1. MINUTES: On motion made by Rodney Dellafelice and seconded by Chris Costantino, the Minutes of the December 11, 1997 meeting were accepted as presented.

2. CONSERVATION COMMISSION/PLANNING BOARD: Diane Fitzpatrick and Hub Seward met with the Planning Board on January 6 1998 to discuss the early review of plans before the Planning Board by the Commission. It was stated that the Planning Board was receptive to the idea of input from the Commission. Diane Fitzpatrick will advise the members when plans are available for review and how long a time span is being allowed. If there is to be a Commission meeting before the plans need to be returned to the Planning Board then the Commission will briefly discuss the plans as a unit and provide the Planning Board with its opinion. If there is not to be a meeting of the Commission within the allowed time, a sheet will be attached to the plans and members are free to enter comments/questions etc. on the sheet. The Planning Board would prefer a group response from the Commission.

3. BADGER HILL/CLUSTER ZONING REGULATIONS: This issue was briefly raised at the January 6 1998 meeting with the Planning Board but time did not permit discussion. The Planning Board was provided with written information.

4. CONSERVATION LANDS REVIEWS: Rodney Dellafelice expressed the opinion that this was not a suitable time of the year to review conservation lands and easements. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Lorraine would provide the members with a list as to who is responsible for which lands. Each member will then provide a written report to the Commission of ideas, plans, hopes, goals for his/her lands.

5. NHACC ANNUAL MEETING REPORTS: Chris Costantino reported that she was impressed with the board walks in a swampy area at which an on-site was held on November 1 1997. She stated this would be a good idea if Milford had a suitable area. Diane Fitzpatrick stated she attended the lecture given by the Wetlands Bureau and learned the meaning of various phrases used by the Bureau on Dredge and Fill Permits.

   "No further alteration of wetlands...": this is added to all permits involving subdivisions. The objective of this is so that the total impact to the site can be known from the beginning. If future wetland impact is required, a new application must be filed. This new application cannot be for lot development.

   "An applicant cannot apply piecemeal for impacts in a large project": If an applicant needs to commence a project before the entire plan is finalized, an application for a portion of the project may be applied for, but the total estimated wetland impact at project completion must be provided at this time. "Only the property owner can file for a Dredge and Fill Permit": The applicant may be a prospective buyer of the property and would require the written consent of the property owner before filing for the permit. The permit would be issued in the name of the current property owner and transferred to the buyer once the sale is finalized.

6. MINUTES/TYPEWRITER: The chairman stated the typewriter as authorized in May 1997, had not yet been purchased. Members had expressed the desire to have the minutes done on a computer. Lorraine had stated that the space she has for Commission work was limited and did not provide for the area required for a computer, printer etc. She also expressed the fact that she often works on the minutes over weekends and at night and did not wish to be alone in the Town Hall at those times, working on a Town computer. The chairman suggested a word processor which could be purchased for $250.00 to $300.00 at WalMart. After discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously in the affirmative to authorize an expenditure not to exceed the amount of $300.00 for the purchase of a word processor.

7. MISSION STATEMENT: Upon motion made by Rodney Dellafelice and seconded by Chris Costantino, it was voted unanimously in the affirmative to adopt the Mission Statement as prepared and finalized August 28, 1997. That Statement is as follows:

   "Established in 1968, the Milford Conservation Commission promotes the conservation, protection and sound management of Milford's natural resources for current and future generations.
   We believe that the natural environment is essential to the well-being of man. We respect the lives and rights of all living things, which includes the right of land owners to coexist with our natural surroundings.
   The Commission seeks to balance the community's immediate needs and desires with responsible long-term use and protection of our natural resources. As appointed stewards, we educate and encourage the public to make wise decisions about these resources."

   Lorraine will prepare this for inclusion in the Information Binders and also requested members to bring these binders to the next meeting for several updates to be included therein.
   In further discussion, it was felt that the Mission Statement should be included in the Conservation Master Plan, and that this Plan should physically be part of the Town's Master Plan.
   In the matter of the required updating of the Conservation Plan, Diane Lorraine will discuss this issue at a later date.

8. LAND FUND MONIES/MONSON VILLAGE: Lorraine advised the members that the $30,000.00 pledge for Monson Village was in a Certificate of Deposit due to mature January 15 1998. The remainder of the Land Fund, $16,041.46 was in another Certificate due to mature January 30 1998. The Society would require the pledge by the latest February 20 1998. Both certificates carry a 10 day grace period during which they would go on at their current interest rate. By using this period on the $30,000 it would mean only a short time for the funds to be in a Savings Account, the only account available for immediate withdrawal. In case the pledge would not be needed, Lorraine would like to combine the two current certificates into one account. Either way, the funds would be in a savings account for a short time. She asked for the members' approval of this plan, and received their consent. She will arrange for the necessary paperwork to be signed by the Town Treasurer. Dick Medlyn advised that the Trust Funds of the Town are invested with an organization in Concord where considerably more interest is earned than through a local certificate of deposit. Diane Fitzpatrick asked him to find out more information on this issue and report back. Dick did indicate that it would most likely only be worth it if a large amount of funds were available

9. JOHNSON PROPOSED CONSERVATION EASEMENT MAP 47 LOT 15: Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that Mr. Johnson had decided to proceed with conveying the conservation easement on his property to the Town of Milford. It is his intention to sell his share of the property to his sister once the easement is in place. He and his sister will prepare a description of what they desire to be in the deed. Discussion took place regarding whether a survey needs to be done or if a plot plan needs to be created either one to show the location of the easement on the property, buildings and driveways etc. It was not known if a survey has been done of this property. In discussion as to who should pay for the survey and/or plot plan, Dick Medlyn suggested that Mr. Johnson pay for what needs to be done and then the Commission purchase the easement from him for the same amount. Such an amount could be paid out of the Conservation Land Fund. It was decided that Diane Fitzpatrick would contact the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests as to what they use for this type of issue.

10. DAVID WHEELER/CHRISTMAS TREE FARM/MASON ROAD: Diane Fitzpatrick advised that the Commission had received a copy of a letter sent to the Selectmen by Mr. and Mrs. Jon Weiner of McGettigan Road requesting whether or not the proper permits were in place for the wetland disturbances created on this property. It was stated that an access road with a culvert had been constructed to access the property for development of the Christmas tree farm. Ms. Fitzpatrick contacted Mr. Wheeler and visited him on January 8 1998 to review the permits he had for the wetland disturbance. These two permits could not be found by Mr. Wheeler during this visit. From the Wetlands Bureau it was learned that one permit #96-12 had been issued for Map 40 Lot 30 and another under #96-965 was issued for Map 40 Lots 30 and 21. The Bureau faxed a copy of Permit #96-965, but not that of #96-12. Ms. Fitzpatrick will send a letter to Mr. Wheeler advising that verification of the permits being in existence has been made. She will also advise Mr. and Mrs. Weiner that the records are public and available should they wish to review same. It was noted that at the Selectmen's meeting of January 12 1998, BFI will hold an informational hearing on the proposed use of "Short Paper Fiber" as a soil enricher. Rodney Dellafelice will attend this meeting.

11. PROSPECTIVE NEW MEMBERS: Richard Medlyn and Pierce Rigrod met with the Commission regarding their desire to become members of the Commission. After a brief discussion, Mr. Rigrod stated he would appreciate being appointed as an alternate member. Mr. Medlyn wished to become a full member for which there is a vacancy. Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously in the affirmative to request the Board of Selectmen to appoint Richard Medlyn as a full member for a two year term and Pierce Rigrod as an alternate member for a three year term. Lorraine will take care of this request.

12. CARL HOLLAND/BEAVER BROOK ASSOCIATION: Atty Enright, Carl Holland, Harlan Burns, Atty. Peter Bennett and Tom Mullin of Beaver Brook Association met with the Board of Selectmen on December 29 1997 regarding Mr. Holland's donation of his property on Osgood Road to the Association. It was noted that the Town of Milford holds a conservation easement on this property which will remain in effect once Beaver Brook Association takes possession of the property. Atty. Enright advised the Selectmen that the Association is granting Mr. Holland life-tenancy on the property and requested if the Selectmen would be willing to waive the taxes on the property as Mr. Holland would not be the owner, and the Association is a tax-exempt entity. The attorney continued that once Mr. Holland no longer resides on the property the buildings would be turned into classrooms for Scout groups, school groups etc. In the interim, the Association would be establishing an endowment to maintain the buildings. A waiver of the property taxes would assist in this endeavor. The Selectmen generally supported the tax waiver, but made no final decision at this meeting. Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that a reception will be held at the Association's Lodge on Love Lane on January 21 1998 at 5p.m. in honor of Mr. Holland. All members of the Commission will be receiving invitations to this event.

13. BEAVER BROOK ASSOCIATION DUES FOR 1998: Because of the investment this Association is making in Milford, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor which was seconded by Judy Gross and voted unanimously in the affirmative to increase the annual dues to "Supporting Membership" in the amount of $100.00.

14. UNH WETLAND INVENTORY INVOICE: The Commission received an invoice in the amount of $280.52 for expenses incurred by UNH during the Inventory recently completed in Milford. Upon motion made by Judy Gross and seconded by Rodney Dellafelice, it was voted unanimously in the affirmative to pay the amount of $280.52 from the Operating Budget 1998.

15. NEXT WORK SESSION: It was announced that the next work session will be at 7p.m. on January 22 1998 in the DPW Meeting Room.

16. SOUHEGAN AREA CONSERVATION COMMISSIONS: It was announced that this group will be holding a meeting on Monday January 26 1998. However, no time or location was available at this point.

17. NATURAL HERITAGE/INFORMATION: Diane Fitzpatrick called the Natural Heritage in Concord to find out what information they would be interested in having regarding natural areas to protect in the Milford area. They are interested in any "bog species" among other natural locations of importance and will be providing a list of requirements. '

18. SULLIVAN LAND TRAIL: It was reported that the new map is ready and that the old car wreck has been removed by Public Works Department. About half the main trail has been blazed and the balance is well marked. A spur to the Tucker Brook will be developed in spring.

19. WILDLIFE EVENT/SLIDE SHOW: This event, put on by Keeping Track Inc., will take place on February 19 1998 at 7p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium. An amount of $130.00 was paid as Milford's share with the Town of Wilton submitting the amount of $120.00 as their share for this combined event.

20. BERNTSON/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION/MAP 43 LOT 26: Members were advised that the Wetlands Bureau denied this permit application citing a long list of reasons for the denial, including the fact that the proposed use is not the least impacting alternative.

21. MONSON VILLAGE: Diane Fitzpatrick and Lee Mayhew met with Town Counsel, William Drescher on December 22 1997 to review a memo from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests stating the Memorandum of Agreement with Milford would include: "The Society would agree to retain all the land as conservation land and manage it for the benefit of the historical and natural resources and the general public. It could also provide an agreement to seek the approval of both towns should the Society ever decide to transfer the land to another land trust or agency of the government. We would also be willing to agree to make any such conveyance subject to a conservation easement'. The Agreement will be signed and recorded when the property is transferred to the ownership of the Society. Both Milford and Hollis will be involved in this transfer.

22. DEAN GLOW/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION/BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT: This case went before the Board of Adjustment on December 4 1997 at which time it was tabled until January 15 1998 as the Board is awaiting response to several issues, listed in that Board's Minutes of that meeting, now in the Dean Glow file of the Commission.

There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting adjourned at 9p.m.

Meeting Schedule:

• January 21, 1998, 5p.m. Beaver Brook Association Lodge, Carl Holland Reception
• January 22, 1998, 7p.m. Work Session, Town Hall
• January 26, 1998, Souhegan Area Conservation Commission meeting; no further information available.
• February 12, 1998, 7p.m. Next Conservation Commission Meeting, Selectmen's meeting room
• February 19, 1998, 7p.m. Wildlife lecture, Town Hall Auditorium

1. MINUTES:
   Upon motion made by Rodney Dellafelice and seconded by Chris Costantino, the Minutes of the January 8, 1998 Meeting were accepted as presented.
   
   
2. SPECIAL FEATURES MAP OF MILFORD:
   Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that this map, to include such issues as wetlands, buffer zones, streams, rivers, protected lands etc., could be prepared by Nashua Regional Planning Commission for a cost of about $150.00. Once prepared, it is proposed to hang the map in the office of the Planning Board so that that Board would have access to same. After a brief discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor and it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted in the affirmative, to have this map prepared for a cost not to exceed $200.00. Rodney stated that this higher amount would cover any overage on the estimated cost and prevent the issue from having to be acted upon at a later date if indeed there was an overage.
   
   
3. NEW MEMBER:
   The Chairman welcomed Dick Medlyn as the newly appointed full member of the Commission. It was noted that Dick's term of office was untill March 2000. This would result in too many members having terms of office expiring in 2000, and it was decided to write a letter to the Board of Selectmen requesting that Dick's term be amended to expire in March 1999.
   
   
4. BEAVER BROOK EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM:
   After a brief discussion, it was decided that the following members would attend the following lectures in this series:
   Rodney Dellafelice: March 11, 18 and April 8 1998
   Chris Guida: March 11 and April 8, 1998
   Diane Fitzpatrick: April 8, 1998
   
   Each lecture costs $6.00, and Lorraine will make arrangements for the payment of same.
   
   
5. CONSERVATION LANDS/REVIEWS:
   Rodney Dellafelice presented his plans for the following lands:
   
   
   • Conrey Conservation Easement: Plans to look into a new trail on this property next spring. It was stated that the current owner does not want snowmobiles on the property; efforts will be made to keep hikers to the trail. Chris Guida will work with Rodney.
     
     
   • Meadowbrook Conservation Easement:
     Rodney stated in spring the decision needs to be made as to the feasibility of a trail. Permission for the trail needs to be obtained from owners. One landowner is willing to assist with possible mini-hike and a bridge. The entrance to this trail would be via the industrial park.
     
     
   • Tucker Brook Town Forest:
     Rodney stated that a trail maintenance check needs to be done in spring.
     
     
   • Kasey Drive Conservation Easements:
     Rodney stated that because photographs were only recently taken, and both property owners are in compliance with the easements, that a yearly check would be sufficient. He plans on this spring.
     
     Though Judy Gross was not able to attend this meeting, she provided her thoughts and suggestions in writing as follows:
     
   • Souhegan River Trail:
     She felt the trail was in good shape this winter, and that because parts of the hiking trail overlap with snowmobile trails, they are well "groomed". The white pipe markers have remained in place. There are two areas where there is some erosion of the trail into the River, and she suggested moving a 30 yard section of trail further inland. The other erosion occurs on a curve in the trail, and needs attention in spring. She suggested requesting DPW to mow the grassy stretch of trail in early July and mid/late August.
     Diane Fitzpatrick advised that NH Fish and Game may do some timbering on the Hatchery land, but it would be closer to the Hatchery buildings than to the trail.
     
     
   • Mayflower Hill Town Forest:
     Judy reported the white trail appears in good condition, well used, and with little litter. She felt there was no need for work on this area at this time.
     
     
   • Hitchiner Town Forest:
     Diane Fitzpatrick stated that the trails continue to be mowed. She advised that in the south west corner of the property where timbering is to take place, there is a stream. She, together with Dick Medlyn, will review this area and check into how much treed buffer zone should be left.
     
     
   • Hartshorn Pond & Land:
     Hub Seward stated that this is the only parcel he has and would be willing to take on another or to assist others in work on other conservation lands.
   
   
   
6. HARTSHORN POND BOUNDARIES:
   Dan Reed of New England Forestry Consultants Inc. submitted a "Forestry Boundary Work Order" for the survey of the boundary shared with Charles Zahn, and to provide a map and deed and map descriptions for a total of $500.00. After a brief discussion, Dick Medlyn put a motion on the floor, seconded by Rodney Dellafelice and voted in the affirmative to have Dan Reed proceed with the work for an amount not to exceed $500.00 and to authorize Diane Fitzpatrick to sign the work order for same.
   
   
7. WILDLIFE EVENT/SLIDE SHOW:
   This event is scheduled for Thursday, February 19 1998 at 7 pm. in the Town Hall Auditorium. Diane Fitzpatrick stated she felt this event may lead to volunteer help from the general public with wildlife monitoring and such like. She will prepare a questionnaire for the event for volunteers and others interested, to complete. It will include questions such as willingness to assist with backyard wildlife monitoring, interest in future seminars, subject matter for seminars, etc. She stated she had received a call from Sue Sturgess of the Milford High School stating that the students would like to attend on February 19, but had a conflict in schedule. Ms. Sturges asked if some part of the program could be given at the school. It was learned that Keeping Track Inc. would be willing to do a slide show for the students for $100.00. About ninety students are likely to attend, and will also be doing some fund raising for this event. In discussion of payment, it was established that the Commission would have to pay the $100.00 in advance , and then be reimbursed if the students raise any funds. After a brief discussion, Dick Medlyn put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted in the affirmative for the Commission to pay the $100.00 fee. Hub Seward suggested that the students do a fund raiser, give the Commission the proceeds, and expressed the opinion that having to work at fund raising would likely get the students more interested in the program.
   
   
8. 1997 TREE PROJECT:
   Diane Fitzpatrick questioned the members as to their willingness to pay the $2,000.00 this spring to complete the project at Shepard Park, adding that the High School would not be ready for planting of trees this spring. Dick Medlyn stated that the East Milford Association had given a lot of money to the Town in the process of that organization disbanding and thought they may have additional funds. Because the Park is in east Milford, he suggested pursuing this option. It was decided that enquiries will be made before the Commission commits to the $2,000.00 from its funds.
   
   
9. FINANCES:
   Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that as soon as the various certificates of deposit the Commission currently has, come due, the funds will be placed in the Town's General Fund where interest will be added every three months. This would bring the Commission into compliance with the wishes of the Town Auditors.
   
   
10. URBAN TRAIL PHASE 1:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that there is grant money available for developing trails from the 1998 National Recreational Trails Act Grant. Consideration was being given to developing a trail from Emerson Park to the American Stage Festival. Such a trail already exists, but the plan would include a paved segment of trail and would include a formal handicapped access to the Park from the Post Office parking lot. It was noted that the Post Office plans to move part of its activities out of the current building in the near future, and this would create space in its parking lot. Meridian Land Services Inc. will do the engineering free of charge. The Department of Public Works has also offered to volunteer its services for the project. The grant requires matching funds but these can be made up of services donated as well as funds.
    
    
11. DAVID WHEELER/CHRISTMAS TREE FARM:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that there will be an information meeting on this project on February 20 1998 in the Town Hall Auditorium. She provided the Selectmen with a list of questions and answers on the project. She stated that Mr. Wheeler had the necessary permits in place when he crossed the wetlands on site to access the interior of the property. These permits were for forestry and agriculture and the Commission had no jurisdiction over them. It was noted that the Commission does not support the spreading of the sludge and paper fiber as proposed.
    
    
12. STEVE TROMBLY/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that Mr. Trombly still has not received the required special exception from the Board of Adjustment. That Board has problems with the road through the property, but this is a roadway that Mr. Trombly feels is needed for his proposed use of the property.
    
    
13. CONSERVATION EASEMENTS/SPECIAL COMMITTEE:
    Diane Fitzpatrick stated that a committee should be formed to look into developing criteria for conservation easements, including how other towns handle this issue. The plan should also include educating the Board of Selectmen on easements and how best to handle them in the Assessing Office. Dick Medlyn offered to be on this committee, and it was decided he would head the committee. Rodney Dellafelice will assist him.
    
    
14. SOUHEGAN AREA CONSERVATION COMMISSIONS MEETING:
    Chris Costantino and Hub Seward attended this meeting on January 26 1998. Hub Seward stated he learned at this meeting that Lyndeborough and Mont Vernon are under the impression that the Lorden family are planning on selling all their land. These two towns are interested in lands along Purgatory Brook. Diane Fitzpatrick stated the Commission should begin looking into areas that would be worth saving from development, rather than waiting until a sub-division comes along Dick Medlyn advised that Fred Lorden owns a large tract of land at the end of Medlyn Street and offered to talk to him about this with regard to preserving it from development. Discussion took place regarding holding a lecture on estate planning and inviting owners of lands of more than 10 acres. No decision was made.
    
