Dublin Conservation Commission
Minutes
Wednesday, 12-May, 2010
In attendance: Jack Lewis (Chair), Sterling Abram, Jerry Branch, Sue Yarger, Karen Bunch, Rusty Bastedo, Louisa Birch and Suzan Macy
The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m.
The April 2010 minutes were accepted without edits.
Update on Lake Host Funding: We were informed that the Badger Monadnock Fund of the NH Charitable Foundation $500 grant cannot be used in place of our hard cash pledge made when we applied; it’s just for expansion of the program, not to supplement the program. $500 must be submitted prior to the start of the lake host inspections. The Beech Hill-Dublin Lake Watershed Association has generously agreed to pay the initial $500 to the NHLA. Jack Lewis, Bill Goodwin and Karen Bunch have decided to use the Badger funds to expand the program this summer by providing paid training and hiring one or two young men from Conval who recently came recommended to them through the intern program at the high school. The days they will work has yet to be determined, but it could help
out when Kelsey Nyland and Maggie Murphy are unavailable and also would give us more possibilities for hiring for next summer. We also plan to expand the number of days to be covered, probably to include Labor Day weekend.
Karen brought in an article on Zebra Mussels, an invasive non-native shellfish that is moving ever closer to New Hampshire. It might be something that we ask the Lake Host Volunteers to check on.
Dublin Lake Preservation Committee: The group did not meet in April; the next meeting is planned for 27-May.
Volunteer Lake Assessment Program: The annual report for 2009, including graphs, observations and recommendations is now posted on the NH Department of Environmental Services website.
Howe Reservoir Water Testing: Nancy Markuson will attend VLAP (Volunteer Lake Assessment Program) training on 15-May; while there she intends to schedule her first session with the VLAP coordinator and will keep Karen Bunch appraised of her progress.
NH Lakes Association: Karen Bunch plans to attend the upcoming NH Lakes Congress on 25-June in Holderness. Early registration (by 11-June) for DCC members is $35. More information can be found at the NH Lakes Congress website.
2010 Dam Inspections: The Dublin Lake dam level control is an ongoing concern. Karen Bunch heard from a few people that the Dublin Lake water level was very high in early spring and some are worried that the Women’s Club beachfront might be affected; also there has been damage to some personal docks due to the high water. How best to monitor the water level was discussed with suggestions from painted rocks to painted/planted poles as an option and then we need to determine how to raise or lower the dam to adjust the level. A NH Dam Inspector, will be coming to inspect the dam at Mud Pond in the near future. While here, we will ask him if he knows someone that can help with Dublin Lake dam. Jack Lewis will send a note out to DCC as to when the
inspector is coming so that as many as possible can participate.
It was suggested that we look into global information for the past 15-20 years to see if we can learn from the trends. Sterling Abram looked into this some time ago but couldn’t find anything for the past 10 years; only averages are noted. Karen Bunch said that she found a lot of good information on the Farmer’s Almanac and Rusty Bastedo added that Marilyn Soper, head of the Keene NH Historical Society, might be a good source of information. The DES website to VLAP also has all kinds of information.
High water is not our only concern as we discovered that low water allows for more plants (including invasive species) to grow. The lake level, high winds and winter ice blocks all have a huge effect on the shoreline.
Sterling agreed to check on how we can find more information.
Monitoring of Forest Society (and other) easements: Jack plans to schedule a monitoring of the Spencer and Edlekind easements and will send an email out to DCC members for participation. Sue also agreed to send out a note regarding the LCIP easement properties, in Dublin. Sue attended an easement monitoring refresher course, given by the Monadnock Conservancy, and reminded everyone not to monitor properties alone but to make sure that they have someone with them at all times. Also helpful to bring along are a cell phone, compass, map (of the property boundaries) and bug spray.
Using Old Troy Road property for ditching: Sterling gave some background on the topic. As roadside ditches are cleared of debris (mostly from unpaved roads), the ditchings are dumped alongside other roadways, which sometimes, attracts others to dump their household trash at the same site. As it’s unclear as to how much phosphorus matter is in the debris, we need to be careful as to how close to our waterways that it is deposited. Sterling’s suggestion is to have Brian use a Dublin-owned property on Old Troy Road for the ditchings and to, over time, level and perhaps use it as farmed agriculture land (maybe to support wildlife). It might take several years to build up an acre of ditchings and we need to evaluate a suitable place to accommodate it, as it needs to be
out-of-sight of the roadway so that it does not attract household dumping. Brian would also be asked to level out the ditchings with every dumping. A detailed document outlining intent and process needs to be written and agreed upon with Brian. DCC will meet at the Dublin Golf Course and will carpool to walk the property on Sunday, 16-May, at 1:00 p.m.
Japanese Knotweed clearing at Bonds Corner: Sue spoke with Jeff Taylor, from Vegetation Control Services, Inc. She learned that there are strict limits to the amount of herbicide that’s applied to a given area and if we were to inject the needed amount into each stem of a good-sized field of Japanese Knotweed (2 milliliters), we’d exceed the maximum fairly quickly. Jeff suggested that we stick with spraying the knotweed with a regulated herbicide, under his supervision (or have him do it for us). If VCS purchases the herbicide for us, we would only be charged for the amount that was used (and then we would not be responsible for storage, etc.). Jeff’s time is charged at $100 per hour (plus herbicide) if he completes the job himself. Sue will find
if his time is different if he supervises us applying the herbicide. Jeff indicated that he will be attending a Pesticide Board Meeting where some State regulations might be changed which may affect how we deal with invasive plants. He had not contacted Sue prior to this meeting to tell her of any new findings. Sue will reach out to him prior to our next meeting and will suggest that Jeff comes up to Dublin to survey the affected areas, especially Bonds Corner. It was decided to cut the knotweed at Bonds Corner until we are able to spray it. We’ll meet on Wednesday, 26-May at 9:30 a.m. Bring bug spray and loppers. Sue will provide a truck and trailer to haul the cut stalks to the Transfer Station to burn.
Discussion on responses to conservation articles in Advocate: There were none.
Volunteers for clearing trail from Blackberry Lane to MacVeagh Road through Brewster Forest: Jack asked for volunteers to help clear the trail and those who can, will meet on Friday, 4-June at 1:30 p.m. Bring bug spray and loppers (and chain saws, if you have them).
Feedback on Seminars by attendees: Sue attended an easement monitoring refresher course, given by the Monadnock Conservancy and noted a few things to stay safe while members are out monitoring easement properties: never go out alone, bring a cell phone, compass, snacks, water and dress ready for a change in the weather.
Other Business: Jack mentioned that the DCC are members of 5 associations: The Forest Society, NH Conservation Commission, Monadnock Conservancy, NH Lake Association, and NH Preservation Alliance. A vote was taken as to whether or not to continue our membership for each association; in each case it was wholeheartedly determined to stay the course and renew DCC’s membership.
Karen mentioned that, in talking with Bill Raymond, Town Administrator, that we can and should add to the DCC page on the Dublin website. We should all check the site periodically and add articles, etc. as we see a need.
DCC have been invited to attend the Planning Board meeting scheduled for Thursday, 20-May at 7:00 p.m. to discuss current regulations and ordinances. All those who wish so are encouraged to attend.
Jerry suggested that we all try to be efficient and come prepared to our DCC meetings with an outline (or more) of the agenda topics that we are responsible for. We should send our notes/outline to the secretary so that they are better prepared. We agreed to try, but will not promise to being able to meet these high expectations.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Sue Yarger
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