Conservation Commission Minutes 6/24/20

Stratham Conservation Commission
Meeting Minutes
Public Session
June 24, 2020

Conservation Commission Members Present: Bill McCarthy, Bill Kenny, Ana Egana, Pat Elwell, Brad Jones, Allison Knab, Dan McAuliffe, Tim Copeland

Meeting Called to order @ 7:06 PM
7:50 PM

Ana Egana moved to enter Non-Public Session to discuss real estate options, Allison Knab second – motion passed unanimously.

7:35 PM
Allison Knab moved to exit Non-Public Session and seal the minutes, Pat Elwell second – motion passed unanimously.

CC minutes:
20-May-2020 Public and Non-Public: Ana Egana moved to approve as written; Pat Elwell second – motion passed unanimously.

Review of Natural Resources Inventory (NRI):

            Pat Ewell performed an exhaustive comparison of the New NRI to that the 2011 NRI and found the following:

P. 1 paragraph 3 states this NRI was “developed in conjunction with 2019 MP, was created….”.  This was not created because of the MP, the Rockingham County Planning Commission the NRI together in 2011

P. 4 Table 2 The numbers quoted in the chart are hard to believe since they have only changed microscopically since the 2005 chart. For example Ag Land 934 acres in 2005, 937 acres in 2015.

P. 11 Table 3  The Mill Pond and Peat Pond are gone

P. 13 Freshwater resources. Current Stratham and State setbacks should be included for easy reference – or at the very least give specific guidance as to where to find this information

P. 19 All definitions of wetlands in Chart #5 have been removed

P. 22  Not clear why only the active cemetery listed? Does the Heritage Commission have cemeteries under their purview?

PP. 24-25 Acres of land have changed.  Should the name of the Batchelder Farm be updated?

PP. 30-31 has invasive species info changed at all in 10 years? I think this is a critical component of the future of the CC – to help residents identify and deal with these!

PP. 38 Fish Species Table 15   Not  clear why this was changed/reduced?

PP. 45 Table 17 needs to be reviewed. Properties like Zarnowski, Scullers, Golf Club, AppleJack should be included

Last, ALL recommendations for protections that were in the 2011 NRI have been removed. This new document does not seem to refer back to the suggestions that were made in the 2019 MP. If it is to be a working document, it would be helpful to have them refer to each other for ease of use.

            Bill McCarthy will communicate the observations to Tavis Austin.

Resumption of meetings at the Municipal Center:

            The CC discussed whether to resume in person meetings at the Municipal Center. 

            The majority of the CC favored having the next meeting in person with a teleconference line open for those who would prefer not to attend in person.

Pat Elwell’s last CC meeting:
            The CC discussed a gift certificate for Pat for all of the years of service that she provided to Stratham.  Pat indicated that she was grateful but did not wish the CC to spend resources on the gift certificate. 

CC Facebook Page:
            Pat Elwell has been maintaining the CC Facebook page.  Bill McCarthy and Allison Knab both have administrative rights.  Pat stated that she would be happy to continue managing the page.

Old Business:
Snowhawk work on the trail management plan underway.  Allison Knab met with Lew Shelly at the park along with Edie Barker and Seth Hickey.

8:04 PM
Tim Copeland moved to adjourn, Pat Elwell Second– motion passed unanimously; Meeting adjourned

Next regular meeting scheduled for 7 PM on Wednesday, July 22nd at the Municipal Center and via teleconference.

Respectfully Submitted:
Ana Egana
Serving as Secretary