    
15. MONSON VILLAGE:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that everything was go for securing this property. Only this afternoon, the Society received yet another donation which amounted to $7,500.00. Paul Doscher had advised that the Board of Directors had agreed to provide the $20,000.00 needed for purchase of the land-locked Kennedy parcel. Paul had provided a copy of the Monson Memorandum of Agreement between the Society and the Milford Conservation Commission which has been signed by Jane Difley, President/Forester of the Society. The Agreement includes the fact that the property will be retained by the Society and will be used for conservation, historic preservation, education, research, agricultural, forestry and recreation purposes. The Management of the land will be done to protect the natural and historical resources of the property, and will include development of trails, restoration of existing structures, installation of signs, archeological research, mowing fields, harvesting timber etc. In the Agreement the Society agrees that should it ever transfer 'ownership of the property it will convey the property to another qualified conservation organization. Such a conveyance will be made subject to a conservation easement granted to the Town of Milford or other qualified grantee approved by Milford. Mr. Doscher plans to have a meeting next week with all parties to execute documents, handle recording at the Registry of Deeds and receive Milford's donation of $30,000.00. Lorraine will make arrangements to have this amount drawn out of the Conservation Land Fund Savings Account. Dick Medlyn put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Rodney Dellafelice and voted in the affirmative to authorize Diane Fitzpatrick to sign the paperwork on behalf of the Commission.
    
    
16. CERTIFICATE OF APPRECIATION:
    Dick Medlyn put forward the suggestion that the Commission-develop a Certificate of Appreciation involving the Board of Selectmen to be given to individuals involved in land conservation such as the group of citizens on Federal Hill Road who have worked so diligently to preserve Monson Village. Such a certificate would also be appropriate where Carl Holland's land donation is concerned. Chris Costantino put forward the suggestion that a reception could also be held to honor individuals donating or protecting tracts of land.
    
    
17. CONSERVATION PLAN REVISION:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that Lorraine had reviewed the Plan and had prepared updating changes to the text and a few of the maps in the Plan. Copies of this were given to those members present at this meeting. Ms. Fitzpatrick requested the members to give thought to changes needed in the goals and objectives.
    
    
18. BADGER HILL DEVELOPMENT:
    Diane Fitzpatrick advised the members that this development is going before the Planning Board of February 17 1998 for the addition of five more lots. This will include three "healthy house" lots proposed along Osgood Road, and two additional lots toward the rear of the development (not for "healthy houses"). No wetlands are involved in these additional lots. The "healthy house" lots would have their own septic systems. It was stated that the cluster development of Badger Hill does not provide large enough lots as is required for "healthy house" lots. Members raised the question of the Planning Board's intent or lack of it regarding the new State laws pertaining to cluster developments. It was felt that the Planning Board may use the meeting of February 17 1998 to raise this issue, as well as the Town's own Zoning Ordinance pertaining to cluster developments.
    
    
19. UNH WETLANDS PROJECT:
    Members were advised that this year the students will be working on delineating, mapping and cataloging the fauna and flora of wetlands 8 and 9, both of which lie on the Brox property.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 8.45p.m.

The next meetings are as follows:
February 19, 1998, 7p.m. Wildlife event, Town Hall Auditorium
March 12, 1998, 7p.m. Next Public Meeting of Commission.

1. MINUTES:
   Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously to accept the Minutes of the Meeting of February 12, 1998 with the following amendment: Eliminate by whiting out same, the last sentence of Item #11, David Wheeler/Christmas Tree Farm. Hub Seward put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously in the affirmative to accept the Minutes as amended.
   
   
2. KEEPING TRACK:
   The chairman stated that the lecture of February 19 1998 was very well attended, and proved to be an excellent lecture. In the matter of commencing a wildlife monitoring program, the chairman stated that 13 individuals are already signed up, and that with Chris Costantino and Diane Fitzpatrick, 15 are now available. The optimal number of participants is 20. She explained that this program is a minimum of 3 years commitment to complete the work once started. A review of just what this program entails will be presented on Sunday, March 22 1998 at 7.30p.m. in the Department of Public Works meeting room. At this time, liability release forms will be completed. The training involves attending a series of six lectures beginning on August 2 1998, then September 18, October 30 and December 6 1998; then January 24 1999 and March 4 1999. These are all day lectures, with two being scheduled to be held in Vermont and four in Milford. It was explained that the lecture series is such that it is imperative that all six lectures be attended because one lecture is built upon the preceding. The cost for this series amounts to $400.00 for lectures held in Vermont and $500.00 for that held in Milford. The result is that each lecture costs about $20.00 per person with 20 individuals attending. The chairman suggested payment for this lecture series be made from the Town Forest Fund, adding that because of the wording of the law governing this fund, it makes this type of expenditure possible. After a brief discussion, Dick Medlyn put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Rodney Dellafelice and voted in the affirmative to pay for this lecture series out of the Town Forest Fund. In further discussion, Hub Seward stated he may be interested in attending, and Dick Medlyn stated he would check his summer schedule (which is a busy time of the year for him) before deciding if he would be able to attend or not.
   
   
3. UNH STUDENT WETLAND INVENTORY:
   The chairman stated that on March 1 1998 she, Hub Seward, Bob Walsh and Chris Costantino met with the students to review their proposed work for 1998, discussed what the Commission would like from them, and took them on a site walk. This year, the students will concentrate on the fen area discovered during the wetland inventory work the UNH students did last year. The students also provided a projected budget for 1998 in the amount of $381.76. a motion was put on the floor by Dick Medlyn, seconded by Chris Costantino and voted unanimously in the affirmative to pay the budget once the invoice is received.
   
   
4. BEAVER BROOK ASSOCIATION LECTURES:
   For the March 11 1998 lecture in this series neither Rodney Dellafelice nor Chris Guida who had attended, had reports ready. The next lecture is on March 18 1998, with Rodney Dellafelice scheduled to attend.
   
   
5. NASHUA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION/Regional Environmental Planning Program:
   The chairman advised the members that this organization will be conducting a Regional Environmental Planning Program which will involve working with communities, regional and state organizations to identify the natural and cultural resource protection needs and priorities for the region. As an introduction to the project, the NRPC will be holding an orientation meeting on March 26 at 7p.m. at its offices at 115 Main Street.
   Costantino stated she would be able to attend, and Rodney Dellafelice indicated he may be able to go as well. It was agreed that Chris Costantino would raise the subject at that meeting, of the Souhegan River corridor trail.
   
   
6. URBAN TRAIL PHASE 1:
   The chairman stated that the grant application has been made, and the project received excellent support from various Town boards.
   
   
7. TRAIL SIGNS:
   The chairman raised the issue of a trail sign being needed for the Sullivan section of the Tucker Brook Town Forest, also known as Tucker Brook North. This lies off Whitten Road. She stated that she had erected the small sign that used to be on Boulder Drive at this entrance, but a sign of the same format as other town forest signs is needed. After a brief discussion, Bob Walsh put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Rodney Dellafelice and voted in the affirmative to order a sign identical to other town forest signs, from Tom Drew Signs, said sign to read: Tucker Brook Town Forest North with "Milford Conservation Commission" in small print at the base of the sign; for a cost of $250.00 for said sign. Chris Costantino will take care of ordering the sign from Mr. Drew. The invoice, once received will be paid out of the Town Forest Fund.
   
   
8. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL SIGN:
   Discussion took place regarding erecting a sign on North River Road at the entrance road to this trail along the river. It was noted that there is already a sign at this point, a vertical pole with the lettering running vertically, but it is not very easily seen when driving along North River Road. The large sign identifying the trail head is at the trail entrance and not visible from North River Road. The chairman suggested a hikers sign, like the one erected on Osgood Road at the intersection with Mullen Road. She stated that Judy Gross, who was not present at this meeting, but who is responsible for overseeing the Souhegan River Trail, did not like this idea. After some discussion, it was decided that members would take a look on North River Road in the area of the roadway to the trail head with sign type, size and location in mind, and report back at the next meeting when a decision would be made.
   
   
9. 1997 TREE PROJECT:
   The chairman advised the members that a letter had been sent to the Trustees of Trust Funds who are responsible for the Shepard Perk Improvement funds, requesting support of the 1997 Tree Project at Shepard Park in the amount of $1,000.00. No response had been received as of this meeting. The total cost of the complete project is $2,000.00, and the chairman questioned the members if they wished to go ahead with the entire project and pay the $2,000.00 themselves, or if they wished to wait until a response has been received from the Trustees. After discussion, Bob Walsh put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Guida and voted unanimously in the affirmative to proceed with the project for this spring in the amount of $2,000.00 which had been allocated; Should funding be received from the Trustees from the Shepard Park Improvement Fund, said funds would go to the Commission. The chairman instructed Lorraine to proceed with the ordering of the trees and shrubs.
   
   
10. TIME CAPSULE:
    Troop Leader, Barbara Medlyn, and three members of Troop 1316 met with the Commission to discuss their ideas and plans for a time capsule the Troop hopes to create to be opened in the year 2049. The girl scouts advised the Commission that they are planning this project for the Gold Award in Girl Scouts. Discussion took place as to what the girls scouts would like to include in the capsule that the Commission could perhaps assist them with. The girls responded by advising they would like maps of the trail systems in town, and also maps of the wetlands. They stated that the federal government plans to protect 10,000 acres of wetland per year per state and they considered including information in the capsule that could prove interesting when reviewed in 50 years time, with this proposed project of the federal government. They also suggested a list of lands protected in Milford, and also information about Monson Place. Hub Seward questioned if the girls would be using paper that would be preserved to last 50 years. Senator Wheeler, who was present at this meeting, advised the girls that there were departments within the State Offices in Concord which could provide information on how best to preserve documents etc. for that length of time, and he suggested they contact the State House for the information. The scouts stated that all items to be included in the Time Capsule should be ready by April 1999.
    
    
11. NEXT WORK SESSION:
    The chairman stated she would not be available for the next work session which was scheduled for March 26 1998. No alternate date around that time could be found that was suitable, and so it was decided that the members would review the Conservation Plan for the upcoming revision on an individual basis, and then e-mail their responses to the chairman.
    
    Work session of April 23 1998: the chairman advised that Margaret Foss, Enforcement Investigator for the Wetlands Bureau for Milford, had sent a letter stating she would like to meet with the Commission and this meeting has been scheduled for this April 23 work session.
    
    
12. HAMPSHIRE HILLS ON SITE INSPECTION:
    The chairman advised that this on site inspection is on Ms. Foss's agenda and if possible Commission members would be able to be present. This would however, require the consent of the property owner. In case members are allowed to attend, the following indicated they would like to do so: Bob Walsh, Rodney Dellafelice, Chris Costantino, Chris Guida, Hub Seward and Dick Medlyn.
    
    
13. MAILING OF MINUTES AND AGENDAS:
    The chairman questioned members as to how they would like to receive the agendas and the minutes of meetings. It was established during discussion, that the agenda could be e-mailed to members, but that the minutes should be sent by regular mail.
    
    
14. DAVID WHEELER/CHRISTMAS TREE FARM PROJECT:
    William Fitzpatrick met with the Commission to provide them with recommendations regarding local regulations that would help protect Milford residents and ground water from chemical pollutants resulting from the land spreading of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plant sludge. Mr. Fitzpatrick had spent considerable time reviewing documentation provided by BFI in this matter. His written report is made a part of these Minutes by reference thereto. David Wheeler was also present at this meeting.
    
    It was noted that at the Town Meeting of March 10 1998, the petition warrant article on the spreading and stockpiling of Class B sewage sludge passed with 1726 votes for the article and 390 against it. It was also noted that during that Town Meeting, Town Counsel William Drescher had expressed the opinion that it was unlikely this petition would stand up in a court of law if challenged.
    
    During discussion, Mr. Fitzpatrick advised the members that Class B sludge is heated for a period of time, and after this, it is then classified as Class A sludge. This is then tested for suitability for use, but the heating process does nothing to remove any heavy metals from the sludge.
    
    Mr. Fitzpatrick expressed the opinion that current federal regulations cannot be relied upon to provide a suitable and healthy composition for landspreading.
    
    He explained that farm lands are limed on a regular basis. This results in heavy metals being immobilized in the soil and therefore they do not leach out into surrounding waters. There is no current way of ensuring that the land spread with sludge will indeed receive these lime treatments as needed, and therefore future water contamination could result.
    
    It was noted that the Board of Selectmen have discussed forming a committee to study the effects of this type of landspreading, but have not taken the matter further. Dick Medlyn expressed the desire to serve on this committee once it is formed.
    
    Mr. Wheeler addressed the meeting and requested that any and all recommendations which may be made regarding his proposed project, be based upon a scientific basis and not an emotional one.
    
    Mr. Wheeler expressed surprise at the amount of heavy metals permitted by the permitting process.
    
    
15. MEMBERSHIPS:
    The terms of office of three members of the Commission expire March 31 1998. They are Diane Fitzpatrick, Chris Guida and Hub Seward, full members. The term of Judy Gross, Alternate Member, also expires March 31 1998. After a brief discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Chris Costantino, and voted in the affirmative, to request the Board of Selectmen to renew the above terms of office until March 31 2001.
    
    Upon motion made by Chris Costantino and seconded by Robert Walsh, it was voted in the affirmative to appoint Diane Fitzpatrick to a second term as chairman of the Commission.
    
    Upon motion made by Dick Medlyn and seconded by Chris Costantino, it was voted in the affirmative to appoint Rodney Dellafelice as Vice-Chairman for another term.
    
    It was also noted that the Board of Selectmen had altered the term of office of Richard Medlyn from an expiration date of March 2000 to that of March 1999 in order to avoid too many terms of office terminating on the same date.
    
    
16. MONSON VILLAGE AND THE AMES LAND:
    Time did not permit this issue to be addressed, and it will be taken care of at the next public meeting of the Commission.
    
    
17. JOHN BERNTSON/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION:
    It was noted that Mr. Berntson has been meeting with the Wetlands Board in his attempts to obtain a Dredge and Fill Permit, but to date his application has not been received favorably by the Wetlands Bureau.
    
    
18. CONSERVATION PLAN UPDATE:
    Time did not permit a review of proposed updating of this Plan, but the members were asked to review the proposed updates supplied by Lorraine and any other issues in the current Plan they felt needed attention, and to provide their reports at the April public meeting.
    
    
19. VERNAL POOL LECTURE:
    Members were advised that on Saturday, April 18 1998 from 9a.m. to 1p.m., there would be a lecture on vernal pools to be held at the Hay Reservation in Newbury by the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. The fee is $15.00 for the session.
    
    
20. NHACC ANNUAL MEETING:
    The members were advised that this annual meeting is scheduled for Saturday, November 7 1998 in Concord. Members are asked to keep this date open for the all day event.
    
    
21. HARTSHORN POND AND LAND BOUNDARY:
    Lorraine advised that the final plan for the relocation of the western boundary of this property had been completed. She had attempted to review this with the abutter, Charles Zahn, but he has been away on a month's vacation. With the plan came the invoice in the amount of $600.60, which was over the $500.00 originally voted for this project. After a brief discussion, Dick Medlyn put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Rodney Dellafelice and voted in the affirmative to pay this amount out of the Accumulative Fund.
    
    
22. EXECUTIVE SESSION/PERSONNEL ISSUE:
    The chairman poled the members present regarding entering an executive session to discuss a personnel issue. With the affirmative vote of those present, the Commission entered the executive session. Present was George Infanti, Selectmen's representative to the Commission. Returning to open session the chairman announced that no decision had been made.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 10p.m.

The next public meeting will be on Thursday, April 9, 1998 at 7p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting room in the Town Hall.

1. MINUTES:
   Upon motion made by Chris Costantino and seconded by Hub Seward, the Minutes of the March 12, 1998 meeting were accepted with the following amendments:
   • Item 2. Keeping Track: the Minutes were amended to reflect four meetings in Milford instead of one, and the cost of the lectures was changed from $500.00 for lectures in Vermont to $400.00 for this location, and for those in Milford, the cost was amended to $500.00 instead of $400.00.
   • Item 7. Trail Signs: The name on the sign was changed to read: Tucker Brook North.
   • Item 14. David Wheeler/Christmas Tree Farm Project: In paragraph 3, the words "toxic materials" were removed and substituted with "heavy metals", and the last sentence of this paragraph was eliminated.
   
   
   
2. GEN. FRANK F. KALEY MEMORIAL PARK/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION/Map 31 Lot 32:
   Caroll Carbonneau, Recreation Director, met with the Commission to present information regarding a proposed Dredge and Fill application for this area, in order to develop a roadway into the proposed recreational fields. The first crossing could involve replacing an existing culvert with a new 24" culvert. On one side of the roadway the wetland impact would be about 545 square feet, and on the other about 235 square feet, excluding buffer zone impact. This area also involves an existing retaining wall on the west side of the access road.. Richard Medlyn, a member of the Cemetery Board of Trustees, suggested that a short retaining wall be constructed on the cemetery side of the road, so that the road could be moved to the east, toward the cemetery, thus preserving the existing granite wall and also serving to reduce the wetland impact.. It was noted that the roadway may be plowed in winter for access to the pump station on this lot. Sand only would be used instead of salt. The roadway will be paved, and the work will be done by the Department of Public Works.
   
   Mr. Carbonneau explained that the second proposed wetland crossing will also have a culvert which would replace an existing one. The estimated wetland impact in this area would be about 426 square feet, plus 367 square feet.
   
   Mr. Carbonneau explained that there is an existing gravel road that crosses another wetland area, and in order to avoid this, the road is now proposed as a curve in this area. However, he explained that in order to avoid this wetland by curving the road, it would mean cutting down an excellent pine grove which could provide a good picnic area. This is the only pine grove on this property.
   
   It was decided that before any decision is made regarding this dredge and fill application, that an on site inspection would be made. This was scheduled for Wednesday, April 15 at 6p.m., to meet at the Medical Center's parking lot.
   
   
3. QUEEN QUARRY:
   The chairman advised the members that the Board of Selectmen had requested an opinion from the Commission regarding future use of this area, the selling of the area, or retaining it. During discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put forward the suggestion that the property be sold by the Town, but that a conservation easement be placed on the property prior thereto, which should include the stipulation that only one house could be built on the 12 acre site. He also suggested another alternative that the property be retained for conservation land. Should this property be sold, it was suggested that the Selectmen be requested to place the profits into the Conservation Land Fund. Judy Gross made the suggestion that this property be sold at market value. After further discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Judy Gross and voted unanimously in the affirmative to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that the property be sold at market value, that a conservation easement be placed on the property prior to sale, that only one house on the entire 12 acre parcel be permitted, that the proceeds from the sale be placed in the Conservation Land Fund, and that the Conservation Commission be included in the development of the easement.
   
   
4. MCLANE DAM LAND ON MAP 26 LOT 110:
   The chairman advised the members that the Selectmen had also requested the input from the Commission on this parcel, some 10 acres in area, in view of the fact that the Town is considering granting an easement to Leighton White whereby he would be able to store vehicles, bark mulch, loam etc. on a section of this land which abuts his own property. In exchange for this, the Town would be granted a permanent water main easement across his property on Map 26 Lot 73-1. The proposed area for Mr. White's storage location is shown on Plan of Easements, dated January 12 1998.
   
   The chairman continued that she, Hub Seward and Mr. White had done an on site inspection of the site. Mr. White proposed clear cutting within six feet of the Souhegan River. The chairman pointed out that the Shoreline Protection Act under which act the Souhegan River falls, states that a 150 foot wide tree buffer has to be retained along the shoreline, as measured from the high water mark. The chairman stated that Mr. White is already using a part of the proposed easement area for storage, and added that the Department of Public Works also has made considerable use of the end of Lot 110.
   
   It was decided to review the use the Town makes of this land with the Director of Public Works, Doug Starr. Ms. Fitzpatrick will arrange a meeting with Mr. Starr during the work week, and will then advise the other members of the outcome.
   
   
5. BEAVER BROOK ASSOCIATION LECTURE SERIES:
   The chairman advised the members that the planned lectures of March 18 and April 8 had been canceled due to lack of interest. Rodney Dellafelice had attended the lecture on March 11 1998 and reported having found it very informative and worthwhile.
   
   It was noted that a refund for the two canceled lectures should be forthcoming from Beaver Brook Association.
   
   
6. NASHUA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION - REGIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING PROGRAM:
   Chris Costantiono had attended this orientation meeting on March 26 1998, and provided an excellent set of maps which the Planning Commission had developed. She explained that the next step is for each town to identify all natural resources they would like to protect, review all maps for accuracy, and prioritize areas needing protection. She stated that Noreen O'Connell has the historical sites map and will be reviewing it for accuracy. Chris Costantino requested all members to provide ideas and input for this project. It was decided that the project would be discussed further at the April 23 1998 work session. Chris stated that the next meeting in this project is scheduled for May 12 1998 at the NRPC offices in Nashua.
   
