= Town of Pelham, NH<= span style=3D'font-size:14.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt'>=

Pelham Conservation Commission<= /o:p>

6 Village Green

Pelham, NH <= st1:PostalCode w:st=3D"on">03076-3723

MEETING OF 12/12/07 = &nb= sp; APPROVED 03/12/08

Members Present: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Absent: Lisa Loosigian = &nb= sp; =

Paul Gagnon, Karen MacKay,

Paul Dadak, Glennie Edwards

<= /p>

Chairman Paul Gagnon brought the meeting to order at <= st1:time Hour=3D"19" Minute=3D"33" w:st=3D"on">7:33 p.m. Mr. Gagnon asked again if there we= re any persons watching this meeting that might be interested in joining the commission. We have a 7 member board and currently there are only 5 members. There are two positions open and we could use a couple of alternates. There is a volunteer application form available online under the Pel= ham Home Page.

NEW BUSINESS:

Map 41, Lots = 10-146, 247, 248 – MZL Realty, LLC – Bridge Street

This case is represented by Joe Maynard of Benchmark Engineering.

Mr. Maynard presented a conceptual plan. A site walk had been done about 3 = weeks ago. The site is currently 3 = lots of record, all about an acre in size. There is a Mobile station on one = end of the site and a building that is being reconstructed on the other end. Presently the site has no drainage= other than a small ditch between the two properties said Mr. Maynard. The drainage ditch takes drainage = from a 6” pipe that is located by the gas islands. The proposal is to increase the ret= ail space and to connect the Mobile station = to the reconstructed building that is currently taking place. There will be a 1500 s.f. dredge and fill between the lots.&nbs= p; The ditch will be filled in. Mr. Maynard said there will be a post-development WCD line established. There will be additional parking outside the WCD said Mr. Maynard. The southerly lot will have a dete= ntion pond treatment swale constructed to catch the run-off. There is also a second detention pond/treatment swale proposed directly behind the proposed building that wi= ll capture the roof run-off and a large portion of the existing run-off from t= he middle portion of the site where the gas pumps are and the existing paved area. It’s also propose= d to increase the parking which is currently packed gravel and in the WCD. The whole application is contingen= t upon going before the zoning board of adjustment to actually get a variance for = the additional building space and the parking-driveway. The trade off, said Mr. Maynard, i= s the drainage improvements. We are looking for the support of the Conservation Commission when we go before the ZBA said Mr. Maynard. There a= re 2 septic systems on the property that are within the WCD and are going to be removed and a new system will be constructed up along route 38 outside of t= he WCD and will meet state requirements, above water table and town requiremen= ts above the water table said Mr. Maynard.

Chairman Gagnon asked that Mr. Maynard show us the act= ual wetland impact. Mr. Maynard s= aid the wetland impact is 1,500 s.f. Half of the existing building, the= gas station, is in the WCD. Member Dadak asked Mr. Maynard about the possibility of a spill and whether it wou= ld go into the drain and into the wetlands.&n= bsp; Mr. Maynard said that the drain will stay and an oil-water separator catch basis will be installed (near the ditch) and go underneath the buildi= ng and drain into the detention pond at the rear of the building.

Chairman Gagnon said that there had been fill/gravel p= laced alongside route 38 many, many years ago, much of which was filling wetlands. He stated that alth= ough this project had impact on the wetlands, the plan was to reduce the impact through detention ponds and pre-treatment before it exited out. This parcel is one of the first th= ings that you see when you come into town and it is zoned commercial not residential. Mr. Maynard agre= ed with this statement.

PUBLIC INPUT: None

BACK TO BOARD:

Member MacKay says that her sticking point with this p= roject is not the ditch that is in between, but the addition to the gas station because the corner of the building is feet from the wetland so there isn’t anything that can be put there such as vegetation or buffer. She said she had raised that conce= rn on the site walk and suggested then that the building could be reconfigured so= as to not be in the WCD. Mr. May= nard said they are trying to minimize the dredge and fill and that it is a slab building rather than a foundation associated with it and even though that corner did get relatively close, the viability of how there going to be constructing this with the space that they have. They need to keep that store runni= ng while this project evolves. T= he refrigeration units will be constructed along the back of the store. Member Dadak asked about a fire la= ne at the back of the building. Mr. Maynard said the fire department told him they need to get to three sides of the building and there is no drive around the back.

Chairman Gagnon asked about the parking area to the no= rth that is in the WCD. He asked = if that were all paved or was it going to be graveled. Mr. Maynard said the proposal is t= o pave those spaces. Mr. Gagnon aske= d if pervious pavement might be considered.&nbs= p; Mr. Maynard said that you have to have a spot where the water can go= and it’s usually constructed with underground storage. With the high water table in this = area the use of pervious pavement is not practical said Mr. Maynard.

MOTION: = To send a positive recommendation to the ZBA and Planning Board to allow the construction of a commercial building in the WCD and parking in the WCD bec= ause it is offset by the improvement of the runoff and sewerage on the site and = the improvement of the sewerage treatment on the site and the improvement of the emergency protection (oil/gas separator).&= nbsp; We view the protection to the wetlands is offsetting the disruption = of the WCD. (Dadak/MacKay)

VOTE: 3-= 0-1 abstained (Member Edwards abstained)

Mr. Maynard would like to be on the agenda in January = to present information on the Tallant Road subdivision. Our January meeting will begin at = 7 p.m.

Map 24, Lots = 12-215 & 221 – Luke Hurley, Gove Environmental for George Jr., George III & John Harris, Ledge Road and Poplar Hill Road – Dredge & Fill Application for a 28-lot residential subdivision.

