement deed, and also rewriting both property owners' deeds. Both those deeds contain space for the book and page number of the recorded easement deed, but of course these spaces are blank. She also explained that this area is not accessible to the public in any way, but that it does provide some measure of protection along Birch Brook. In light of the fact it is the policy of the Commission not to miss an opportunity to protect brooks and streams in Town, Lorraine suggested the members give consideration to bringing this matter to a close by doing the work necessary on the various deeds. After discussion, Lorraine was asked to take a look at this easement area. It was found from the subdivision plan that Elizabeth Blacklock (a Super-visor of the Checklist) lives on property abutting the lots in quesiton, and Lorraine will contact Elizabeth to ask permission to view the area from her property as opposed to getting the current lot owners involved at this point in time.
   
   
10. OAKLAND HEIGHTS/MARY CONTI/OAKLAND DRIVE SUBDIVISION: Lorraine reported that the Dredge and Fill application for this had been filed and she had sent the concerns etc. of the Commission to the wetlands Board. For the sake of the record, Lorraine advised the members that this subdivision is now being undertaken by Brockman Associates of Amherst.
    
    
11. CARL CHAPPEL/WETLND VIOLATION: Lorraine reported that on December 17 1990 Mr., Chappell had called her to adivse that the Wetlands Board had made an on site inspection of his pond and were happy with what was done and what was proposed. The Wetlands Board will now be returning to Mr. Chappell the application he submitted in June 1990 without having filed it with the Town Clerk first. (The application is without the Town Clerk's signature). Once he receives this, he will proceed with the correct protocol, and once the Commission receives its copy, a letter will be sent to the Wetlands Board. Though Mr. Chappell owes the State a filing fee in the amount of $340.00, it is not known if he is to be fined for the illegal work in a wetland.
    
    
12. LAND IIFORMATION KIT: Margaret submitted a draft of a re-write of the letter to be sent to out-of-state property owners which she had prepared. The members felt this gave a better impression of the objective of the program and made the decision to have Lorraine prepare this letter as opposed to the previously prepared letter by Janet. Lorraine will have this ready for the next meeting. She also handed out the typed envelopes etc. to the members present, as well as brochures received from the National Wildlife Federation on their land program. These are to be included in the Kits. Lorraine also reviewed with members present several errors, omissions and duplications she had found in the address lists. This issue will be continued at the January 10 meeting when it is hoped all members will be present.
    
    
13. GRANITE STATE CONCRETE: Lorraine reported that in reading the Planning Board meeting minutes of November 20 1990, she found that that Board had expressed concerns regarding the wetlands on site. She spoke to Mark about this, and on December 20 1990 Lorraine, Mark, John Ferguson as County Forester, and Peter Leishman representing Granite State Concrete, met at the site off Elm Street to review the situation. It was found that a considerable amount of "muck" from the siltation ponds had been placed beside the ponds and adjacent to a wetland surrounding Tucker Brook, which wetland is currently being extended by beavers. This muck had the potential of polluting the wetlands, and indeed recently a muck embankment had given way and siltation of the wetland had occurred. Peter expressed willingness to do whatever the Commission felt was needed to better this area, prevent siltation of the wetlands, and generally make the area more attractive to wildlife. As a result of discussions among those present at this on site, the following agreement was made: that the area of "muck" would be graded and sloped away from the wetland and towards the adjacent settling ponds; that a barrier would be created along the wetland where previously water collecting on the muck had broken through the banking and caused siltation of the wetland beyond; that the area of muck would be covered with a layer of Wastewater Treatment Plant composting materials per the recommendations of John Ferguson; and that Autumn Olives and/or any other vegetation as recommended by John Ferguson, and in quantities he recommends, would be planted in the spring of 1991. Peter requested these conditions be put in writing, and this Lorraine did.
    
    
14. ROBERT SAVAGE WETLAND: During the time of the above described on site inspection, Peter pointed out that part of the large wetland area lying between the muck area and Elm Street was owned by Robert Savage. This used to be farm land, but the beavers have turned it into a valuable wetland. He suggested that Mr. Savage be approached on the subject of donating this land to the Conservation Commission for relief of property tax involved. Lorraine reported that Peter also indicated that Granite State Concrete may be interested in making a similar donation of their portion of this wetland to the Town. The members were very interested in pursuing this issue with Mr. Savage and Granite State Concrete, and asked Lorraine to proceed with contacting Mr. Savage.
    
    
15. EARTH DAY 1991: Margaret put forward the suggestion that an "open house" of the Hitchiner Town Forest be organized and included in activities for Earth Day 1991. She suggested a guided walk of the property be part of the event. The members were in agreement with this, and Margaret will be in touch with Joanne Turner, Chairman of the Earth Day Committee, to see what plans are afoot for next April.
    
    
16. NICHOLAS DADOLY LAND GIFT: Lorraine reported that in today's mail she had received a copy of the recorded deed and an invoice in the amount of $374.25 legal fees from Atty. John Bielagus relative to the Dadoly land gift . This amount, by agreement with Mr. Dadoly, was payable by the Commission. As part of that agreement, the $2,000.00 paid by Mr. Dadoly for the appraisal was also the Commission's responsibility. In addition property taxes paid by Mr. Dadoly on this land was due to be refunded. Lorraine spoke to Lee Mayhew, and the process of the property tax refund is being undertaken and to go before the Selectmen on January 7 1991. Also required of the Selectmen on that date is acceptance of this land gift. Atty. Bielagus also required some housekeeping items attended to, and Lorraine will ensure this is done. On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by Bill Parker and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, Lorraine was authorized to make payment to Mr. Dadoly in the amount of $2000.00 for the appraisal, and to Atty. Bielagus in the amount of $374.25 for legal services. These payments to be made from the Accumulative Fund. Lorraine will also ensure that a copy of the deed goes to the Town Clerk for his files. The land gift is situated on Federal Hill and includes a portion of Fox Run Road known as Map 53 Lot 00, plus land on Map 53, the lots being 72 through 79 inclusive and lots 81 and 82.
    
    
17. BUFFER ZONE/PLANNING BOARD: The Commission received a memo from Norm Erikson of the Planning Board relative to the desire of that Board to eliminate the Buffer Zone in the immediate down town area and around Railroad Pond. This involves a 50 foot buffer zone. The Planning Board feels that because of the already extensively built up condition of this area that this requirement is over-regulatory, it requiring property owners to go before the Commission and the Board of Adjustment for any activity planned or proposed within the 50 feet. The Planning Board also feels that the rationale behind the buffer zone, which they support, does not apply in this densely developed area. They requested the response of the Commission. The immediate response of the members was in the negative. Concerns expressed included possible future businesses etc. being located in this area which could have a potential for causing problems relative to the wetlands involved. The members cited two existing gas stations and a paint manufacturing business all of which abut the Souhegan River in the down town area. It was decided before taking any action on this memo, that Margaret would call Norm Erikson for further information. The issue will be discussed again at the January 10 meeting.

Meeting Minutes of January 10, 1991

Present:
Present: Margaret Pratt, Chairman
Russell Monbleau, Vice Chairman
Bill Parker, Bob McEttrick, Janet Piche, Hub Seward, John Ferguson Alternate
Lorraine Carson, Secretary

1. MINUTES: The Minutes of the last Meeting of the Conservation, namely those of January 3, 1991 were not reviewed or accepted at this meeting, due to the fact that members only received copies at this meeting. These Minutes will be accepted at the February 14, 1991 meeting.
   
   
2. OFFICE HOURS IN TOWN HALL: Margaret reported on the meeting she and Lorraine had with the Selectmen on January 7 1991 relative to the Commission being available in the Town Hall for the benefit of the public during specific hours. At that meeting, Margaret advised the Selectmen of the current situation, namely that Lorraine is available 7 days a week by telephone, her home phone being that of the Commission; that when she was not at home, her answering machine was on and calls received were returned; that because of the work load, Lorraine spends 4 to 6 hours per week in the Town Hall; that the current system appeared to be working very well. She advised the Board that should it desire set hours in the Town Hall that it be on a trial basis to see how many people used it. Lorraine advised the Selectmen that when the public wish to reach the Commission, they usually wanted to reach it now, and would not appreciate being told that the Commission was available during certain hours only. Margaret told the members that the Selectmen could not recall who suggested the idea of hours in the Town Hall, and when they heard the details of the current arrangements, they agreed this seemed adequate, stating that no complaints had been received about the accessibility of the Commission. However, Mr. Ruonala stated he wished the Commission to have set hours in the Town Hall, with Lorraine being available for a two hour period on any particular day. It was also pointed out that there is no telephone in the Commission's room in the basement, and Lee Mayhew was asked to organize one being put in. Once the phone is installed, this public hours idea is to go into effect, with a notice being published detailing same, and is to run until Town Meeting. Lorraine will keep track of any public contact received during these hours. After discussion of the public hours, Bill Parker put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion that Lorraine would be available Tuesdays 10a.m. to noon, and another member of the Commission would be available from 7p.m. to 9p.m. on Monday nights from the time the telephone is installed until Town Meeting, and once the required notice is published.
   
   
3. HARLAN BURNS/TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST LAND: Bill Burns met with the Comm- ission to request copies of certain pages from the second appraisal on property he recently sold to the Town, and which forms part of the Tucker Brook Town Forest. He needed this information for income tax purposes. Lorraine will copy the pages for him and send them in the mail. He also stated that he had met with John Ferguson, County Forester review 6 or 8 trees on the property which he wished to cut, timber harvesting being part of the sale agreement. He wished to know how the Commission would like him to enter and remove these trees to create the least impact on the land. After discussion of the tree cutting, Russ put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Janet and voted unanimously in favor of the motion that access would be at the discretion of John Ferguson and Bill Burns.
   
   
4. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported she had finally reached Harold Webster regarding the proposed clean-up work he is to do at the Boulder Drive entrance way. Harold had been tied up with other jobs and had not gotten to this. With the deep frost and a heavy snow storm due over the coming weekend, he felt it would be better left until spring. Lorraine will keep in touch with him on this issue, and will report back when the work has been done.
   
   
5. DOWNTOWN BUFFER ZONE/PLANNING BOARD: The members reviewed a memo from the Planning Board regarding their proposal that the 50 foot Buffer Zone along the Souhegan River and Railroad Pond in the immediate downtown area be eliminated. The members were not in favor of this proposal. Lorraine advised them that earlier today she had talked with Norm Erikson who advised her that after members of the Planning Board had reviewed the areas in question, they were no longer in favor of this elimination either. After a brief discussion, Bob McEttrick put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bill Parker and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, to advise the Planning Board that the Commission did not agree with elimination of the 50 foot Buffer Zone in the downtown area because elimination would not be in keeping with the spirit and intent of the Wetlands Ordinance. Lorraine will advise the Planning Board of this decision in writing.
   
   
6. WHEELER SEPTIC SYSTEM: Lorraine reported that due to the heavy workload of matters that had to be completed by certain dates, she had not had the chance to take the water samples for Celeste to test.
   
   
7. RUSSELL KINCAID: Lorraine reported having received a telephone call from Russ Kincaid at home during December relative to work in a wetland. He owns property on Savage Road, and wished to culvert an intermittent stream for a driveway crossing. On the phone Lorraine advised him of the process at the end of which Mr. Kincaid stated that the area was most likely not a wetland. From Kevin Lynch, Building Inspector, Lorraine learned that Kevin had found, during an on site inspection, that Mr. Kincaid had already put in the culvert. Lorraine sent Mr. Kincaid a copy of the Commission's guidelines for work in wetlands, but had not heard further from him. Again because of current workload, she had not had the time to pursue the matter but advised the members that Kevin was keeping track of it and reporting to her. She will attempt to take care of this issue within the next week or so.
   
   
8. S.P.N.H.F. DUES AND MAP: On motion made by Janet and seconded by Hub, it was voted unanimously to authorize Lorraine to request payment in the amount of $26.00 for the annual dues to the Society plus an amount of $2.95 for a copy of the latest map of the Society's lands, same to be kept in the Commission's files for reference.
   
   
9. DEVINE LAND ABUTTING TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST: As part of the Curtis/ LCIP deal the Commission attempted to arrange, Russ had had contact with Mr. Devine relative to approximately 40 or more acres he owns which abuts The Tucker Brook Town Forest. At that time, the land was appraised. The Curtis/LCIP deal failed, but Russ had talked further to Mr. Devine in an attempt to acquire this land. At one point, Mr. Devine was only interested in selling at the appraised value, which was high. In later talks with him, Russ suggested he build his own house on a small portion of the land which is something Mr. Devine would like to do, and that he enter into a conservation easement with the Town for the balance. This was an idea Mr. Devine found attractive, and Russ will pursue it with him.
   
   
10. EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS AT BEAVER BROOK: Lorraine reported having received information on these workshops which will include a session on gravel operations. With this notice came a request from Jonathan Nute, County Extension Forester, requesting copies of each town's current gravel ordinance. Mr. Nute plans to take the best of each, put it all together and have the final product available for overview at this workshop. Lorraine immediately obtained a copy of Milford's gravel ordinance and sent it to Mr. Nute. Relative to the workshops available and the dates, the schedule is provided in these Minutes in order that the members may decide which workshops they wish to attend., Members are to notify Lorraine as soon as possible As to which lectures they wish to attend. The schedule follows:

    March 18	Gravel excavation in your town - what are the regulations?
    March 25	Wetland Values presented by Frank Mitchell
    April I	Aquifers and Groundwater by Peter Stekl
    April 8	An evaluation of groundwater protection - local regulatory options with Susan Glen
    April 15	The cost of development, reviewed through the computer model designed by Dr. Stephen Turner
    April 22	Traditional Zoning Laws - what will they do to your town? by Jack Lutz.

    The cost of the lectures is $35.00 for the series and $8.00 per session. All lectures are to be held at Beaver Brook in Hollis from 7.30p.m. to 9p.m. on each date. Deadline for registration is March 6 1991.
    
    
11. THE PLUS COMPANY/WETLANDS/TONELLA ROAD: Lorraine provided the following information on this case for the members: that the Plus Company, located on Nashua Street, has created a paved parking lot off that street; that the Company wishes to extend this parking lot at a later date, probably in spring, at the back of their building, accessed off Tonella Road; that on November 20 1990, she and Mark Fougere did an on site inspection of the area off Tonella Road; that there is a wetland in this area which would be involved in the parking lot extension; that this is a remaining wetland after much interference over many years with development in the adjacent area; that during the on site inspection, Lorraine observed a considerable amount of use of the remaining wetland by wildlife; that at the time of the on site, there was water underfoot adjacent to the brush on the edge of the main wetland which would be included in the parking lot extension. Minutes of Public Meeting January 10 1991 Page 4 MCC The members agrees to review the area in question themselves in order to be prepared when the case comes before the Commission.
    
    
12. NICHOLAS DADOLY LAND GIFT: Lorraine reported she had received a letter from Atty. John Bielagus together with a copy of the recorded deed and an invoice for his services in the amount of $374.25. In accordance with the agreement with Mr. Dadoly, she had paid this amount to Mr. Bielagus. Also in accordance with the agreement, she had paid the amount of $2,000 to Mr. Dadoly as reimbursement to him for his payment of the appraisal. All these payments were sent with letters with copies to the two parties. In her letter to Mr. Dadoly, she had expressed the deep appreciation of the Commission for this most generous gift of land. The final portion of the agreement is that the property taxes paid by Mr. Dadoly on this property will be refunded by the Tax Collector, this issue to go before the Selectmen at their January 7 1991 meeting. Lorraine will pursue this and ensure the refund is made for the sake of the Commission's records. Once the Minutes of that meeting are available with a record of the Selectmen's acceptance of this gift, she will so advise Mr. Dadoly. Lorraine reported that the above two payments were made from the Commission's Accumulating Fund, that being the only readily available funds. She asked the members if this is where the payment should remain or if they wished it to be made from the Land Fund. Janet put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion that payment be out of the Accumulating Fund balance.
    
    
13. CURTIS/LCIP: To close this file, Russ gave a summary of the final outcome as follows: that Tom Curtis wanted more for the land than the appraised value; that the other land pieces the Commission had hoped to put together for the Curtis application to LCIP just did not fall into place in a timely fashion; that LCIP did not have sufficient funds and neither did the Town to purchase this property direct from Tom. Russ did talk to Tom regarding the final outcome, and the arrangement is that should LCIP have more funds available in the future, the Commission will again be in touch with Tom.
    
    
14. DAVE ANDREWS, ALTERNATE: Because Dave had not been to any meetings for awhile and because work was still needed on the drainage regulations, Lorraine gave him a call. Dave explained that he had recently gotten promotion which meant he was out of State at least three days a week, those being the middle of the week days which precluded him every being likely to attend Commission meetings, and he felt as a result that he should resign as an alternate. However, Dave offered his services to whatever extent his job permits, with particular emphasis on working on a project for the Commission which could be done "in a hotel room at night". He therefore offered to rework the drainage regulations if we provide him with the necessary paperwork. The Members asked that Dave submit his resignation in writing, and that Lorraine talk to Mark relative to paperwork Dave needs for the drainage regulations.
    
    
15. DRAINAGE REGULATIONS: As detailed in item #14, Lorraine will prepare the paperwork for Dave Andrews.
    
    
16. FALCONER AVE. EXT./QUIETING TITLE: Lorraine advised the members that when she was preparing the Minutes of the January 3 1991 Meeting, it occurred to her that, though the Commission wished to proceed with quieting the title to this roadway, it was not the jurisdiction of the Commission but rather that of the Board of Selectmen. She called Margaret on this, and as a result sent a letter to the Selectmen advising them of this desire, the reasons why, and requesting permission to proceed. In that letter it was also indicated to the Selectmen that the Commission would perform all the needed work and would bare any and all costs. As soon as Lorraine receives a response from the Selectmen, she will proceed.
    
    
17. PUBLIC SERVICE CO./DREDGE AND FILL: Margaret was to have inspected this site at the corner of Union Street and Route 13 South, but had not had the opportunity. She will do this and report at the next meeting.
    
    
18. LAND INFORMATION KIT: Additional paperwork was handed out to the members who were not present at the January 3 meeting, together with address change information. Lorraine advised the members that in the process of checking into various cases which had not been heard from in some time, she called John Sennott regarding the status of the proposed industrial development on property owned by Hillsborough Mills on Dram Cup Hill. John advised her that none of the family members were in the area any more and that the plans had somewhat ended up on the back burner. He stated that the only remaining member taking care of the Trust was Ms. Lawton who now resides in South Carolina. Because of this information, Lorraine suggested. this individual be contacted in the hope this land could be secured as open space. The members agreed, and asked her to be in touch with Ms. Lawton. It was agreed, because of the value of this property, that Ms. Lawton be sent a copy of the "Preserving Family Lands".
    
    
19. MEMBERS: Russ presented a copy of his letter or resignation to the Selectmen, in which he advised them he would not seek reappointment for another term.
    
    Janet Piche had also indicated she would not be seeking reappointment, and Margaret indicated she had had communications with Celeste who, because of her employment and family, found she did not have enough time and was considering resigning from the Commission. In addition, Dave Andrews, an alternate, was also resigning, because of work load. The Commission will therefore loose three full members and one alternate. It was suggested that in advance of Town Meeting a notice be put into the Cabinet requesting any interested parties to contact the Commission. Janet will draft this notice for review at the February 14 meeting.
    
    
20. EARTH DAY 1991: Margaret reported having talked to Joanne Turner of this Committee relative to the Commission's offer of an "open house" on the Town Forest lands, and Joanne would be delighted to have this included in the Earth Day activities. This year, Earth Day will be held April 21 and the current plans are to offer information on energy savings around the home etc., rather than to organize as many different activities as was done last year.
    
    
21. BUDGET, FINANCIALS, REPORT FOR TOWN REPORT: Russ presented a copy of the report he had submitted for inclusion in the Town Report. Lorraine provided the members with copies of the financial statement she had presented for the Town Report, and copies of back-up financial information. At the end of 1990, an amount of $915.69 was left in the Operating Fund as unex- pended for the year. Lorraine had requested a check from the Accounting Dept. for this amount which will be deposited into the Accumulating Fund. The Commission is scheduled to meet with the Budget Committee on Monday, January 14 at 6.45p.m. Because Margaret is unable to attend due to her job, Russ will meet with the Budget Committee.
    
    
22. CARL CHAPPELL: Lorraine reported that to date, Carl still had not refiled the Dredge and Fill application with the Town Clerk. She had attempted to reach him for an update several times, unsuccessfully.
    
    
23. AGENDA ITEMS: The members discussed the length of the agenda for meetings and the fact that many items are on-going with little to report at a meeting. It was decided that in future these items will be removed from the agenda, and that Lorraine would report only when action had taken place. She will develop a tickler file for such items so that they can be kept track of, and not be lost in the cracks.
    
    
24. EMERSON PARK: Lorraine presented Margaret, as a member of this committee, with a copy of the Park's financial statement for 1990. A copy will be sent to Hazel Burns as the third member of the committee.
    
    
25. RESOURCE FILE: Janet Piche put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Hub Seward and voted unanimously in the affirmative that a Resource File be established into which names of individuals who have knowledge needed by the Commission and who are not members but who are willing to assist from time to time, be placed. Lorraine will establish this file and put Dave Andrew's name into it as a start.
    
    
26. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL SYSTEM: Hub provided the members with an excellent synopsis of activities and plans for this trail system. A summary is as follows, provided for the sake of the record:
    1. trail to run from Emerson Park to North River Road beyond Fitch's Corner. Because access across Map 8 Lot 17, now house lots, was denied, two foot bridges would be needed crossing the Souhegan River to the Keyes Field and back, somewhere between Emerson Park and returning beyond Lot 17.
       
       
    2. Without those bridges, the trail would begin at the Milford Hospital Association land and extend westward. Parking is available on this land.
       
       
    3. An existing snow mobile bridge crosses a stream between the Association land and Stan Trombly's corn fields (lots 5, 9, 10) From Lot 5 west, some new trail segments would be constructed to connect with some existing segments which may need improvement.
       
       
    4. Robert Holcomb supports the idea across his land (adjacent to the fish farm). A foot bridge would be required to cross the brook on his land.
       
       
    5. Bill Ferguson supports the trail and offered the use of existing trails and bridges on his land keeping north of Purgatory Brook because the land between this brook and the River is mostly swampy.
       
       
    6. The Fish Hatchery also supports the trail, and a bridge and existing logging roads on its property could be used. After crossing Purgatory Brook, the trail would return to the Souhegan River, following it through the land the Town plans to transfer to the State, and ending at North River Road just beyond Fitch's Corner. Once the Iron Bridge is replaced, this end of the trail may be revised.
    
    Relative to meeting with the property owners, it was decided that Hub would talk to Stan Trombly relative to his concerns first, and perhaps have Stan meet with the Commission, before arrangements are made to meet with the other property owners. The one issue which Stan had raised was that of liability, and Lorraine was asked to check this out with Lee and perhaps be in touch with the Town insurance agent as well.
    
    Relative to liability when town trails cross private property, the subject of the trail on the Hitchiner Town Forest crossing the Lorden land was raised, as well as the trail on the Tucker Brook Town Forest which crosses the Devine land. Lorraine will attempt to find documentation that may exist on these two issues, and will also discuss this with the Town insurance agent.

1. MINUTES: The Minutes of the January 3, 1991 and January 10, 1991 meetings could not be acted upon due to a lack of a quorum. These Minutes will be acted upon at the next meeting which will be February 21, 1991.
   
   
2. MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL POND: Tom Mitchell, a teacher at the High School met with those present to advise the Commission of a proposed environmental pond he hopes to construct on the school property for the purposes of education for students in Milford Schools. The site does not involve wetlands. Mr. Mitchell has made application for a $10,000 grant in order to construct this pond, and should the grant not be made, there will be no pond. The pond is to be an 8 foot deep dug pond of 10,000 to 12,000 square foot surface area. It is to use ground water only, and is to be level with the current ground level. Dennis Wheeler who is familiar with the land involved since before the schools were constructed on this site, will be doing the work involved in creating the pond. It is Mr. Mitchell's objective to simulate as many different environmental regions as possible in this project. Any overflow of water from this pond will be channelled into an existing seasonal brook. The site has been reviewed by SCS, with confirmation that no wetlands are involved, but that there is a very high water table in this area. Russ Monbleau advised Mr. Mitchell that there is an abutter who has complained over the years that significant amounts of water from the school has been funneled onto his property. Russ anticipates further complaints from this individual once it is known that this pond is proposed. Russ suggested that the pond could be constructed to retain some of the run-off from the school land and thus perhaps reduce or at least slow, current run-off. Mr. Mitchell stated he had been advised by SCS that the pond will not make any difference to run-off either way as things exist now. Mr. Mitchell explained the process of creating the pond in that the brush in the area will be removed, the loam will be scraped away, earth removed from the pond site will be dispersed on school property, an overflow will be provided, and finally the loam will be replaced over the dispersed fill and will be seeded with suitable plantings. He anticipates receiving the grant monies in May and proposes the work to be completed by September. Those members present supported the idea. The Commission is however, not involved in this issue because no wetlands are to be disturbed.
   
   
3. TACO BELL/AQUIFER PROTECTION DISTRICT: Bob Roo, engineer, met with the members present to discuss a proposed Mexican restaurant to be located on Map 20 Lots 53 and 54 on Elm Street. Lorraine reported she had made an on site inspection and found only a narrow strip of flat land, with a sharp decline towards the back of the property. A considerable amount of fill will have to be used to provide for the proposed development of the site. A wetland exists, though not on this property, beyond the steep decline. Mr. Rook explained that the fill, the slope towards the wetland off-site and the detention pond are also a concern of the Planning Board which is requiring various activities to reduce possible problems with run off onto abutting properties. Relative to the fact this property lies in the Aquifer Protection District the members were advised. that gas tanks to be located on site will be enclosed by a concrete wall; a detention basin will be constructed to handle a 25 year storm; a gas and oil separator is included in the plans to handle run off from the parking lot; a grease trap is included in the sanitary sewer. It was the members' opinion that there should be little problems with grease from the kitchen because of the nature of the foods to be served in the restaurant. Because of a lack of a quorum, no decision on this case was made, but it will be discussed at the February 21 1991 meeting, and after that a letter will be sent to the engineer, the Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment. The case goes before the Planning Board on February 26 1991, and this letter is required before then.
   
   
4. GRIGAS/SHAWMUT ARLINGTON TRUST C. LAND FOR SALE: On behalf of the Shawmut Bank, David Choate of The Robbins Group from Portsmouth, met with the members to discuss the fact that the Bank now owns Paul Grigas' land which was part of the Ponemah Hill Sub-division (Grigas and Nash) by foreclosure. This land is for sale by the Bank, and is being offered to the Town for conservation purposes. The property is known as Map 54 Lot 3. The property in question consists of 30 to 40 acres in Milford with an adjoining piece of about 3 acres in Amherst and which fronts on Ponemah Hill Road. It is the Bank's desire to sell the 3 acre piece as a separate building lot. This would leave the remaining Grigas land in a landlocked situation, but access for conservation purposes exists in the form of a Public Service Co. right of way. Mr. Choate provided a copy of the foreclosure deed. Lorraine advised the members that there is an error in the Milford Property Tax map involving this property and that she had spent considerable time in securing deeds to various abutting properties in an effort to resolve the problems. Mr. Choate was also aware of some of the problems, which included some pieces of privately owned properties missing from the map, not appearing on either Milford or Amherst property tax maps, and being "included" in the Grigas deed. All of this, Mr. Choate admitted would have to be resolved and a clear title to the Grigas land provided before any sale of the property could take place. Lorraine also advised the members present that she had made several on-site inspections of this land during the Ponemah Hill Sub-division activities, and had found this particular piece to be of considerable conservation value. It includes large areas of wetlands as well as a very attractive stream. It is open and wooded with the wooded areas being fairly non-dense, and is hilly. The members talked about a price for this land. It was the general opinion that if the 3 acre lot in Amherst was sold as a house lot that most of the financial cost to the Bank would thus be recovered and it could mean that for relatively little money, the Town of Milford could acquire the 30 to 40 remaining acres. This particular property does not lie near any other lands owned by the Town but the suggestion was put forward that this piece could be used as a nucleus for a second Green Belt in another location in town. Currently the Town does not own any conservation land in the eastern portion. The members present were of the opinion that this issue should be pursued and it was decided to continue this discussion at next week's meeting and also to review the Composite Map. It was noted that the land in question abuts a large tract of open land owned by Lorden Lumber Co. Lorraine will continue work on the various deeds in an attempt to resolve the existing confusion. Mr. Choate did advise the members that individuals by the name of Teel own property in this area and have show interest in the 3 acre piece as protection for their land. He will pursue this with them.
   
   
5. DADOLY LAND: Lorraine reviewed with the members the various problems that exist in the Dadoly deed and discussed her meeting with Town Counsel on this case. The existing problems include: no "in consideration" clause. Town Counsel advised that this would not be a problem after a period of ten years from the date of the deed, as provided by State statute, but it was his recommendation that it be included because the deed is so new. Another problem involved the fact that the gift to the town resulted in properties in the original sub-division being land-locked, one piece being owned by Nicholas Dadoly himself. The gift also "deeded" to the town a right of way to Public Service Co., though this fact was not mentioned in the deed. It was Town Counsel's advise that the property owners of the landlocked be so advised. Also, there is no termination date in the deed for the proceeds of any timber sales the Commission may hold, such proceeds to go to Mr. Dadoly. Town Counsel and County Forester Jon Nute both recommend that a specific time period be included in the deed. Because this deed involved a tax break for the donor of the land and had to be filed by December 31 1990, problems could arise should the deed need to be refiled. Relative to the time period on proceeds from timber sales, it was Town Counsel's recommendation that this be done in the form of an agreement between the Commission and Dadoly with the agreement being recorded at the Registry. Lorraine had also had discussions with Lee Mayhew relative to the various problems and it was his opinion that correction should be carried out by the Selectmen because the Town now owns the land. Lee had suggested that these problems be reported to the Commission, the opinions of the members be obtained, and then he and Lorraine will work together to make corrections where possible and how possible. Russ put forward the suggestion that a portion of Fox Run Road which was included in the deed to the Town, be given back so as to provide access to two land-locked deeds currently being served by the developed portion of Fox Run Road as a private roadway, and another section where the paper street Fox Run Road leaved Federal Hill Road be provided with a right of way to reach a land-locked privately owned piece at that end of the sub-division. Lorraine will report to Lee, and keep the Commission advised of further actions taken.

Minutes of Work Session of February 26, 1991

Present:
Margaret Pratt, Chairman
Bill Parker, Bob McEttrick, Janet Piche
Lorraine Carson, secretary

1. MEETING OF FEBRUARY 21, 1991: Due to the unavailability of a quorum, this scheduled meeting was cancelled, and rescheduled for February 26, 1991.
   
   
2. MINUTES: On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by Bill Parker, it was voted unanimously to accept the minutes of the January 3, 1991 and January 10, 1991 meetings. The Minutes of the February 14, 1991 meeting were not acted upon at this time, due to the fact those Minutes were only received by the members at this meeting.
   
   
3. TACO BELL: This case was reviewed again with a quorum present. Upon motion made by Bill Parker and seconded by Janet Piche, it was voted unanimously in favor of the motion to accept and approve the proposed location of this Mexican food restaurant within the Aquifer Protection District, based upon the fact that the plans conformed with the intent and spirit of the Aquifer Protection District. Lorraine will advise in writing both the Planning Board and the Board of Adjustment. It was regretted that because of the Commission not being able to act upon this case at earlier meetings, that the meeting of this case with the Planning Board as of this date would not have the input of the Commission in hand.
   
   
4. GRIGAS LAND/CONSERVATION LAND: Lorraine presented the members with a plan she had drawn using the Foreclosure Deed provided by David Choate. It was her understanding that there was no confusion as to just where the boundaries of this property lie. The work done on this plan will be passed along to the Assessing Department to serve as a means of correcting the Property Tax Map of both Milford and Amherst. In the process of drawing the plan, Lorraine came up with a parcel of land between the Grigas and Nash pieces for which she could not establish an owner. Doug Smith will be assisting in trying to provide the answer. A copy of the plan will also be sent to Mr. Choate who may be able to provide some additional information. Relative to the Commission's interest in acquiring this Grigas parcel, it was established that the area involved is 30 to 40 acres of open woodland and wetlands; that the property will be land locked if the proposed plan to subdivide off the 3 acres parcel in Amherst which fronts on Ponemah Hill Road by approximately 198 feet; that this 3 acre parcel, if subdivided into 2 lots in Amherst, could sell in total for $60,000 to $70,000; that the Bank is apparently in debt for this entire Grigas piece to approximately $70,000. After considerable discussion and with the input of Russ Monbleau who attended this meeting briefly, Janet put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Russ and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, of th sum of $10,000 be offered to David Choate for the Milford portion he Grigas lot, that being 30 to 40 acres; that this price include all costs incurred in acquiring this land such as a title search and closing costs; and that a 50 foot wide access easement be granted from Ponemah Hill Road across the southern boundary of the 3 acres Amherst piece. Lorraine will convey this offer to Mr. Choate by telephone and in writing and will report back to the Commission with his response.
   
   
5. HIGH SCHOOL ECOLOGICAL POND: With a quorum present, the Commission again discussed this pond as proposed by Tom Mitchell, Science teacher at the Milford High School. Though too late to be included in the grant application, Mr. Mitchell had requested a letter of support for this pond from the Commission. After discussion, Bill put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to send a letter of support for the proposed pond as an ecological educational tool for the Milford School system; that in the event the grant be denied Mr. Mitchell be offered the possibility of using a town pond for a similar purpose. Lorraine will prepare this letter to Mr. Mitchell.
   
   
6. LAND INFORMATION KIT: Lorraine reminded the members that February 14 1991 was the deadline by which time all contacts should have been made with property owners on the various lists. Members stated they had all sent out the letters, but most had not completed contact with the local property owners. It was agreed that this deadline would now be extended to March 21 1991. Lorraine advised members that relative to Twin Tows area/Dram Cup Hill, she had been in touch with John Sennott and as a result of this had sent two complete packages of information to both Mary Abbott and Joyce Lawton. She had not heard anything from either as of this date.
   
   
7. NEW ADDRESSES FOR MEMBERS: With not all members being present it was not possible to obtain the new street numbers for all, but Lorraine did get this information from those present.
   
   
8. RUSSELL KINCAID/WETLAND VIOLATION/MCGETTIGAN ROAD: Lorraine briefed the members on events in this case that had taken place since the Commission's January 10 meeting. She stated that Kevin Lynch, Building Inspector, upon discovering the violation, had advised Mr. Kincaid to cease work immediately and pursue obtaining the necessary after-the-fact permits etc. Inspite of this warning, Mr. Kincaid had continued work in the wetland and added considerable more fill than was there illegally previous to Kevin's warning. Kevin and Lorraine had done an on site inspection on January 29 1991, at which time the fill placed after the warning was discovered. Mr. Kincaid had replaced an existing culvert with an 18 inch culvert and had filled the dip in the proposed driveway through which a stream flows, with a considerable amount of fill. On either side of the fill, it was found that the banking had not been stabilized in any way, and both Lorraine and Kevin felt it was highly prone to erosion in spring and during rainstorms. Also, piles of brush had been placed in the wetland on the downstream side of the culvert. Kevin had approached the Board of Selectmen in this case, and as a result of this meeting, permission was given by the Board for both the building inspector and the Commission to do whatever was needed including seeking legal assistance, to bring this case into compliance with the rules. Lorraine had also advised the Wetlands Board of the violation when it first came to attention, and had received a response from that Board requesting additional information in preparation for an on site inspection to be made by the Wetlands Board. She had provided the requested information. On February 15 1991, Mr. Kincaid had filed an after-the-fact Dredge and Fill application with the Wetlands Board and Lorraine had requested a 30 day time extension from the Wetlands Board. After discussion of this situation, Bill put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to advise the Wetlands Board as follows:
   
   1. that Mr. Kincaid was advised by the Building Inspector to cease all further work in the wetland until all permits were in place;
   2. that Mr. Kincaid had blatantly ignored this order and had added more fill in the wetland than he had previously;
   3. that the Wetlands Board find Mr. Kincaid in violation of the rules and regulations of that Board and that he be fined accordingly;
   4. that the Commission feels an 18" culvert is too small for the existing stream and the additional run off from the surrounding hillsides, and that the Commission seeks the assistance of the Wetlands Board (during its on site inspection) to provide information on an adequately sized culvert;
   5. that the sides of the fill placed in the wetland are too steep and are unstable, and are a potential for erosion and siltation into the stream. In this item, the Commission will seek the assistance of SCS and will communicate its findings to the Wetlands Board as soon as possible.
   
   Lorraine will communicate the above decision to the Wetlands Board, to Mr. Kincaid, the Board of Adjustment, the Building Inspector and the Board of Selectmen.
   
   
9. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FORESTVIOLATIONS: Lorraine briefed the members on activities in this matter as follows: that Town Counsel Rolf had prepared letters to all the abutters, those letters being dated January 18 1991; at least one abutter did not receive the letter until February 2 1991. The copies of the letters were not received by Lorraine until several days after February 2 1991. Upon reading the letters, Lorraine was of -the opinion that they were a little on the strong side in that they threatened fines etc., which was not the initial-intent of the Commission. She spoke to Lee Mayhew in this regard and he concurred. One abutter, Michael Hall, contacted Lorraine by telephone immediately he received the letter and was extremely annoyed and upset. She assured him that it was not the intent of the Commission to fine anyone, and that the Commission was fully aware of the fact that most of the violations could not receive attention until spring anyway. Mr. Hall then called Atty. Rolf, who assured him of the same things as did Lorraine. Mr. Hall was a violator in that he had a swing set partly on town property and a portion of his lawn. In talking with Lorraine, Mr. Hall stated his swing set was not on town property to the best of his knowledge, and he wanted her to inspect the situation immediately (this being 6p.m. on a Saturday night, Lorraine declined to oblige). However, she did assure Mr. Hall an inspection would be done, the findings would be discussed by the Commission, and their decision would be conveyed to him. Lorraine and John Ferguson therefore made an on site inspection on February 7 1991. They established the boundary line in question, and found that indeed the swing set was not on town property. They did find a small area of lawn in the right of way to the land, and a small pile of bricks over the line also. Lorraine was of the opinion that the swing set was not the one previously seen on the property and therefore asked Hub to review it as he was the one who originally reported the swing set as being over the line. Hub reported to Lorraine that he also did not think the existing swing was the one he originally saw, but could not be sure. At no time did Mr. Hall indicate he had erected a new swing set. During the telephone conversation with Mr. Hall, he also indicated to Lorraine that the pole fence which the Commission erected years ago along the boundary between his property and the right of way, was in disrepair and he wanted something done about this. After discussion of the above, the members asked Lorraine to write a letter to Mr. Hall thanking him for pointing out the fact the swing set was not on town land, apologizing for the apparent error on the Commission's part, requesting him not to continue mowing lawn on town land and to remove the small pile of bricks in the right of way. The Commission also wishes Mr. Hall advised that arrangements will be made in the spring for removal of the pole fence. The members felt that seeing this right of way is no longer used as an accessway to the town land that the purpose of the fence no longer exists. Lorraine was asked to see if Bob Courage's Department could remove the fence in spring. Another abutter, Brenda Murphy on Lot 13, had contacted Atty. Rolf advising her that she was now divorced and that the brush pile was put there by her ex-husband and was therefore not her responsibility. Atty. Rolf established that Mrs. Murphy is the owner of the property and advised her that it was her responsibility and she should take care of it in spring. Another abutter, Albert Raine of Lot 16, also contacted Atty. Rolf. He had a brush pile, logs and leaves on town land. He did not complain, and during an on site inspection of the Town land last week by Hub Seward, it was found that Mr. Raine was already working on cleaning up his mess and that he had also erected a rope along his boundary line with the Town land. Lorraine suggested that the boundaries between the properties on Shady Lane and Adams Street and the Town Land be fully marked with blue paint in spring and the members agrees with her. She will ensure this is done. The Commission made the decision to give all abutters until May 30 1991 to clean up their messes, and asked Lorraine to write to all of them giving this date and assuring that no fines will be imposed until after that date.
   
   
10. AMENDMENT TO ORDINANCE GOVERNING REGULATION OF TOWN LAND: Lorraine reported to the members that prior to the third reading of the proposed amendment to this Ordinance, the Selectmen raised a concern that the wording of the amendment was such that it could create a serious problem because standing dead wood posing a danger to human life would require the approval of the Commission before the situation could be corrected. She had therefore drafted a re-wording of the amendment for the members' approval, which would correct this unintended problem. She advised the members that the Selectmen were holding up the third reading until response from the Commission was received which hopefully would correct the problem. The members read and approved the draft, and Lorraine will therefore submit it to the Board for its approval at that Board's next meeting.
    
    
11. DADOLY LAND GIFT: Russ presented a letter he had received from Mr. Dadoly dated December 28 1990 in which Mr. Dadoly specified details of a letter he required from the Commission regarding his donation of land to the Town. Russ also presented the copy of his response to Mr. Dadoly, also dated December 28 1990. Lorraine briefed the members on the problems that exist in the wording of the Dadoly deed. Because this land has already been donated to the Town correction of the deed problems falls under the jurisdiction of the Board Of Selectmen and she is therefore working with Lee Mayhew on the needed corrections. Lorraine had made the offer to Lee to do all the leg work involved in this case because the Commission was responsible for ensuring a correct deed before submission to the Selectmen. Lee therefore asked her to meet with Town Counsel William Drescher on this case. This is scheduled for March 18 1991. The issues are: the deed lacks a "for consideration" clause which needs to be added; Restriction #4 (proceeds of timber sales etc.) needs a termination date such as "for as long as Mr. Dadoly lives etc.", an agreement between Mr. Dadoly and the Town has to be drawn up such as that between the Town and Bill Burns, and has to be recorded at the Registry; land-locked properties as a result of this gift have to be dealt with and resolved as well as the Public Service Co. right of way which was also part of the land donated to the Town. Lorraine will report at the next meeting on further actions on this matter. Russ indicated he would like to attend the meeting between Lorraine and Town Counsel.
    
    
12. HOURS IN THE TOWN HALL: Whereas the Commission had originally decided to hold hours in the Town Hall with Lorraine doing a two hour period on a Thursday and other members doing a two hour period on a Monday night until Town Meeting, Lorraine learned that the Selectmen required her to do the full four hour period. She discussed this with Margaret over the phone, and it was decided she would be in the Town hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2p.m. to 4p.m. A notice to this effect was published in the Milford on February 6 1991, with Lorraine beginning the hours on February 5. A notice was also placed on the Commission's office door. She also advised the members that the Board had decided against installation of a telephone because of the expense involved. She has kept track of the hours Spent so far and the work performed. There has been no public contact to date during these hours. As proof of the continuous availability of the Commission to the public, Lorraine has also kept track of all telephone calls she received as home other than on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8a.m. to 5p.m. After Town Meeting, she will prepare a report Of activities and hours in the Town Hall and of phone calls received at her home for presentation to the Selectmen.
    
    
13. TOWN TRAIL SYSTEMS ON PRIVATE LANDS: Relative to this issue, Lorraine reported the following:
    1. Tucker Brook Town Forest: she had established beyond doubt during consultation with Trailwrights Inc. that no section of any trail on this town land encroaches on any private lands.
    2. Hitchiner Town Forest: It is known that part of this trail travels over private lands, namely that of Lorden Lumber Co. and Burns Hill. Lorraine had written a letter to Owen Kelly who established the trail and who is currently away at college, requesting of him details of any communications he had with the Lorden Lumber Co. when developing the trail system. Once this is known, upon the recommendation of Town Counsel, it will be necessary to draw up a right of way easement agreement between the Lorden Lumber Co. and the Town which will have to be recorded in the Registry.
    3. Mayflower Hill Town Forest: Lorraine reported that when she and John Ferguson were recently on this town land, they reviewed the trail system relative to it being on private land. Their findings were that a section of the most used part of the trail was indeed on private land, namely that owned by Mr. and Mrs. James Hammer of Adams Street. Lorraine relayed John Ferguson's suggestion that the Commission attempt to acquire from the property owners a portion of the back section of their property which is crossed by the trail. The rationale behind this suggestion is that this private property is of 2 ½ acres, is a long narrow piece and all of it is rather steep and heavily wooded. By Mr. and Mrs. Hammer transferring a portion of their land to the Town, it would relieve them of liability and would save the trail having to be relocated. John had put forward the suggestion that a tax break be offered in exchange. After discussion of this proposal, the members requested Lorraine to pursue the proposal and do whatever is necessary.
    
    
    
14. SOUHEGAN RIVER : TRAIL: With Hub not present at this meeting, no information was available as to his progress. Lorraine did advise the members that according to Town Counsel, it would be necessary to obtain from each property owner whose land the trail crosses, a Right of Way Agreement which would have to be recorded in the Registry of Deeds. Relative to Stan Trombly and the desire to meet with him to receive his concerns, Lorraine will call Hub and attempt to get an appointment set up.
    
    
15. PUBLIC SERVICE CO./DREDGE AND FILL: Margaret reported she had looked at the area of Town land at the foot of Union Street where poles had been erected and found no visible disturbance of the wetlands involved. This issue is now closed.
    
    
16. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST/HARLAN BURNS/TIMBERING: Margaret reported Bill Burns had contacted her to advise he was done with the small timbering he wanted to do on his lot which is part of the Town Forest and that he had taken less trees than originally anticipated because he obtained enough wood from trees he did fell. He has replaced the blockade at the entrance way. Lorraine reported Bill had contacted her for additional pages from the appraisal of this land for tax purposes, and she had supplied them.
    
    
17. EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOP: Lorraine reported no members had contacted her to attend these workshops. At the meeting it was decided that Lorraine would attend the March 25 lecture on Wetland Values, and Bill Parker would attend the April 8 and 15 lectures on Groundwater Protection and The Cost of Development. Janet put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bill and voted unanimously in favor to spend between $24.00 and $35.00 on this lecture series. Lorraine will take care of having payment sent to Beaver Brook for the above three lectures.
    
    
18. MEMBERS: Relative to Dave Andrews, Alternate, Lorraine reported having received his letter of resignation. Dave will, however, remain available as a resource person as much as his extensive business commitments allow. Relative to Celeste Barr, Margaret provided a letter of resignation she had received from Celeste, again because of increased business load. Margaret then advised the members that she too would not be able to continue as a member of the Commission, and provided a letter to this effect. Margaret explained that in her case, too, an increase in work load made it impossible for her to make available sufficient time to do an adequate job as a member of the Commission. The members present accepted her resignation with deed regret. She provided a copy of her letter of resignation to the Board of Selectmen, which Lorraine will delivery.
    With the above mentioned resignations, plus the fact that neither Russ nor Janet will be seeking a renewal of their terms, as of March 31 there will remain on the Commission only the following members:
    Bill Parker, Full Member
    Bob McEttrick, Full Member
    Hub Seward, Full Member
    John Ferguson, Alternate
    These four members would make a quorum and the Commission could continue to operate. However, Lorraine pointed out that only one member need not be able to attend a meeting, and there would be no meeting. She stated she had given some thought previously to this issue and had talked to Lee Mayhew with the suggestion that the Selectmen be requested to appoint her as an alternate member until such time as a full seven member board is in operation again. The members were in favor of this, and Margaret will prepare a letter to the Selectmen with this suggestion and request.
    Relative to making an attempt to recruit new members, Lorraine and Janet provided a draft of a notice to be put into the Milford Cabinet and Nashua Telegraph. The members approved both drafts, asked Lorraine to combine them and place in the newspapers as soon as possible. One name that was suggested as a possible new member was an employee of the Nashua Regional Planning Commission and Margaret will contact this person to find out if she is interested and willing to
    
    
19. DRAINAGE/AQUIFER REGULATIONS: Lorraine reported that she had sent to Dave Andrews a complete set of the Zoning Ordinances in response to his offer to do work on bettering the drainage and aquifer protection rules. Both Mark and Norm Erikson were very happy to accept Dave's assistance and have been in touch with him. When the work is done, Lorraine will advise the members of the outcome.
    
    In reviewing the new Site Plan Regulations, Lorraine had found a reference on Page 29 of those Regulations to the 25 foot buffer zone, with no mention of a 50 foot existing as well in certain locations. She talked to Mark about this, and found he was unaware of the omission. She therefore put the matter in writing to Mark for correction in due course.
    
    
20. FALCONER AVENUE EXT./QUIETING TITLE: Lorraine reported that on January 28 1991 she requested Atty. Carol Rolf by telephone to proceed with quieting title to Falconer Avenue Extension. To date she has heard nothing further from Carol, nor has she been able to make contact with her. In addition, on January 18 Carol sent a letter to Mr. Crawford whose brush and old fencing obstructs this accessway, advising him he had ten days from date of receipt of that letter to clean up the mess. This was a dead line Lorraine had not pursued and it is also not known if the mess has been cleaned up. She will be in touch with Hub to request his help in checking this out.
    For the record, the request to quiet title has the approval of the Board of Selectmen.
    
    
21. BUDGET COMMITTEE: Lorraine reported having been advised by Lee Mayhew that both the Budget Committee and the Selectmen have supported the Commission's request for $5,000 Operating Budget for 1991. However, the Budget Committee reduced the funding for the Conservation Assistant from the $7110.00 supported by the Selectmen to $6,800.00.
    
    
22. SOUTHERN N.H. CONS. COMMS.: Lorraine provided the members with a copy of the Minutes of this group's meeting of January 7 1991. Commissions from the towns of Derry, Hudson, Hollis, Litchfield, Londonderry, Merrimack, Nashua, Pelham and Tyngsboro were presented. She put forward the suggestion that Milford appoint a representative to attend these meetings. The members agreed but with such a reduced work force, it was decided to hold up on this until new members are on board. In the meantime, Lorraine will find out how often the group meets etc.
    
    
23. LAND GIFTS: Lorraine reported that in doing work on the Dadoly land gift it had occurred to her that the Commission received two other land gifts recently without the acceptance of the Selectmen. One was the Hayward Commons gift along Tucker Brook, and the other was a much larger gift from ML Realty (North River Road subdivision). She therefore wrote a letter to the Selectmen, apologizing for the Commission's error, and requesting their after-the-fact acceptance. At their meeting on February 19, the Selectmen accepted the two parcels of conservation land from ML Realty but made no mention of acceptance of the several conservation easements which are (or will be) on privately owned lands within the subdivision. She will check further with Lee Mayhew on this issue. Relative to the Hayward Commons gift, the Selectmen voted NOT to accept this gift. Lorraine talked to Lee who suggested that the Commission send another letter to the Board requesting their cooperation. Margaret will take care of this letter.
    
    
24. CARL CHAPPELL/WETLAND VIOLATION: Lorraine reported that she had received a copy of a communcation between the Wetlands Board and Carl Chappell which indicated to her he had filed a Dredge and Fill application, but the Commission had no copy. The Deputy Town Clerk had signed this application but was unsure of how to distribute the copies. Lorraine eventually obtained a copy of the application, sent a letter to the Wetlands Board requesting a 30 day time extension, and also provided the Deputy Town Clerk with details of how to proceed when faced with such an application, information which was gratefully received. It is now necessary for the Commission to respond to the Wetlands Board on this application. After discussion, Bill put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, that the Commission would recommend issuance of the after-the-fact permit, but with the following conditions: that the banks of the square pond be stabilized with planting recommended by SCS; that all measures necessary to ensure no siltation from the pond into the stream leading from it, be taken; and that all the above to be completed so that the plantings are established by August 31 1991 at which time the Commission will perform another onsite inspection.
    
    
25. BAY GROUP/WESTON PROPERTIES: Lorraine advised the members she had been advised by Ed Hardy, Jr. of Osgood Road that this 271 acre subdivision at the end of Osgood Road was to be auctioned on March 15 1991 as a result of foreclosure. She had contacted the Federal Savings Bank in Waltham, MA which holds the mortgage and them to be interested in talking to the Commission should the property not be sold at auction. The members agreed it would be excellent land to preserve, but it is anticipated the cost would be beyond the Town to afford. It is known that the land was originally purchased for approximately $1,000,000 and that about $500,000 has been spent on the subdivision work. Mark Fougere plans to attend the auction which will be held on site, and Lorraine will find out from him what happens and report back to the members.
    
    
26. EMERSON PARK FUND: Margaret and Lorraine as two of the three members of this Fund agree to spend $57.25 for additional plantings for the Park, to be purchased from Jackson & Perkins. The plantings are scheduled for the area at the foot of the steps leading to the Park. Lorraine will take care of cleaning out this bed and for planting the new items in spring.
    
    There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 10.45p.m.
    
    The next meeting will be at 7.30p.m. on Thursday March 21, 1991. This will be in place of the usual second Thursday meeting of the month because that week includes Town Meeting, and should Town Meeting be extended a second night it would mean Lorraine would not be available for the Commission meeting as she is doing the minutes of Town Meeting.
    
    Respectfully submitted,
    Lorraine Carson, Secretary

1. MINUTES: On motion made by Bill Parker and seconded by Hub Seward, it was voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the February 14, 1991 meeting as presented. On motion made by Janet Piche and seconded by Bob McEttrick, it was voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the February 26 meeting as presented.
   
   
2. MEMBERS AND PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS: Beginning at 7.30p.m., the Commission met briefly with those individuals who had contacted the secretary and expressed an interest in serving on the Commission. The purpose was to advise those individuals of what the Commission does, projects in which it is involved, and what time commitment would be required. The following individuals were present:
   
   Dr. Steven Turner, Georgia Moore, Dr. A. Law, Ken Utting and Christine Constantino.
   
   These people were advised that the Board of Selectmen would be meeting with them on Monday April lst 1991. Lorraine advised the members that three additional individuals had also contacted her and had been scheduled for the Commission's March 28 1991 meeting, namely Jim Smith, Blaise Corcoran and Robert Walsh. Lorraine had also provided the Selectmen's Office with a list of the above names and telephone numbers. Lorraine also reported that she had been contacted by Denise Johnson who showed an interest in serving, but she had not been able to establish a date and time for her to meet with the Commission. Hub provided the members with a letter Mrs. Johnson had delivered to him in which she expressed a desire to meet with the Commission. Lorraine will again attempt to set up an appointment for her for the March 28 meeting.] Relative to the initial eight individuals who had made contact with the secretary, a letter had been sent to the Selectmen requesting that appointments to the Commission be made as follows:
   
   

   Full Members:	2 for 2-year-terms to March 1993
   	1 for 1-year-term to March 1992
   	1 for 3-year-term to March 1994
   Alternates:	I for 1-year-term to march 1992
   	2 for 2-year-terms to March 1993
   	1 for 3-year-term to March 1994

   
   
   re: Terms of Current Members: Lorraine advised the members that in review of current terms of office, it was established that the terms of Bill Parker and Hub Seward expire March 31 1991. A letter was therefore urgently sent to the Selectmen requesting them to renew these two terms as follows:
   
   Bill Parker to a three year term, full member, to March 31 1994
   Hub Seward to a one year term, full member, to March 1992
   
   re: John Ferguson, Alternate: John stated he did not wish to remain a member of the Commission, but would remain on until such time as there is a full membership in operation. He will also continue giving the Commission assistance where needed relative to the Town Forests.
   
   re: Margaret Pratt: Though Margaret's term is up on March 31 1991, she will continue also as a member until sufficient new members are appointed, and will be available for the April 11 1991 public meeting should she be needed.
   
   re: Bob McEttrick: Bob advised the members that his Oath of Office form apparently had an error in it. He was appointed on May 18 1990 to a 2-year term as a full member, but on the form, the expiration date of his term was given as March 31 1991. It was felt this was a typographical error, but Lorraine will contact the Town Clerk to make sure his records reflect a two year term with an expiration date of March 31 1992.
   
   re: Lorraine Carson: Lorraine reported that at their meeting on March 4 1991, the Selectmen had appointed her as an alternate, as was requested, until a full board is available to the Commission or until September 4 1991, whichever comes first. This was to provide the Commission with the ability to function as a board until new members are appointed.
   
   re: Departing members and document copies: Janet Piche handed over her copies of the Municipal Handbook and the Conservation Plan at this meeting. Russ will bring his copy of the Handbook to the March 28 1991 meeting, but requested permission to retain his copy of the Conservation Plan, as he wishes to remain active in land acquisition and felt this book would be useful. Lorraine reported she had been in touch with Celeste Barr requesting her copies of the above two documents on March 13, but to date had not received them. She will call Celeste again. Margaret also handed over her copies of these two documents. Upon motion made by Janet and seconded by Bob McEttrick, it was voted unanimously to authorize Lorraine to purchase additional copies of the Handbook and the Conservation Plan as needed, to provide all new members with a copy of each.
   
   re: Education of New Members: Bob McEttrick put forward the idea of making copies of the Minutes of Conservation Meetings from the beginning of this year to give to new members as a means of them becoming more familiar with the issues currently before the Commission. This idea was accepted, and Bob will provide the necessary copies. Lorraine will prepare copies of various policies, etc., which the Commission has developed over the years, to be given to the new members.
   
   re: Key to the Town Hall: As Lorraine is the only one who has a key to the Town Hall, she will attempt to obtain another one for the new chairman from Bob Courage.
   
   
3. EMPOWER MICROSYSTEMS/MEADOWBROOK IND. PARK/AQUIFER PROTECTION: Peter Nash of Meadowbrook Industrial Park and Mark Fougere, Planning Director, met with the Commission to review and receive comments and concerns regarding a proposed 64,000 sq.ft. building to be constructed on Map 6 Lot 36 and to be occupied, it is hoped, by Empower Microsystems. Mr. Nash explained that Empower will employ up to 200 employees, and is involved in light assembly work for personal computers and circuit boards to be sold to the Rep. of China. He advised the members that definite word has to date not been received that this company will indeed locate in Milford, but so far everything points to the fact that it will, and he wished to have all approvals, plans, etc. in order that when Empower's final word is received, he would be in a position to immediately begin construction of the building. This building will be on municipal sewer system and will be heated by propane gas. The Commission was advised that various hazardous chemicals are involved in the proposed work, which includes 15 gallons Flux, 540 gallons thinner 90 gallons Trico and 50 pounds Bar Solder. Approximately 12 55 gallon drums will be generated per week. All will be picked up and removed from the site in 55 gallon drums. These drums will be stored in a designated caged and locked area until pick up time. After discussion of this case, the Commission made the following recommenda- tions, which will be conveyed in writing to Mr. Nash and the Planning Board for the March 27 Planning Board Meeting:
   1. There will be no floor drains (currently these are proposed), or should floor drains be included, they must feed into a closed system.
   2. Propane gas tanks are to be located above ground and be surrounded by protective bollards.
   3. All hazardous chemicals on site are to be stored in a concrete lipped or recessed area so as to contain any and all spillages.
   4. Federal Permit number for the hazardous materials is to be on the site plans.
   
   
4. EARTH DAY/SCOUT TROOP 4/PLANTING TREES: Margaret Pratt reported that Joanne Turner of the Earth Day Committee had been working with Troop 4 relative to their desire to become involved in tree planting. Two crabapple trees are to be planted at Osgood Pond park area as part of the 1990 Tree Project and it was suggested that the Scout Troop be given this job to do. Bill Parker will work with Joanne in coordinating this event, and John Ferguson will pick up the two trees the week of April 15. Relative to the amount to be spent on this project, Janet put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Bill Parker and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to authorize the purchase of two crabapple trees for a cost not to exceed $400.00.
   
   
5. SPNHF SEMINAR FOR FUTURE LEADERS: Lorraine reported that she had been contacted by Tim O'Connell of the High School relative to him having found one student wanting to attend this seminar. As authorized previously Lorraine made arrangements for payment of the amount of $235.00 to be made to the Society. The student is Alison Higgs, 289 Mason Road, Milford. The seminar is scheduled for April 21-25 1991 at the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem. Lorraine had conveyed to him that the Commission was willing to send an additional student, perhaps to the Conservation Camp in June, and Tim agreed to search for an individual interested in attending.
   
   
6. NICHOLAS DADOLY LAND GIFT: Lorraine reported she had met with Town Counsel Bill Drescher on March 18 1991 in an attempt to rectify the deed to this land. The results of this meeting are that Atty. Drescher will be in touch with Atty. Bielagus (the attorney for Mr. Dadoly), with the following] concerns:
   
   
   1. A "For Consideration Paid" clause must be added.
      
      
   2. Restriction #4 relative to timber rights etc., an agreement either separate or included in a rewritten deed, will be developed between Mr. Dadoly and the Town of Milford granting him proceeds from any timber sales "for as long as he shall live" only. The agreement will be similar to that between the Town and Bill Burns. For this agreement a timber survey is required. Lorraine requested John Ferguson to do this; he presented his survey results at this meeting, and Lorraine will forward this to Atty. Drescher.
      
      
   3. Relative to acceptance of the paper street, Fox Run Road, Atty. Drescher recommended that the Board of Selectmen rescind acceptance of part of this paper street so that access via a private road can be had to lots currently not on a roadway because of the wording of the deed. This will allow also, access to the Public Service Right of Way. It was suggested during consultation with Town Counsel that the Town's portion of this paper street run on a line on the south side of Map 53 Lots 79 and 81 and 82, thus providing access to lots 79-1, 80 and 86 and the Public Service right of way. Atty. Drescher will put this suggestion to Atty. Bielagus and once he has reviewed this with Mr. Dadoly, the Selectmen will be requested to take the necessary action, if all parties are in agreement.
      
      
   4. Map 53 Lot 83 has access over the paper street Fox Run Road owned now by the Town from Federal Hill Road. But seeing this is not a developed roadway, the property owners cannot build on this lot as arrangements now stand. Town Counsel advised that the Board of Selectmen could, at some time in the future, grant a right of way over this section of paper street to this lot, and development of it would have to be at the expense of the property owners.
   
   
7. LAND INFORMATION KIT: Lorraine reminded the members that this was the final deadline for contacting property owners on the distributed lists. Everybody had made the necessary contacts, except for Janet who stated she had not been able to contact anybody except for one, on her list and turned in all the brochures. Because this project is not a project to hand over to a totally new member to the Commission, Lorraine said she would take it over and ensure that all contacts were made as soon as possible.
   Lorraine will also call Celeste to find out if she has contacted those on her list, and if she wishes to continue now that she is not a member. (In contact with Celeste after this meeting, Lorraine learned that she had contacted everybody except for one, with whom she wished to make personal contact, and she will do this as soon as the opportunity arises).
   
   
8. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL: It was reported that Hub had contacted Stan Trombly and he will be meeting with the Commission on March 28 1991 to discuss his concerns and ideas about the trail. Lorraine reported that Lynn Higgs had contacted her relative to the Commission's advertisement for members, and in discussion, Lynn decided to withdraw her offer to be on the Commission but instead wished to offer assistance wherever it was needed. Lorraine put forward to her the suggestion that she serve on the committee for development of this trail. She was delighted to do this, and at Lorraine's suggestion, she will be invited to the March 28 meeting when Stan Trombly meets with the members.
   
   Relative to Stan's meeting, Margaret asked Lorraine to prepare a report on the concerns and suggestions Stan had already conveyed.
   
   
9. HOURS IN TOWN HALL: Lorraine reported that after Town Meeting she had prepared and submitted to the Selectmen details of hours she had spent in the Town Hall, and a list of telephone calls received at her home on Conservation work during the period February I to March 12 1991. During this period, there was no public contact made with Lorraine while in the Town Hall during the advertised hours. At their meeting on March 18 1991, the Selectmen decided to drop the requirement of specified hours in the Town Hall.
   
   
10. HILLS. CTY. CONSERVATION DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING: This meeting is to be held on Wednesday March 27 1991. Margaret and John will be attending because of their professions. Lorraine was the only Commission member interested in attending, and stated that it appeared to have been well- appreciated at last year's annual meeting which she attended, that the Milford Conservation Commission was represented. A motion was put on the floor by Bill Parker, seconded by Hub Seward and voted in the affirmative to authorize Lorraine to expend $10.50 for attending this meeting. Because of the deadline for payment, Lorraine and Margaret will get together to make the best arrangements possible to make the payment in a timely fashion, even if it means that the Commission will result in having to reimburse Lorraine instead of paying direct.
    
    
11. CHAIRMAN/VICE CHAIRMAN: Both the current Chairman Margaret Pratt and the current Vice-Chairman Russ Monbleau will not be members of the Commission after March 31 1991. Discussions therefore took place as who the next chairman and vice-chairman would be. The following decision were made:
    
    Chairman: On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by Hub Seward, it was voted unanimously to appoint Bill Parker as chairman effective April 1 1991.
    
    Vice-Chairman: On motion made by Hub Seward and seconded by Bill Parker it was voted unanimously to appoint Bob McEttrick as the Vice-Chairman effective April 1 1991.
    
    Lorraine will convey this information to the Board of Selectmen.
    
    
12. NEXT MEETING: The next scheduled public meeting will be Thursday, April 11 1991 at 7.30p.m. Margaret Pratt offered to be present at this meeting to assist Bill Parker in the transition of chairmanship. Lorraine also stated that if at all possible no public will be scheduled for this meeting. This meeting will be made up mainly of totally new members, assuming the Selectmen make the new appointments at their meeting on April 1 1991, and time will be needed to initiate those people. As far as possible the agenda will be kept light to allow time for education of issues. It was also decided that a second meeting in April will be needed most likely, to complete the work load.
    
    
13. AGENDA ITEMS NOT COVERED: Because of the lateness of the hour, the following items were not covered, and will be attended to at the April 11 meeting:
    1. Revisions to the Conservation Master Plan
    2. Wetland Workshops
    3. Results of Town Meeting voting on Conservation issues
    4. Wetlands Board and related issues
    5. Grigas Land Purchase update
    6. Bay Group land/auction
    7. Conservation Land Ordinance
       • amendment
       • revisions to Appendix A
    8. Mayflower Hill Town Forest/trail on private property
    9. Arnold Balcom/Wetland violations/Wetland Board's reactions
    10. Southern N.H. Conservation Commissions' meeting attendance

Meeting Minutes of Work Session of March 28, 1991

Present:
Margaret Pratt, Chairman,
Bill Parker, Bob McEttrick, Hub Seward, Janet Piche
Lorraine Carson, Secretary
Rosario Ricciardi, Selectmen's Representative

1. MEMBERS AND PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS: The Commission met briefly with the following two individuals who had expressed an interest in serving on the Commission: Blaise Corcoran and Robert Walsh. Both wish to be made members of the Commission and will be meeting with the Selectmen on April 1 1991. Denise Johnson also met with the Commission because of a willingness to serve, but made the decision that the time commitment required was more than she could afford. She did however, offer to serve on a committee if needed, and as such was offered the Souhegan River Trails Committee.
   
   On April 1 1991 the Selectmen will be meeting with the seven individuals who had met within the Commission and who wished to serve. Bill Parker and Bob McEttrick will attend this meeting at the invitation of the Selectmen.
   
   James Smith who had an appointment for this evening relative to his interest in serving, cancelled today, and withdrew his application.
   
   Relative to the error on the Oath of Office of Bob McEttrick, Lorraine advised she had checked into this, and found it was a typographical error, and that indeed Bob's term runs to March 31 1992.
   
   Relative to Margaret Pratt who had offered to continue after March 31 if needed, it was decided tonight would be her last meeting because it is understood that the Selectmen will be appointing the new members on April lst and therefore for the Commission's next meeting on April 11 1991, a full board should be present. Margaret offered to give any assistance in the future where her expertise could be of use to the Commission.
   
   Regarding keys to the Town Hall etc. for the new chairman, Bill Parker, Lorraine stated she had asked Bob Courage for a key to the Town Hall front door, but had not received it yet. She will however, have this for the April 11 meeting together with a key to the Commission's room in the basement.
   
   For the meeting this evening, it was found that both doors to the Selectmen's meeting room were locked, and the Commission had to meet in the small room in Public Works Department, which was inadequate for the agenda. Sarooch authorized the Commission to secure a key to the Selectmen's meeting room.
   
   For the new members and for the April 11 meeting, Bob said he had made 8 complete sets of the Commission's Minutes from January 1991 as a way of briefing the new people and bringing them up to date. Lorraine will make copies of the March 21 and 28 meetings for those individuals.
   
   Also for new members, and also for the three remaining members, Lorraine said she had prepared three-ring binders of various policies, ordinances, rules, regulations, etc. which she felt were needed for the people to more quickly educate them in Commission details. Because of the great amount of work involved in the preparation of these files, it was decided that these would not be the property of the individual members, but rather that of the Commission, and thus should be treated as such and returned at the end of a member's term to be passed on to the next new member.
   
   On behalf of Margaret, Lorraine drafted a letter of thanks to Vivian Barry for her time as representative from the Board of Selectmen to the Commission. The members were pleased with the letter, and asked that a copy be sent to the Selectmen as well.
   
   
2. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL SYSTEM: Stan Trombly met with the members to discuss his concerns regarding this trail on private lands, as preparation for meeting with all the property owners involved. Lynn Higgs, a Trail Committee member, was also present. The result of this discussion was as follows:
   
   
   1. Width of the trail: Stan requested that the trail be no more than four feet wide. Hub assured him that this would fall into the proposed plans as this is the usual width of trail used on Town lands.
      
      
   2. Liability to the Property Owner: In response to Stan's concerns, Lorraine put forward a copy of a draft of a Right-Of-Way Easement pre- pared by the N.H. Heritage Trail. By signing this agreement with the Town, and by having it recorded in the Registry of Deeds, the property owner is absolved of the liability should public using the town trail be injured in the process. Lorraine added further that she had recently discussed this issue with Town Counsel, and was advised that gross negligence has to be proven before the injured party could sue, and at best, it would be the town and not the property owner who would be sued. Town Counsel further advised that if the trail is well maintained and carries signs warning of any problems, there would be little room for a suit of any kind.
      
      
   3. Vandalism: In an effort to reduce the possibility of this problem, it was decided to prepare signs advising users of the trail that it was on private property, to respect it as such etc. Stan felt this would at least help the possible problem.
      
      
   4. What uses the trail?: The intent of the trail is for foot traffic only, with no bicycles or motorized vehicles of any kind. Signs will be prepared to this effect. It was also decided that as-long-as-possible sections of barbed wire be erected at right angles to the trail at half mile intervals with stiles provided to access the trail beyond thus making it at least extremely difficult at least for wheeled vehicles. Lorraine suggested that a stile be placed at both ends of the trail.
      
      
   5. Hunting and Trapping: Considerable discussion took place on these two issues. Hunting is permitted on all lands which the trail will cross, and it was decided to post a sign at both ends of the trail and every half mile along its length that hunting and trapping are permitted in season. Because traps are usually well hidden, it was feared that pets and children running loose could come into contact with these items. It was decided to prepare a sign for either end of the trail that pets must be maintained on leashes, and it was felt that by posting signs every half mile regarding hunting and trapping parents would be mindful of the whereabouts of children accompanying them. The question was raised as to whether or not the times for hunting and trapping should be posted, to better prevent serious problems. Lorraine will obtain this answer from Town Counsel. Relative to the placement of traps, it was stated that trappers are required by law to obtain the permission of the property owners before setting the traps, though this is not always done. Lorraine suggested she be in touch with the Conservation Officer as to perhaps the MCC being notified of traps and their locations. She will also enquire of the C.O. any other ideas he may have for better safety in this matter.
      
      
   6. Cow Pastures: It was agreed that a barbed wire fencing would be erected along cow pastures to prevent trespassing by trail users.
      
      
   7. Hours of Use: The Commission does not encourage after dark use of any of its trails. Because the Milford Hatchery land is involved and because they close at 4p.m., it was decided to include in the signs, wording to the effect that the trail is open sunrise to sunset only.
      
      
   8. Access to the Trail: For the time being, the two access points will be the MCAA ball fields off North River Road where good parking is available, and one of the gravel roads leading to the Hatchery wells in the area of Earl Fitch's farm, where parking is also available. Mr. Holcombe did offer an access at about mid point by crossing his land from North River Road, but it was decided not to accept this offer because of the narrow- ness of that road, and because it might encourage trail users to attempt to enter the trail across other lands where permission was not offered.
      
      
   9. Length of trail: This trail is going to be a long one, estimated at about 5 to 6 miles. Because it is not circular, it was decided to post the length at either end, adding that there were no access or egress points enroute.
      
      As a result of the above discussions, Lorraine was asked to prepare a list of the concerns with proposed solutions and also a draft of two large signs to be erected at either end of the trail, plus a list of the smaller signs to be erected enroute. This will be reviewed at the next meeting at which time a decision will be made on when to meet with the property owners in total.
   
   
3. MINUTES: On motion made by Bill Parker and seconded by Bob McEttrick, the Minutes of the March 21 1991 Public Meeting were accepted as presented.
   
   
4. HILLS. CTY. CONS. DISTRICT MEETING: Margaret reported that she and Lorraine attended this annual meeting last evening as representatives of the Milford Conservation Commission. It was an enjoyable and informative meeting with a good speaker.
   
   
5. REVISIONS TO CONSERVATION MASTER PLAN: Margaret reported that Mark had contacted her to discuss various revisions he felt were needed to this Plan. Because Margaret will not be a member of the Commission as of March 31 1991, she asked Lorraine to be in touch with Mark regarding the revisions. She also suggested that in May sometime, the Commission invite Russ Monbleau to attend a meeting to discuss his ideas on land acquisition, this to include developing more than one Green Belt, buying small pieces of land scattered or concentrating on larger parcels only, etc. She also advised that if there is a deadline to this updating, it should be so noted. Margaret also pointed out that the Scenic Roads map in the Conservation Plan needs updating, and Lorraine was asked to do this.
   
   
6. WORKSHOPS: Margaret presented information she had received on various workshops, but which had not been sent to the Commission itself. One of the sessions was already past, and the others were too far away with no members interested in attending. It was suggested that Lorraine be in touch with Nashua Regional Planning Commission to ensure that all such notices are sent direct to the Commission, rather than a particular member.
   
   
7. GRIGAS LAND: It was noted that the purchase of this parcel for conservation purposes received the support of Town Meeting. At that meeting, Margaret had advised the citizens present that a tentative amount of $10,000 had been offered for this 30 to 40 acre lot. Lorraine reported she had had a phone call from David Choate enquiring as to how much time he had in which to finalize this sale , and she had advised him there was no hurry at all. He stated that the Bank was attempting to sell the 3 acre lot in Amherst and that they had an interested buyer. The Bank was trying to get as much as possible for this lot, so as not to have to ask the Commission to increase its offer. However, Mr. Choate indicated an interest as to the limit which the Commission would consider for the Grigas parcel. After discussion, Janet put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Hub and voted unanimously in the affirmative that a maximum of $15,000 would be offered, same to include all costs. Lorraine reported having received a request from the Wetlands Board as to the status of the Grigas and Nash parcels relative to the two Dredge and Fill applications submitted some time ago. She had responded by advising the Wetlands Board that the Town was in the process of attempting to purchase the Grigas parcel, and that the plans submitted for the Nash piece were no longer effective as that lot could not be developed as proposed without the Grigas parcel. Discussions on the purchasing of the Grigas land lead to discussion of the fact that the townspeople as a whole know little about the activities of the Commission due to lack of newspaper articles about its work. Several attempts by Lorraine to prepare articles for publication have failed. It was decided that seeing one of the individuals wishing to serve on the Commission was a writer, this matter would be pursued further at that time. Because of this lack of publicity, it was decided that Lorraine would write a comprehensive article on the Grigas land and try to have it published before the final papers are signed on this land. Such article would include precise location, how to reach the land, its size, potential for picnics and walks, and proposed trails/town forest classification etc.
   
   
8. BAY GROUP/WESTON PROPERTIES: Lorraine reported that this land was not sold at the auction on March 15 1991. She had been in touch with the bank now owning this land, some 270 acres abutting the Hitchiner Town Forest, but had not been able to discuss the Commission's interest to date. She will continue to try to reach the Bank and report back on progress.
   
   
9. CONSERVATION LAND ORDINANCE: Lorraine reported that in updating our copies of this Ordinance relative to the recent amendment passed by the Selectmen, she noticed that the list of lands falling under the jurisdiction of this ordinance had not been updated, and also had some errors in it. These were as follows:
   
   
   1. Mayflower Hill Town Forest: The Rotch land needs to be added.
      
      
   2. Tucker Brook Town Forest: the new Burns land needs to be added.
      
      
   3. The list also included "Osgood Pond" but the Town does not own the pond itself, rather just a small parcel of land off Osgood Road which has been turned into a parklike area.
   
   She checked with Lee Mayhew, and was advised that because this changes fall into Appendix A "which shall be added to or amended as needed" the above changes did not have to be brought before the Selectmen. After discussion, Bill Parker put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Janet Piche and voted unanimously in favor of the motion, to amend Appendix A " Conservation Lands as follows:
   
   
   1. Mayflower Hill Town Forest: add: "William B. Rotch Land Map 8 Lots 91 and 92".
      
      
   2. Tucker Brook Town Forest: add: "Burns Land Map 10 Lot 58"
      
      
   3. Osgood Pond: Delete "Osgood Pond" in its entirety, and replace with "Osgood Pond Park, Map 42 Lot 8".
   
   Lorraine will ensure that this amendment reaches the original of this Ordinance in the Town Clerk's Office, and will also provide copies to the Selectmen's Office and the Planning Board.
   
   
10. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST TRAIL SYSTEM: Relative to the fact that part of this trail system lies on private land on the Adams Street side of the Town Forest, Lorraine reported that in response to the Commission's communication to the Selectmen, that Board had sought the input of the Town Assessor. The Selectmen were not in favor of granting a tax break to the property owner for the portion of land on which the trail lies, but were in favor of either the trail being relocated or of purchasing the portion of private property needed, which was recommended by the assessor as being valued at approximately $2,000.00. The Commission made the decision to pursue purchasing of the land because of the difficulty in relocating the trail in this particular location, it having been in this location and well used, for an extended period of time. Lorraine was asked to write to the property owners and then visit with them if needed, to discuss this. An invitation to meet with the Commission will be offered.
    
    In other matters relative to this Town Forest, Lorraine reported that she had prepared a new map of this property, indicating an entranceway off Shady Lane and another at Falconer Avenue Extension. Copies of this new map, together with copies of maps of the other two Town Forests with trail systems, are available for the public at the Town Clerk's Office. She also advised the members that in recent discussions with Bill Rotch, he offered his services for trail work on this Town Forest land. Relative to having signs made for the Shady Land and Falconer Avenue Extension entrances, Lorraine reported that repeated attempts to have Bob Wisniewski fulfill his offer to do the signs, had failed. She therefore suggested that two signs with posts be made by a professional sign maker, and she was authorized to obtain quotations on same. It is planned to have Public Works Department erect the two signs when ready.
    
    After further discussions relative to the private land and the trail, Bill Parker put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in the affirmative to authorize Lorraine to offer $2,000 to Mr. and Mrs. James Hammer, property owners, for the portion of their land on which the trail lies and to also discuss with them their interest in selling the entire back portion of their property to the Town.
    
    Relative to another portion of the trail system that crosses private land, Hub brought to the members attention the portion that crosses a fifty foot wide strip of backland that was owned by William B. Crawford. The Commission would also like to acquire this strip rather than have to relocate the trail, and asked Lorraine to enquire if Mr. Crawford still owns this land in view of the fact that he has sold his house which was on the corner of Falconer Avenue and Falconer Avenue Extension.
    
    
11. BALCOM/WETLAND VIOLATIONS: Lorraine brought the members up to date on the Wetlands Board's reactions to the wetland violations on Mr. Balcom's property on Armory Road, as follows:
    
    
    1. The Wetlands Board issued an after-the-fact Dredge and Fill Permit as recommended by the Conservation Commission, for approximately 2,300 square feet of fill placed in the stream.
       
       
    2. The Wetlands Board is considering a fine of $600.00 but it is not clear if this pertains to the above fill or to additional fill found by that Board during an on site inspection, and described in c. below.
       
       
    3. The Wetlands Board found fill along the stream in the back portion of the lot which was also found by the Commission during its on site work but which the Commission decided to leave alone being of the opinion that removal would cause more harm than good, but advising Mr. Balcom that no further fill was to be added to this area. The Wetlands Board now requires Mr. Balcom to remove 4,000 square feet of this fill and to submit a restoration plan within 30 days of notice, said plan to include a schedule of fill removal, planting schedule and plan with monitoring schedule. The Wetlands Board was of the opinion that this amount of fill is excessive, and that removal and restoration of this area would provide nutrient/sediment trapping functions lost by the 2,300 sq.ft. of fill further downstream. (The unnamed stream in question is a tributary of Great Brook).
    
    
12. ELIMINATION OF THE WETLANDS BOARD: Lorraine provided the members with a notification received from the NHACC relative to the proposed State Budget for 1991-1993, which included the proposed elimination of several State departments including the Wetlands Board. In discussion of this matter, the Commission requested Lorraine to send a letter to Representative Lester Perham, giving the Commission's full and total support to maintaining the Wetlands Board and requesting Mr. Perham to do all possible to ensure this Board is maintained.
    
    
13. WORK DONE BY PUBLIC WORKS FOR MCC: Lorraine reported on the following work performed by Public Works Department for the Commission:
    
    
    1. Removal of the old wooden pole fencing along the right-of-way to the Mayflower Hill Town Forest off Adams Street.
       
       
    2. On March 13, Lorraine did an on site of Falconer Ave. Ext. regarding the debris left in this area by William Crawford, only to find his house had been sold and stood empty. The registered letter sent to Mr. Crawford in January by Town Counsel Carol Rolf had been returned to her office undeliverable, but the Commission was not notified of this. Lorraine talked to Lee Mayhew about what to do next regarding the debris, and at his suggestion, asked Bob Courage for his help. The clean up has now been done, though Hub reported that part of the decaying wood pile was still there but did not obstruct access.
       
       
    3. Park Benches: Lorraine and Bob Courage had reviewed Emerson Park and decided upon locations for the four park benches purchased with interest from the Nees Bequest. Bob's men erected the benches. However, Lorraine then received a report from Bob that some of the treated wood on the benches was badly split and in one case, rotten. Lorraine did another inspection of the benches, and wrote to the supplier requesting replacement of the bad wood, four 8 foot treated boards in total. Public Works will install these when they arrive.
       
       Lorraine sent a letter of thanks to Bob Courage for his willingness to do work for the Commission and his quick response to her request.
    
    
14. RUSSELL KINCAID/WETLAND VIOLATION: Because of the lateness of the hour, this issue was not attended to. It was also decided that because this issue will be going on for a while and mainly new members of the Commission will be dealing with it, that it would be best to leave it for the next meeting at which time Lorraine will bring everybody present up to date on this case.
    
    
15. BUDGET REPORT: The review of this quarterly report was also postponed and will be done at the next meeting for the benefit of the new members.
    
    
16. 1991 TREE PROJECT: It was decided to take no action relative to the planting of trees along town streets this year. It is already too late to begin preparations of property owners etc., for planting this spring, and in addition the Commission is loosing both Margaret and John Ferguson who oversaw the tree planting in past years. It was decided to raise this issue in October and appoint two new members to handling this process. Note was taken of the fact that the 1990 Tree Project involves the planting of two Crabapples at Osgood Pond Park. This will be done this spring by Margaret and John, and will be paid out of 1991 funds, though it belongs to the 1990 Tree Project.
    
    
17. RECYCLING COMMITTEE: Lorraine reported she had been in touch with Celeste Barr who agreed, though she is no longer a member of the Commission, to continue serving this Committee as the Commission's representative and will report back when the need arises.
    
    
18. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST TRAIL WORK: Hub reported that Trailwrights will be working on this trail system on Saturday, April 13, interested parties to meet in McDonald's Parking lot at 8:30a.m. Bob McEttrick agreed to attend.
    
    
19. NEXT MEETING: It is hoped that in time for the April 11 1991 meeting, the Selectmen will have had the opportunity to appoint four new full members and three new alternate members. Because the Commission will then consist mainly of totally new individuals, it was decided to keep this meeting free of public appointments and to dedicate it to review of current issues and education of the new members. At this time, the information Lorraine has prepared for all members will be handed out and reviewed. Margaret suggested that a dummy run be made on Dredge and Fill application process as this would greatly assist the new members. Lorraine will prepare a sample case. Lorraine will check with Lee Mayhew on Tuesday to find out who has been appointed and for what terms, and will then be in touch with those individuals to schedule them for the April 11 meeting. Lorraine suggested that because of so many new members that name tags might be useful, and it was agreed that she would purchase these.
    
    
20. MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE: With Margaret leaving the Commission discussion took place as to who would represent the Commission on this committee. Margaret agreed to continue on behalf of the Commission, and she also felt that only one person need represent the MCC. It was therefore agreed that Bill Parker need no longer attend these meetings.

1. MINUTES: On motion made by Hub Seward and seconded by Bob McEttrick, it was voted unanimously in favor of the motion to accept the Minutes of the March 28, 1991 meeting as presented. Those voting on this motion were: Bill Parker, Bob McEttrick, Hub Seward, and Lorraine Carson as alternate.
   
   
2. LORRAINE CARSON, ALTERNATE: With a full board now in operation, together with four alternate members, Lorraine submitted her resignation as an alternate member, stating that she had been appointed as such by the Board of Selectmen until a full board was present or until September 2 1991 whichever came first. Her resignation was accepted, and she will advise the Board of Selectmen.
   
   
3. INDUCTION OF NEW MEMBERS: At the request of Bill Parker, Lorraine reviewed with all members a large package of information she had put together as a means of educating the new members to the workings of the Commission and thus making those members valuable in a short period of time. All members were provided with a copy of the NHACC Handbook and a copy of the Conservation Plan, a list of members' names, addresses and telephone numbers, name tags for easier identification until members become familiar with one another, and a binder of Members Information which Lorraine had prepared. This consisted of various ordinances, rules, regulations, policies and other information which the new members need to know. Because of the cost and time involved in the preparation of these binders, it was agreed that these remain the property of the Commission and not of the individual members so that they may be returned when a members resigns and passed on to the nextnew member. Members were also provided with copies of the Minutes of meeting from January I to March 31 1991. Lorraine also reviewed with the members details of the various financial accounts operated by the Commission, and a review of the Budget Expenditures for the first three months of 1991 was done. Because of the time involved in this review process, no other Agenda items received attention. These will be taken up at the next Commission meeting. As a result of this review process, various decisions were made as follows.
   
   
4. SIGNATURES FOR FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS: Hub Seward put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by John Kenison and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to use the signatures of Bill Parker, Chairman and/or Bob McEttrick, Vice- Chairman on all financial documents. Lorraine will obtain the necessary paperwork from the Milford Cooperative Bank for this process. She will also enquire into automatic renewal of Certificates of Deposit.
   
   
5. PLANNING BOARD/M.C.C. AGENDA ITEMS: Steve Turner, as a member of the Planning Board requested time at the next Commission meeting for him and Norm Erikson chairman of the Planning Board, to discuss various items of mutual interest to both boards. This is scheduled for 7.30p.m. on April 25 1991.
   
   
6. EARTH DAY/TREE PLANTING: Bill Parker stated he has been in touch with Joanne Turner relative to the planting of two crabapples at Osgood Pond Park as part of the 1990 Tree Project, and Joanne is in the process of organizing the Scouts who will be doing the planting. Lorraine put forward the suggestion that the cost of these two trees be paid out of the Accumulating Fund which contains the unexpended portion of the Commission's 1990 Operating Funds out of which this payment would have been made had the trees been purchased last spring as originally planned. Bob McEttrick put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Hub Seward and voted unanimously in favor, to authorize payment of these two trees out ofthe Accumulating Fund as part of 1990 expenditures and the 1990 Tree Project.
   
   
7. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST TRAIL WORK: All members were reminded that Trailwrights will be doing work on this trail system on Saturday April 13, meeting at 8.30a.m. in McDonald's parking lot. Members were urged to attend and assist with the work.
   
   
8. SCENIC ROADS - EMERSON ROAD: Lorraine reviewed the confusing situation which arose at the March 1991 Town Meeting when the warrant article to classify certain roads, including Emerson Road, as Scenic Roads. The result of the discussions at Town Meeting was that Emerson Road was classified as Scenic from "Federal Hill Road to Ponemah Hill Road" and not from Route 13 South as was originally proposed. Lorraine later reviewed various street maps of Milford and found that on all it was indicated that Emerson Road ran from Route 13 South and not from Federal Hill Road. She talked to Bob Courage, Director of Public Works about this. Bob gave the following explanation: that Federal Hill Road used to run from Route 13 South to the Hollis Town line; that when the By-pass was built, the State cut off the lower portion of Federal Hill Road and this portion was named Hammond Road; that the State offered the name of "Front Road" to a new section of roadway built from Route 13 South running into Emerson Road; that this name was never used; that instead this new section assumed the name Federal Hill Road; that a street sign erected on Route 13 South also so states. However, the street maps of Milford never reflected this new section as such, but rather as Emerson Road. It was Bob's suggesiton that the Commission request the Board of Selectmen to rename this new section "Emerson Road" because the original Emerson Road runs in the same line as this new section, and in addition, Federal Hill Road takes off at right angles to this new section. After discussion, John Kenison put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to request the Board of Selectmen to rename this new section "Emerson Road". Lorraine will convey this request to the Selectmen. Lorraine reminded the members that should the Selectmen do this ' it would require going before the 1992 Town Meeting to have the bounds of Emerson Road changed as a Scenic Road. She will ensure that this is done when needed.
   
   
9. HITCHINER TOWN FOREST TRAILS: During review of the three Town Forests with the new members, Hub Seward pointed out that according to the map, a portion on the east side of the property lies off town land. If this section does lie on private land, it was not known at this time who owned the land. Lorraine stated she was still attempting to reach the Eagle Scout who built the trail system to find out what, if any, permission he had for the part of the trail up Burns Hill which lies on the Lorden land, and that she would now add this item to her enquiries. She will also do further research on this eastern section of trail and report on her findings.
   
   
10. WETLANDS ORDINANCE: In review of this ordinance, it was felt that it would be beneficial to the new members if they could study the map which is part of this ordinance and which identified the streams named in the ordinance. Time will be set aside at the next meeting for this review.
    
    
11. CONSERVATION LAND ORDINANCE: During discussion and review of this ordinance, Bob McEttrick suggested that the various conservation easements which have been granted to the Commission should be listed in Appendix A of this Ordinance. Lorraine will find out if this can be done, and will report back.
    
    
12. CHECKLIST FOR DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATIONS: In review of this document, Lorraine pointed out that considerable time and effort had gone into the preparation of this, but that the Commission was lax in enforcing its comple- tion by applicants. When it was completed on a few occasions, nothing further was done with it. The current checklist is supposed to supply the information needed for the Commission to respond to the Wetlands Board and the reasons for its recommendations. It was decided that this checklist will from now on be used every time a Dredge and Fill application comes before the Commission and various ideas were put forward as to how best to ensure that applicants receive it in a timely fashion, including providing the Town Clerk with copies to be handed out when he accepts a Dredge and Fill application. It was also suggested that a covering letter be put with this checklist requesting the cooperation of the applicant and explaining its purpose. Lorraine will draft this letter for the members' consideration.

Meeting Minutes of Work Session of April 25, 1991

Present:
Bill Parker, Chairman,
Bob McEttrick, Vice Chairman
Hub Seward, Georgia Moore, John Kenison, Chris Costantino, Charles Carter;
Alternates: Robert Walsh, Blaise Corcoran, Ken Utting,Steve Turner.
Lorraine Carson, Secretary

1. JOINT ITEMS-PLANNING BOARD/CONSERVATION COMMISSION: Steve Turner as a representative of the Planning Board, met with the Commission to discuss issues of mutual concern and to make even better the communications between the two boards. Four issues were discussed as follows:
   1. Industrial Zone/Heron Rookery: Steve pointed out that at the March 1991 Town Meeting, a new industrial zone was established on the south side of Route 101 Bypass, which area is adjacent to an area that could be classified as "environmentally sensitive", namely the heron rookery. He sought the concerns of the Commission relative to future industrial development of this area. Giving some of the history of the Commission's previous actions to save the rookery, Lorraine stated that at one time considerable efforts were made to raise funds to purchase the rookery but to no avail. On behalf of the Commission, at a later date, Russ Monbleau did much work in meeting with Mr. Brox who owns the land, in an attempt to secure protection of the rookery. The Commission had not been given full details of these meetings, but Lorraine will call Russ for the information. Lorraine did know that little came of these meet- ings, and that soon after Brox's land began to flood from the beaver activity, and the dam was blown, with resultant loss of the marshy area which had housed approximately 50 active Great Blue Heron nests. Charles Carter stated he had once taken pictures of the area but had not been able to find anyone interested in them. He will attempt to find those photographs. The Commission felt the area should be protected somehow.
      
      
   2. Walking Path Programs: Steve suggested that the Commission should submit to the Planning Board as soon as possible, a long range plan for walking paths, so that that Board can be aware of the proposed plans and can take needed action when the opportunity arises of obtaining easements and such like when proposed developments come before the Planning Board. Steve advised the members that the Planning Board is very willing to assist whenever it can as long as it knows where walking paths are to be created. Steve stated that the Souhegan River Trail should be part of the Master Plan; the members agreed and Bill Parker will provide the Planning Board with the necessary information. Relative to "Immigrants Path" as proposed by Merv Newton, this will also be included in the Master Plan, and Lorraine will give Bill the needed information. Lorraine advised the members that a while ago Merv did meet with the Commission, and was offered any assistance he might need' but Merv indicated this idea was his "baby" and he proposed for the time being, to work on it himself. His plan was for a trail around Railroad Pond and down Great Brook to the Bypass. In further discussion of walking trails, Steve suggested that the Commission develop a master plan of proposed trails to be included in the Town's Master Plan. As a result of this suggestion, a subcommittee was immediately established consisting of Hub Seward, Chris Costantino, Ken Utting and Bob Walsh. They will hold their first meeting in the Town Hall on May 2 at 7.30p.m. to begin plans.
      
      
   3. Soils Scientist Ties: Steve stated that the Planning Board has well- estbalished ties with Dufresne and Henry for engineering assistance and with Steve Pernaw for traffic studies. The results of these good relationships are invaluable. What is lacking is a similar relation- ship with a soils scientist. He explained that such an individual would be paid by the applicant and can be called upon for an unbiased viewpoint at any time when the Commission or the Planning Board felt there was a need. In support of this suggestion, Lorraine stated that in her experience, she had often looked forward to the report from SCS, only to find it non-commital. Definitely more detailed guidance is often needed in her opinion. Bill Parker will provide a list of soils scientists and Lorraine will also call Celeste Barr to find out if she knows of any such individuals she could recommend with whom the proposed relationship could be developed.
      
      
   4. Gas station/Aquifer: Steve raised the issue that a gas station has been proposed for part of the old Lorden Lumber land which means the station would lie over the aquifer. The Planning Board is not in favor of permitting such a development, but the party involved in the proposal is aware of the fact a special exception can be sought. Steve urged the Commission members to attend the Board of Adjustment hearing when and if it is scheduled, and lend support to a denial. The Commission was not in favor of such a development, and it was suggested that the entire Commission should attend the Board of Adjust- ment hearing.
   
   
   
2. MINUTES: On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by Georgia Moore, it was voted unanimously to accept the Minutes of the April 11, 1991 meeting as presented.
   
   
3. SIGNATURE CARDS: Cards for the various accounts at the Milford Cooperative Bank were signed by Bill Parker and Bob McEttrick; these will be taken to the Bank as soon as possible by Lorraine.
   
   
4. 1990 TREE PROJECT: It was reported that two crabapples had been planted at Osgood Pond on the Town owned land. The trees cost $65.00 each and the Commission is to be billed for them later. The invoice will be paid from the Accumulative Fund and charged against the unexpended balance of the 1990 Operating Fund. Relative to the 1991 Tree Project, Lorraine briefed the new members on the process required and suggested that in about October discussions begin on where to proceed with the program. The new members were interested in the history of this project, and Lorraine will prepare a hand-out of information. Because of the work involved, it was suggested that there be no tree planting for 1991.
   
   
5. WETLANDS ORDINANCE MAP: At the request of the members, Lorraine reviewed with them this map which forms part of the Wetlands Ordinance and which shows all streams covered by the Ordinance.
   
   At the same time, Lorraine reviewed with the members the composite map of Milford which shows the town owned lands. Whereas in the past one composite map was used to show all town lands, this time Lorraine prepared two such maps, one showing all town owned lands, and one showing conservation lands only. During the review, Lorraine realised that some newly acquired pieces of land had not been included on either map, and as soon as she has the time these will be added, and at that point, Bill Parker will make copies of both maps for the members at their request.
   
   
6. HITCHINER TOWN FOREST: Relative to two sections of trails on this property which lie off town owned land, Lorraine reported she had again written to Owen Kelly, Eagle Scout who developed the trails, regarding any contact he had with the Lordens for the Burns Hill section of the trail. She also had found that the other short section of trail which lies off town owned land is on the property of Edna Matson Nye who now lives in Florida. This section is a very old logging road which has run off the Hitchiner property for many years. In the development of the trail system, this logging road was simply incorporated into the system. With the assistance of Bill Parker, Lorraine will write a letter to Mrs. Nye advising her of this fact, and attempting to obtain her written permission.
   
   
7. CONSERVATION LAND ORDINANCE/EASEMENTS INCLUDED IN APPENDIX A: Further to Bob McEttrick's suggestion that conservation easements be included, Lorraine asked the members to review the wording of the Ordinance and to decide whether or not the intent of the Ordinance was to include conservation easements. This review produced no clear answer, and Lorraine was asked to refer the matter to Town Counsel for his interpretation.
   
   
8. CONSERVATION PLAN: Lorraine reported that Dave Andrews had made the requested copies of this Plan, but had refused to charge for them as had been the original agreement. Lorraine had sent him a thank you letter on behalf of the Commission.
   