   
7. EARTH DAY:
   It was noted that Earth Day is scheduled for April 22 1998 and that this did not provide enough time for the Commission to organize any activities nor to advertise same. It was noted that Joanne Turner who usually organized events for this Day, does not have anything planned for this year. However, Celeste Barr was planning a clean up of the Garden Street School area some time in May.
   
   
8. NEW HAMPSHIRE TRAIL DAY:
   It was noted that this day is scheduled for July 16 1998 for this year, and it was decided to begin planning events for this celebration instead of Earth Day. Ideas for events will be discussed at the May 1998 meeting of the Commission.
   
   
9. SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL SIGN:
   Discussion took place regarding some type of signage along North River Road to indicate to the general public the access road to the beginning of this trail along the river. It was felt that a hikers sign would be too large for the existing post on the side of the road. Chris Guida suggested purchasing a hikers sign and erecting it in the Town's right of way on the side of North River Road ahead of the trail road would be more visible than the existing post sign. It was also suggested that perhaps a two-sided hikers sign could be attached to the existing vertical post sign. It was also felt that the matter of a new sign should be discussed with Mr. Earl Fitch so that any sign finally decided upon and erected would not be in the way for the plowing of the fields adjacent to North River Road.
   
   After further discussion, Rodney Dellafelice put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Dick Medlyn and voted unanimously in the affirmative to purchase two one sided hiker signs plus three arrows for a not-to-exceed cost of $150.00.
   
   It was decided that Judy Gross and the chairman would talk to Mr. Fitch before the purchasing of the signs. It was noted that the Department of Public Works would be able to supply the street sign post for this project.
   
   
10. TUCKER BROOK TOWN FOREST NORTH SIGN:
    Chris Costantino stated this sign was now completed and she would be picking it up as soon as possible.
    
    
11. COMPUTER AND PRINTER:
    The chairman stated that the computer provided by the Town for the Commission's use is not adequate. In addition, there is not printer available for this computer. After discussion on the matter of purchasing another computer and a printer, it was decided that Judy Gross and Chris Costantino would do research into a computer that would be suitable, together with cost for same and also cost for a printer, preferably a laser type printer. This information will be provided at the May 1998 meeting.
    
    
12. JOHN BERNTSON/DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION/MAP 43 LOT 26:
    The chairman advised the members that Mr. Berntson is seeking the advise of an attorney on the matter of the dredge and fill application needed for his proposed use of Map 43 Lot 26. It was noted that on April 3 1998, the Wetlands Bureau had denied his request for reconsideration of the December 17 1997 denial of his permit. The Wetlands Bureau quoted the reason for this denial as being that the applicant had not provided any grounds on which to base a request for reconsideration. Lee Mayhew, Town Administrator had requested the chairman to provide a history of this site and the various proposed uses etc. which she did.
    
    
13. CONSERVATION PLAN UPDATE:
    In discussion of input from the various members in the matter of updating this plan, Rodney Dellafelice stated he would like to prepare information regarding a tree warden, which could be included under "Recommendations" in the plan. He will do some research into this topic, and prepare written information for inclusion in the Plan. It was noted that Lorraine has completed putting in all the proposed changes to the Plan approved to date.
    
    
14. JOHNSON CONSERVATION EASEMENT:
    The chairman advised the members that she, Rodney Dellafelice and Hub Seward had walked the area over the previous weekend. Mr. Johnson is still in the process of finalizing the details of this easement. It was noted that the Nichol-Smith Land Trust would be the back-up authority in the final easement deed, in case the Town of Milford should fail in its enforcing of the restrictions.
    
    
15. LAND AND ROAD FILES:
    The chairman advised the members that this project upon which Lorraine has been working for many years, needs to be supervised. On March 23 1998, she and Lorraine had met with the Board of Selectmen to discuss this matter, and at that time the Selectmen were of the opinion that because payment for this project is included in the Commission's budget, that the Commission should oversee the work. This fell to the chairman to do, and she advised the members she did not wish to have to supervise the job, and was of the opinion that the Commission should not be overseeing it at all. It was noted that Lee Mayhew was willing to supervise the position. Lorraine stated that Bill Parker had indicated a willingness to oversee the position, and she felt seeing he used the land and road files as much as he does, he therefore knew the most about the project. The chairman stated that Mr. Parker had changed his mind about this, and it was suggested that perhaps the supervision should fall under the Assessor. It was decided that the chairman would talk to the Selectmen about this matter. It was decided that, as best as is possible, Lorraine would keep track of the hours per week spent on land and road files, and those spent on actual Commission work. She advised the members that during the summer months, at least for the most part, she did not work on land or road files because limited time available was taken up with actual Commission work.
    
    
16. WETLANDS BUREAU INSPECTOR:
    It was noted that Margaret Foss, Wetlands Bureau inspector for this area, would be meeting with the Commission at its work session on April 23 1998. A review of an interpretation on various dredge and fill cases will be made, which will include Hampshire Hills, Hendrix, Glow and Berntson.
    
    
17. HAMPSHIRE HILLS DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION:
    It was noted that an on site inspection of Hampshire Hills has been scheduled for April 13 1998 at 9a.m. with Inspector Foss.
    
    
18. URBAN TRAIL PHASE 1:
    The members were advised that the grant application for funding to construct a trail along the Souhegan River from Emerson Park to the American Stage Festival property, had not met with success.
    
    
19. MONSON VILLAGE:
    The members were advised that the 6 to 11 acre parcel of land, known as the Ames property, which the Selectmen recently took for back taxes, does not abut the Monson Village property. It had been hoped to be able to add this lot of uncertain size, to this area.
    
    
20. BUDGET REPORT FOR FIRST QUARTER 1998:
    Lorraine provided members with copies of this report for the first quarter for 1998. There were no comments or questions.
    
    
21. VERNAL POOL LECTURE:
    Members were reminded of this lecture scheduled for Saturday April 18 1998 from 9a,m, to 1p.m. at the Hays Reservation in Newbury.
    
    
22. HILLSBORO CTY. CONSERVATION DISTRICT ANNUAL MEETING:
    Members were advised of this annual meeting to be held at the Hollis-Brookline High School in Hollis on Wednesday April 15 1998 at 6.30p.m.
    
    
23. SUMMER CONSERVATION CAMP:
    It was noted that the Milford Middle School would not need funds for 1998 for the students to attend the Stone Environmental School during the summer of this year.
    
    
24. MEADOWBROOK EASEMENT TRAIL:
    It was noted that in the process of developing this trail and involving the Meadowbrook Industrial Park occupants in it, the chairman will put together a presentation for them. The Industrial Park occupants wish to sponsor the spur connecting the industrial park to the trail in Tucker Brook Town Forest North.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 10p.m.

The next meeting will be Thursday, May 14, 1998 at 7p.m. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

1. MINUTES -
   Chris Costantino made the comment that she had not yet seen any amended minutes since they had not been mailed. Therefore, the amended minutes for the meeting of March 12th were reviewed and then signed by the Commission members who were present.
   
   Minutes for the regular meeting on April 9th were reviewed by Rodney Dellafelice. He reviewed amendments suggested by Diane Fitzpatrick. Chris Costantino put a motion on the floor, it was seconded by Judy Gross, and voted unanimously in the affirmative to accept the Minutes of the meeting of April 9th as amended. On a motion made by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Diane Fitzpatrick, an additional vote was made and unanimously voted in the affirmative to properly number the pages of the minutes (change 5 to 4 and 6 to 5).
   
   The Minutes of the February 26th Work Session regarding the Sludge issue were then reviewed. On a motion made by Diane Fitzpatrick, seconded by Hub Seward the minutes were accepted, with Richard Medlyn abstaining from the vote as he was not present at that meeting. Minutes for the April 23rd work session were reviewed. It was determined the minutes should be reworded saying "a personnel issue was discussed" and the remainder of the paragraph was deleted. With this change being made, it was voted to accept the Minutes of April 23rd on a motion made by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Chris Costantino. All the members were polled and voted in the affirmative.
   
   
2. APPOINTMENT:
   UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE - BIRCH BROOK WETLAND INVESTIGATION & INVENTORY -
   Students from UNH were present to review their findings of the Birch Brook Wetland. The students were Heather Swan, Dale Cross, Kevin Nyhan, Mike Handwork, Kevin Hathaway, and Sean Monroe. Sean commenced the talk by distributing a comprehensive report and apologizing for not having his slides available for viewing. Sean explained that the site they studied is located behind Brox, a gravel pit off of Perry Road. The area is a wetland, really a water basin, and this part of the land, in his estimation, is a "real young" system. He commented on the fact that the water flow is redirected. Birch Brook runs through it and when the water is followed, one sees that it flows into 15 acres of a "really sensitive" land.
   
   It is the students' recommendations that the Town of Milford pursue a qualified professional in the field as they believe the current 25 foot buffer is inadequate and it warrants further investigation. For an untitled wetland, it is very unique. Sean then turned the presentation over to Kevin Nyhan. Kevin explained the different parameters of the ecosystem which were examined, including the buffers, plants, history, habitat, and wildlife. When referring to the "upland" it would be the woods, and the "wetland" is obviously where the land is wet. The current buffer, being made of gravel, is not going to protect this wetland. He explained he did his best to identify plants, but admitted the particular tracking system he used has its limitations, as well as the time of year he was there. He was sure that if he were to go back to the site even now, there would be new and different plants which he had not been able to identify. He was curious as to how power lines were ever put in there.
   
   Dale Cross then spoke and he elaborated on the wildlife. He explained different categories of the wetland, being stream, sedge meadow, shallow marsh, and shrub swamp. He believes the habitat is compatible for rare and even endangered animals. Dale focused on three animals - the Heron, a turtle, and a bat. It was his opinion that the Great Blue Heron could be reestablished in a wetland such as the one studied. The Spotted Turtle is decreasing in numbers around the Northeast and although he did not find any here, once again, it is the suitable habitat. The Indiana Myotis (a bat) also was not sighted, however, the wetland is the perfect home for it. Dale said that if found, it could warrant Federal ESA protection.
   
   Sean, Kevin and Dale elaborated as to the quality of the ground and how a special boring core is used to determine the level of organic material. In some areas, they would go down 6-7 inches and find some partially decayed matter. However, in some areas, the borer went down 8 feet and there was zero granular material, zero mineral, just "slimy muck." The students explained this is "super unique." The age of a wetland can be judged by the level of organic material and based on their discoveries, this is a very old wetland, even hundreds to thousands of years old. The students reiterated they were not qualified to make any claims and the Town should pursue the input of qualified experts. They would have liked to have learned how deep the "slimy muck" is, but they were limited by their equipment. The very long boring cores are extremely expensive.
   
   Sean talked about the aquifer and the stratified drift system; typically such an aquifer is either fed by surface or ground water flow. This system happens to have both the ground and surface meeting and is, therefore, unique. Sean then said he must state again how ridiculous the 25 foot buffer is. They are not qualified to say what the "perfect buffer" would be, but agreed with Richard Medlyn that 250 feet would be a good arbitrary number to use as a goal. The students again urged the Commission members to hire a qualified Wetland specialist to look at the area.
   
   Kevin talked about "peatland" and that he referred to the New Hampshire Natural Heritage Inventory. He found that such peatlands do exist in New Hampshire, however, they are not common ("certainly every town does not have one"). One way these systems are formed is by glaciers melting, indicating once again this is a very old system. He and the other students agree that if the Town were to develop on this land, it would be a loss for the Town. They found this wetland to be an educational area, something beautiful, and unique.
   
   Diane Fitzpatrick asked about the differences distinguishing meadows versus wetland and vegetation. Sean said it has to do with hydrology system. He further commented that this particular wetland has maintained itself for a long time.
   Hub Seward added his thoughts about the new area and the settling base (the "catch basin"). He explained to the students that he believes there was a beaver dam there, around 30 years ago, accounting for it being a self-contained, sedimentation basin.
   Richard Medlyn informed the students that there is a similar area along Route 13 heading towards Brookline (around Melendy Pond). He said that the moss was supposed to have been 25 feet deep and had been harvested in the 1930's.
   
   The students thanked Diane and the rest of the Conservation Commission members for the opportunity to work at such a unique area and then also thanked their professor, Dr. Johnson. Selectman Peter Leishman asked that the Board of Selectmen be copied on their findings. Details of their presentation are all included in their handout.
   
   Diane Fitzpatrick acted as Chair for the remainder of the meeting, thanking Rodney for a job well done.
   
   
3. NEW HAMPSHIRE TRAILS DAY, JULY 16TH -
   Diane Fitzpatrick asked if Chris Costantino had any input as of yet. Chris did not, but would work on it more next month. The Commission members talked about the fact that there were not many people at last year's event. Chris said that Beaver Brook is doing something in Hollis this year as opposed to Milford, which it had done for the last couple of years. Richard Medlyn said he could speak with Barb, his wife, for ideas. Discussion took place as to where and what trail could be used for this event - some suggestions were: the land by the Swinging Bridge, Stellos Whalen land, and Mayflower Hill Town Forest. The issue of parking came up for some of these locations. Discussion then turned to the possibility of the event being held on a hill as a change of venue, perhaps McLane Dam? But then it was questioned as to whether or not there is even a trail. The new lookout at Tucker Brook was named as an option. Then discussion turned to making the event a "ribbon cutting ceremony" as the official opening of a trail. Chris Costantino said that Beaver Brook had Team Leaders at such functions to handle certain sections of the trail and they also served lunch - perhaps Milford could handle things in a similar fashion. It was determine that there is a map of this new trail, but it has not yet been advertised. This could be the official announcement and grand opening ceremony. There was then some talk about whether or not a cable is still there, but Diane thought that it was now gone.
   
   
4. REPORT ON COMPUTER UPGRADE, NETWORK CONNECTION, PRINTER -
   Chris Costantino and Judy Gross had met with Lee Mayhew. Two issues needed to be ad-dressed: 1) the purchase of a new printer; 2) upgrading the Commission's computer system. Lee Mayhew, Katie Chambers, and David McMullen are responsible for checking all software before it is installed onto a Town computer (including checking for viruses).
   
   Judy explained that the Town Hall computers are all the same. Eventually the computers will be networked and this is something the Commission will probably want to consider. The Town plans to get the computers on the Internet which will also enable users to use E-Mail.
   
   Diane would like access to department minutes, agendas, and tax parcels. Information can be accessed now but it involves using specific machines and obtaining the required passwords. At some point a scanner will be needed. The computer currently being used by the Commission does have Excel and Microsoft Word. "Arcvue," a map software, currently is not on the system. Diane did not believe that takes a lot of memory to operate. As far as the current system goes, Diane said the graphics are fine and felt the new hire would find the word processing system acceptable. As far as obtaining other department records, Diane can get the information from another machine, however, it would be a time saver to have everything "right at her fingertips."
   
   A comparison sheet for printers was distributed by Chris and Judy. A lengthy discussion took place as to which was the better printer - Epson or Hewlett Packard. After some research, it was discovered that both have their pros and cons. Judy conducted a "water test" at the meeting which proved the Epson color bled, whereas the Hewlett Packard print remained clean. Rodney Dellafelice asked about Pages Per Minute; this was not calculated since Judy felt this was not going to be a high volume printer.
   
   There was some discussion as to the quality of the paper and print for the final copies of documents which are stored in the vault. Peter Leishman implied anything can go in there. Di-ane thought the final, stored copy of the minutes ought to be printed on a laser printer. Voting had to be made and due to it being such a close vote and she was going to be the one to use it, Diane also participated in the vote. Final decision was to purchase the Hewlett Packard Deskjet 722C. On a motion made by Judy Gross, and seconded by Rodney Dellafelice, the Board unanimously voted in the affirmative to purchase the Hewlett Packard printer for $300.00. On a separate vote, motioned by Judy Gross, seconded by Richard Medlyn, the Board unanimously voted in the affirmative to purchase the Hewlett Packard printer cable for $15.00.
   
   Discussion then returned to the other issue of upgrading the computer. With the encouragement of Peter Leishman, it was voted unanimously in the affirmative, with a motion being made by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Chris Costantino, to send a letter to the Board of Selectmen requesting that the Town pay for the upgrade costing $583.00, as the Conservation Commission is an official Town Board. In conclusion, it was determined that Judy Gross will purchase the printer and was authorized by Diane Fitzpatrick to use her credit card and obtain reimubursement.
   
   
5. UPDATE - LEIGHTON WHITE EASEMENT -
   The Leighton White easement was a topic at the Selectmen's meeting on May 11th. Hub Seward and Diane Fitzpatrick attended that meeting. The Selectmen have decided to have Town Coun-sel (Bill Drescher) work up details for an easement agreement and the Shoreland Protection Act, at the Conservation Commission's recommendation, will be taken into account. Peter Leishman said that Bill Drescher's wording would be forthcoming to Diane. Diane said it is difficult to determine the Town line. Peter commented on some possible options, including a permanent easement which could save the Town thousands of dollars, donate land for life, lease it for 20 years, have a lot line adjustment, etc. Peter also mentioned the business Do-All/Rent-All has crept onto conservation land. Peter talked about the "island" outside the trail and having an industry just 5 feet from the river and wondering if this was OK. He said there are a lot of issues involved.
   
   
6. COMMUNITY MAPPING COURSE - "Explore your Community Using Arcview GIS Software" is a 10 day course starting June 29th and is being offered by the Environmental Education Institute of UNH Cooperative Extension in Durham. In addition to the training, we will receive a CD with all our data layers. Diane Fitzpatrick has been accepted into the program and the Town has committed $300 of the total cost of $450. On a motion made by Chris Costantino, seconded by Richard Medlyn, it was unanimously voted in the affirmative to pay $150 to send Diane Fitzpatrick to the Community Mapping Course, with the funds coming from the Training Budget. The Commission members felt this was a worthwhile cause and as part of the deal, the Commission members and Bill Parker, Planning Director, will also be trained by Diane.
   
   
7. CONSERVATION ASSISTANT POSITION - This was tabled until the next meeting
   
   
8. ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHOP - This was tabled until the next meeting.
   
   
9. WILTON/MILFORD BOUNDARY TO BE PERAMBULATED -
   Richard Medlyn said this was brought up about 8 years ago. Diane Fitzpatrick will E-mail a date as to when this will be done.
   
   
10. BEAVER HABITAT MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP, SAT MAY 23RD, HARRIS CEN-TER -
    There will be a workshop on WHIP - Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program - how to "size up" your watershed and beaver habitat. This class is at no charge. Diane Fitzpatrick asked that if any of the Commission members were interested in attending to let her know. Diane is unable to attend since she will be out of town.
    
    
11. 1ST ANNUAL PICNIC PLANS -
    Discussion took place and the group agreed this would be a fun thing to do. The date was set for Sunday afternoon, July 26th. Judy Gross requested that an Egg Toss be held. Diane Fitzpatrick said to bring bathing suits and family, including the children Judy will coordinate food and who will bring what.
    
    
12. PETER LEISHMAN, SELECTMENS' REPRESENTATIVE TO THE CONSERVATION COMMISSION, AVAILABLE FOR QUESTIONS & COMMENTS
    Diane Fitzpatrick invited Selectman Leishman to attend a meeting. The following topics were discussed. · CONSERVATION EASEMENTS - Diane Fitzpatrick wanted to express her thoughts that it should made more attractive to land owners to donate land as opposed to punishing the easement donor. Conservation easements should be made to protect land, i.e., a resident on Jennison Road with 1200 foot frontage. Rather than have another 6 house lots, this land could be protected. Conservation easement are made to assure that land stays that way and the rights are given up to building lots. The resident wants a benefit, however, the Assessor, David McMullen, implied that taxes are not going down and may even go up. The Assessor would not guarantee anything. During a meeting with Diane Fitzpatrick and David McMullen, he indicated that a house's value would be enhanced if surrounded by protected land The Board of Selectmen and Assessor's office should come up with a creative way to benefit the land owner. Peter Leishman suggested that this idea be "bounced off" Bill Drescher. Areas to address are current use, conservation, parcels less than 10 acres, etc. Rodney Dellafelice said that if a house is near conservation land, it may or not be a benefit to be around woods. The Commission members agreed that their position is to stimulate people into giving land as an easement to the Town. Peter Leishman said in the past it has been done to pay back taxes and to get compensation. He also explained that it can also be used to forgive penalties and interest. For this particular Jennison Road resident, the parcel is approximately 9 ½ acres. According to Diane, the individual is still interested, but is waiting until "the climate improves." Discussion came up as to how to use existing funds to the best of their ability. Perhaps the Town does not need to give compensation, but decrease existing taxes. If 6 house lots were to be developed, the Town could incur a cost of $30-40,000. The Commission members believe if there are no house lots (on this 6-house lot), it would actually save Milford money. Regarding Leighton White, Peter Leishman implied that he hopes the Board of Selectmen are not going to "micromanage." He wants to encourage the different committees to run themselves and then the Board can support their decisions. Diane said that she speaks for the Conservation Commission, and assumes other committees feel the same, but she appreciated being asked their opinion. Peter Leishman agreed that in the case of Leighton White, it really is the jurisdiction of the Conservation Commission. · CONSERVATION LAND - Who is watching Town land? - Hub Seward expressed his concern that not all of the Town-owned land is being attended to properly. There should be a Town-wide, consistent fair policy referencing a business using Town land to the exclusion of the public. Hub said there are some lands that are in no one's domain - should it be Parks & Recreation, Conservation Commission, or whose? He felt the land should be assigned to somebody. What about park land that is not conservation land? There are Land Files as to what the Town does own. Lorraine Carson is updating the list of Town property and this will facilitate the project of assigning Town lands to responsible committees. Diane Fitzpatrick would like to look at the list and put in a request for lands the Conservation Commission would like to have in their domain. What Board or commission is responsible for each piece of land the Town owns, i.e., the "Island?" Hub said these are valuable assets and wants to be assured they are protected. Selectman Peter Leishman mentioned the 5-6 acres in the Leisure Acres mobile home park which appears that no one owns. He said that in the past, the Town did get aggressive with some abandoned lots, i.e., Tucker Brook. Richard Medlyn said the Conservation Commission is the best board he has ever worked on. He elaborated on his thoughts by saying that the group knows what it is doing, is working in the Town's interest, and the group is ready for more responsibility. There was some mention of the Parks and Recreation Department handling all parks, such as Keyes Field, Bicentennial Park, Emerson Park, and Ricciardi Park. The Recreation Director, Caroll Carbonneau will have to be more involved to oversee parks. The Stellos-Whalen property has conservation land, including the island and river, boat landing into Amherst and a canal. Diane has spoken to Caroll and he would also like to look at the list and divide responsibilities. Diane Fitzpatrick mentioned the "Burns" property and how the owner thought Milford would not handle it, so he gave the land to Beaver Brook. · BUDGET IN THE LAND FUND - Judy Gross addressed Selectman Leishman explaining that two years ago the Board approved $30,000 in the Land Fund. What could the Conser-vation Commission do in order to get the Selectmen to endorse a request? How detailed should it be? Identify a plot of land? Rodney Dellafelice stressed that the Commission needs the money before the opportunity arises, i.e., a "Capital Reserve" idea. Selectman Leishman said a document citing past examples and how the funding was used would be helpful, as well as a presentation (a slide show?) outlining just what the Town owns. Judy felt the Board of Selectmen was being short-sighted in not putting any money aside and said that compared to other towns, Milford is not doing enough. Peter Leishman said that possibly the Commission could pursue using funds from Current Use, or at least a percentage of it and rolling it over. Rodney said when current use penalty money is most available is when the demand for land is high. This is the worst time to be buying land. The time to buy is when prices are low. A capital reserve land fund better suits this purpose. Peter Leishman said he would meet with the Board. Ricbard Medlyn wants that land in the Brox.
    
    Judy mentioned that there is going to be a School Board meeting Monday night, May 18th, to discuss a possible school site. She thought Commission members should go if at all possible. Hub Seward sad the Town needs a uniformed policy making use of Town land for the Town's benefit. Peter Leishman referenced Shady Lane from a couple of years ago. He said that some letters and court action is what stopped it. He admitted that Attorney Drescher's letters were "heavy-handed" and believed the justice should more proportionate to the violations. The Conservation Commission should contact Attorney Drescher. The Board members agreed that for a minimal violation, the landowner should first be addressed by a Commission member, and then pursue more aggressive legal action. The Selectmen need to follow up with Do-All/Rent-All. Some of the discussed land would not be part of the Park because of the railroad tracks. The Town gave a piece of land and it was not taxed. Richard Medlyn expressed his concern of putting Town-owned property into private hands. He said that you cannot get taxes from them if you just give away the land.
    
    The topic turned again to the Hampshire Hills Dredge & Fill application, which is on the agenda for the next meeting. The question was posed as to how much input the Conservation Commission has. Diane Fitzpatrick said that they will come before the Commission and present it in four weeks at the next regular meeting; Jerry, Jay and Rick will be there. She mentioned that Hampshire Hills has been fined before for Wetland Encroachment and said this was a major problem with the State Wetland Bureau. There are three Dredge & Fill Hampshire Hills applications in the cabinet. Diane indicated this issue is bigger than just the wetlands. Hampshire Hills apparently has little or no interest in abiding with the Commission's rules. Per Chris Costantino, she wants the Board to take into consideration his past behavior. The question came up as to where exactly are these wetlands located. Richard Medlyn estimated that 85% of them have been filled in by Hampshire Hills. Richard furthermore said he walked the property after his lawn was flooded and he found the whole field to be wetland. He then wondered if there were any old application in the files. There had been a proposed project for 218 condos a few years ago but it was turned down by the Planning Board, because it was a wetland. Selectman Leishman asked if the Conservation Commission requires bonds. Diane said no, and explained that the Commission is to act in an advisory position to Wetlands Bureau; the Commission has no authority; that has to come from the Planning Board.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 9:50 p.m. on a motion by Chris Costantino, seconded by Rodney Dellafelice, with all members being polled and voting in the affirmative.

The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held on Thursday, June 11 at 7pm in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

The next Work Session will be on Thursday, May 28, 1998 at 7:00 p.m. in the Department of Public Works meeting room.

1. MINUTES:
   Upon a motion made by Rodney Dellafelice and seconded by Hub Seward, The minutes of the May 14, 1998 minutes were accepted (4 voting affirmative, 1 abstention) with the following amendments:
   
   • Page 1 - Hampshire Hills: correct the spelling of Rodney Dellafelice's name. Strike the last sentence in that same paragraph ("This will be further discussed at the May 28th meeting.").
   • Page 3 - New Hampshire Trails Day: In paragraph 2, correct the spelling of "MacLane" Dam.
   • Page 6 - Budget in the Land Fund: In paragraph 2, replace the two sentences following "Rodney said" with "when current use penalty money is the most available is when the demand for land is high. This is the worst time to be buying land, as prices are high. The time to buy is when prices are low. A capital reserve land fund better suits this purpose."
   • Page 7 - Discussion with Peter Leishman: In paragraph 1: replace "Mayflower Drive" with "Shady Lane." In paragraph 3, add the word "bureau" to the last sentence, to read "Diane said no, and explained that the Commission is to act in an advisory position to the wetlands bureau; the Commission has no authority; that has to come from the Planning Board."
   
   PAST MINUTES: The minutes of the April 9, 1998 and April 23, 1998 meetings were distributed for signature. A leftover item from a preceding meeting: Chris Costantino wondered why she hadn't received a copy of the amended minutes. This has not been standard practice, as amendments to minutes are included in the front of current meeting minutes for review.
   
   
2. KALEY PARK DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION: (M31, L32)
   Bill Parker, Milford Planning Director, presented the revised plans (rec'd 6/11/98) of the recent proposed road layout to Kaley Field. As per a prior recommendation from Dick Medlyn, the proposed road was shifted slightly toward the cemetery lot, resulting in a decrease of wetland impact to 578 square feet for the first crossing. A third crossing over a drainage swale was added to avoid removing a grove of trees and to lead more directly to the recreation fields. The addition of the third crossing adds a wetland impact of 1500 square feet and a comparable amount of impact to the buffer.
   
   There was much discussion about parking-how to minimize runoff into the nearby Souhegan and how to prevent overflow parking on wetland areas or in close proximity to the river bank. Bob Walsh suggested some ideas for moving the parking area away from the river, but that would require use of land owned by St. Joseph's. Bill Parker responded to other ideas for moving the parking by stating that there wasn't enough room, the grade was steep, or land was owned by the cemetery. Bill Parker will be working with Meridian on planning for swales to treat runoff from the gravel parking lot. He also stated that boulders and fences could be used to prevent users from parking on wetland. Bob's concern was that the Souhegan River is already polluted due to the proximity of civilization to it and suggested that the following stipulations be made: 1) that the parking lot is graded toward the wetlands, and 2) that the parking is contained to designated areas through the use of boulders, fencing, curbing, etc.
   
   Mr. Norman Adams, abutter, said "Let's get it started, and stop talking about it!" Bill Parker responded there is currently money for engineering, and that he would like to get the road, parking lot and at least one field completed. There will be a pedestrian lane stripe on the access road. Diane Fitzpatrick explained that Bill Parker has properly completed the Milford Conservation Commission Wetland Buffer impact application and stated that the Commission will discuss the application in hand and decide if it can be approved as is. After later discussion, Ms. Fitzpatrick stated that the Commission will wait until receipt the completed state application before giving final approval.
   
   
3. WEST HILL REPORT: (M4L3-53)
   Jen Watt of ML Reality Trust is looking for recommendations from the Milford Conservation Commission on how to provide public access to town-owned conservation land . The field and adjacent woods is classified conservation land-"a blueberry bog"-abutting the West Hill property. (Diane and Judy joined her on a site walk on June 6, 1998). There are currently two public access areas/easements-between lots 38/39 and 42/43. For the first easement, 38/39, the developers are planning a common drive down to the first level drop-off, and want to know what kind of access MCC would like between that level and the steep drop down to the town field. The second easement is a drainage easement, running between Lots 42/43, and already has a culvert and grading to the property in question. This easement is restricted to non-vehicular access. Hub suggested that our intent in recommending an access plan would be to allow maintenance vehicles but not public vehicles. Mr. Fitch, whose property abuts the town-owned land on the opposite side, currently hays the field, accessing it through a woods road from his property.
   
   Approximately half of the field is actually ML Reality Trust house lots, though Mr. Fitch mows the whole field. Because this arrangement may not continue indefinitely, the Commission needs to plan for other contingencies. In the event that the Fitch property is sold, Diane suggested that the Commission establish an easement on the Fitch property in order to maintain access from North River Road to the town field through the existing woods road. Diane encouraged members to personally inspect the site off of Baldwin Drive so that the Commission can make specific suggestions for accessing the town-owned field/conservation land. The file will be in a black cabinet.
   
   
4. HAMPSHIRE HILLS: File #96-2279
   Gerry Gagne of Meridian Land Services presented maps and an After-the-Fact Wetlands Permit Application for land adjacent to the existing Hampshire Hills facility (tax lots 48-36, 48-36-1, 48-41, 48-52). Proposed is an 180,000 square foot inflatable domed building to house indoor recreational fields, a masonry structure along the front of the building, an air lock, outdoor athletic fields, and parking. Plans call for access off of Emerson Road into a parking area in front of the structure, around the structure and into the upper playing fields. Other proposals include 1) a detention basin to the west of Emerson Road entrance to take any runoff from parking area and allow the flow to meter through the existing culvert; 2) paved, culverted wetlands crossing to connect front parking area of Hampshire Hills and front parking area of the domed building; 3) gravel parking areas to south of building for proposed outdoor soccer field/practice fields; 4) access to upper fields via gravel road crossing narrow portion of wetland into another gravel parking area. Mr. Gagne distributed a Summary of Wetlands Impacts and reviewed the existing impacts (29,101 square feet) and proposed impacts, (62,116 square feet) for a total impact of 91,217 square feet. He also proposed 41,390 square feet of reclamation, for a net disturbance for the project of 49,827 square feet.
   
   Questions from the Commission were entertained by Mr. Gagne and Mr. Rick Holder, President of Hampshire Hills. The detention basin and treatment swale by Emerson Road will receive all of the runoff from the parking lot before it is discharged into the wetlands. In the winter, parking will be in the front of the building and snow from around the building will be plowed into a detention area in the rear of the building, not into the wetland. Should the building deflate, the building would overlap/extend 25 to 30 feet on one side of the building or the other, not into wetlands. Water will shed off the domed-shaped roof in every direction. To prevent erosion of the hillside into pond, Mr. Gagne and Mr. Holder are proposing some environmental American Green P300 fabric along that entire hillside to enhance vegetation and help prevent accelerated erosion. Water running off the west wetland will be treated before running into the pond. Water running off of the soccer field will be regraded to the east, away from the pond.
   
   The Commission pointed out that there are two large areas of dry land in the property, and the earlier version of this plan situated a smaller building in a way that didn't impact the wetlands at all. Mr. Holder had asked experts to review the feasibility of a smaller facility-they concluded it was not economically feasible. Secondarily, there wouldn't have been enough parking for the numbers needed to support the facility. They also looked at other sites within the 120 acres, yet there was no other site that was buildable without more difficult impacts or extreme costs because of the gradients. The applicants feel the current plan is the best solution.
   
   Judy Gross asked Gerry to clarify the information provided in item # 5 of the After the Fact application which stated that the building size was 129,000 square feet. Gerry stated that it was a clerical error, that the actual size of the building was 600 feet by 300 feet, which is 180,000 square feet. Rodney asked if the wetlands had been re-flagged. Gerry was unsure about dates, although he thought some areas had been re-flagged within the past year. He stated he would research specific dates and report back to Rodney. Erosion control plans for the hillside slopes (3:1, 2:1) include rip rap and deep-rooted fescues.
   
   Phil Bean, of Fernwood Drive, asked how high the building would be. Rick Holder responded between 75 and 95 feet high. Mr. Bean also asked about noise from the equipment required to keep the building inflated. Mr. Holder responded that the noise will be isolated, and stated "you wouldn't possibly be able to hear it from your property." Mrs. Bean asked about the facility's impact on water levels in the neighborhood. Mr. Holder stated they would not be tapping into anyone else's water supply, and needs for water would be much less than Hampshire Hills. Mr. Holder will be watering the playing fields, if needed. They have previously pumped water from the pond and never had a problem with capacity. Because of beaver dams, the pond is holding 15x more water than it used to. In the past, during construction, the pond was allowed to run dry.
   
   Mel Reever, 72 Federal Hill, asked if the front parking lot will be paved. Gerry Gagne stated that the front parking lot and the area around the building will be paved for ease of snow removal, while the balance of the roads and parking lots will be gravel. Mr. Reever expressed concern about the combined areas of paved parking lot and roof (impermeable surfaces) that would no longer allow water to seep through. Gerry stated that water coming off of the east side of the roof and parking lot will run into the pond; water coming from the west will run into a drainage collection system, and eventually to a treatment swale and under Emerson Road.
   
   Rodney asked about parking overflow plans. Gerry stated that people will be forced to park in the rear of the building, and that Hampshire Hills will need to enforce and prevent parking in the striped emergency lane. A discussion followed about parking in undesignated areas, particularly in a small area to the east of the planned Emerson Road entrance. Hampshire Hills has taken measures to prevent parking there, and would like to plant large boulders there to make parking impossible. Access to the facility will be either through Emerson Road or Hampshire Hills parking lot.
   
   Mr. Reever asked about expected additional activity increased by the proposed facilities (dome and playing fields). Mr. Holder explained that the playing fields would add 30 to 60 cars, whereas the dome could draw over 100 cars at one time. Gerry Gagne added that the current plans include 200 parking spaces in the front of the building.
   
   Diane Fitzpatrick had called Margaret Foss of the New Hampshire Wetlands Bureau this morning, who said she didn't want to see any equipment on that parking lot. Mr. Holder had asked if he could roll one of the fields for use as a parking lot in preparation for the upcoming High Hopes Festival. Ms. Foss' answer was "no."
   
   The Commission discussed what concerns should be included in the letter to the Wetlands Bureau. The recommendation will be "no" for the following reasons: 1) erosion of slopes draining directly into wetlands (is the planned use of rip rap and deep rooted fescues enough?); 2) change in the water flow (as previously mentioned by Dick Medlyn); 3) size impact of pumping water out of the pond to water the playing fields, although some water from the upper playing fields and parking lot will drain back into the pond; 4) large amount of dry land available-is there an alternate project that would suit the lot that doesn't require such a large wetland impact; 5) accuracy of figures on the dredge and fill application (including items #5,6, 9); 6) is there a need for a building this size?; 7) this new plan breaks the contiguousness of two wetlands; 8) potential impact on aquifer and neighboring wells; 9) accuracy and date of wetlands flagging.
   
   In conclusion, from the Conservation Commission's viewpoint, the original plan looked more reasonable than the current plan. In later discussion, Rodney made a motion that the Conservation Commission reject the Hampshire Hills current plan for the reasons discussed. This was seconded by Hub Seward, and voted unanimously in the affirmative. The Commission is open to considering a less impacting plan.
   
   
5. COMPUTER UPGRADE:
   The Selectmen declined to pay for the upgrade, therefore it will be paid out of the Conservation Commission's accumulative fund. The upgrade has been completed and the Commission will be billed for approximately $583.00. Katie Chambers, Director of the Finance Department, will provide network lessons during the daytime for all interested members. Judy made a motion that up to $600 be allocated to pay for the Commission's computer upgrade. This motion was seconded by Rodney and voted unanimously in the affirmative.
   
   
6. CONSERVATION ASSISTANT POSITION:
   Diane reported that she has 3 applicants interested in the part-time position. Diane invited anyone interested to participate in the interviews; Judy agreed to help.
   
   
7. ESTATE PLANNING WORKSHOP:
   The group discussed holding a workshop sometime in the fall. The Forest Society is currently sponsoring a series of such workshops and the contact person there is Trish Churchill, a potential planning resource. Rodney and Chris Costantino will work on this. Diane suggested that invitations be sent to large landowners.
   
   
8. NH TRAILS DAY:
   There was no interest in holding an event on that particular day (July 16). The group decided to wait until there was a special reason, such as a trail opening, before scheduling a public event.
   
   
9. UPCOMING WORK SESSION:
   Diane stated that there are many potential projects pending that she would like to discuss at the upcoming work session, June 25. She would like to identify members interested in taking on a project, and also suggested that perhaps the new assistant would have time to help.
   
   
10. PUBLIC EDUCATION FLYER:
    Judy explained that Ruth Heden, candidate for Senate District 11, had asked if the Conservation Commission would consider putting together a public information flyer about "Ways to Reduce Sludge." Rodney suggested that the Commission take a neutral stance to avoid supporting one side or another of a politically controversial issue. It was suggested that the flyer be entitled "Ways to cut down on waste in our everyday lives" or "Responsible Environmental Practices." Diane suggested that information on these topics already exists, published by organizations who are eager to educate the public. Resources suggested: Milford Wastewater Treatment Plant, Nashua Regional Planning Commission, the Department of Environmental Services web site (fact sheet), and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension. Judy will follow up.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:47pm.

The next Conservation Commission work session is scheduled for Thursday, June 25 at 7pm in the DPW Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held on Thursday, July 9, 1998 at 7pm in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

The meeting was called to order by Diane Fitzpatrick, Chairperson at 7:05 P. M.

Diane advised the members present that Fred & Steven Pihl, D&F, M Map 42, Lot 38 was unable to keep his appointment due to illness.

1. NEW CONSERVATION ASSISTANT
   Patricia Greene of Mason was introduced to the Conservation Commission Members as the new Conservation Assistant and welcomed aboard.

2. MINUTES
   Upon a motion made by Hub Seward, seconded by Rodney Dellafelice, the Minutes of the June 11, 1998 meeting were accepted with the following clarifying amendment and corrections:
   • Line 226 #10 - PUBLIC EDUCATION FLYER - delete " that the commission take a neutral stance to avoid supporting one side or another of a politically controversial issue". Inserting after the word Commission "use a different title". He felt that the suggested title expressed a fore drawn conclusion and was openly antagonistic to Mr. Wheeler. In his opinion, the commission should use fairer and more productive methods as a means to express its opinions. The title of the flyer could be, "The Ways To Cut Down Waste In Our Everyday Lives "or "Responsible Environmental Practices".
   • Line 70 - WEST HILL REPORT: - delete "access to a town-owned field". Insert in its place "access to town-owned conservation land". Following sentence - and adjacent woods to be inserted after " This field". It will read " This field and adjacent woods is classified conservation land".
   • Line 77 - #3 WEST HILL REPORT: - delete the word "field", insert the word "property".
   • Line 91 # 4 HAMPSHIRE HILLS - Add File #96-2279.
   • Line 110 - #4 HAMPSHIRE HILLS - spelling of swail corrected to swale.

