Bradford Conservation Commission Secretary’s Report
May 21, 2019, 7pm at Brown Memorial Library
Present: George Beaton, Seth Benowitz, J Ann Eldridge, Meg Fearnley, Patty Furness, Scott MacLean, Brooks McCandlish, and Doug Southard.
Appearance: Jason Allen, Bradford Select Board member, was included in a review of the draft recommendations on Class VI roads. Issues addressed included emergency access, ATV trails, mud season closures, heavy equipment utilization, road repair and maintenance, and multi-use signage. Meg made a motion for acceptance of the revisions in the final draft, seconded by Seth and approved unanimously. Doug will send a copy of the revised draft to Steve Hall, and present it to the Select Board at their next meeting. Also reviewed was the draft statutory mission of the BCC in which revisions were made and approved. This will be presented to the Select Board also.
Secretary’s Draft Report: The draft minutes of 4/16/2019 were reviewed. A motion was made by Meg to accept the report, seconded by George and unanimously approved.
Treasurer’s Report: Meg stated that the Forest Maintenance CD was renewed, and there was $10.47 interest earned on accounts. A motion was made by Seth to accept the report, seconded by Scott and unanimously approved.
Fitness Building Public Hearing: There will be a hearing before the ZBA on Wednesday, June 5 regarding a proposed plan for building use as a landscape and pet business establishment. Comments were requested.
Warner River Local Advisory Committee: Scott reported that Mike Tardiff, representing the Central NH Regional Planning Commission, attended the April 2019 meeting. Discussion included the Warner River Corridor Management Plan and the Volunteer River Assessment Plan (VRAP). The committee requested that participating towns contribute to copier fees, and a proposal was made by Brooks that a portion of the BCC budget be dedicated to such fees. However, an amount is needed.
State Senate: Several bills regarding ATV usage on public roads were considered. There were amendments made, and four of these bills were passed, two tabled.
Ausbon Sargent Landowner Workshop: There will be a landowner workshop on Thursday September 12, from 7-8:30 pm at Brown Memorial Library. The focus will be on the south center of Bradford. A current landowner spreadsheet has been assembled, and Ann requested that BCC members review this, and create a list of landowners to contact for possible involvement in the conservation options workshop. Discussion will occur at the June BCC meeting.
Ausbon Sargent Easement Land Monitoring Workshop: An easement land monitoring workshop will be presented on Wednesday June 5 from 2-5pm at the ASLPT headquarters in New London.
BioBlitz: Ann has submitted a grant application for this biological surveying of the Bradford Bog in the fall of 2019. The Rural Heritage Committee may assist.
BCC 50th Anniversary: Commemoration of this memorable anniversary will include an article in The Bridge and Intertown Record.
Forest Street Beaver Deceiver: Skip Lisle will be contacted again regarding the problems at this site.
Warner River Water Quality: There is a muddy discharge from a culvert pipe into the Warner River east of Breezy Hill Road. Bruce Edwards has investigated and forwarded his findings to the DES.
With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:55pm. The next meeting will be held in Tuesday June 18, 2019, 7pm at Brown Memorial Library.
Respectfully submitted,
Patty Furness, Secretary