   
9. CHECKLIST FOR DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATIONS: The members reviewed the draft of a letter to go with this Checklist and which is to be provided to all those who file a Dredge and Fill application with the Town. To this letter will be added that a copy of the Guidelines are available if needed and these can be obtained from the Planning Office, Building Inspector, Town Clerk or by calling the secretary at 673-9065. Lorraine will finalize this issue, and provide copies of the necessary items with the three above offices.
   
   
10. SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE CONSERVATION COMMISSION: In an attempt to take part in these quarterly meetings and to report back on events, the following members volunteered to attend the meetings: Chris Costantino Georgia Moore, John Kenison, Charles Carter and Bob McEttrick. The next will be sometime in June. Organized by the Nashua Conservation Commission, Lorraine will provide that Commission with the above names and addresses so that the individuals can be notified in a timely fashion of the meetings scheduled.
    
    
11. JOSLIN LAND AT HATCHERY: In order to bring the possible sale of this land to the Hatchery before next year's town meeting, Lorraine suggested that as time permits, she develop a history of this property, a description of it, and perhaps a drawing of it for presentation at next town meeting. In discussion of this, the members decided they would like to look at the property before pursuing this issue further, and it was decided to schedule an inspection some time in the fall.
    
    
12. RUSSELL KINCAID/WETLAND VIOLATION: This item was on the agenda in order that the new members could be briefed on the situation. However, this proved unnecessary as the members had read about it in copies of the Minutes from January 1 1991 with which they had all been provided. The status of the Kincaid case now is as follows:
    1. The Wetlands Board will be making an on site inspection of the property to determine the extent of the violation.
    2. The Kincaid case went before the Board of Adjustment on March 21 but the case was tabled until May 2 1991 because an abuttor raised a concern relative to possible impact of the project on his well. This concern was relayed to the Wetlands Board by the Board of Adjustment and a response from the Wetlands Board was requested in time for the May 2 ZBA meeting.
    3. Relative to the roadway Mr. Kincaid is constructing and possible sub- division of the large lot to which it leads, Mark Fougere gave the opinion that the roadway as is now exists would not be acceptable by the Town
    
    
    
13. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL: Lorraine provided the members with a report on traps and trapping information she had obtained from the Conservation Officer. This information will be also given to the property owners when they meet with the Commission at a later date. Lorraine also provided a draft of signs to be placed along the trail stat- ing that hunting and trapping are permitted in season, and requesting respect for the private property over which the trail runs. She also provided a draft of a large sign to be placed at either end of the trail giving such details as length of trail, no wheeled vehicles or snowmobiles, no littering etc. etc. Both these drafts will be presented to the property owners as well. Lorraine pointed out that the maximum permitted sign size is 3 square feet. Lorraine reported that in a letter from Fish and Game Department, it was indicated that that Dept. wished pets prohibited from the trail entirely to avoid possible injury to those pets from concealed traps. This issue will also be raised at a meeting with the property owners. It was pointed out relative to "no snowmobiles" (a request made by STan Trombly to avoid damage to his alfalfa crop) that along the trail there is a bridge that was built by a "snowmobile club" and which will probably be used by the trail. This will also be discussed at a meeting with the property owners. Relative to a meeting with the property owners, it was decided to schedule this meeting for 7.30p.m. on Thursday, June 13 1991. Hub Seward will call all the property owners and Lorraine will send a letter to each one, and will also notify the Planning Board of this meeting.
    
    
14. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported she had attempted to obtain q uotations on signs from three sign makers; only two had responded, and one made metal signs only. For a wooden routed one-sided sign the cost would be $175.00 with post, and a two-sided sign would cost $275.00 with post. The members felt this was too much money to pay for the needed signs, and after discussion it was decided that Bill Parker would contact the High School to find out if the students could do routed signs for this area. He will report as soon as he has information. Lorraine reported she had written to Mr. and Mrs. Hammer regarding the section of trail on their property, on April 2 1991 but had not yet had a response. An attempt to call on the phone turned up an unlisted phone number. If no reply is received by the end of this month, Lorraine will drop the Hammers another line. Relative to the 50 foot wide strip of land owned by William Crawford and over which a section of trail lies, Lorraine reported she had obtained Mr. Crawford's new address in Mont Vernon, and suggested she write to him to enquire of his willingness to "donate" this strip to the Town and thus relieve himself of any possible liability. The members felt it was worth a try and asked her to send off a letter.
    
    
15. LAND INFORMATION KIT: Lorraine stated a member was needed to take over this kit package from Janet Piche, adding that she had received rather good response from the property owners on this list, and in fact had run out of copies of the booklet. John Kenison offered to take over this package, and Lorraine and he will get together to talk about what she has done to date with the package. It was also established that most members involved in this Kit had about run out of the "Preserving Family Lands" booklet. After discussion as to the value of this booklet, John Kenison put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to authorize Lorraine to order 30 more copies.
    
    
16. OSGOOD POND LAND: For the sake of the new members, Lorraine explained that Ffie Town does not own the pond itself. The lands of abuttors go underwater to Great Brook that runs through the middle of the pond. The area of Osgood Pond was once a meadow until the dam was built and the land flooded. (Harlan Burns holds the flowage rights on the dam). Instead, the Town owns a small area of land between the dam and Osgood Road, purchased from Mr. Babine. Recently this area received a considerable amount of upgrading when the major dam repairs were done. The area is now grassed over, two park benches have been erected, a parking area has been created, and the 1990 Tree Project purchased two crabapples for the area. It is a much used area. Lorraine put forward the suggestion to the members that the Commission classify this town land as a "Park". The members were responsive to this, and it was decided that Lorraine would prepare a history of this piece of town land and then Bill Parker would meet with the Selectmen to put the suggestion before them, and settle on a name: either "Osgood Pond Park" or "Osgood Park". It was also suggested that a sign be made for this area once it is classified as a park.
    
    
17. MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL ENVIRONMENTAL POND: For the sake of the record, Lorraine reported having been advised by Thomas Mitchell that he did not succeed in getting the grant needed to create this pond on the school DrODertv.
    
    
18. BEAVER BROOK LECTURES: Lorraine reported she had attended the lecture on wetlands but had found it a very poor lecture and felt she learned nothing. Neither Bill Parker nor Bob McEttrick had been able to attend the lectures they had wanted to go to.
    
    
19. GRIGAS LAND: For the sake of the record, Lorraine reported having been contacted by David Choate and advised that the Bank would accept $30,000 for this land from the Commission. Seeing the Commission had originally offered $10,000 and had, at the Banks' request, raised that to a maximum of $15,000, she had advised Mr. Choate that $30,000 was unacceptable. The members agreed with this response. Mr. Choate, Lorraine reported, seemed quite happy with the fact the Commission was not interested in $30,000. Lorraine had again advised Mr. Choate that the Commission was in no hurry to purchase this land, would not loose interest because "it was taking too long", to which Mr. Choate responded that the Bank was talking to more than one party interested in the 3 acre abutting parcel in Amherst and as soon as this was sold, Mr. Choate would be back in touch, feeling quite sure that the Bank would accept the $15,000 maximum. Relative to the requirement that there be a 50 foot wide accessway, the Bank was not prepared to grant this, and so Lorraine did some more research into abutting land and had found other possibilities for access. As soon as she has more details put together on the other access possibilities she will put it before the members. The new members decided they would like to walk this property, and arrange- ments were made to meet at the Town Hall at 9a.m. on Saturday May 4 1991. Lorraine was asked to be there because she is the only one who knows where the land is and she will also bring with her a copy of the Grigas sub- division plans.
    
    
20. ARNOLD BALCOM/WETLANDS VIOLATION: Lorraine reported that the Wetlands Board had fined Mr. Balcom, and he had paid without protest, an amount of $600.00 for this violation.

1. MINUTES: Due to the fact the secretary had been ill, the Mintues of the April 25, 1991 meeting were not completed in time to mail to members so that they could be approved at this meeting. The Minutes of April 25 will be approved at the Work Session, May 23, 1991.
   
   
2. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST: Several issues regarding this area were discussed.
   
   
   1. April 13 Workshop: On this date, Trailwrights worked on the trails but it was reported that except for Hub Seward, there was a lack of member participation in this event. Chairman Parker urged members to make a commitment and to attend these trail sessions to assist both Hub and Trailwrights.
      
      
   2. Update on trail conditions: Hub reported that the Blue trail now runs from Savage Road to Boulder Drive, and that it is no longer just a loop. A trail has also been built to Tucker Brook Falls. He has attempted to erect some signs he hand painted himself as a guide for the public using the trails. Lorraine pointed out that the Town Forest Fund has funds to be used strictly for Town Forests, and that some of this could be used to have good looking signs made when the trail system is complete.
      
      
   3. Trail workshop: Hub announced that there would be a workshop this coming Saturday from 9a.m. to 2p.m. The Scouts will be assisting in this work. The following members made a commitment to assist in this workshop: Chris Costantino, Charles Carter, Bill Parker and Blaise Corcoran.
      
      
   4. Donation to Trailwrights: Lorraine put forward the suggestion that the Commission make another donation to this non-profit organization for the assistance they have given in trail work on Tucker Brook Town Forest and for asistance the Commission will need in building the Souhegan River Trail System. To date $1,000.00 has been donated which Trailwrights used to purchase much needed equipment. Hub put forward the fact that when the Commission works alone on trails, it totally lacks any equipment at all. It was therefore suggested that he prepare a list of items needed and provide an approximate cost, so that the members can make a decision as to how much to spend on such equipment. Georgia put forward the suggestion that perhaps some of the Town Forest Fund could be used to purchase lands abutting existing town forest land. Lorraine will find out from John Ferguson if this is possible.
      
   Once this information is in hand, a decision will be made as to how much to spend on trail equipment, and how much to donate to Trailwrights. Relative to this donation, because the Souhegan River Trail system is part of this donation, it was suggested that perhaps a donation could be made from the Accumulative Fund as the Souhegan trail is not Town Forest.
   
   
3. THE PLUS COMPANY/STEVE DESMARAIS/WETLAND: Steve Desmarais met with the Commission to review a proposed paved parking lot extension which will involve both wetland and the 25 foot buffer zone behind the Plus Company building on the corner of Nashua Street and Tonella Road. In advance of meeting with Mr. Desmarais, Lorraine advised the members she had done an on site inspection earlier with Mark Fougere. The wetland in question is a remaining wetland from a much larger one that has suffered intrusion when the railroad was run through it, when the EDgewood Shopping Plaze was built, and when the two lots of condominiums in the area were constructed. It was her opinion that this remaining area was of value and she felt it should not be further disturbed. Mr. Desmarais advised the members that the area he now wishes to pave for additional parking has been maintained as a lawn for many years. He wishes to fill about 500 square feet of wetland plus an area of about 70 ft x 25 ft of the buffer zone for five additional parking spaces. An inspection has been done by SCS which confirms wetland soils in existance. He added that when the condominiums were built on the other side of the railroad tracks it caused water to back up into this wet area. Georgia Moore who had previous worked in the Plus Co. building stated she felt there was a need for additional parking but expressed concerns that the proposed filling could make a bad situation worse. After discussion, it was decided the members would like to make an on site inspection themselves, and it was also decided to hold a special meeting on May 23 1991 at 7.30p.m. to meet with Mr. Desmarais again and make a decision relative to his proposal.
   
   
4. MIDDLE SCHOOL/WETLANDS: On motion made by John Kenison and seconded by Georgia Moore, it was voted uanimously in favor of the motion to address the Middle School issue at this time due to the fact that Vivian Barry and Elizabeth McCoy, Assistant Superintendent of Schools were in the audience. A letter was presented by Ms. McCoy which stated the school wished to complete the exterior building by fall so that the inside could be completed during the winter, and be ready for occupation in September 1992. Three proposals were presented, one of which was not acceptable by the Wetlands Board as proven in a meeting the Building Committee had with that Board earlier, and one of which was not acceptable by the Fire Department because it did not permit sufficient access to the building. Plan A-3 was the remaining proposal for consideration. After briefly looking at the plans, the members decided to do an on site inspection which has been scheduled for 6p.m. on wednesday May 15 with a rain date of Friday May 17 at 6p.m. Lorraine will make the arrangements with the engineer, Brian Smith of Thos. F. Moran Inc. Arrangements will also be made to meet with the engineer at 8p.m. on May 23 1991 to finalize concerns so that the Dredge and Fill Permit applciation can be filed and the case can proceed before the Board of Adjustment.
   
   
5. MASTER PLAN INPUT: Relative to a Land Acquisition Plan and Hiking Trails Plans, it was decided to await the results of the Master Plan Survey and see just what the public's desires were. Lorraine will write to Mark and request that as soon as the Planning Board is ready to proceed with the survey results, that the Commission be given the results of its questions so that decisions can be made.
   
   
6. TRAIL COMMITTEE MEETING: As Trail Committee chairman, Hub Seward presented minutes he had prepared of that Committee's first meeting which was on May 2 1991. These Minutes are part of the Minutes of the May 9 1991 meeting of the Commission by reference thereto. The Committee decided it would meet again once the results of the Master Plan survey are avaialble to do further work on ideas discussed.
   
   
7. TOWN TAX MAPS: Lorraine presented the members with a copy of a letter from Cartographic Associates Inc., the company which updates the Town's tax maps each year. This letter had been sent to Doug Smith, Assessor, and stressed the poor condition of the current maps, such as gross errors, scaling and distortion problems, roadsways incorrectly delineated, lack of topography such as brooks streams and wetlands, poorly matched match-lines etc. etc. Lorraine offered the opinion that with the considerable amount of work she has done over the years with these maps, she was totally in agreement with this letter. Doug was looking for support from the various town departments so that the matter could proceed before the Selectmen and Town Meeting with a request for an appropriation to proceed with correction of the problems. Lorraine advised the members that Lee Mayhew and Doug Smith were beginning work on an estimated cost for this type of work, and that currently, it is anticipated to be at least $150,000.00. After discussion of the map condition, John Kenison put a motion on the floor and it was sleconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to send a letter of support for correction of the tax maps, to Doug Smith.
   
   
8. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Issues relative to this area were discussed as follows:
   
   1. Violations: Lorraine reminded the members that May 31 1991 is the dead line for abutting property owners to correct the violations that were discovered some time ago. It was suggested that more than one member to this inspection and that photographs of any existing violations be taken. It was decided to set a date for this inspection at the May 23 meeting, and for that meeting Lorraine will prepare a complete list of violations for Hub Seward.
      
      
   2. Marking clearly boundaries: It was decided that at the same time, the boundaries of the Shady Lane abutting properties would be clearly and completely marked to avoid any further problems. Lorraine will provide Hub with the remaining paint for this purpose which is in her possession.
      
      
   3. Signs/High School: Bill reported he had not had the time to contact the school relative to student preparing wooden routed signs for this area.
   
   
9. SOILS SCIENTISTS: Bill Parker provided a list of certified soils scientists and a list of Wetland Scientists. However, with not knowing anything about any of the individuals listed, it was decided to have Lorraine talk to Mark Fougere for his opinion of what to do next in order to secure the services of such an individual when needed. Lorraine will also call NRPC for their opinion on any individuals listed.
   
   
10. CONSERVATION LAND ORDINANCE: Relative to including conservation easements in Appendix A of this Ordinance, Lorraine reported she had sent a copy of the Ordinance to Town Counsel with a letter requesting his guidance as to how to proceed. She will report again on this issue when this information is received.
    
    
11. RUSS KINCAID/WETLAND VIOLATION: Lorraine provided the members with an up- te on this case in that it went before the Board of Adjustment on May 2 1991, which Board tabled the case indefinitely awaiting input from the Wetlands Board which is scheduled to be done "sometime".
    
    
12. OSGOOD POND PARK: Lorraine prepared a history of this piece of town propert and advised Bill Parker of a scheduled appointment for him to meet with the Selectmen regarding an official name for this area. Bill was not able to make the appointment, and Lorraine will reschedule it for the next meeting of the Selectmen, there being no hurry on this project. Lorraine put forward the suggestion, that once a name for this area is decided upon, that a request be made to Barretto Granite Corp for that name to be engraved in a granite stone, which would bring this park into line with the other official parks in town all of which have names engraved in granite. The members thought this a good idea, and Lorraine will pursue it once a name if settled.
    
    
13. GRIGAS LAND: With a previously scheduled on site of this area having been cancelled, it was decided to leave a site walk until later - perhaps in the fall, but sooner if purchasing the land becomes more active an issue. In the meantime, Lorraine advised the members she had learned that the house on one piece of land that could perhaps provide an access, had burned to the ground. She was also still attempting to identify the ownership of another piece of property that could provide ownership, and had recently obtained deeds that may provide the answer. It was her opinion that this particular piece of property was owned by an individual who has not been taxed for it in either Amherst or Milford, and if this is so, it was suggested that this might be a means of getting a right of way to the Grigas land. As soon as she has further information, Lorraine will report again.
    
    
14. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL: Lorraine reported she had sent letters as of today to all property owners involved in this trail, as well as to the MCAA and Dick Prunier of the Fish Hatchery, who also runs the Souhegan Aquaculture. The meeting is scheduled for June 13 1991. Hub was asked to make phone calls to all the individuals involved closer to that date. In order to run a good meeting with the property owners at thi-s meeting, Lorraine will prepare all the concerns, details and information amassed so far and provide Bill Parker with this before June 13.
    
    
15. WILLIAM CRAWFORD LAND/MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported that at the request of the Commission she had sent a letter to Mr. CRawford, expressing the Commission's interest in "acquiring" the 50 foot wide by 150 foot long strip of land he owns and over which a trail runs from the Standpipe land. To her surprise, she received an immediate response from Mrs. Crawford, who stated she and her husband would like to sell the entire lot. Mrs. Crawford wanted to know what the Commission was prepared to pay. Lorraine advised she would discuss this with the members and get back next week. The members asked Lorraine to ascertain an approximate value of this property from Doug Smith and an idea of a reasonable price to offer the Crawfords. She will do this as well as prepare any other information that comes to hand on this property. In a related issue, Lorraine advised she had again written to Mr. and Mrs. Hammer regarding their land over which a trail runs, but to no avail. She will attempt to be in touch with them by some other means, their phone number being unlisted.
    
    
16. WETLAND WORKSHOPS: Notice was received of a wetlands workshop from NRPC which is free to Conservation Commission members, scheduled to be held on Thursday May 16 7p.m. to 10p.m., and Saturday May 18 from 9a.m. to noon. These two meetings form the complete work shop, to be held at Beaver Brook Association in Hollis. The following members made commitments to attend: Chris Costantino, Blaise Corcoran, Bill Parker, Bob Walsh and Bob McEttrick.

Meeting Minutes of Special Meeting May 23, 1991

Present:
Present: Bill Parker, Chairman
Bob McEttrick, Vice Chairman
Hub Seward, Georgia Moore, John Kenison, Chris Costantino, Charles Carter;
Alternates: Bob Walsh, Blaise Corcoran, Ken Utting
Lorraine Carson, Secretary

1. THE PLUS COMPANY/STEVE DESMARAIS: Steve again met with the Commission regarding his proposed parking lot which involves both wetland and buffer zone. Most of the members had done on-site inspections prior to this meeting. Steve stated that 200 to 250 square feet of wetland will be disturbed plus buffer zone. He added that an existing gravel parking lot on site will also be paved, as will the proposed parking lot. The gravel parking area is one from which cars have to back out onto Tonella Road. Considerable discussion took place on this issue, with the members generally not being in favor of disturbance of a wetland for a paved parking lot. Steve suggested moving the parking lot and avoiding the wetlands, but using the buffer zone in total. The members were not happy with this either, stating that the existing mowed grassy area serves as a good buffer zone, but a paved parking lot would not. Agreement could not be reached, and Steve was asked to return on June 13 1991 with plans showing the lest impact possible on both the wetlands and the buffer zone, and also showing exactly where the parking spaces are to be as well as sizes. Once he has the plans ready, he will call Lorraine for an appointment.
   