Mr. Hurley is looking for the Conservation Commission’s approval for his dredge and fills application even thoug= h we had not received the information 10 days prior to this meeting. If members felt comfortable with i= t, they could approve the application. There are four wetland impacts on this = site for a total of 2,882 sq.ft. = impact. Member MacKay and the chairman wal= ked the entire property, approximately 58 acres, at an earlier date with Mr. Hu= rley. There is an emergency access with = a gate to this parcel off of the cul-de-sac on Stonepost Road. The main artery through this develo= pment will be an extension of St= onepost Road and will connect onto Poplar Hill Road. Per the Planning Boards meeting, t= here will be no connectivity to Stonepost Road said Mr. Hurley. Chairman Gagnon asked if the booklet/application given to us this evening contained the layout of the ho= mes on the lots. The answer was n= o but they could be provided. Mr. G= agnon felt that if the layout of the lots could be seen that it would help in ide= ntifying the wetlands crossings, one being for a driveway. All the crossings will have a head= wall said Mr. Hurley.

Chairman Gagnon spoke of there being a parking spot of= f the gravel roadway that connects onto the present Stonepost Road to accommodate perso= ns who may wish to visit the open space area.&nbs= p; Mr. Hurley stated that is correct that there is a 5 to 6 foot should= er on the side on the northern portion. Member Dadak, the Conservation’s representative to the Planning Board said there was considerable discussion about that connection and he thought that the final plan was a connection but that it would be pavement = not gravel as there was a concern of whether the gravel could be maintained. He said there was also discussion = at the Planning Board about the option of pulling off the road to park a couple of cars who could then access the conservation land. Member asked what the acreage was = for the open space. Mr. Gagnon sa= id there are two pieces being donated to the town. One is an “L” shaped p= iece and is 5.9 acres and has steep slopes and is adjacent to the Calitri parcel= and it’s contiguous. The ot= her parcel is 3.3 acres of open space and is also contiguous with the Calitri l= and. It also abuts another town-owned p= arcel (lot 12-214). Also 12-41 contains the area which is known as Moose Pond and goes almost down to Little Island Pond.&nb= sp; There is quite an extensive wildlife corridor said Mr. Gagnon. Mr. Gagnon expressed his desire to see more access to the ‘thumb’ of land at the southern portion of the property, to increase connectivity betw= een the Calitri Conservation property and the Moose Pond town owned property. T= his connectivity would benefit wildlife and make timber harvesting easier.

There are four wetland crossings on the site. The first crossing is off Poplar Hil= l Road and is needed to gain access to the site. This crossing will disturb 1559 s= .f. of wetland. A 4x2 foot open bottom culvert will be used to allow both water= and wildlife to pass beneath the road.

The second and third impact areas are road crossings o= n the north-west portion of the site. These impacts will disturb 506s.f. and 621 s.f. of wetlands. Open bottom culverts were explor= ed as and option but were decided against by the engineers because the slope after development will be a 22% grade. This grade is steep and would cause water = to rush out rapidly which would require extensive erosion control measures. The steep grade and the extensive rip rap to control erosion would effectively prevent the movement of wildlife along the stream. Drop inlet catch basin systems are being proposed for these two crossings. A 20 foot long, 15 inch wide culvert will come into a catch basin under the road where the water wi= ll drop up to 8 feet and then a 20 foot long 15 inch wide culvert will take th= e water out to continue down the stream. This system will help the developers meet = the fill standards for the site.

The fourth impact to the wetlands is a driveway crossi= ng. The fourth crossing will disturb 196 s.f. of wetlands and allow access to one house lot. A 12 inch culvert will allow water to pa= ss under the driveway. The fourth crossing is located near crossings 2 and 3 in the north-west section of the site.

Potential vernal pools were accessed in August and were found to contain no obligate wildlife species. There were several potential vernal pools. Some pools in the center of the site were determined not to be vernal pools because they had an outlet which would allow water to drain fr= om them. Species would not lay eggs in these pools because the water drains out too quickly. Two pools in the north-eastern section of the site, near Ledge Road,= were the most likely on the site to be vernal pools. These pools are more than 3= 00 feet from the closest development and will not be disturbed.

A site walk is scheduled for January 5, 2008 at 8:30 to walk the Harris pro= perty. The Conservation Commission will meet Luke in the Stone Post cul-de-sac. Luke requested to be on the January 9, 2008 agenda to further discuss this prope= rty.

Walk-in Items=

Mr. Gagnon gave an update about the timber harvest on = the Gumpas Pond Conservation Area. The harvest was a great success and the timb= er earned $65,000 dollars. A timber tax of 10% was owed to Hudson because of the logging operation= . Ms. Waters, of the Forestry Committee, and Mr. Gagnon attended a selectmen̵= 7;s meeting in Hudson and received a waiver of the timber tax. This amounted to a savings for Pel= ham of about $890. Most of the timber removed from Gumpas Pond Conservation Area was hardwood including red/black/white oak, ash and maple. Some pine and pu= lp wood was also harvested.

Ms. Mackay gave a brief description of the Dunlap Ease= ment property. The property was evaluated the first week of December to make sure the uses described in the conservation deed were the only uses being undert= aken on the property. The property is located in the south-eastern corner of town and shares a border with Dracu= t, Massachusetts. The Pelham easement is 17-18 acres in size. This easement property is adjacent to more that 100 acres in Dracut that is also conservation land. The property is in excellent condition and consists of farm and forest land. The property is open to the public for hiking.

Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Respectfully submitted,

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Glennie Edwards and Karen Mackay,

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Recording Secretary

&nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp;