Meeting Minutes

Newbury Conservation Commission (NCC)

June 11, 2019

Approved July 9, 2019

Members Present: Katheryn Holmes, Chair; Eric Unger, Vice-chair. Russ Smith, Ex-officio.

Ms. Holmes called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

ADMINISTRATIVE

Minutes

There were no minutes for the Commissioners to review.   

INTENT TO CUT

Mr. Unger reviewed the following Intent to Cut applications:

Patrick Croft, 188 Morse Hill Road, Newbury, Tax Map/Lot #050-542-127.

Marion B. DeRoche, South Road, Newbury, Tax Map/Lot #035-251-252.

Donald E. Clifford, Mountain Road, Newbury, Tax Map/Lot #024-778-109.

BUFFER ZONE CUT

Mr. Unger reviewed the following Buffer Zone Cut applications:

David & Cindy Lapp, 103 Bay Point Road, Newbury. Mr. Unger noted that the three ash trees in question were in rough shape and were near a garage on the property. He also noted a large and dying oak tree on the property.

Peter & June Fichter, 71 Malia Place, Newbury. Ms. Holmes noted that the point system was met for this cut.

Harold LaValley, 87 Lakewood Manor Road, Newbury. It was noted that the application did not meet the point system requirement but the tree in question was close to the house and presented a dangerous situation.

James & Kathleen Fontaine, 68 Lake Avenue, Newbury. The cut application pertained to a large dying ash tree that was poised to come down on top of the cottages on the property.

NH DEPARTMENT of ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES (DES)

Ms. Holmes reviewed the following items from DES:

Great Island Realty Trust, Great Island, Newbury. Proposed Project: Install permanent dock with main section and "L" section; install a single seasonable boatlift and two seasonal PWC lifts. File # 2019-01530, Standard Dredge & Fill Application. Status: under technical review.

Landing Boat Club, Lake Avenue, Newbury, Proposed Project: Convert three fender pilings into three ice protection clusters in the existing locations for an increase of 6 square feet. This property does not have shoreline frontage, the dockage has been agreed to with respective shorefront owners. File # 2019-01528. Status: under technical review.

COMMUNICATIONS

Ms. Holmes shared with the NCC the following:

NH Lakes Association Lakes Congress. Ms. Holmes described the variety of informational offerings at the conference, including the information offered by Eric Eckl, Water Words That Work, a marketing firm devoted to helping non-profit groups achieve effective marketing to the public regarding water quality protection.

OLD BUSINESS

Ms. Holmes reviewed the following items:

NCC Workshops – Ms. Holmes suggested a summer NCC workshop featuring Charlie Hirschberg addressing the Chalk Pond Challenge. Also suggested was inviting Jay Obey from DES to give his PowerPoint presentation on watershed conservation.

Shoreland Restoration Amendment Draft Update – Ms. Holmes noted that Mr. Stewart and Ms. Whittemore will join her in finalizing the most current draft for submission to the Planning Board for its review at its June meeting. 

PRESENTATION

Ms. Holmes introduced John Magee, Certified Fisheries professional and Fish Habitat Biologist with the NH Fish & Game Department. Mr. Magee discussed Beck Brook and the perched culvert at the traffic circle on Route 103 in Newbury.

Highlights of his discussion included:

There are two culverts at the Route 103 traffic circle – a perched culvert upstream and a box culvert downstream. He shared photos of each.

Turtles and fish cannot navigate the flat part of a perched culvert – there isn’t enough water depth. Brook trout want to move around and spawn in small streams.

Fish surveys show brook trout and white sucker down stream from the culvert. Above the culvert are only brook trout and no other fish species.

The two culverts are acting like dams right now – and dams are bad for fish.

Suggested modifying the two culverts to build up the area with rocks so the water level is more consistent from the stream into the culvert, thus allowing the turtles and fish to navigate upstream. This would involve grade control and would fall und the DOT’s jurisdiction. The objective would be to back up the water enough for fish passage but not too much to interfere with the culvert capacity.

Both culverts are on the Aquatic Resource Mitigation (ARM) mapper survey.

Potential funding might include the Stream Passage improvement Program (SPIP), a DOT program.

Additional funding possibilities include reaching out to the businesses in the community, particularly to Vail and its operation at Mt. Sunapee.

Points to support funding requests include the impact on stormwater issues, stream crossing concerns, lake water quality, improving habitat for fish and turtles, and overall positive impact on Lake Sunapee.

Collaborative partners in a project might include DOT, LSPA, Town of Newbury, Vail, Natural & Cultural Resources, and Trout Unlimited.

It was noted that the Town approved the replacement of a culvert on Bay Point road with a bridge.

Mr. Magee agreed to shepherd this project towards the end of this year. He noted that a pre-proposal to ARM might be submitted by the end of April 2020 and a full proposal submitted by the end of August 2020.

There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Holmes called for a Motion to Adjourn.

Mr. Smith made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Unger seconded the motion. All in favor.

The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Meg Whittemore

Recording Secretary