Bradford Conservation Commission
Secretary’s Minutes
July 17, 2018, 7pm at Brown Memorial Library
Present: George Beaton, Seth Benowitz, Nathanial Bruss, Ann Eldridge, Meg Fearnley, Patty Furness, Scott MacLean, and Brooks McCandlish. Also present Doug Southard.
Secretary’s Draft Report: The draft minutes for 6/19/18 were reviewed and amended as follows: ATV Usage on Class 6 Roads-The Selectmen declined to act on the Woodland ATV Club request. The amended draft minutes were accepted.
Treasurer’s Report: Meg presented the accounts report for January-May 2018. A motion was made by Seth to invest $50,000 from the Land Protection Fund in an 18 month CD. The motion carried, and Meg will talk to Marilyn Gordon about our desire to do this for higher interest earning.
Class 6 Road Monitoring: Doug Southard presented a proposal to create and organize an Adopt a Road Program as a means of enhancing the environmental quality and recreational value of Bradford Class 6 roads. Volunteers organized by the BCC would monitor assigned roads and report findings to the BCC for compilation, and summaries would be provided to the Select Board. Concerns in monitoring would include erosion, road obstructions, litter/dumping, recreational vehicle trail signage, and motorized/non-motorized activities. Reporting would be done in early spring, mid summer, and late fall. Discussion followed, and Brooks made a motion to accept Doug’s proposal and begin implementing. All were enthusiastically in favor. Ann presented a list of possible volunteers assigned to Class 6 roads in Bradford. Seth volunteered to create a reporting form for consistency, and function as the information collector and data compiler. The reporting form will be emailed to all volunteers, with a deadline of 8/15/18 to gather baseline data. Nathanial proposed presenting the baseline data to the Select Board in September. It was noted that this information could be added to the Friends of the Mink Hills project data collection on the impact of ATV usage on Class 6 roads for future use.
Warner Friends of the Mink Hills: There is a scheduled meeting on Monday July 30 at the Central Regional Planning Commission in Concord. Doug Southard has volunteered to attend.
Warner River Watershed Conservation Project: Trout Unlimited has mailed property owners with streams with possible Wild Brook Trout populations an invitation for free site visit and stream assessment including fish species present, water quality index, along with guidelines for maintaining and improving the health of the stream and surrounding riparian area. A public informational meeting will held Thursday July 19, 7pm at the Bradford Community Center. Patty has volunteered to attend as the BCC representative.
Beaver Deceiver: The grant money for the project has been sent to Skip Lisle, who will begin work on site at either the West Rd or Forest St location perhaps as soon as next week. Seth will ask Karen in the town office for a list of donors to the project so proper thank yous may be sent.
Rural Heritage Committee Rail Trail Bridge: The permit for bridge construction has been approved by DES for a Right of Way.
Bradford Gravel Pit Inspections: George reported that the Pleasant Valley Road gravel pit owned by Bruce Edwards has been inspected by the team made up of Planning Board members, Claire James and himself. Barry Wheeler’s gravel pit on Jones Rd will be inspected by the team on Wednesday July 25. George will attend.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:25. The next meeting will be held Tuesday August 21, 7pm at Brown Memorial Library.
Respectfully Submitted,
Patty Furness, Secretary