3. KALEY PARK DREDGE AND FILL APPLICATION: (M31l32)
   Diane Fitzpatrick received a letter from Bill Parker thanking the commission for the time given at the June Conservation Meeting in reviewing the anticipated wetland impact to the buffer. He reiterated that the decision at the meeting was that the commission would wait until a completed state application was received before giving approval. Because this is a high priority project, it is his intention to have the Dredge and Fill Application completed within the next week, and would like the commission to review the completed application at its next work session. The request is not feasible as work sessions were set up without detailed minutes being taken or members voting.

   Upon a motion made by Rodney Dellafelice and seconded by Judy Gross, the Committee unanimously authorized Diane Fitzpatrick, upon receipt of the state application that reflects our changes to the original application, to send a letter to the Wetland Bureau expressing the Conservation Commission's opinion.

4. NEW OFFICE SPACE, COMPUTER, FILES, POLICY & PROCEDURES, MAIL, DOOR & KEYS
   The computer is attached to the network which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Diane, Hub, Judy and Chris had a walk through session with Lee Mayhew, the Town Administrator, and if any of the commission members would like become familiar with the network, please contact any of the four members listed above. We now have access to our own financial records, tax records, owners of parcels, map and lot number. As everyone is networked, we can also have our information available to other offices. Members received keys to the door leading to the Conservation Office.

   Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM, the black cabinet in the DPW Meeting Room is to be moved downstairs to the Conservation Office and placed near the computer. There is one small two-draw cabinet downstairs that will hold some of our active files, but we do not have room to have all the four-draw file downstairs. If anyone should need archived records, please make a request to Diane Fitzpatrick or Patricia Greene and those requested records will be moved from their file cabinet to the black file cabinet in the Conservation Office downstairs.

5. TOWN--OWNED LAND FOR SALE
   A list of property taken for taxes that the town may sell was forwarded to the Commission by the Tax Assessor with a note from Lee Mayhew, the Town Administrator. In keeping with the feeling that the Commission should not get into the habit of advising the town not to sell anything and the present time constraint on doing in depth research, Diane responded for the Conservation Commission as follows:

   MAP/LOT and OPINION
   

   • M6 L28: This lot abuts the Souhegan River. As a protective buffer for the river and in anticipation of a river front trail, the commission would encourage the Board of Selectmen not to sell, give away, lease or otherwise dispose of any river front property. The water quality of the Souhegan River is in need of improvement, any further development within 250 feet of the bank needs to be avoided where ever possible.

   • M36 L178, 179, 180, 181, 182 This property was wisely set aside as park space when this area was developed. Considering the high density of homes in this part of town, a neighborhood park would be a welcomed addition. Caroll Carbonneau and Bill Parker have both expressed the same sentiments to me.

   • M40 L62: This house lot was added to the Tucker Brook Town Forest by vote of Town Meeting. The lot proved valuable to the town as a staging area when the adjacent forest was recently timbered. This portion of the forest was recently timbered. This portion of the forest will be ready for timbering again in another 15-20 years, at which time the staging area will prove useful.

   • M40 L93: This property is not valuable as conservation land but the commission would like to encourage the town not to sell this lot as a stand alone for it does not conform to zoning as a building lot. Selling the lot would force the town to grant a variance due to hardship, thus going against the intent of zoning. If the abutter is interested and the lot were combined to the adjacent lot, property taxes could be assessed. If this is not feasible, then keeping the property as open space would be more cost effective to the town than allowing a single family home (1 public school student costs the town $7000/yr., much more than a home on this lot would generate in taxes).

   • M56 L69: At this time, this property is land locked, thus unbuildable. Also, the commission is expanding its natural resource inventory to include wildlife habitats. We would appreciate the town waiting on this piece until we determine whether or not it falls into green space plan. This piece is near to a very large section of protected land in Brookline. Protected land is most valuable as large contiguous tracts. Abutting protected land in adjacent towns enhances our own protected green space.

   • M57 L2: The tax map shows this property abutting the Forest Society's Monson Village land. The tax map may be in error here. We would like the actual location of this parcel more thoroughly investigated before making a determination on its disposition.

   Although this was a response from the Commission by Diane, it does not bar additional opinions on other listed parcels by the members of the Conservation Committee.

   Rodney Dellafelice questioned if Queen's quarry was on the list and Diane confirmed it was not. Hub Seward asked if we should recommend to the town that it might be proper to sell the house lot without the quarry for in past conversations, it was felt that the town should own the whole quarry because of the liability. The chairperson advised that someone from Ashley Common has been trying to get in touch with her. Hub Seward suggested that the Commission should contact them prior to talking with the Selectmen. Hub explained the basic issue is that Ashley Commons owns a little corner of the quarry and because they do, there is a difference between having a $500 liability policy premium or a $1500 premium. Ashley Common would like to discuss the possibility of giving their piece to the town.
   Rodney Dellafelice stated that the Fire Department has access to the quarry. The town does not need to own it to keep that access and he does not see any benefit for town to own it. Richard Medlyn suggested that the person whose going to buy the house lot and build a house on that lot is not going to care about the $1000.00 additional charge for liability insurance. They are going to buy the quarry and the quarry is going to make that acreage worth a lot more to them. The chairperson, who owns a quarry does not have a additional liability charge because of the quarry on the property.

   The Committee members opened a general discussion of the submitted property listing noting other items on the list were either house lots or some very small slivers of land that were not desirable. Rodney Dellafelice suggested that the Commission could make a general statement to the town, that if the town determines to sell taken property, they should consider the potential uses of the buyer and the impact on the tax rate.

   Judy Gross, in reading the chairperson response to the selected items on the list of properties, appreciated the Chairperson's response on preserving open space with a specific piece of property in mind.

   Hub Seward would like the committee to review one of the pieces of property on the list, Map 40, Lot 53, a sliver of land where Boulder Drive was located. Part of the subdivision plan had it being merged with Map 40, Lot 52. Hub wondered if there was something in the subdivision approval that required them to create that lot. Hub agreed to research M40, Lot 53 and will put in a request to Bill Parker to have the Land File Assistant check into Map 40, Lot 53. On the old tax map, there was a similar lot created on the other side.

   Richard Medlyn discussed the giving of land to an abutter for the town to receive an added $50.00 tax revenue per year instead of holding on to it in case it was needed a pumping station or some town use in the future. Do the members feel that the Conservation Commission should make our opinions known on the property the town took for taxes or only on specific pieces because we were asked? Is it our place to make recommendations on what town policy should be on empty lots that are taken for taxes? It was agreed by the members to make sure the Conservation Commission receives a list every time there is property taken.

6. REPORT ON COMMUNITY MAPPING COURSE
   Diane Fitzpatrick thanked the Commission for paying for her attendance at the Community Mapping Course. It has been proved to be amazing. Mornings sessions are spent on one particular topic, e.g. wetland, soils, wildlife or planning in general. GIS is a very powerful analytical tool, it is not just to display conservation land on a map. You can do queries accessing vast amounts of information in the databases, such as toxic waste sites, underground storage tanks and areas where pesticides are being spread. When you do a query, many times you come up with information that will be of surprise for certain features overlap and connect. The afternoon session encompasses computer map imaging and the generating of the maps to a very large plotter to print. At this meeting, on display, is a map designed by Diane as a project to help decide where to layout transects for a wildlife monitoring program. The goal was to incorporate large tracks of unfragmented land where there are no paved roads; connect protected land and wetland complexes and put in steep slopes. The steep slopes provide a variety of habitats for critters like bobcats and fishers. They like to get high up. They also like rock outcropping but need to get down into the wetland for some of their food. The map does not prove there is any wildlife at all, it just shows the possibility of wildlife is higher in some areas. The white areas denote blocks of land, not tax map lots, just unfragmented land without paved roads and nothing bigger than 500 acres. You can see where the development is, along between the bypass of 101A and then down Route 13. The next map that will be printed tomorrow will show natural resources with an inset of all the toxic waste sites; underground storage tanks, pesticide spraying, and pollution sources that have been licensed ( those people that have a discharge permit).

   Diane would like to recommend that the town acquire the program, for it is not that expensive if the whole town uses it. In order to use GIS, you must have the program and at some point the GIS Committee will have to get it activated. The town has a contact with Meridian to digitize the tax map. Not having seen the contract, does the new tax maps have to be GIS compliant? Diane is on the GIS Committee and will request information on the Meridian contract.

   In addition, Diane would like to recommend to the town that they request E911 to map all the roads in the town. This is a service provided to towns at no cost.

7. HIKER SIGNS, SOUHEGAN RIVER TRAIL
   After supplying NH DOT with the information they requested, they are going to put up the Hiker signs at their cost. Hub Seward questioned where the signs will be put up. That information was not available at this time. It was acknowledged that the state will do it their way and it may or may not coincide with Mr. Fitch's desires. Diane will get in touch with Mr. Fitch to advise him of the state's intention to put up the signs and also discuss the West Hill property.

8. ADDED ITEM - DPW D&F SAVAGE ROAD :
   At the last town meeting, the town voted to do improvements to Savage Road. When inspecting the road to decide what types of improvements were needed, it was discovered that 5 out of the 7 culverts in the 4000 feet of road to be improved were broken and needed to be replaced. Doug Starr, DPW Director took Hub Seward and Diane Fitzpatrick out to view the culverts and they are indeed broken. Most of the areas inspected had ground that dropped away from the road providing a storage area for water, if needed. To protect the wetlands, the culverts should be replaced. A Minimum Impact Expedited Application was submitted and it meets the square feet requirement for they are not changing the size of the culverts. If the Conservation Commission does not approve and sign it, then they will have to fill out a standard Dredge & Fill Application. It is well under 3000 feet, just five culverts, two feet by twenty five feet. Diane called the Wetland Bureau and asked them if one application is permissible and they confirmed, that only one is needed for all the culverts.

   Rodney Dellafelice wondered how many Commission members are needed to survey the site. The Chairperson confirmed that it is the decision of the Commission and is not stated in the RSA's . There are many Conservation Commissions that receive more D&F applications than we do and they do not inspect any of them, which is a shame. To coordinate with DPW for an Expedited Application, we have to inspect the site and receive measurements on the plan, but there is no defined number of members from the Conservation Committee needed to visit the site.

   On a motion made by Rodney Dellafelice, seconded by Richard Medlyn, the Board voted unanimously to accept the D&F application from DPW when presented.

9. BROCHURE ISSUE FOLLOWUP
   

   Judy Gross spoke to Ruth Heden about the brochure. It was Ruth's intention to use it as a handout and it was agreed that it should not carry a Conservation Commission stamp on it. Judy volunteered to do it privately for her, and the brochures is called "Tips for Clean Living". Brochure topics include sections on water, paper, conservation and energy.

   This led the Committee to a discussion as to whether the Conservation Commission should take an active part and follow up as a group on the issue of Sludge. There is a Sludge Committee and the Conservation Commission is represented on this committee. The question put forth by Rodney Dellafelice was "are we happy with that or is there something else we should be doing. Richard Medlyn, who is on the Committee, commented that the Committee Members had just the right amount of environmentally-orientated minds to guide the administration down the road advising them to be very careful on what action taken. In the future, we may not be able to sell all we produce and eventually, will have to spread within the town. This is where the Conservation Commission can help them with their guidelines. Rodney felt that this was a double-edged sword and concerned with the fact that acidic soil does not mix with heavy metals in a proper setting environment. Certain situations may make it dangerous and we need to find out how dangerous and to do this, guidelines need to be instituted. Studies need to be made to determine what levels of pH would be necessary, etc. Rodney suggested proposing to the Committee that studies and guidelines should be initiated. Richard Medlyn agreed to propose same at the next meeting.

10. FINAL PLANS FOR PICNIC
    The meeting was turned over to Judy Gross for the finalization of plans for the picnic to be held Sunday, July 6th at 1:00 P.M. A count yielded 14 members and family planning to attend. Final food preparations was discussed.

11. AGENDA NEXT MEETING
    Estate Planning Seminar will be included in the Agenda for next month.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting adjourned at 8:22 P.M.

The next public meeting of the Conservation Commission will be held Thursday, August 13, 1998 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

The meeting was called to order by the Chairperson, Diane Fitzpatrick, at 7:00 P.M.

1. Invited Guest: The Chairperson introduced Attorney Timothy Arel, who was attending the meeting to determine if conservation commission work would be of interest and would like to become a member or help the commission work on special priority projects.

2. Minutes:
   Upon a motion made by Diane Fitzpatrick, seconded by Richard Medlyn, the minutes of the July 9, 1998 meeting were accepted unanimously with the following corrections:
   • Page 2, Line #80 - Sentence is to read " Members received keys to the door leading to the Conservation Office."
   • Page 6, Line #272 - Delete the entire sentence "It is a public education brochure that will serve all our benefits."
   • Page 6, Line #273 and #274 - Delete the words "recycling, and septic". Sentence will now read : "Brochure topics include sections on water, paper, conservation and energy."
   • Page 2, Line #83 and #85 - word "draw" to be changed to drawer.

   The amended minutes of May 14, 1998 and June 11, 1998 were presented to members of the Commission for their signatures and with the receipt of same, will now be returned to the vault.

   A general discussion ensued as to what the members would like the assistant to include in the minutes. Is more detail necessary, or less detail? Bob Walsh suggested that the guidelines in producing the minutes should be that there is enough detail in them to allow those members unable to attend that particular meeting, the ability to be brought up to date on the current status of work in progress or finalized. All members agreed with those guidelines.

   The minutes tonight are being recorded on a small inexpensive tape recorder, not of the quality we have previously borrowed. When using the borrowed recorder, we must have the recorder back for a Tuesday meeting and there will be times this is not convenient. If this small recorder is not adequate, we may have to borrow a recorder just for the night to record and play the cassettes on the small recorder.

3. M47,L15 Johnson Proposed Conservation Easement - Nichols-Smith Conservation Land Trust
   Diane Fitzpatrick and Rodney Dellafelice met with Nichols-Smith Land Trust to discuss the proposed Johnson easement and inquire as to the possible cooperation between the land trust and the Milford Conservation Commission. The trust was being considered as a backup on the Johnson proposed easement as the trust holds, monitors and enforces conservation easements. They are also working on a criteria list (sorts of land desirable to be protected) and are willing to share such information as well as eager to have our commission work with them. They are based in Hollis, N.H. most of the members being from Hollis, N. H. and Pepperell, Mass.

   The Johnson proposed easement wishes the commission to monitor water quality in the quarry as well as the colors and styles of the present buildings and new construction. The property is about 85 acres with a quarry encompassing about 2 acres.

   The Nichols-Smith land trust had recommended on the Johnson proposed easement that a Trust Fund be sent up by the donor and with the interest applied each year, water quality could be monitored. The Chairperson had a draft letter prepared which she read to the members and asked for suggestions or recommendations. It was agreed that the commission cannot assume the responsibility of aesthetics and water quality as it was beyond the commission's scope and the members suggested clarification of all issues remaining be incorporated into the letter prior to forwarding.

4. M5,L15 John Ulricson Proposed Easement
   This is a nine acre parcel located on Jennison Road with approximately 1200 feet of frontage on a scenic road. It is important to him that his easement does not adversely effect his property taxes. In an opinion previously stated by the assessor, that taxes could well increase for the conservation easement would mean Mr. Ulricson would be surrounded by protected land. Because of this opinion, Mr. Ulricson has suggested the proposed easement include an escape clause. A proposed letter was presented to the commission members for approval. This letter clarifies the position of the commission not to enter into an agreement that has an "escape clause' and because of the size of the property, the commission would like to enter into an agreement protecting the entire 9 acres, minus what is needed for the house, garage and out buildings. Members were in agreement with the issues brought forward on the proposed letters and agreed it should be forwarded to Mr. Ulricson.

   This issue led to a general discussion by the members on how to encourage selectmen to grant an exception or a different evaluation of property to a owner wishing to give a conservation easement to the town. Should it be a town policy? The commission cannot promise property owners anything. It was also agreed by members that the commission have a criteria list on land that we plan to accept and hold conservation easements. The Nichols-Smith Land Trust is working on such a list and we should ask them to share their input with the commission.

5. Estate Planning Workshop
   Rodney Dellafelice is planning this workshop. He anticipates that the workshop will be held late October or early November and would like a listing of land owners in Milford with 10 acres or more. Local property owners will receive an invitation postcard. Will have a complete status report for the commission at the next work session.

6. Keeping Track Workshop - 1st Session Report
   The volunteers have had the first session of the Keeping Track Wildlife Monitoring workshop. Judy Gross, Bob Walsh, Diane Fitzpatrick and Chris Costantino were present. This is conducted by a woman in Vermont who has as a business teaching groups in towns under the auspices of a conservation commission to do a wildlife inventory. She teaches you how to pick transects in town that get walked four time a year to identify signs of indicator species (an animal that needs a lot of wild area) and if they can survive there, then other indigenous species can survive. One of the requirements of a Conservation Commission is to maintain a natural resource inventory and wildlife is very hard to do. She has developed a system and reporting process accepted by the state and used as acceptable inventory information. Quite a few towns are doing it, Wilton, Milford, Merrimack is setting up to participate as well as Peterborough. Participating members had a good time, received an enormous amount of information and generally conceded that it was an overview with much more to be learned. Participants were out from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and observed many animal signs. Judy Gross related as to how this was a hands-on experience, observing bear scratches on the trees, putting your fingers where the bear did, and even grabbing the trees in like manner.

7. New Member & Special Project Volunteer Brochure
   Because Chris Costantino was not present, this item was tabled until the next session. It will be scheduled for the next session as it is an important issue. When we had the slide talk, with 130 people in attendance; people interested in wildlife protection could not secure any information as to who we were and how they could volunteer.

8. Wellhead Protection - Curtis Wellhead
   Pierce Rigrod was not present to give the members his report. The town received a grant from the state to update the Wellhead Protection Plan on the Curtis Wellhead. It is very preliminary at the moment There is going to be a meeting with the Planning Department to coordinate what departments will be responsible for what areas of the plan.

9. Budget - Present and Future
   The Chairperson passed out a Financial Report prepared by the Assistant. It reflected the 7/31/98 balance of all the funds and accounts. We need to have a 1999 budget prepared fairly early for there is a meeting in December for the final budget. With the SB2 applicable, this has to been done more quickly than in previous years. One of the items to be considered is that we have always asked for $4000.00 and then back into how the money will be divided. It may or not may used as we have determined it will be divided, and we need to be more realistic and ask for what we really need, which may be more than $4000.00. It also could be less or more depending on our priority list.

   The Education Account may need to be increased focusing on continuing education for new members.

   We also have to decide how many hours our Assistant needs. In the past, the assistant was scheduled for roughly 19 hours a week, but there was another assignment being done. So there wasn't a clear cut total hours per week needed for conservation work. The chairperson noted that this position could use 15 hours a week very easily without creating new assignments. It is logical to ask for 15 hours, with some weeks being less than that and others more, balancing it to an average of 15 hours a week.

   There are going to be more expenses now that we have our own office. We have discussed the possibility of putting in a telephone line. To get a commercial line, it would be $50.00 month and that seems very expensive for a phone not be using constantly. Hub suggested we might want to look into an extension from our system. The published number for the commission is the Planning Department for which people are available during the hours the Town Hall is open. For those outgoing calls necessary, the Ambulance Director said he would be very happy to let the Assistant use one of their two phone lines anytime it is necessary. The line that has call waiting will not be available for use. He doesn't want to get bogged down with paperwork, editing what telephone calls were ambulance and what were the commission, and what was proposed that the commission donate a couple of cases of photocopy paper per year. The commission questioned whether the Town Hall has an telephone answering system available to those people who call after the town hall is closed. Diane had been at a staff meeting where answering machines were discussed. Some people felt this would accommodate inquiries as to when the town hall is not open, but no decision was made at this time. The library's input was that any answering machine made available to the public should not be able to record the type of messages that are now being receiving. Most people who call the town hall need to talk to somebody and just to receive a message of the hours the town hall is open is not satisfactory to them. For the time being, there are no answering machines in the town hall, and they are still discussing if there should be.