   
2. MILFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL ADDITION/WETLANDS: Chairman Bill Parker removed himself from all discussions relative to this issue because of a possible conflict of interests. On May 15 1991, several members made an on site inspection of the property together with the engineer and several members of the School Board. The architect of the project addressed the members and described the proposed building. During discussion, it was learned that "some time in the future" another addition is proposed for both ends of the building. The members had been lead to believe that this was an "either or" situation previously. Relative to Wetland A (the area of most disturbance for the building and bus turn-around plus service road): a total of 18,900 sq.ft of fill is proposed in the wetland and 21,270 sq.ft of fill in the 25 foot buffer zone. The members expressed a desire to have fewer than 20 parking spaces in this area, and to have the bus turn-around shortened as well, with the service road going from the top of the turn-around through the narrowest portion of wetland. The engineer advised the members that a reduction had already been made - to 17 parking spaces, and the service road had also been moved to create less of an impact. Because fill has to be used to construct the service road, a bank on the wetland side of this road will be in effect. The Commission requested that wetland plantings be used to stabilize this slope, per SCS recommendations. Relative to Wetland B (the wetland close to the existing barn): During the on site inspection, members indicated that they would appreciate the proposed roadway around this barn to be moved slightly at Osgood Road in order to totally avoid the wetland and also to preserve an attractive tree growing on the edge of the wetland, which other-wise would have had to be removed. This was agreed to at this meeting. The result is that only the buffer zone will be involved, with a total encroachment of 3,530 sq.ft. The Commission received a letter from the Planning Board, which was read at this meeting, relative to the current traffic problems at this school as it involves Osgood Road. The proposed roadways will greatly reduce this problem, and the Commission was in full agreement with the roadways as proposed. Relative to a permanent conservation easement around the wetland in the south west corner of the property it was learned that this is a very badly disturbed wetland already with little or no value. Seeing it was not worth preserving this wetland on a permanent basis, the suggestion was put forward that the wetland soils which will have to be removed from Wetland A for construction, could be used to create an environmental pond as per Jim Mitchell's idea of a while ago. Mr. Mitchell did not succeed in obtaining the grant required for construction of his pond. The engineer stated that all soils removed will have to be disposed of on site and he saw no problems with the soil being taken to a location in the vacinity of the High School for such a pond. The Commission felt that this would serve as mitigation for the loss of wetland to occur in Wetland A. It was decided that Lorraine would write to Mr. Mitchell with this proposal and have him contact the school board and work with them and the engineer. Both the School Board and the engineer, Brian Smith, will be copied on this letter. The completed Checklist was provided to be used in the Commission's response to the Wetlands Board. There being no further discussion, John Kenison put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to accept the modified version of Plan A3, and to respond to the Wetlands Board once the Dredge and Fill application is filed, in a positive manner.
   
   
3. MINUTES: On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by John Kenison, the Minutes of the April 25, 1991 meeting were accepted as presented. The Minutes of the May 9, 1991 meeting were only distributed at this meeting and therefore will not be considered until the June 13, 1991 meeting.
   
   
4. TOWN PROPERTY TAX MAPS: Bill Parker read a letter to be sent under his signature to Doug Smith, Assessor giving support to having these maps redone. The members agreed to sending the letter as written.
   
   
5. EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURE: Bill Parker signed a letter to the Board of Selectmen requesting permission to expend $75.00 for the June 8 1991 Wetlands lecture for three individuals to attend. Hub was to be one of those, but announced he was unable to attend. Therefore the letter was changed to indicate Ken Utting, Robert Walsh and Charles Carter would like to attend. Lorraine will find out after the Selectmen's next meeting what their repsonse was, and if in the affirmative, will have a check cut and mail it off immediately. She will also notify the three above members.
   
   
6. THE LATE HAZEL BURNS: Lorraine advised the members that Hazel, who had served for many years on the Conservation Commission, had passed away on May 14 1991. Because of her years of involvement with the Commission, Lorraine had taken it upon herself to order $30.00 worth of flowers to be sent to Bill Burns. She stated that if the members were not in favor of this unauthorized expenditure, she would pay it from her own pocket. The members felt it was the thing to do, and Georgia Moore put a motion on the floor, seconded by Bob McEttrick and voted unanimously in favor of this expenditure.
   
   
7. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Issues relative to this Town Forest were discussed as follows:
   1. James Hammer property/trail system: Lorraine advised the members she had not been able to make contact with Mr. and Mrs. Hammer regarding the Commission's proposals to bring the trail off of private land, but had received a letter from the Hammers' attorney recently stating he would be in touch with the Commission within the next 2 or 3 weeks. Lorraine will raise this issue again when she hears from the attorney.
   2. Inspection of Violations: Lorraine presented Hub with a list of the violations; May 30 1991 is the deadline for rectifying these problems. It was decided that Hub Seward., Charles Carter and Bob Walsh would do an inspection at such a time as to be able to report for the June 13 1991 meeting. At the same time, they will ensure that the boundary along the Shady Lane properties is clearly marked throughout its entire length. (In later discussion, a date of June I at 10a.m. was set for this inspection, meeting at the Standpipe property on Shady Lane.)
   
   
8. OSGOOD POND PARK: Bill Parker will be meeting with the Selectmen at 6.30p.m. on May 28 1991 to talk about making this an official park and deciding on a name.
   
   
9. EDUCATION FUNDING WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION: At the same time as Item 8, Bill will discuss with the Selectmen the fact that their authorization is needed before departments can expend funds on education. This presents a problem to the Commission because of often late notification, meeting only every 2 or 4 weeks, and then the fact that the Selectmen only meet every 2 weeks as well. Because the Commission does not have a line item budget, it is hoped the Board will forego this permission in the case of the Commission.,
   
   
10. SOUTHERN NH CONS. COMMISSIONS: Lorraine advised the members she had received a letter from the Nashua Conservation Commission which heads the Southern NH Cons. Comm. group, expressing appreciation that Milford had sufficient members now to always have representation at these quarterly meetings. Lorraine will be notified of the date and place of meetings and she will then advise the members who have agreed to attend.
    
    
11. ROUND ROBIN NOTIFICATION: Lorraine asked the members to be more active in this "round robin" idea of notifying all members of an issue. It is essential, she stated ' that whoever starts the round robin is finally notified of the message, which means everybody on the list has been contacted. All members agreed and with a better understanding of how this method works, will ensure it is successful in future.
    
    
12. TUCKERBROOK TOWN FOREST: Hub reported that at the May 11 1991 trail workshop good progress was made ' with the marking of the Blue Trail now completed, though the trail still needs some work.
    
    
13. HILTON HOMES/TOWN LANDS: Georgia Moore reported that on one parcel of Town owned land in the Hilton Homes area in the proximity of Millbrook Road, there is a lot of heavy truck use of this property. Lorraine asked her to keep a list of what she sees and the time. In the meantime, Lorraine will check into the Town Land Files to ensure that the property in question is indeed owned by the Town. She will then be in touch with Georgia, and the matter will be discussed further at the next meeting.

1. MINUTES: On motion made by Bob McEttrick and seconded by Chris Costantino it was voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the May 9, 1991 meeting as presented.
   
   
2. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL SYSTEM: The Commission held an open meeting with property owners over whose property this trial is proposed. Those attending included Arthur Henderson, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Holcombe, and Jan Raymond of Milford Hospital Association. The secretary has been advised prior to the meeting that Dick Prunier of the Milford Fish Hatchery and Souhegan Aquaculture, and a representative of the MCAA would not be able to attend. A package was handed out describing suggested signs, information on traps and trapping, and a draft of a Right of Way agreement. A map showing the areas to be involved in this trail was hung on the wall. Chairman Parker described the proposed trail as planned to commmence at the MCAA ballfields and end at North River Road in the area of Fitch's Corner. The trail is planned to follow the river as closely as possible but there will be areas where it will have to go further inland because of wetlands of various types. Parking will be available at the ballfields and along one of the gravel roads at Fitch's Corner providing access to the Hatchery wells. A sign is proposed at both these locations to indicate that the trail exists. There are no access points proposed along the way. There will be several stream crossings where foot bridges will be provided. Mr. Parker stated that the Commission would like the trail to commence at Emerson Park, but this would require two expensive bridges across the Souhegan River in the vicinity of Keyes Field, and currently such expenditures were not part of the plan. The trail will be built under the guidance of Trailwrights Inc., a non-profit organization of volunteers experienced in trail building. All plans for the trail where it crosses the Hatchery lands will require the approval of the Fish and Game Department prior to commencement of work. Mr. Parker then reviewed the items in the handout, describing the various signs proposed and the reasons for same. A large sign is proposed at either end of the trail which will be hidden from North River Road and which will give various details about the trail such as length, using it at the person's own risk, hunting and trapping in season etc. The right of way draft was also reviewed, and the secretary read RSA 212:34 Liability of Landowners. During review of various concerns that had been expressed in the past, the following discussions took place:
   1. Width of trail: A width of 4 feet was proposed, but the property owners present felt that the trail should be wider, were willing to provide more of their land for this purpose, and a suggested width of 5 to 6 feet was established.
      
      
   2. Hours of Use: It was proposed to have the trail open from sunrise to sunset, but it was pointed out that the Hatchery is open from 8a.m. to 4p.m. and that they may wish the trail to be used during those hours only for at least the section crossing their land. Lorraine will be in touch with Fish and Game Dept. to obtain their response.
      
      
   3. Cow Pastures: Where the trail runs along such areas, the Commission proposes to erect barbed wire fencing to keep cows and hikers apart.
      
      
   4. Vandalism: In an effort to reduce vandalism of the private property the Commission proposes to erect signs every half mile reminding users to respect the private property.
      
      
   5. Pets on the trail: There were two schools of thought at the meeting on this issue, some feeling that pets should be allowed but leached, as this could provide a safer feeling for female hikers using the trail alone. However, because of a recent incident with a dog being caught in a trap, Fish and Game had indicated in writing that it would prefer pets to be prohibited. The secretary was asked to be in touch with Fish and Game for a final decision.
      
      
   6. Vehicular traffic on the trail: The Commission proposed no such traffic of any kind, i.e. no bicycles, ORV's or snowmobiles, it feeling that such could be a hazard to hikers, and in addition Stan Trombly had previously indicated that he did not want snowmobiles as they could damage his alfalfa fields. The property owners present expressed the opinion that no vehicular traffic of any kind should be permitted, but it was pointed out that some of the bridges already existing and which could be used for the trail were apparently built by a snowmobile group. Mrs. Holcombe pointed out that snowmobilers gain access to the trail area by crossing fields anyway. The secretary will call Stan Trombly's son whom, it is believed, would know who built these snowmobile bridges. It was also pointed out that the Hatchery uses ORV's to travel around the Hatchery land, and it was felt that these vehicles may at times travel in the area of the proposed trail. The secretary will call the Hatchery to find out if this would be a problem or not. If indeed the Hatchery would be in the area of the trail on these vehicles, signs could be erected warning hikers of this fact. To further discourage the use of the trail by various vehicles, it was suggested that barbed wire with gates or styles be erected along the trail at various points.
      
      
   7. Liability: Relative to a user of the trail injuring himself and suing the property owner, it was established that unless gross negligence can be proven, the property owner would not be sued. Mr. Parker stated the Conservation Commission will develop a strong policy regarding maintenance of the trail and also the litter problem, organizing groups who will walk the trail as frequently as needed to ensure it well maintained and free of litter. A schedule of inspections will be established.
      
      
   8. Hunting and Trapping: Proposed signs warning users of this fact were reviewed, the information to be put on large sign at either end of the trail, and small signed every half mile as reminders. The secretary pointed out that she had been advised by the Conservation Officer that trappers are likely to move elsewhere if the trail is well used because of the disturbance this could cause to their trapping. Mrs. Holcombe pointed out that hunting of woodchuck continues all year in this area. It was decided to word the warning signs accordingly.
      
      
   9. Right of Way Easement: A draft of this agreement as developed by the NH Heritage Trail was reviewed. This draft included the permission for crossing private land to be for a predetermined number of years. The property owners presented felt this should be removed from the agreement completely. A clause should be included, it was suggested, which would give a property owner with a problem, a chance to discuss the matter with the Commission before backing out and thus destroying the trail; it was hoped that if such a case developed, such a clause would result in the issue being resolved and the trail maintained. Mr. Henderson pointed out that his land which goes up to the River has sub-division possibilities and that if it is sub-divided he doubted the property owners would want a trail in their backyards.
   
   In further discussions, it was decided to establish a schedule as to how to proceed with development of the trail, as the property owners present were very eager to see the trail in existence. The schedule of events will be as follows:
   1. The secretary will be in touch with Town Counsel to review the Right of Way draft, include in it the issues discussed at this meeting, and prepare a draft of an agreement suitable for this trail.
      
      
   2. This draft will then be presented to all the property owners giving them the chance to review it and express any concerns they might have.
      
      
   3. The existing Trail Committee will develop manpower to construct the trail, and Trailwrights will be engaged to develop a plan of location for the trail. Each property owner will be invited to be present at the time Trailwrights review the various properties so that their concerns etc. can be included in the final plan. (In answer to a property owner's question, it was stated that no tax- payers monies are to be spent on this trail at this point in time). the secretary pointed out that funds may be available from the Kaley and Keyes Funds.
   
   In conclusion, other comments made were as follows:
   1. Mr. Henderson put forward the suggestion that hunters be warned that a trail exists, and it was decided to place signs at various points along North River Road where hunters currently gain access to the River area.
      
      
   2. A suggestion was put forward that because there are no access or egress points along the way, that signs be erected which will advise how far a hiker has gone and how far to the other end. The Commission felt this was an excellent idea.
   
   In final conclusion, Mr. Holcombe requested that a date be set by which time the trail would be completed. The Commission made the decision to aim for one year from today!
   
   Mr. Parker thanked the property owners who were present for coming and for their comments, concerns and support for this project.
   
   
3. ALISON HIGGS/LAND SEMINAR STUDENT: Alison met with the Commission to give a report on her experiences at the April Land Seminar to which the Commission had sponsored her. She had worked on a plan for a proposed use of Pease Air Force Base, and gave an excellent presentation of what she did during that week. She thanked the Commission for sending her and said she would most definitely spread the word for next year. The secretary read comments from a letter received from the SPNHF which had indicated Alison was an excellent choice and an outstanding asset to the whole program.
   
   
4. THE PLUS COMPANY/STEVE DESMARAIS: Though not scheduled to meet with the Commission and therefore not appearing as an agenda item, Steve met with the Commission to finalize his proposed parking area at the Plus Company on Nashua Street, and the wetlands and buffer zone involved. Steve presented five versions of the parking area. Plan #1 involved no wetlands, but did involve the buffer zone. This plan would result in the existing parking area having the cars back out onto Tonella Road. The Planning Board had already approved this particular parking area, and therefore it was felt, combined with the low traffic use of Tonella Road that this would not be a problem now. Plan #5 also did not involve the filling of wetlands, but it was felt that Plan #1 had less of an impact on the buffer zone. All other plans provided included less than 250 sq.ft. of fill in the wetlands. After considerable discussion, Bob McEttrick put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Georgia Moore to support Plan #1 of the five plans provided; calling for 22 parking spaces. In discussion before a vote was taken, Bob amended his motion to "Plan #1 or Plan #5". It was seconded by John Kenison, and the motion as amended was voted unanimously in the affirmative. Lorraine will convey this information to the Board of Adjustment.
   
   On motion made by John Kenison and seconded by Georgia Moore, it was voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of the May 23 1991 meeting as presented.
   
   
5. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Several issues relative to this area were discussed, as follows:
   1. Crawford Property M17 L4: Lorraine reported she was advised by Doug Smith, Town Assessor, that this lot, which lies on an undeveloped non- town street, was assessed at $4,100.00., for an area of .63 acres. After discussion, Hub Seward put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted in the affirmative, to offer Mr. and Mrs. Crawford the sum of $4,000 for the lot which abuts the town forest. It was felt that though the Crawfords may not accept this, it would form a starting point. It was also decided that Lorraine would give this offer over the phone, so that it could be gauged how the Crawfords feel.
      
      Lorraine also advised the members that John Ferguson gave the opinion that Town Forest Funds could be used to purchase property destined to be part of an existing town forest.
      
      
   2. Trail equipment/Donation to Trailwrights: Relative to equipment the Commission should own to maintain trails, Hub had not been in touch with Trailwrights for a list. It was decided Lorraine would call Roger Lessard for information as to what the Commission needs and an approximate cost of same. Once this is purchased, a decision will be made as to how much of a donation can be afforded for Trailwrights.
      
      
   3. Marking of Property Lines: Hub reported he and other members of the Commission had marked well these lines where the Shady Lane properties abut town land, except for one lot where so many trees had been cut on the line that there were none to mark.
      
      
   4. Report on Violations: Hub reported that on June 1 he had talked to some of the property owners on Shady Lane, and most were upset at the stern nature of the letters received from Town Counsel. It was felt that in future it would be better to send letters first from the Commission if there are violations in order to establish better relationships with the abutting property owners. On the actual violations, he reported thus:
   
   Lot 6: Simpson: most of the brush mess had been cleared up and Hub felt what was left was acceptable. This property contains the roadway leading to the water tower, and Hub raised the point as to whether the town has some kind of right of way document. Lorraine will pursue this.
   
   Lot 7: Clemons: no previous violations, and no new ones.
   
   Lot 8: Farrell: Last years violation of lawn area and picnic table have been corrected, but there is now a recently dumped pile of grass, weeds and dirt about 20 to 30 feet from the lot line on town land. This should be removed.
   
   Lot 9: O'Connell: this is the lot where trees for firewood were cut in town forest. There are no trees left along this boundary for marking. There does not appear to have been any more trees cut but the cordwood pile on town land has been reduced in size.
   
   Lot 10: D'Amato: The violation was a brush and leaf pile. Now Hub found a truck had been driven onto town land over several small trees, thus damaging them. A pile of dirt and gravel has been dumped on the town land. Photographs were taken of this.
   
   Lot 11: Lovejoy: Lawn area violation appears now to not be obvious.
   
   Lot 12: Ross: Violation was lawn area on town land. Property owner has marked the boundary with string and has not mowed the lawn on the town's side. This case appears closed.
   
   During inspection Hub found some rocks on town land close to the boundary which he felt could be offered to the Ross family to better mark the boundary if they desire. He also felt the Commission should offer to close off the old logging road that leads to their property. Lorraine will take care of this in a letter to them.
   
   Lot 13: Murphy: Violation was brush and log piles. Some work had been done to clean up, but Hub felt no more should be done as what remains is now a small animal habitat. A dog run is now anchored to a tree on the town land. As this is the only tree suitable, Hub felt the Commission should give permission for this. No action was taken on this suggestion.
   
   Lot 14: LaJeunesse: No previous violations, but now a brush and grass pile has been created on town land. This should be removed. Photographs were taken.
   
   Lot 15: Leggiero: no previous violations and no new ones.
   
   Lot 16: Raine: Brush and log piles from last year have been removed. Area is now acceptable in its current condition.
   
   Lot 17: Hall: Violation was a swing set and/or sand box on town land. This appears to have been corrected, and the area is acceptable.
   
   After discussion, it was decided that Lorraine would send letters of thanks to those who have corrected the problems. The new violations will be reported to Town Counsel for further action.
   
   
6. OSGOOD POND PARK: It was reported that on May 28, Bill Parker met with the Selectmen relative to a name for this town land at the Osgood Pond Dam. The Selectmen chose the name of: Hazel Adams Burns Park - Osgood Pond. When Bill called Lorraine to advise her of this, she then called Bill Burns to find out what he felt about naming this land after Hazel, seeing she was his wife, and also he passes this land almost every day. Though Bill is a man of very few words, Lorraine gathered that he was very impressed with this idea. She advised him the Commission planned to request Barretto Granite to carve a granite stone with the name, and asked Bill if he perhaps had a stone on his property he would like used. Bill said he did have an old quarry on his property, and he would take a look. The issue was left in that Bill would get back to Lorraine. She will wait a while before contacting him again, should she not hear from him in the meantime.
   