   At our disposal is a copy machine on the lower level. We have never paid for paper, contributed to toner costs, or maintenance for the machine. It is the feeling of the commission that we should contribute our fair share. There are six offices downstairs level using the copy machine; the Ambulance Department, Mediation Department, Host Home Department, Parks & Recreation Department, Conservation Commission and Welfare. To be fair, the cost has been divided by 3 because Ambulance uses a lot of paper as well as Parks & Recreation Department. The other 1/3 got divided by four representing the other four groups. It is the responsibility of all the groups to provide their own paper. Divided totals for each department includes Lease of the machine, Maintenance Contract and Toner cartridges. Our share will come to $141.00. Commission members agreed that we should pay our costs for use of the photocopy machine.

10. Tree Project
    Traditionally, the commission has been spending $1000.00 per year on trees but it has been coming out of our Operating Budget. In 1980, the commission decided to have a Tree Project Committee for the purpose of planting trees around town and now it has become a tradition each year. Does the commission wish to continue this tradition, and if so, should it be a separate item presented in our budget, or still come out of the $4000.00 Operating Budget. A separate account for moneys reserved for this project has been instituted as we have promised but not expended our 1997 and 1998 Shepard Tree Project moneys. This is not unusual as normally when the money is voted by the commission to price and buy the trees, it is usually not until the following spring that delivery and planting is accomplished. Is this going to be a yearly project of the commission, or done at will by the commission. Should the new account be used or the amounts just rolled into the Accumulative Fund with notes on the reserved amounts? It was the feeling of Richard Medlyn that we should rename our yearly project to the Town Landscape and Beautification Program. This would allow the commission to do a variety of projects other than just planting trees.

    Committee members agreed to name our yearly project the "Town Landscape and Beautification Program"

    It was suggested by the Chairperson that the members review the financial statement they had received and come back with suggestions and recommendations as to proposals for upcoming budget negotiations. The Assistant has requested that they might consider a Scanner for inclusion in next year's budget. This would allow archive records to be indexed quickly and accurately. Hub Seward suggested that when the commission votes and approves moneys from the Operating Budget for long term projects, those moneys should be immediately transferred to Accumulative Account with a hold. This means all reserved portions of moneys in the Accumulative Account will have to be designated in reports along with all fund restrictions.

    We now have $190.00 in our Operating Budget unexpended but must keep in mind upcoming items such as the attendance of the commission members to the annual meeting. The cost of each member is $8.00.

11. Code Enforcement Officer - Kevin Lynch
    The Chairperson has invited Kevin Lynch to the next meeting and he will be an appointment at the beginning of the meeting. He is the Town of Milford Code Enforcement Officer. We need discuss our relationship with his position. Kevin is in a position to see that the requirements of a Dredge and Fill are adhered to; and if there is a project being built, he is inspecting the construction process making sure that it meet the code. If he understand the Dredge and Fill conditions or the restrictions that we have put on the approval of the application, then he can look at that and because he has the authority to go onto private property can monitor all restrictions. The commission does not have that authority. If he understands the commissions wishes as to why something needs to be done in a certain way, then he can justify it. He is very willing to work with the commission and contacted the Chairperson on several occasions to discuss what he felt were Wetland problems that were directed to him and it is important to encourage a good relationship with Code Enforcement Officer.

    Also, the commission has a Wetlands Violation Policy that has us working totally independently. Sometimes, there are a violations already being dealt with by the Code Enforcement Officer but we conduct our investigation without touching base with the Code Enforcement Officer. This is another harassment on the property owner who is already dealing with a violation issues. There are also situations where the Code Enforcement Officer will need our help to deal with an issue and we should be available to him; such as when he needs a Cease & Desist Order or needs to send a compliant to the Wetlands Bureau and have the proper language in the compliant so the Bureau fully understands. Commission members agreed that it is important to bring Kevin Lynch into our process. We have something to offer him and he has something to offer us.

12. M40, Lot 53 Sale of Town Owned Land
    Hub Seward brought this item to discussion at this time for it directly relates to the above item. The Plat of Sidney Subdivision 5/15/85, revealed a note on the plan regarding this lot, "Note 2 - Lots not intended for building or sewage disposal purposes are to be conveyed to adjoining lot owners". This lot is still being shown as a separate lot. This lot has ended up on the list of Sale of Town Owned Land. Part of the discussion with Kevin Lynch at our next meeting could be what happens with notes on plans. As far as Hub can determine, no one inspects the site to determine the status of the plan notes or follow up on plan notes. A suggestion from the commission was that the town may want to keep this lot in case of some unforeseen need in the future such as a pumping station, or some other town use.

    At the last Selectmen Meeting, the Sale of Town-Owned Lands came up, and Chairman Infanti asked Mr. Leishman, Mr. D'Amato and Diane Fitzpatrick of the Conservation Commission to review the list supplied by Mr. McMullen of lots taken for taxes and return with recommendations to the full board concerning these properties. Diane Fitzpatrick would like a meeting with Peter Leishman and Richard D'Amato to discuss the issues involved. (Please refer to the minutes of July 9, 1998 for the properties taken.)

    It is the feeling of the commission that we need to recommend to the town that a standard policy needs to be instituted on matters coming before them. At this time it is "what do we do now with this issue" and thus creating a new decision on policy on each issue.

13. Request for Funding for Land Acquisitions, 1999 Budget
    How are we going to sell our request for money for land fund to the Budget Committee, the Selectmen and the Town. Unless the Selectmen and the Budget Committee support us, we probably will not get money from the town. The Chairperson suggested to the commission the need for a definite plan for the funds and not just someday down the road it may be needed. If the commission has a plan, it does not tie the commission to it for unexpected opportunities may present themselves and the plan may change. It might be beneficial if the commission advises the Selectmen of planned projects for 1999 before the budget process begins. Diane explained to the Commission that she has already been doing this on several items. The last memo is when the Forest Society had their first meeting with all the people that will be involved in managing the Monson Center for the Town of Milford will have an easement and will be part of it. Also, a memo was sent advising them that we had started our Wildlife Monitoring Program, these are the things we will be reviewing, and included a map showing protected land. We cannot take easements or buy land without the approval of the Selectmen and we should involve them in process with updated information.

    Rodney suggested that it would be to our advantage to have the commission's warrant article presented earlier than last year position on the warrant. The commission will need to put a plan together with marketing features. He also requested that prior to a warrant article being submitted to the Budget Committee, he would like to review the wording and presentation. Last year it was not available to him.

14. Yearly Picnic
    The members agreed the last Sunday in July will be the date of the annual Conservation Picnic.

15. Tentative Appointment - M42, L38 Fred & Steven Pihl, Pond Maintenance
    This time was set aside for them if they were ready after canceling the last appointment due to illness. They were not able to attend.

There being no further business to come before the meeting, the meeting adjourned at 9:00 P.M.

The next public meeting of the Milford Conservation Commission will be held on September 10, 1998, Thursday at 7:00PM in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

1. Minutes: Upon a motion made by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Rodney DellaFelice, the minutes of the August 13, 1998 were accepted with the following edits:
   • Page 1, Line 28: word "draw" to be changed to drawer,
   • Page 2, Line 71, 76: correct spelling of Mr. Ulricson name,
   • Page 2, Line 78: delete the work "lead, insert the word "led"
   • Page 2, Line 94: correct the spelling of transects,
   • Page 2, Line 94: singularize the word "gets",
   • Page 2, Line 95: replace the word "or" to "of,"
   • Page 2, Line 95: eliminate the word "every" and insert word " indigenous" before species,
   • Page 3, Line 118: delete "which is the only one we own and derive water". End the sentence at Welhead.
   • Page 3, Line 123: delete the word "quarterly".
   • Page 3 Line 152: delete "that have been handling", insert "that are now being received",
   • Page 3, Line 161: delete "Finance Director", insert the word "cost",
   • Page 4, Line 176: delete the word " wishes, insert the word "wish,
   • Page 4, Line 198: delete the figure $8,00 and insert $8.00,
   • Page 4, Line 221: delete "Town Owned Land for Sale"; insert in its place "Sale of Town Owned Land",
   • Page 4, Line 222: delete the first paragraph. Replace first paragraph with the following:
   • "Hub Seward brought this item to discussion at this time for it directly relates to the above item. The Plat of Sidney Goodrich Subdivision 5/15/85, revealed a note on the plan regarding this lot, "Note 2: Lots not intended for building or sewage disposal purposes are to be conveyed to adjoining lot owners." This lot is still being shown as a separate lot.
   • Page 4, Line 227: delete "driveway",
   • Page 5, Line 229: delete "Town Owned Land for Sale", insert "Sale of Town Owned Land",
   • Page 5, Line 236, 238: correct the spelling of Mr. Leishman's name,
   • Page 5, Line 241, 248, 251: delete the word "committee", insert the word "commission",
   • Page 5, Line 249: delete the word "round", insert the word "road",
   • Page 5, Line 261: delete the word " request", insert the word " requested",
   • Page 5, Line 265: delete the words " agrees that the last weekend" insert " agreed that the last Sunday"
   • Page 5, Line 273, 277: insert 7:00 PM.

   Upon a motion by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Hub Seward , the Work Session minutes of August 27, 1998 was accepted with the following revisions:

   • Page l, Item 3, Line 42, Conservation Land Fund: delete "Three areas were listed as at the top of the priority list presently", insert " Areas to be included on the list "
   • Page 1, Item 3, Line 42: delete number l,
   • Page l, Item 3, Line 43: delete number 2,
   • Page l, Item 3, Line 44: delete number 3.

2. Commission Member Letter Request
   The commission has received a letter from Chris Costantino requesting to be removed from Full Member status on the commission to Alternate Member status due to family scheduling demands. At present, the commission has the allowed 7 full time members (including Chris) and 3 alternate members. There is no limit on alternate members. With Chris's request to change status, we will now have 6 full time members and 4 alternates. It was agreed by the members present that when filling an open position for a full time member, interested applicants should attend at least three regularly scheduled meetings to become familiar with issues coming before the commission.

   Upon a motion by Rodney DellaFelice and seconded Hub Seward, Chris Costantino's request to change status was approved and a cover letter with Chris's letter will be forwarded to the Board of Selectmen.

3. Kevin Lynch, Code Enforcement Officer, Town of Milford
   The Conservation Commission invited Kevin Lynch, the Code Enforcement Officer for the Town of Milford, to the meeting to share with the commission the practical aspects of having a Wetland Conservation District Ordinance; how it works in reality and what difficulties he has found in the practical application of the ordinance. The Conservation Commission deals with wetlands, wetland buffers and impacts. It is an advisory group to the Wetlands Bureau and any other town organization interested in hearing the commission's comments. There are 25ft and 50 ft buffers which are treated the same as wetlands. What is allowed in the wetlands or what is not allowed in the wetlands also applies to the buffers. The commission would like to share our view on the ordinance and discuss if changes may be needed in the ordinance for practical application.

   Kevin Lynch advised the commission that in his position of Code Enforcement Officer, buffers create problems. It is not the main streams and tributaries that create problems. The 25 ft buffer on minimal wetland and having a buffer on every little pocket of wetland, is not a practical requirement. The town needs a realistic approach, for some wetlands are man made or by some function elsewhere. As Code Enforcement Officer, his job starts when he receives the building plans. Then he receives the Septic Plan. The Septic Plan has to first go to the State. The septic design is not designed by the original designer of the subdivision. No buffers are showing on the septic design The builder uses the septic design and calls it the Plot & Sewage Plan. It shows where the house is going, the driveway, foundation drains, well, lines, cuts and fills but does not match up to what was originally shown on the subdivision plan. Most times you do not go back to the original subdivision plan, he uses the Plot & Sewage Plan. Subdivision plans will get approved showing a buffer, but is it true significant wetland or are they just following the ordinance. It could be a small pocket. What kind of a wetland is it. The town needs to have a designated wetland area or a designated wetland map. That way you actually know what is good or bad and how the wetland got there. Even if a map could not be made for it is so site specific and costly, a general description would suffice. By doing a survey of the town on the major known and unknown wetlands, there may be a way of saying in a subdivision that the wetland situation has to meet a certain criteria to be a major wetland or you look at the lay of the land in relation to where it feeds and require a type of protection if necessary. You have to have a criteria to work with and then make a rational decision. We have to adopt a policy as to how we are going to maintain and protect the buffers as written. Perhaps, it can be done working with the Planning Board when the plans are submitted. Right now, were are saying, "Wetland - 25ft. Buffer", that's it.

   After the Certificate of Occupancy is issued, the home owner, who is not aware of buffer requirements, does his annual spring landscaping and the buffer is now lost and some loss occurs on the smaller wetlands. They start filling the area with grass clippings, leaves etc. This is a common finding. They don't know that they have done something wrong. They will stay out of the wetland.

   Another issue is the foundation drain. Homeowners are not allowed to dig or destroy a wetland, but a well is allowed in a wetland. State Law allows wells; you dig it up, put it in, close it up and walk away. But then you have your foundation drain; normally that is where it goes to the edge of the wetlands for elevation reasons to get the slope of the basement elevation up. You will destroy the buffer because of the contractor's equipment requirements. You cannot get a small piece equipment in due to larger rocks. If you go around the rocks, more harm is caused.

   The ordinance says "no ground disturbance' but you are allowed to put a deck over a buffer as long as you do not disturb it. But how do you support the deck. This is another area where the ordinance may need clarification. Perhaps the lot area for buildable area needs to be looked at in low density areas. It may be necessary to require more dry land, more continuous land, minimum lot size, but still require a certain amount of that lot size for building.

   The chairperson discussed the need for a 25ft buffer as is it really minimal amount. The Audubon Society came out with a new book describing buffers and their function. They feel that until you get to 100 ft., the public is not being served. With buffers, several things are being accomplished. One is the movement of sedimentation from the runoff. If there is a strong runoff, a vegetative buffer removes sediment; it treats some of the pollutants that may be in the water; it slows water down and gives it a chance to percolate and add to the ground water. Buffers for wildlife can go up to 1000 ft. and that is not practicable in the Town of Milford. Being realistic, in certain specific wetlands, perhaps 100 ft is better and on the little patches of wetland, 25ft. acceptable.

   Kevin brought up the subject of the buffer on a quarry. What does a buffer do at a quarry? What is a quarry buffer? Are we protecting the hole we put there. It is wetlands and it is man made.

   In answer to Kevin's question on buffers on a quarry, the chairperson stated that they collect water and may hold water. They may turn into a wetlands so there must be sufficient water area that needs a place to go. At a recent lecture, it was suggested that when there is a Dredge & Fill Application or a design for a storm water basin, there should be attached to that design, a maintenance plan so a Dredge & Fill Application isn't needed each time it has to be cleaned out. It is there for a reason and needs regular maintenance.

   Hub suggested that the ordinance could be structured to say "nominally 25ft. buffer but upon approval, exceptions can be made". The way the ordinance now reads leaves no room for judgment. It could include specifics on foundation drains, deck pilings, allowing a 2% or 5% disturbance of the wetlands. It needs to be a little flexible so there is not a need for a ZBA hearing and notification of abutters by certified mail that there is going to be a 2 foot square hole dug to put in a deck piling. However it might be amended, it must be an enforceable ordinance.

   Chris Gouda wondered if wetlands were categorized, a, b, c, d, if it would you create confusion with people misunderstanding the categories. He suggested that it might be easier to grant a waiver or exception on a case by case basis. As there are quite a few members on the board, if there is a specific situation needed to be viewed, arrangements could be made for a site visit with a Conservation member.

   With regard to buffers, Kevin suggested another area to be reviewed is the buffers in the urban compact area, such as the Souhegan River. We follow the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act (RSA 483B) now on the Souhegan River and Osgood Pond.

   Hub Seward offered comments on the Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act as he had read through it thoroughly. The Act allows the governing bodies, not the individual lot owners, to apply for exemptions. The intent requires a town inventory to see what has been grandfathered within 250 feet of the river and then produce a town plan of shoreland protection. In the west of Milford, you could get a 250 foot buffer on one side with cornfields and a golf course on the other side. Going through the Milford Oval, the buildings hang over the river with no buffers. With an inventory, it can be required that trees be left standing if they were already there. It would not say to plant trees. In the near future, the commission needs to survey the Souhegan River and Osgood Pond areas to determine how the current use reflects the Comprehensive Shoreland Protect Act. When completed, it would be directed to the state as the Town of Milford's Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Plan. This should be included in the Conservation Commission's long range planning.

   Hub Seward asked Kevin what happens to the buffer notes on subdivision plans. The developers put outlines around buffers and wetlands and they become a note on the plan. The notes do not get conveyed to the buyer. Is there a way to write the notes into the deed as a covenant or restriction so the homeowner is in receipt of all the information available.

   Kevin confirmed the fact that it is referenced in the deed as "subject to a plan of a subdivision and other restrictions and covenants" but it is not part of the package a homeowner receives. A possible solution would be to require a Certification of Foundation Plot plan prior to the issuance of the Certificate of Occupancy. It will add another cost burden onto the buyer but many towns have gone to this procedure. Kevin suggested this procedure about five years ago, but there was no interest in doing it. This is a plan that shows the total as built to the buyer. Builders like to move and change things around. We receive amended plans every day. The drains have been relocated, the septic system and well moved, and the driveway relocated because it made better sense. What other towns have done is to require prior to the Certificate of Occupancy, that a Certified Plot Plan be submitted. This plot plan must show the location of the house, driveway, easements, utility lines and buffers. In 1976 when Kevin was surveying, the town of Windham had a Wetland Watershed Protection District. The town did a complete study of the wetlands and instituted the WWPD. You could not touch anything within 100 ft. of it. This was recorded and deeded. The whole town was developed in this manner. It was a progressive protection district, one of the first in New Hampshire.

   The Certification would give the homeowner something to look at and know their property. Depending on how concise the survey was, it could add about $400.00 to the price of a house. Kevin strongly recommends that we need to provide the homeowner with a Certified Plot Plan.

   Chris Guida questioned if this plan would come from the Zoning Department.
   Kevin explained that the Zoning Board of Adjustment is an appeal board. They are judges that sit to decide. They will offer recommendations to the Planning Board, once or twice a year or if a issue comes up unexpectedly, convene and issue a recommendation to the Planning Board. When they receive a buffer issue, they really do not know how to react if it is not significant destruction involved. Kaley Field issue will be coming up next week; do we take it individually or do we take all the activity together and look at total destruction of the buffer requirement. We meet the criteria in each one of the projects as being insignificant, not being greater than 3,000 ft. It has not been decided yet if they will take the total combined area or each project's area.

   Discussion by committee members turned to the lack of communication of requirements to the homeowners. There are times the town may be dealing with the second or third owner of the house. It is always difficult to communicate all the requirements to the homeowner when they may have to go through nine or ten building permits of all different types. Things are bound to be missed. The town does not require setback requirements on the septic plans because the state does not require it.

   Kevin suggested another procedure that might accomplish better communication to the homeowner. It could be instituted that plans must be submitted to Kevin's office for review, then stamped and sent on to the state. He did that for nine years in Londonderry; no plan was submitted to the state until it got approval from his office first. The Town of Londonderry had their own septic design plan requirements which were greater than the state. What he has done in the past was to require a Certification of Foundation and then verify that it met the setback requirements. This is only done on lots that have on-site sewer. He could then take the Certification of Foundation and plot the septic design on it to review buffer requirements. These are ideas that cost money and are time consuming.

   Rodney wondered how authority to make exceptions should be allowed.
   Kevin explained the need to write an ordinance or regulation with the review process. For the future, if you make the regulation concrete, it ties your hands and you really need to be more flexible in making a decision. The regulation or ordinance should be modeled after the state wetland regulations. They are not really concrete but give criterias. Wetland Ordinances are now being printed to set up a complete portfolio of regulations. Basically, Kevin's job as Code Enforcement Officer, is referencing all ordinances and regulations together.

   The committee thanked Kevin Lynch for an informative and interesting discussion.

4. Forest Society Tour & Dedication
   The Forest Society is having a tour and dedication of Monson Center on September 19, 1998. This tour is by invitation only to those people who donated. The Milford Conservation Commission made a donation and we have received our invitation. In order to attend, members must register by September 12, 1998. They will have three guided tours, dedication and lunch but the invitation reminds participants to bring their own lunch.
5. Conference
   There is a conference called " Special Places, Investing in Our Land and Community Heritage" on Saturday, October 3, 1998 at New Hampshire Technical Institute. The chairperson is unable to attend due to a previous commitment. The topics will be - Success Stories of Conserving Land; Land and Water Conservation Fund, Finding and Keeping your Historical Assets, Making your Message Heard, Changing your Community for the Better, and Sources of Money for Land and Water Conservation Fund. It is put on by the Forest Society along with the Citizens for New Hampshire Land and Community Heritage. Lecture summaries reflect it will be an overview.

6. Hampshire Hills, Dredge & Fill Application File #96-2279 - M48 L36,36-1,41,48,52

   Gerry Gagne of Meridian Land Service expressed to the commission that he was primarily attending this meeting for two reasons; to request assistance in seeding of disturbed areas and the Dredge & Fill Application itself.

   Last week he spoke with Margaret Foss of the Wetlands Bureau who is preparing a letter of response to the first request that Hampshire Hills made of the Wetlands Bureau; to allow the seeding of some of the disturbed area which would allow some vegetation to be established on the more critical slopes. Some of the areas are starting to erode. The slopes are very steep and eroding out even with the hay bales and probably will not be able to withstand that amount of sediment impact on the periphery.

   Margaret Foss verbally indicated that she was going to allow some grading, seeding and restoration on the severe embankments, but wanted specifics forwarded to her on what areas were to be worked, what restoration is to be done and what vegetation is to be planted.

   The other issue is the disturbance and the application itself. Hampshire Hills would like to explore the possibility of working with the commission to try to come to some resolution to allow the project to continue as currently proposed. In previous discussions with the commission, it was recognized that the commission had a reluctance in recommending approval to the state Wetlands Bureau on any disturbance in the central portion of the site. The original plan submitted with a smaller size building was a conceptual plan presented to both the Conservation Commission and the Planning Department early in the project stages and had limited impact to the central area of the wetlands. Since that time, the project has somewhat expanded based upon the needs of the project because of the size of the facilities being proposed inside the structure. Also, the parking areas have increased and forced the building to be moved back into the area that had been logged.

   The chairperson advised Mr. Gagne that all the Conservation Commission members had been contacted on Hampshire Hill's concerns and the members agreed that they would like to see something done to avoid erosion down into the wetlands and pond. The chairperson also confirmed that the last time she spoke with Margaret Foss, the Wetlands Bureau's concerns were that they wanted specifics on what the final grade will be, what methods are going to be used to stabilize the embankments and what kind of fabric will be used.

   Gerry Gagne responded that he did not know if the Wetlands Bureau was going to allow work to continue with the embankments being shown on the plan or if they will request that the embankment be graded where there has been an encroachment to the wetlands, seed it and lay fabric on to avoid further erosion. When the earth was being moved, attempts were made to establish a grade. We may be showing 2/1. The contractor may be showing 1/1. The preference is to grade it to the last plan submitted. A lot of the exposed area is simply soil with no organic. It must be regraded to the slope; organic material applied to the surface; seeded, and then fabric put on the surface. Thus, if rain impinges on the surface, it is not going to dislodge all the soil but allow some moisture to be retained on the surface allowing vegetation to come up. The seed mixture to be applied is Creeping Red Fescue, Perennial Rye Grass, Redtop, Alsike Clover and Birdsfoot Trefoil. Given the sudden change of weather, Gerry thinks October 15th will be the last day for seeding and expect the annual rye to come up, winterize and stablize some of the embankment.

   Rodney DelliFelice reminded Mr. Gagne that the Conservation Commission does not have the authority to grant permission for seeding. We can only give recommendations. The commission would like to see something done

   Gerry Gagne responded that once the letter is issued from the Wetlands Bureau, a program will need to be established to stabilize the more eroded areas. It is the hoped the program can be established with the input of the Code Enforcement Officer, the Conservation Commission and Carlos Adams from the Site Specific group. It may also involve the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers for it is bordering on the three acre requirement and may require a Programmatic Permit.

   Diane Fitzpatrick restated the commission's issues with the plan. Being advisors to the Wetlands Bureau and their contact in the town, the commission follows the Wetlands Board criteria and recommendations. One of their questions on the application asks "Is this the least impacting alternative". People need to use their land. They need to be able to use their dry land and be able to cross wetlands if there is dry land on the other side. If a building is put on that many square feet of wetlands, it is not minimizing the impact; it is not avoiding wetlands. And if the building is not allowed to be placed where it shows on the plan, the size that it is; then some of the issues will go away and returning to the original plan will not get into steep slopes because it wasn't necessary.

   Gerry Gagne reiterated Hampshire Hills' position, that this is now the size of the facility that needs to be constructed. To try to move the building forward, there would be a disturbance in the back. Parking has to go in the front for this type of a facility. If it was moved to the back and put on the other side of the wetlands, most time, people would not use the facility if they had to walk a considerable distance to the fitness center.

   Upon a motion by Rodney DellaFelice, seconded by Richard Medlyn, the Conservation Commission will forward a letter to the Wetlands Bureau advising them of our response to a meeting with Gerry Gagne on erosion control at Hampshire Hills. The letter will state:

   1. Since we haven't seen the plan, we can only agree in principal to appropriate erosion control as being a good thing.
   2. Any approval must be limited and in no way taken to imply any approval of the overall plan.

   Prior to the letter being forwarded to the Wetlands Bureau, each Conservation Committee member will receive a draft copy of the letter to review.

7. Estate Planning Seminar:
   Rodney informed members the tentative date for the seminar is November 4, 1998 and contacts are now being made for an attorney or tax planner to speak. As of this date, no firm commitments have been made. The Society has forwarded an outline of an Estate Planning Seminar to use as a guide. By the Work Session Meeting on September 24th, more definite information will be forthcoming.

8. Law Lecture Series
   The New Hampshire Municipal Association is conducting a Law Lecture Series. The three session being offered are:
   • #1 - They did WHAT?!? (Land Use Laws),
   • #2 - Local Environmental Regulations,
   • #3 - How to Prevent Sprawl.
   Members were forwarded the information and requested to contact the chairperson if they wished to attend one or all. Three commission members have confirmed their wish to attend. Rodney DellaFelice and Diane Fitzpatrick would like to go to all three and Judy Gross would like to attend "How to Prevent Scrawl".

   Upon a motion made by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Hub Seward , it was voted unanimously to authorize the expenditure of $75.00 for the above members to attend the New Hampshire Municipal Association Law Lecture Series.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 P.M.

The next Conservation Commission meeting will be held on Thursday, October 8, 1998 at 7:00 P.M. in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

The meeting was called to order at 7:12 P.M. by Diane Fitzpatrick, Chairperson.

1. MINUTES: Upon a motion made by Judy Gross and seconded by Rodney DellaFelice, the minute of the September 10, 1998, were accepted with the following edits:
   • Page 2, Line 75, delete the word "it"
   • Page 2, Line 75, delete the word "little"
   • Page 3, Line 148, delete the words "for a golf course"

   MINUTES: Upon a motion made by Rodney DellaFelice and seconded by Judy Gross, the minutes of the September 24, 1998 minutes were accepted as presented.

   MINUTES: The accepted minutes of August 13, 1998, August 27, 1998 and September 24, 1998 were signed by commission members and will be returned to the vault.

2. CONSERVATION EASEMENTS PROGRESS REPORT
   Diane Fitzpatrick presented the following update to members.
   1. M47, L15 Johnson, Tovar, Celia conservation easement
      -- The property is approximately 85 acres with a quarry encompassing about 2 acres. The donors will pay for the site plan. The only cost to the commission will be a legal review of the easement. A general discussion by members ensued on the process the commission has previously used for legal review of easement documents. It was suggested the commission may like to have a second legal opinion in the future.
   2. M4, L15 John Ulricson easement
      -- This is a nine acre parcel located on Jennison Road with approximately 1200 feet of frontage on a scenic road. The donor is would like a real estate tax incentive for the easement. The commission is working with the Selectmen to find a way the potential easement will not adversely affect his property taxes. He has received a quote of $1200.00 for the site plan.

3. M56, L45 Foster Road -- Open Space Opportunity
   Diane has been in contact with Suresh Masand, owner of the property, as well as most of the town departments involved in the potential subdivision to determine the issues involved with this project. Mr. Masand has an appointment on October 20, 1998 with the Milford Planning Board for discussion of the proposed subdivision. Diane will attend the Planning Board meeting and continue to be active in pursuing this project.

4. Trail to Amherst
   Bob Walsh and Diane Fitzpatrick attended the Amherst Conservation Commission meeting on September 13,1998 to discuss a trail connection between Milford and Amherst. Bob Walsh reported to members that a trail is feasible but it would not be protected land and private landowners will have to be contacted for permission. Bob, on a walk through, viewed open forests, mountain laurel, beech, etc. and advised the commission that we should continue to pursue this project. Once the project is completed, Bob volunteered to mark the trail.

5. M43, L12 Smith Well Land
   Diane informed the members that discussions are still ongoing with Steve Desmarais who has proposed to swap the old railroad bed he owns for ¼ acre of Smith Well Land (Town owned). The railroad bed runs from Union Street (near the Rt. 101 by-pass) just west of Great Brook north to the Fletcher Granite Property, and is about 3000 feet by 33 feet. He needs a section of M43, L12 for green space for his intended project of erecting an office on his lot, M43,L13. Rodney DellaFelice questioned the possibility of putting restrictions on the piece of land the town would swap. It was agreed, that although the members are thinking favorably of the offer, it will be necessary to see the site plan and review the buffer requirements.

6. Curtis Wellhead Protection, John Biershenk "Milford GW Projection Project"
   The following report was forwarded to the commission by John regarding the meeting on September 23, 1998. "Pierce Rigrod gave an overview of the project objectives and went though a number of agenda items. I'm assuming he can provide a copy of the materials to the commission. Bill Overhill, an Amherst Selectman was present and will participate in the group, however, Amherst will not participate in any formal agreement. We exchanged e-mail addresses and plan to have a follow up meeting to form subcommittees of two people to work on specific items. We will have another meeting in early November."

7. Conservation Plan
   Diane reported that the review and update on the Conservation Plan are almost finished. Only the "Objectives & Goals" section needs updating. When completed, Judy Gross will proofread the finished proposed plan and then it will be distributed to the members for acceptance.

8. Hampshire Hills, Dredge & Fill Application File #96-2279 M48, L36,36-1,41,48,52
   On September 30, 1998, Diane and Hub Seward met with Rick Holder to discuss the letter forward to Mr. Holder by Margaret Foss of the Wetland Bureau. In the meeting, she confirmed the commission cannot recommend the project as specified in the last Site Plan. The members reviewed the areas involved and with a consensus of the members, it was determined if the building is narrowed and moved forward, parking allotted to the side with a foot bridge, it would be out of the wetlands. The building needs to be on level ground but the parking can be terraced south of the building. Of course, the parking issue is one that Mr. Holder has to decide. Other Conservation Commission and Wetland Bureau issues; the wetland under the stump dump needs to be restored or mitigated and the restoration of water flow to other areas disturbed by the start of the project. It was suggested that a letter be forwarded to Mr. Holder, with a copy to Margaret Foss, addressing the commission's recommendations. Hub suggested that our letter address all the points in Margaret Foss's letter to Mr. Holder; minimize wetland impact, mitigate disturbances, and restore water flow to previous flow patterns. Basically, the commission is not sure where the water went before the start of the project, but now it is being dumped in only one area. Diane will draft a letter to Mr. Holder.

9. Rodney DellaFelice Progress Report -- Estate Planning Workshop November 11, 1998
   Milford Town Hall, Banquet Room- 7:15 P.M. Speakers, Colleen O'Connel, Esq., Rolf Goodwin, Esq.
   Rodney prepared an invitation pamphlet to be mailed to local land owners of ten acres of more. A copy of the pamphlet was passed out to all the members. He welcomed comments on the contents from the commission members. Those comments should be received by Monday evening, October 12th for the pamphlet needs to be completed by Wednesday,October 14, 1998. Rodney requested assistance from the members on the actual mailing. It was determined that Diane and Pat will handle the mailing. The Wilton and Mont Vernon Conservation Commissions were offered the opportunity to invite some of their land owners and timely mailing to the Wilton and Mont Vernon Conservation Commissions will be necessary for they in turn, need to do their mailings. Diane advised the members, that a Fact Sheet on Easements is being written and should be finished before the mailing. Shall we include this in the mailing? It could prove very helpful for those people that are unable to attend. It was agreed by members that this would be a good idea. Hub Seward suggested the mailing include an attendance reply request. Rodney and Hub will pursue the most effective method to be used for landowners to reply to the mailing.

   The Society was not able to help us on this seminar. The time frame was too short for them. This may prove to be good opportunity for the commission to reach out and seek local expertise that we can call on in the future for issues affecting our town.

   Rodney suggested that refreshments be available. Judy Gross volunteered to supply brownies and Diane will bring Cider.

10. Municipal Law Lecture -- "How to Prevent Sprawl"
    Judy Gross, one of the attendees, shared her handout with the members. She felt the lecture was very good and worthwhile. It described 23 steps for preventing sprawl and each of them is broken up into a layman's perspective and a legal perspective. It was emphasized at the lecture the importance of having guiding principles around your plan. The easiest way to develop a plan is to articulate what you do not want and then it is legally defensible. A copy of the lecture literature on "How to Prevent Sprawl" is available in the Conservation Commission's Office.

11. McLane Dam, Voted $1500 Expenditure
    Diane explained that a review of reserved expenditures determine that the Commission voted to expend $1500 on erosion control for the McLane Dam. The project was never done. At present, the commission is having a landscape architect review the McLane Dam land for a trail and we will ask the architect to look at the dam for needed erosion work and submit recommendations. The town is going to put in a fish ladder and if the commission needs work in the area, it should be scheduled then. The architect is from Nashua Regional Planning and when she submits her recommendations, the members will be advised and asked to either confirm the erosion control work (if necessary) or nullify the previous vote of moneys.

12. Tree Project, Voted $2000.00 Expenditure
    Diane brought the members up-to-date on the status of the Tree Fund Project. The Commission voted $2000.00 for trees for Shepard Park The order was placed in March with a nursery in Concord with the expectations that the trees would be put in early Spring. She called the nursery monthly and in August was informed that we were not yet on their delivery agenda and they did not know when they would be able to complete delivery. Diane then canceled the order and informed DPW and the Parks & Recreational Department of the cancellation. They were very willing to take on the project. The status of the Tree Project at this time is that the Commission voted $2000.00 for trees for Shepard Park and the DPW and the Parks & Recreation Department can order what they want, put them where they want and send us an invoice for up to $2000.00 for trees.

    Chris Costantino questioned if the $2000.00 included the money for the High School's tree request. Diane responded that if the commission decided to fund that project, it will come out of next year's budget. Diane had just received another call from the High School and she advised them to put a plan together detailing their request for trees, where they would like them located, and a quote on the cost. The request and documentation should then be forwarded to the Conservation Commission to vote to fund part or all of it. If they would like it done in spring, it is necessary they submit their plan and quote in the fall.

13. UNH Student/Wetland Inventory
    Diane informed the commission that the UNH students are forging ahead. They are doing Great Brook (from Osgood Pond back) and Compressor Brook. Diane took them to the DPW Garage to do the wetland out in the back, the Smith Well Land and the wetland near the Trailer Park on Armory Road. She also has been calling some landowners for permission and every landowner contacted has been excited with the project and would like to be informed as to what they find. One of the landowners would like to be included in an inventory session.

14. Timbering Hitchiner Forest
    We have received the bids for timbering Hitchiner Forest. The high bidder is Hopkinton Forestry at $53,451.75. Our consulting forester (who did the management plan, marked the trees and will oversee the cut), Dan Reed, has worked with Hopkinton Forestry in the past and recommends we accept their bid. The bid will not be actual monies received as we must pay the forester. Access will be through the Badger Hill Development. Discussion ensued as to how the income could be expended. Diane has received a suggestion from Selectman Ricciardi. He would like to see a campground in Hitchiner Forest. The commission agreed this was a good idea and will keep it in mind. Diane will sign and forward the acceptance as the forester is eager to start.

15. Annual Meeting of the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions, November 7, 1998
    A survey of members determined a total of 5 members wishing to attend. The cost for each is $20.00.

    Upon a motion made by Chris Costantino, seconded by Bob Walsh, it was voted unanimously to authorize the expenditure of $100.00 for members to attend the Annual Meeting of the New Hampshire Association of Conservation Commissions.

16. Work Sessions
    Diane informed the members that Work Sessions will now be held in the downstairs meeting room as the locks have been changed in the DPW Meeting Room. The changing of locks is done periodically as a security precaution.

    At the next work session, the chairperson would like to focus on where we are going and what needs to be done, and how it is going to be done.

There being no further business to come before this public meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:30 PM.

The next Conservation Commission regular meeting will be held on Thursday, November 12, 1998 at 7:00 PM in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

1. MINUTES: Upon a motion made Hub Seward and seconded by Judy Gross, the minutes of the regular public meeting of October 8, 1998, and the public work session meeting of October 22, 1998 were accepted as presented.
2. UPDATE ON CONSERVATION EASEMENTS IN PROGRESS AND PROPOSED LAND SWAP Diane Fitzpatrick, Chairperson met with the Board of Selectmen on November 2, 1998 to request the support of the selectmen on the commission's desire to accept the following two conservation easements and land swap. The request for the support from the selectmen was well received.

   As she was unable to attend this meeting, she forwarded the following report.

   "If the two conservation easements are accepted, the Town will receive the development rights to the properties. The owners will continue to live on the land with all the rights of a property owner, except the right to subdivide the property or to place anything on the land not in keeping with the easement restrictions.

   1. M5, L15 John Ulricson -- nine acre parcel located on Jennison Road with approximately 1200 feet of frontage on a scenic road. T. F. Moran has been asked to do the site plan. There is an agreement on the draft language of the easement and the Nichols-Smith Conservation Land Trust of Hollis, N. H. will be asked to participate in the process and sign on as back up to the conservation commission. Once the easement has been mapped, the Nichols-Smith Trust will be asked to tour the property. The Town Council will review the conservation easement agreement at no charge to the conservation commission.
   2. M47, L15 Johnson, Tovar, Celia -- approximately a 65 acre parcel with a quarry encompassing about 2 acres. Meridian Land Services will be doing the site plan. There is an agreement on the draft language of the conservation easement agreement. The Town Council will review the conservation easement agreement at no charge to the conservation commission.
   3. Land Swap -- Steven Desmarais has offered to convey to the town through the conservation commission a section of abandoned rail bed (M43) for a small portion of town land known as the Old Smith Well Site (M43, L12). The Old Smith Well Site abuts Steve Desmarais property (M43, L13).
      He needs a section of M43, L12 to satisfy the "green space" requirement should he construct a business office on his property (M43, L13). The selectmen questioned if he would be putting building up on the swapped piece of town land? Diane responded "no" and confirmed that a 50' nondisturbance buffer would be requested on the wetlands. Two warrant articles need to pass to allow the swap of town land for the rail bed grade and the Selectmen were unanimous in support of the two warrant articles. Town council will review the language."

3. The warrant articles submitted for review:
   1. To see whether the Town will vote to rescind the action of the Town Meeting of 1951, Article 10, in which the property know as Smally Souhegan/Cutts land of 1 1/3 acres, M43, Lot 12, located at Union Street, was made subject to a permanent dedication to"....Purposes of the Milford Water Department and protection of the Town Water Supply . . . "in order to remove this limitation on the use that may be made of this property, it being determined by the Board of Selectmen that the purpose of this limitation no longer exists, so that the same may be utilized and a portion be disposed of in accordance with Article 2 (see below), or take any other action relative thereto.

   2. To see whether the Town will vote to authorize the Selectmen to enter into an agreement, on such terms as they deem advisable after consultation with the Milford Conservation Commission, in which the Town will convey fee ownership of a portion of M43, L12, to Steven Desmarais to be combined with M43, L13 for green space and limited parking, in even exchange for the fee ownership to be conveyed to the Town of the railroad grade, 33' by approximately 3000,' beginning at Union Street west of and adjacent to M43, L12, running in a northerly direction terminating at the granite yard, M43, L38 and to further authorize the said Selectmen to execute any and all documents necessary to carry out the conveyance(s) referred to, or to take other action relative thereto.