   
7. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported that Harold Webster had finally done some clean up of the entrance area off Boulder Drive. Hub had done an inspection and felt that the area needed some additional tidying up, such as putting some compost from the WWTP on the area and perhaps planting some shrubs. Hub will organize the compost. Lorraine had paid the bill for the clean up work in the amount of $225.00 from the Town Forest Fund. This amount, being less than $300.00, was the agreed upon amount by the previous members of the Commission.
   
   
8. EMERSON ROAD: In response to the Commission's letter, the Selectmen at their April 29 1991 meeting, agreed to changing the bounds of Emerson Road so that it would run from Route 13 South to Ponemah Hill Road, and thus bring it into compliance with the current road maps of Milford. A memo had been sent by the Selectmen to various town departments advising of this change. At the 1992 Town Meeting, a petition will now have to be filed to make the entire length of Emerson Road with its new bounds, a scenic road. Lorraine will ensure this is done when the time comes.
   
   
9. SNHCC MEETING: Lorraine advised the members that the next meeting of this group is scheduled for June 26 1991 at 7.30p.m. in the Windham Town Hall. Members attending will report back at the July Commission meeting.
   
   
10. RUSSELL KINCAID/WETLAND VIOLATION: Lorraine updated the members on the events in this case as follows: that on May 2 1991, the Wetlands Board issued a dredge and fill permit (after the fact), having inspected the area and having found the culvert to have been correctly installed and the headwalls to be stable; that the Wetlands Board was considering a $200.00 fine for the violation; that this case was again coming before the Board of Adjustment on June 20 1991. Lorraine will report on the outcome of this meeting once it has taken place.
    
    
11. JOSEPH MILLIMET/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION: Lorraine advised the members that on April 16 1991 a Dredge and Fill application was filed by Mr. Millimet for a driveway culvert on property he owns on McGettigan Road, a small seasonal stream being involved. Mr. Millimet hopes to obtain all the necessary permits and then sell the property at which time a single family house will be built. Lorraine had requested a 30 day extension from the Wetlands Board, and had attempted to contact Mr. Millimet in this regard, but considerable time went by before she was able to reach him, he being on vacation. When she finally did reach him, he referred her to Sam Proctor who was acting as his agent. An on site inspection was scheduled, but Lorraine was unable to keep the appointment for personal reasons. Because of the time factor involved, she asked Bill Parker to do the inspection, which he did. He found the project a very small one with an insignificant seasonal stream being involved, and felt there should be no problem with the work proposed. Based upon Bill's input and with time running out, a letter was sent to the Wetlands Board recommending issuance of the permit. The Board of Adjustment was also advised of this. This case was not brought before the Commission members though it appeared on the agenda a few times, due to the extent of the work load before the Commission.
    The Wetlands Board, having received the Commission's report, issued the Dredge and Fill Permit on June 11 1991.
    
    
12. EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURES: At Bill's May 28 1991 meeting with the Selectmen - he received permission for the Commission to expend funds for this purpose without having to obtain the Selectmen's permission in advance. The Selectmen, however, wished to be kept informed of which members were to attend what seminars etc.
    
    
13. ASNH WETLANDS WORKSHOP: One member attended the workshop on June 8 and two are scheduled to attend the workshop on June 15. All will report on the lecture at the July meeting. It is hoped that one member will be willing to give up the manual into the possession of the Commission.
    
    
14. HILTON HOMES PARK PROBLEMS: Further to a report Georgia Moore made at the May 23 meeting, she advised the members of continuing problems in this park area off Millbrook Road, including using the area as a storage area by the town trucks, and generally the area is a mess and a nuisance to the neighbors. In discussions of this area at this meeting, it came to Lorraine's attention that this area is not one of the designated parks which were part of the original subdivision, but rather an undeveloped deadend roadway known as Larchmont Circle. Lorraine had done some research on this area relative to Georgia's report, but this turned out to be of no use because there was a misunderstanding as to just what area was being discussed. Lorraine will therefore do further research in the Assessing Office and will also talk to Bob Courage relative to Larchmont Circle, and will report back at the July meeting.
    
    
15. ARNOLD BALCOM/WETLAND VIOLATION: Lorraine reported that she had received notice from the Wetlands Board relative to the ongoing violations of wetlands on this site, that compliance with that Board's request to remove fill illegally placed was not complete, and in addition no seeding has taken place as requested. An on site inspection had been made by the Wetlands Board on May 7 1991. At that time, a review of the rear of the property was made and it was found that considerable siltation was taking place. Photographs were taken by the inspector and those together with a report will be forwarded by the Wetlands Board to the Water Supply and Pollution Control Division.
    
    
16. BURNS HILL HIKING TRAIL MAP: Copies of this map developed by Owen Kelley were handed out at this meeting, with the request that members add this to the red three-ring binders of information each received at the beginning of his/her term.

1. MINUTES: On motion made by Chris Costantino and seconded by Bob McEttrick it was voted unanimously to accept the Minutes of the June 13, 1991 meeting as presented. It was noted that because of time constraints, the regular July meeting was cancelled.
   
   
2. TIM O'CONNELL/WETLANDS/POND: Tim O'Connell met with the members relative to his desire to create a small pond on his property on Federal Hill Road, known as Butternut Farm. Bill Parker reported he had made an on site inspection on August 6 1991 and had no problems with the proposed work, which is in a small wetland area. Tim proposes a pond of about 60' x 70' with a depth of 8 to 10 feet, and with no impoundment. There will be on site disposal of dredged material which will be placed south and northwest of the pond. The precise size and depth of the pond will depend on what problems Tim encounters once construction begins. The purpose is mainly for irrigation of the farm crops, but he also hopes to use it for recreation in winter, and being a biologist, he envisions an environmental enhancement to his property because of the pond. Erosion control will be in the form of conservation mix, blueberries and Christmas trees. SCS has reviewed the site, found wetland soils, and had no adverse opinion relative to the creation of the pond. The wetland area to be disturbed is approximately 20' x 20'. It will be a mainly seasonal pond, and Tim does not expect it to contain much water on a year-round basis. After discussion, Chris Costantino put a motion on the floor and Bob Walsh seconded it, and it was voted unanimously in favor of the motion to support the proposal. Lorraine advised Tim to proceed with the filing of the Dredge and Fill application, and to go before the Board of Adjustment, and stated that as as soon as the application is filed, a letter of support will be sent to the Wetlands Board. Tim hopes to complete the work this year.
   
   
3. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL: Lorraine reported as follows on this project:
   1. Trailwrights: She had talked to Roger Lessard and advised him that the Commission will be seeking Trailwrights assistance in the laying out of the trail, and Roger said he would advise the other members and put the project on their agenda. The Commission will be advised when they plan to walk the area.
      
      
   2. Results of meeting with property owners: Lorraine reported she had sent copies of the minutes of that meeting to all property owners, and from
      
      Fish and Game Department, she had received as a result, a letter indicating that they would prefer the portion of the trail on their property to be open from 8a.m. to 4p.m. only, these being the hours during which the Hatchery is open to the public. Fish and Game Dept. also requires pet to be prohibited from the trail over the Hatchery lands. It was requested that that Department be advised at all times when reviews of the land and work on the trail is to be done so that they can take an active part. The individual to contact is Jack Bowyer at 1-271-3421.
      
      
   3. Snowmobile club bridges: Lorraine reported that she had several times contacted Stan Trombly to find out who to contact relative to the ownership of these bridges and their use in the hiking trail, but to no avail. The members felt that it might be best to go ahead and incorporate these bridges in the trail anyway, regardless of the fact that snowmobiles are to be excluded from the trail. Lorraine also pointed out that the results of the Master Plan survey indicate that the general public is not very supportive of snowmobiles using any of the hiking trails on town properties.
      
      
   4. Right of Way Agreement: Lorraine reported having received a letter from Town Counsel relative to this agreement, which was read to the members. In short, the letter indicated that in order to secure the permanence of the trail over private property, it is necessary to draw up an official deed to be recorded in the Registry, and to include all parties with an interest in the property including any mortgage holders. After discussion of this letter, the Commission made the decision that it would proceed with the advice of Town Counsel and have title searches done on the various properties, and the necessary deeds drawn up, signed and recorded. In order to do this, it was decided that a copy of Town Counsel's letter would be sent to each property owner with a covering letter from the Commission advising that this is how the Commission will draw up the right of way agreement, and giving the property ten days from the date of the letter to contact Lorraine with any concerns they might have.
   
   
4. MAYFLOWER HILL TOWN FOREST: Lorraine reported as follows on various issues related to this area:
   1. Crawford Property: The $4,000 offered to Mr. Crawford for this half acre lot was very acceptable by him; he was very much in favor of that land forming part of the Town Forest, and in fact had played a vital part in the committee formed several years ago to raise funds for the purchase of the Ferguson land which forms part of the Town Forest. A title search on the property was completed by Town Counsel. In the process it was discovered that the deed from Oliver Merrill to Crawford included the 50'x150'strip over which an existing trail runs, but that the deed to Merrill did not include this strip. Town counsel stated that some 80 or more years ago this strip which was to be a roadway was most likely deeded to the Town anyway, but to do research into this would prove costly to the Town, and the strip is now totally surrounded by town owned lands anyway. It was his opinion that the Selectmen should be advised of this situation, which he will do by letter, and it was also his opinion that the warranty deed he is preparing for the
      
      Crawfords' signature should include this strip, if they are so willing to sign such a deed. Lorraine had withdrawn the $4,000 from the Town Forest Fund in a check to Mr. and Mrs. Crawford and had given it to Town Counsel. She has also, as of August 8 1991, paid the total property taxes due on this land in the total of $154.13, made up as follows: 1990 taxes $112.73 and interest of $4.28; 1991 property taxes $36.65 and interest of 47 cents. A copy of the check to pay these taxes has been given to Town Counsel. He will arrange with the Crawfords for the signing of the deed and he will record same. Once the deed is recorded, this piece of property will be added to the map of the Mayflower Hill Town Forest, and the boundaries will be marked.
      
      
   2. Trail Equipment: Roger Lessard indicated to Lorraine recently that he is working on a list of equipment needed for trail maintenance. Once this cost is known, the Commission will make a decision relative to a donation to Trailwrights.
      
      
   3. Violations: Lorraine reported she had sent letters of thanks to the property owners where compliance with the Commission's requests had been made. One property owner was given permission to use available rocks on town land for boundary marking, but nothing further had been heard on this issue. Another property owner had been offered the assistance of the Commission to block off a trail that leads directly into the backyard but again, to date, no response has been received. Copies of all these letters were sent to Town Counsel Carol Rolf. To Carol Rolf was also sent a letter detailing new violations by property owners and requesting her intervention. To date Lorraine had heard nothing further from Carol on this issue.
      
      
   4. James Hammer Property: Lorraine reported she had finally received a response from the Hammers' attorney relative to the Commission's offer to purchase a half acre of backland over which the trail runs. The Commission has offered $2,000 for this piece, but the attorney responded with an offer that it would be available for a cost of $10,000.00. Without much discussion, the Commission requested Lorraine send a letter to the attorney expressing the Commission's lack of interest in this proposal. No decision was made as to what to do regarding the section of trail on this private property.
      
      
   5. Vehicular access to Standpipe: Relative to this access to the Mayflower Hill standpipe, used by Public Works, Lorraine reported having talked to Bob Courage, who, she found, was convinced that this access was on the town land and not on the abutting private property. The Commission decided this issue was not within its jurisdiction, and the subject is therefore dropped.
   
   
5. HAZEL ADAMS BURNS PARK: Lorraine reported Bull Burns had found a granite stone he wanted used for this purpose and had chosen a site where he would like it placed. Lorraine had contacted Joe Luongo relative to moving the stone from Bill's land to the Park, and Joe had done so without cost to the town. Lorraine will write a letter of thanks and appreciation to Joe. Once the stone was in place, Lorraine contacted Dick Medlyn who will do the engraving for a cost of between $300 and $400. Dick said he would be able to do the work by the end of August/early September. A motion was put on the floor by Hub Seward and seconded by Ken Utting and voted unanimously in favor of the motion to authorize Lorraine to pay the invoice once received, to Dick Medlyn. It will be paid from the Accumulating Fund.
   
   It was decided, once the stone is engraved, to hold a dedication ceremony at the site, and a date was set for Saturday October 19 1991 at 10a.m. The following will be invited to attend: Bill Burns, Hazel's three sons and her daughter (who resides in Rhode Island), the Board of Selectmen, Russ Monbleau, and as many scout groups as possible (because of Hazel's work with the scouts). Closer to the date, the Cabinet and the Telegraph will be contacted for publicity. Bill Parker will deliver the dedication speech.
   
   
6. SNHCC MEETING: There was no report on the June 26 meeting of this group due the fact that two of the members present had not been able to attend, and the other two scheduled to attend, were not present at this Commission meeting. This issue will be discussed at the next Commission meeting.
   
   
7. ASNH WETLANDS WORKSHOP MANUAL: Ken Utting very kindly presented the Commission with a copy he had made of his manual, for its own files.
   
   
8. MILFORD MIDDLE SCHOOL DREDGE AND FILL: Lorraine reported that the Dredge and Fill Permit had been issued. It is understood that work is about to begin.
   
   
9. TRAIL MAPS: Lorraine reported that the Town Clerk's office is finding a wonderful response to the availability of these maps of the Town Forest lands where trails are available for hiking. The requests for copies (3 maps per set) has been such that Jennifer of the Town Clerk's office suggested that a charge to cover paper be made, such as $1.00 per set. In discussion of this Ken Utting stated he felt a better quality of map should be made, and he was willing to undertake this project. It was also felt that the maps should indicate at least an approximate location of the trails on the properties. This however, would have to wait until all the trails are completed. In addition, the Souhegan River Trail system should be part of this package. The members decided to wait until all the trails systems are completed before developing a better quality map set. In the meantime, Bob McEttrick will make a hundred sets free of charge and these will be given to the Town Clerk's office to be handed out. It was also decided that there should be no charge for these maps at this point in time.
   
   
10. 1992 FEDERAL GRANT APPLICATION: Lorraine advised having received this notice of funds available for conservation purposes. The amount per project is $25,000 matching funds. The deadline for application is October 18 1991. After a brief discussion, it was decided that there is insufficient time to prepare any project for 1992, and it was decided that Lorraine, instead, would pass the information along to the Parks and Playgrounds Committee.
    
    
11. DOUG ANNAND/WETLANDS PROBLEM: Lorraine briefed the members on this issue on Doug Annand's property on Ball Hill Road, as it appeared in the Minutes of the Selectmen's meeting of June 24 1991. This was an information item in case the Commission should become involved in the problem at a later time.
    
    
12. HILTON HOMES/LARCHMONT CIRCLE: Lorraine reported having talked to Bob Courage regarding the report from Georgia Moore of a mess having been created on this property by Public Works. It was Bob's opinion that there was no mess, but rather that his Department had used this land for the temporary storage of piping during water pipe work taking place in the area recently. Because there is likely some encroachment of abutters onto this town land, it was decided that in fall Lorraine would do an on site inspection of the area, and report back to the Commission for any further action needed regarding establishing the boundaries.
    
    
13. NEXT MEETING: Lorraine advised the members she would be taking vacation from September 14 to October 13 1991, and requested that the September meeting be scheduled for the end of August to allow her enough time for the minutes etc. before going on vacation. That meeting is now scheduled for Thursday, August 29 1991, and the October meeting is scheduled for October 17 1991. The members decided they would meet on September 19 1991 at 7.30p.m. for an educational type workshop meeting which it was felt would benefit the many new members on the Commission. The meeting will be posted as such; no decisions will be made during this meeting; no minutes will be made of it either, as it is purely educational in nature.
    
    
14. RESULTS OF SURVEY/MASTER PLAN: Lorraine briefed the members on the results of this survey on the sections pertaining to the Commission as follows: Very strong support for obtaining additional parcels of land adjacent to existing conservations lands, as well as very strong support for starting new conservation areas in parts of Town where none now exist. Very strong support for the uses of conservation lands to be for hiking trails, cross country ski trails, camping and picnics, and swimming. Strong disagreement with permitting snowmobile trails on conservation lands. Midline support for acquiring farmlands, marshes/swamps/bogs, and floodplains. Very strong support for acquiring woodlands, rivers and streams, and wildlife habitat.
    
    
15. NASH SUBDIVISION/PONEMAH HILL ROAD: Lorraine advised having been contacted by the engineer relative to a revised subdivision submitted by Mr. Nash because of the fact that the abutting Grigas property is no longer available to form part of this overall subdivision. The new Nash subdivision results in a 50% increase in wetland impact. The engineer requested arrangements be made for an on site inspection before he meets with the Commission. This is now scheduled for 5.30 p.m. on Thursday August 22 1991, to meet at the Town Hall. Lorraine will advise the engineer. She will also attempt to have the engineer provide a reduced scale plan.
    
    
16. FALCONER AVENUE EXTENSION: Lorraine advised the members that as a result of title searching being done on the Crawford property, Town Counsel had found a recorded deed, deeding this roadway to the Town of Milford in 1964. Because of the fact that this deed was not in the Town Hall, money had been spent to quiet title to this paper street, when all the time, it was already town property. Lorraine will immediately send a letter to Atty. Carol Rolf, requesting the process be terminated relative to quieting title. She will also ensure that Bob Courage has a copy of this deed in his road files.
    
    
17. DADOLY LAND GIFT: Lorraine reported that, after consultation with Town Counsel Drescher, she wrote for Bill Parker's signature a letter to Atty. Bielagus (attorney for Nicholas Dadoly), detailing the problems with this deed. This letter was dated July 19 1991, and it requested immediate action. At their July 22 1991 meeting, the Selectmen reviewed this letter and were of the unanimous opinion that unless the problems are resolved, the land gift will be rescinded, revoked and returned to Mr. Dadoly. In discussion, the Commission was also of the opinion that the issues must be resolved or the land gift should be returned. The Commission, however, was uninformed as to how to "return a gift of land" and how to at the same time obtain from Mr. Dadoly a refund of the $2,300 odd paid to him as part of the land acquisition agreement made. It was decided that Lorraine would be in touch with Town Counsel Drescher as to how this can all be done, and would then take whatever action he recommended, polling members of the Commission telephonically if necessary.

MILFORD CONSERVATION COMMISSION Meeting Minutes of August 29, 1991 Present: Bill Parker, Chairman Bob McEttrick, Vice Chairman Hub Seward, Georgia Moore, Chris Costantino Ken Utting, Bob Walsh and Steve Turner, Alternates Lorraine Carson, Secretary

MILFORD CONSERVATION COMMISSION Meeting Minutes of October 17, 1991 Present: Bill Parker, Chairman Hub Seward, Chris Costantino, Georgia Moore, Charles Carter Alternates: Blaise Corcoran, Ken Utting, Bob Walsh, Steve Turner Lorraine Carson, Secretary

MILFORD CONSERVATION COMMISSION Meeting Minutes of November 14, 1991 Present: Bill Parker, Chairman Bob McEttrick, Vice Chairman Charles Carter, Hub Seward Ken Utting, Steve Turner, Bob Walsh, Blaise Corcoran, Alternate Lorraine Carson, Secretary

MILFORD CONSERVATION COMMISSION Minutes of Work Session of December 5, 1991 Present: Bill Parker, Chairman Bob McEttrick, Vice Chairman Ken Utting, Hub Seward, Chris Costantino Bob Walsh, Steve Turner, Blaise Corcoran as alternates Lorraine Carson, Secretary