4. Sludge Committee Progress Report -- Dick Medlyn
   The members of the Sludge Committee are:
   Lee Mayhew, Douglas Starr, Celeste Barr, William Fitzpatrick, Kevin Lynch, William Parker, Steve Hodges, Peter Leishman, Richard Medlyn, William Burdett.
   Celeste Barr is working on combining and condensing federal regulations, state regulations, the new state regulations as well as other adjoining state regulations to come up with the Town of Milord's Toxicity Standards The committee itself has a positive approach being environmentally oriented with a primary concern for safety. Dick felt confidence that when the numbers are finalized, they will be realistic and manageable. Rodney questioned Dick as to the ultimate goal of the committee and the timetable. Dick responded, the committee wants to setup realistic standards to present to the Selectmen for adoption sometime after the first of the new year.

5. Preserving Family Land Seminar -- Attendees Comments Judy Gross commented that she thought all the speakers did an excellent job in presenting information in layman's terms. Rodney reviewed his preparation for this seminar. He had targeted large landowner to be in attendance in hopes, that it would encourage them to think about preserving their lands. Invitations had been forwarded to neighboring conservation commissions; an ad was put in the local newspaper and local government officials were invited.

   A general discussion of the timing of the Seminar was discussed by members. In particular, how much did the holiday effect attendance? Many people took the holiday to have a long weekend. To increase participation at our seminars, Judy Gross suggested that the commission might consider sending brightly colored postcards. Not only are they cost effective, but very noticeable when mail is handled and delivered.

   Rodney questioned the members on how we thank the speakers. The Seminar was free, is it appropriate to give them a gift certificate, or do we just write them a thank you letter. Hub Seward suggested that they were doing a public service in providing information and not adverse to securing some new clients. A thank you letter will be sent to each speaker.

   Generally, it was agreed that it was a very informative and well-planned gathering.

6. M56,L45 Foster Road -- Open Space Opportunity Update Rodney was at the last Planning Board Meeting and it was agreed by the board that they would take a site walk with Earl Sandford of Sandford Surveying & Engineering on November 7, at 9:00 A.M. Due to unforeseen circumstance, Mr. Sandford had to cancel on that date. The site walk has been rescheduled for December 5th at 10:00 A.M. However, we have gotten permission from Mr. Masand that any conservation member may walk the property. There are still many issues pending and Diane has suggested to Mr. Masand not to expended further investment monies until all the issues are resolved.

   Dick Medlyn asked if the commission should include this in the Land Fund Warrant Article presentation and if a work session is held, it should be added to the agenda. Hub questioned whether the members might consider a an offer of sale to the town by Mr. Masand of the piece of property where the cellar hole is located, which is a small portion of the total lot. If the commission felt that purchase was advisable, the commission could recommend the purchase without regard to any development plans. Pierce questioned the number of homes that are planned for the site for it seemed impractical. He stated this may be a new issue for the town that will give weight to the precedent it may establish; paying for open space and the decision on the road question. Pierce questioned if the conservation commission will want to pay Mr. Masand to keep a good portion of his land as open space that is approximately ½ of it. What is the compelling reason to pay for this particular piece of land? Before proceeding on this project, it was the consensus of the commission that we would like to ask for advice from the Planning Board.

7. New Zoning Committee Pierce Rigrod passed out copies of the Town of Brookline Subdivision Regulations. They were designed with provisions for open space. The subdivision regulations basically look at the size of the lot and the total acreage. If there are 25 acres or greater, there must be an open space concept plan or alternative. In the town of Hollis, the size of the lot denotes whether it is a major subdivision. All major subdivisions presented to the Planning Board in the town of Hollis must be according to the Hollis Open Space Plan Development Standard. This is part of their Zoning Ordinance. They require that a subdivision that has five or more lots must come under this subdivision plan. The difference between the two open space plans is that one comes under the Planning board with either one or a series of public hearings and usually publicly supported. The Zoning Board approach encompasses one hearing where it is voted up or down.

   Rodney suggested that this should be discussed at the next public work session or next regular public meeting. The Town Master Plan has recommended a new zoning district be formed with open space and conservation as its purpose. As reported by Diane Fitzpatrick, the Planning Board favors the idea but does not have the time to address it this coming year but would consider a joint committee (Planning Board/Conservation Commission) to address the issues. The commission will need one or two commission members who have the time, commitment and enthusiasm to join this group. There are also several regulatory issues that will need to be address this coming year primarily, the wetlands regulations.

   Pierce noted one of the issues the commission may wish to review on this topic, is when do these ordinances apply. When does the Planning Board know to apply the Open Space requirements. Will it be lot size requirement, number of lots, and what will be the density requirements.

   This will be put on the agenda for the December public meeting.

8. Trail Committee -- New Item Diane has proposed the question "shall we form a trail committee"? She reiterated that the trail system needs to be handled on an ongoing basis. There is more blazing that needs to be done, small directional signs to be considered, downtown trails that need maps, signs and promotion. The commission has citizen names on file that have offered their help with trail work; lists of groups (Boy Scouts, Church Groups) that may wish to become active again. These volunteers need to be organized. Trails could be almost a full time job. Two local members of Trail Wrights Inc. may be willing to work under our direction and take over this project. They are Don and Pauline Boggis who are participating in the Keeping Track project. Ideally, a small group of citizen volunteers, (2 or 3), approved by the commission could do this work. Hub Seward agreed that Diane's proposal could be an ideal answer to ongoing trail work. It would be the commission job to identify, coordinate and oversee the projects. We should also contact groups that previously signed up to do trail work but have not been active, such as the Boy Scouts and church groups, and see if they are still interested.

9. Nature Conservancy Dues Our due for the year for the national chapter is $25.00 and they are requesting we include an additional $10.00 for the local N. H. Chapter. A motion was put to member to authorize the expenditure of $35.00 from the Operating Fund. The motion was amended by Judy Gross to authorize the expenditure of $25.00 for the national chapter and $25.00 for the N. H. Chapter, a total $50.00 to be sent for dues. Pierce Rigrod seconded the amendment. The commission voted to expended $50.00 and the amendment to the motion was passed.

10. SPNHF Plaque The Town of Milford has received a plaque from the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. After discussion, it was recommended that the plaque be presented to the Selectmen to display appropriately. Upon a motion by Richard Medlyn seconded by Judy Gross, Diane Fitzpatrick was chosen to present the plaque to the Selectmen Monday, November 16, 1998.

11. Town Land, M56, L69 Brookline Town Line, South of Foster Road This property was on the list of Town Owned Land submitted by the Selectmen to be considered for conservation land. On Wednesday, November 4, 1998, a member of the Milford Conservation Commission toured the land with the aid of an abutter, Miles Garrod of Echo Road. Scab Mill Brook flows through the property. There is extensive wetland areas, a mix of hard and soft woods and a variety of habitat for wildlife.

    Upon a motion by Richard Medlyn, seconded by Judy Gross, the commission authorized Diane Fitzpatrick to request the Board of Selectmen to vote to place, under RSA 36A:4, the property known as M56, L69 under the control and protection of the Milford Conservation Commission for the purposes of preserving the land in its natural state for the benefit of all residents in the Town of Milford.

12. Presentation of Warrant Article to Selectmen and Budget Committee What and how to present to the Selectmen and the Budget Committee was generally discussed with specifics delayed until the next work session. The commission at this time does not have any work sessions scheduled for November or December. This issue may require a special work session to be scheduled in November.

    Dick Medlyn submitted the following draft of a Warrant Article for the Land Fund to committee members.

    "To see if the Town will vote to raise and appropriate the sum of $40,000 (Forty Thousand dollars) to be added to the established "Conservation Land Fund" created in accordance with RSA 36-A, said fund together with any future additions to the sum to be allowed to accumulate from year to year and be available for the acquisition of property, conservation easements and other RSA conservation purposes as the Town may direct in accordance with the provisions of RSA 36-A, or take any other action relative thereto."

    Rodney suggested that the members formulate a presentation that is a short and focused considering the priority and pressures on the Selectmen and the Budget Committee.

There being no further business to come before this public meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:03 P.M.

The next Conservation Commission regular public meeting will be held Thursday, December 10, 1998 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in the Town Hall.

APPOINTMENT -WETLAND INVENTORY REPORT - PRESENTATION BY SENIOR PROJECT GROUP, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE -

The report encompassed three months of ongoing assessment of wetland sites in Milford by the students.

The following sites were assigned:

• Site #10 - Great Brook Wetland
• Site #11 - Ox Brook Osgood Road Wetland
• Site #12 - Ox Brook Armory Road Wetland
• Site #13 - Ox Brook Annand Street Wetland
• Site #14 - Ox Brook Quarry Wetland
• Site #15 - Ox Brook Route 13 Wetland
• Site #16 - Ox Brook Melendy Road/Old Railroad Bed Wetland
• Site #17 - Ox Brook Colburn Road/PSNH Wetland

Each group member, visually with slides and maps, reported their activities and evaluation of the above sites using the New Hampshire Method for Comparative Evaluations of Non-Tidal Wetlands. The results obtained from this study determined that three of the above wetlands ranked high by the above method but are also the ones in most need of protection. They are #13, #15, and #16.

During the general discussion that followed the presentation, Richard Medlyn suggested as this is a continuing study, it might be wise to pull one of the wetlands assessed from last year's report and analyze it in the current year without looking at any of the former data to see how the two study groups compare in overall analysis. It was noted by the supervisor of the study group, Paul Johnson, that there will always be a modem of subjectivity in groups, particularly in noteworthy value; but this is an interesting sidebar to the ongoing study.

The complete report and slides of the sites submitted by the Senior Study Project Group is on file in the Conservation Commission Office and available to interested parties. Diane noted that the stream the USGS Map identified as Ox Brook is know locally as Compressor Brook.

1. MINUTES: Upon a motion made by Hub Seward and seconded by Richard Medlyn, the minutes of the regular public meeting of November 12, 1998 were accepted with the following addition:

   Line #146 add sentence - We should also contact groups previously signed up for trail work, even though they have not been active lately, such as the Boy Scouts and church groups.

   All the members of the Commission were polled and it was voted unanimously in the affirmative to accept the minutes.

2. UPDATE MEETING WITH SELECTMEN & BUDGET COMMITTEE
   Diane Fitzpatrick informed commission members of the status of our proposed 1999 Operating Budget and Warrant Article requesting money for our Land Fund.

   Selectmen's Meeting - Diane had encountered a bit of confusion on the date and time of the meeting but eventually was able to meet with the Selectmen and had our budget reviewed. The 1999 proposed Operating Budget and the Assistant Wage request was below the total appropriated in 1998 even though line items in the Operating Budget were slightly higher. The Assistant Wage budget request was for $8892.00 for 1999 reflecting the same total hours as last year but at a different wage scale. The Assistant Wage budget for 1998 was $10,968.00. After a general discussion, the Selectmen accepted the proposed 1999 Operating Budget .

   Our proposed Warrant Article requesting $40,000 to be appropriated and added to the Conservation Land Fund did not meet with the approval of the Selectmen. They cannot support our request as they are trying to curtail all money requests exceeding level funding in anticipation of an increase in the tax rate due to the proposed new school.

   Budget Committee Meeting - After the meeting with the Selectmen, Diane was on her way to the Conservation Office when she encountered the Budget Committee. They were kind enough at that time, to review our proposed 1999 Operating Budget . They did not accept our Operating Budget as presented. They felt that the proposed $1000.00 for the Tree Fund was not acceptable and the intent could be accomplished effectively in another way. They suggested the Operating Budget should be reduced $1000.00. All other items met with approval as they were expenditures to keep the Conservation Commission current and working effectively.

   Voters' Guide - Rodney Dellafelice questioned if we were going to be able to address the voters to explain our Warrant Article in the Voters Guide. In response, Diane circulated copies of the wording in the Voters Guide for 1998 and her proposed wording for the 1999 Voters Guide. Diane has proposed that the explanation for our Warrant Article in the Voters Guide read as follows:

   Explanation: This article requests funds to be placed in the Town's Conservation Land Fund. These funds can be expended by the Conservation Commission, after permission of the Selectmen and a public hearing, for the purchase of land, development rights or for other land conservation purposes.

   She solicited the commission's approval to submit the new wording to Lee for consideration.

   Judy Gross thought the proposed wording clarified the commissions position very well. Richard Medlyn questioned when Diane was to present it to the Town Administrator for he wanted to accompany her. They will meet to set a time after the meeting.

   Discussions then turned to where our Warrant Article is going to be addressed in the overall Warrant. Diane responded that our Warrant Articles for the Desmarais Land Swap and Conservation Land Fund moneys were articles #8, 9, and 10 and the entire Warrant contains 23 articles. Hub Seward reminded members that at the beginning of the Deliberative Session, there is a certain amount of discussion to bring certain warrant articles before the meeting out of sequence.

3. UPDATE --MEETING WITH TOWN COUNSEL - IN PROCESS CONSERVATION EASEMENTS:

   Diane Fitzpatrick and Hub Seward met with Bill Drescher on the two proposed conservation easement deeds, M5, L15 John Ulricson and M47, L15 Johnson, Tovar, Celia. Town Counsel is reviewing the wording in both proposed easements and when the wording is legally acceptable, they will be forwarded to the commission. Diane informed members that it is just about time for the site plans. On the Johnson easement, they are going to pay for the site plan. Mr. Ulricson has received a quotation for the site plan. He wants to donate the conservation easement on most of his property but he does not want to spend money to do so.

   He is willing to share half of timbering proceeds on his land whenever it is done. Hub questioned Diane if this meant one half of the timbering proceeds forever. Diane responded she thought this was the intention but if there is a cutting, he does not want the view to change from the road. Rodney questioned if the proceeds, would be to the Conservation Commission. Diane responded it would come to the Commission.

   In summary, Diane informed the commission that the quote on the Ulricson property for a precise boundary survey of the property is $3200.00 without boundary markers to delineate the easement and would like a vote by the commission to cover the cost. Discussion ensued as to the need for easement boundary markers and if it would be more economical for the surveyor to install the easement markers. Diane responded that if the Commission wishes markers to define the easement, the cost will be the responsibility of the Conservation Commission. Rodney questioned Diane if there is any way that Mr. Ulricson can back out of the easement at the last minute or are we setting it up so he cannot back out. Diane responded that he can back out, but he will not be reimbursed for the survey until we have the signed easement papers. Mr. Ulricson has submitted a handwritten note that states " the only known costs associated with this agreement are believed to be the survey which delineates portions of the property. This is expected to be approximately $1200.00 ( Meridian quote, they were not aware there wasn't a property survey) which will be paid by the grantor who will be reimbursed upon registering". Diane polled the members if they wanted to wait for the final costs or vote at this meeting to cover the survey expenses which will come out of the Conservation Land Fund.

   At this time, Hub Seward made a motion to pay $3200.00 for the survey and if easement bounds are necessary, they will be the financial responsibility of the commission. Richard Medlyn seconded the motion and other members polled unanimously agreed in the affirmative.

4. UPDATE ON PENDING LAND ISSUES:
   1. Steven Desmarais conveyance to the town through the Conservation Commission of the abandoned Rail Bed (M43) for a small portion of town land known as the Old Smith Well Site (M43, L12); the Old Smith Well Site abuts Steven Desmarais property (M43, L13) and he needs a section of M43, L12 to satisfy the "green space" requirement to construct a business office on his property (M43, L13). Diane informed members that the language in the Warrant Articles for the land swap for Steven Desmarais was review by the Town Counsel and approved. Also, there is an error in the size description of the Rail Bed. The Rail Bed is a 66 foot wide property and the warrant article reads 33 feet wide. The proposed article will be updated by Diane.

   2. M56, L45 Foster Road - Diane Fitzpatrick accompanied the Planning Board on a site walk. The Master Plan Committee recommended an open space ordinance be considered for inclusion in the town's regulations and all the issues this property presents should be considered at that time.

   3. M56, L69 Brookline Town Line Land, South of Foster Road Approximately 10 Acres Diane Fitzpatrick met with the Selectmen to request they put this piece of land under the control of the Conservation Commission and received their approval. Even though this piece of land is now landlocked, there is the hope that updated subdivision regulations will provide access.

   4. M43, L10, 11 Steven Desmarais - These are two pieces of land belonging to Steve Desmarais that he wishes to donate to the town by the end of the year. The two lots have been used as a gravel pit and the only access is the Rail Bed (M43). He will not be donating any access. Diane needs to make a presentation to the Selectmen for acceptance and would like the approval of the Commission members before the meeting. Bob Walsh questioned if Steve was donating this land to the town. Diane responded that he wishes to donate it to the Conservation Commission, the town would own it, but he is going to add a the deed a restriction that the land be used for conservation or recreational use. Bob Walsh then suggested the presentation to the Selectmen should reflect the proximity of this land to the downtown area and emphasized it could be a staging area for educational projects. Commission members agreed to the presentation to the Selectmen.

5. ANTIOCH COLLEGE PRACTICUM PROJECT:
   Discussion was postponed to the next scheduled meeting by the Chairperson due to time constraints..

6. CONSERVATION PLAN - FINAL DRAFT:
   There is a red folder on the Conservation Office Desk containing the draft of the updated Conservation Plan. Diane has received Judy Gross and Hub Seward edits and wishes all other members to review it and forward any suggestions to Diane. The plan is an important document for it provides the commission with its guidelines.

7. MILFORD CONSERVATION COMMISSION BROCHURE:
   Diane Fitzpatrick expressed the hope that the brochure will be finalized and available at the Town Meeting and requested members to review and recommend formatting or language changes. The picture on the front will be changed to a piece of Conservation Land. Diane will welcome any comments from members .

8. DISPLAY AT DELIBERATIVE SESSION, VOTING DAY:
   Diane addressed the possibility that we might want a display or table at the meetings coming up. Discussion from the members confirmed that we should have an information table at the Deliberative Session and Voting Day. The table would have brochures, fact sheets and trail maps. The Chairperson asked for help on the project and Judy Gross volunteered to help with the display.

9. SPECIAL COMMITTEES:
   1. Wetland Inventory Report - The Planning Board is planning on reviewing zoning and site regulations in an effort to come up with a comprehensive set of regulations. They would like the Conservation Commission to recommend a new zoning district to be formed with open space and conservation as its purpose and be included in the town's regulations. When our committee is formed, a member of the Planning Board will be assigned to the committee. Pierce Rigord has volunteered for this committee. The committee will start its work in January of 1999. Diane requested any other members interested to contact her before January 3, 1999.

   2. Wetlands Ordinance Committee- Diane requested members involvement in reviewing the Wetland Ordinances and the internal policies documented in our Red Binder. They need to be reviewed periodically to determine if they are still applicable. It would be just a review, many things will not need to be changed and it could be done at a members leisure. After the review, the committee would bring suggestions to the members. Hub Seward volunteered for the review and Dick Medlyn expressed an interest, but was reluctant at this time to commit. He will be able to do so after the first of the year and will so inform the committee.

10. UPDATES - CURRENT ISSUES
    1. Estate Planning Workshop November 1998 Diane informed members that after the invitation letters were sent to land owners, we received a letter from Edna Nye, who is currently in Florida, requesting information on conservation land. She has property that abuts Hitchiner Forest. She was forwarded all the material available at the workshop with a letter that we will contact her when she returns from Florida.

    2. School Site - Hitchiner vs Brox Site Hub Seward and Diane Fitzpatrick were at the School Board's public hearing and felt that the Board was heavily leaning toward the Brox Site. The School Board started reviewing 25 sites and then narrowed it to 8 and then 3. Their goal is to find a site to build a new 600 student school. The Warrant Article they are presenting this year is to build a 600 student school with expansion possibilities for the next 20 or 30 years.

    3. Conservation Office - Reorganization The Assistant has set up black three ring binders to hold all current board meetings, the Conservation Commission minutes, Financial Records, current Publications and Fact Sheets on Conservation Commission Issues. In process at the present time, files are being labeled by Map and Lot numbers with the owners name as secondary reference. To aid in file retrieval, if the Map and Lot is not known, there is an index sheet and a card file with owners name in Alpha order. All of our files are now in the Conservation Office downstairs for easy retrieval and review.

Monthly Financial Statement and copies of the submitted budget for 1999 were distributed to members.

There being no further business to come before this meeting, the meeting was adjourned at 9:22 P.M. on a motion by Rodney DellaFelice and seconded by Judy Gross, with all members being polled and voting in the affirmative.

The next public meeting of the Conservation Commission will be on January 14, 1999 at 7:00 P.M. in the Selectmen Meeting Room in the Town Hall.