LYME CONSERVATION COMMISSION
Minutes - February 5, 2007
PRESENT: Lee Larson, Dick Jones, Matt Stevens, Mimi Weinstein, James Graham, Adair Mulligan, CC; Ross McIntyre, Earl Strout, Tom Morrissey, Hebe Quinton, Chelsea Weinstein
1. Visit by Ross McIntyre: Ross described how the town meeting petition regarding Post Pond had come about. He feels there is unhappiness with the current policy, especially among parents of children using the soccer field and town beach. He observed that the water level at the pond is a complex situation, and that there is probably no solution to please all. He noted that the ball field had originally been a wetland, and that the beach was also a filled wetland. The tennis courts are built on 2-3 feet of fill, and he suggested the ball field could be similarly elevated or another site for a field found. He recommended finding another way to control the water level. He discussed trapping, noting that it would not take place on town conservation property but on state waters, during the proper trapping season. He
said that the pipe installed by the CC seemed to partially alleviate the problem, and that he observed the level on Feb. 5 was at about 3.0 feet. While he has kept track of the water level, Ross cautioned that his recording habits are not consistent and should not be considered an absolute measurement. He continued that he and others have asked the state to reconsider the water level, and had had no response. Tom Morrissey later said that indeed the state had responded, and had declined to be involved further. Ross acknowledged that during the 30 days after the “Castor Master” pipe had been installed by the CC, water levels were over the 3.0 mark for 30 days, during a time that record rainfall fell.
James said that he was concerned about the town’s assets, which include the ball field and swimming beach. Dick reminded that the ball field would be Trout Brook’s floodplain had the levee not been built, and that this major water storage area has been removed from the pond’s watershed. He expects the state will soon allow the town to replenish the beach with another placement of imported sand. The ball field had originally been built only by smoothing existing poorly drained soil and creating a berm, and no engineering or other effort had been made to raise the field above the floodplain level or create appropriate drainage. Some members doubted whether $10,000 would be sufficient to create a properly drained athletic field, but that continuing
to use the existing site was better than attempting to find another site in town.
James said that the rainfall had been abnormally high, and asked if the town has the ability to determine a different water level from the one the state has set. Lee reminded that state law does not permit breaching of beaver dams unless private land is being flooded, and that the state has determined that private land is NOT being flooded until the water level surpasses 3.0 feet on the gage.
Lee explained Skip Lisle’s caution with the “Castor Master” pipe: that if too many pipes are installed, or if the pipes become too disruptive to the beaver activity, the beavers will concentrate their efforts on a different dam, leaving the dam with the pipe control irrelevant. There have been several dams on Clay Brook that have determined the level of Post Pond at various times. Adair said that trapping would make only a temporary dent in the beaver population, if any, because the habitat is so high quality and because beavers can disperse so easily from the Connecticut River. Dick described the Chaffee Sanctuary as a “five star restaurant for beavers within commuting distance of a four lane highway.”
Tom Morrissey said that many in town want the CC to guard the town’s natural assets. Earl Strout said that the selectmen had been faced with the same problem in the 1980s, and agreed that the beavers will always be present. He thought it should be a selectmen’s issue, not the CC, and thought that the town should wait to see if the beaver pipe solves the problem. Lee explained that the CC is stuck with the problem because the CC was charged with managing the wildlife sanctuary where the dams are located (the sanctuary had not yet been established when Earl was on the selectboard). Hebe Quinton said she was disturbed by mis-statements that then are taken as fact. Ross reviewed the state’s definition of “mean ordinary high water level.”
2. Housekeeping: approved the January minutes on a motion by Dick seconded by Mimi.
3. Old Business
a. Natural Resource inventory - $4450 has been raised from some 20 families to complete the inventory. People are turning field reports in to Vickie Davis, who is sending them on to Watershed to Wildlife. The field component is now winding down. Jim Kennedy has offered to contribute his knowledge of woodcock habitat and other Lyme natural resource features to the project.
b. Grant Brook revetment - Matt said there is nothing new to report. He will look in town files for the application prepared by Nick Comerci for a similar project on Trout Brook near the Post Pond ball field.
c. CRWC easements - Jeanie McIntyre has told Lee she has no news.
4. Wetlands and permits - there is a problem with a silt fence on a property near a stream in Lyme Center.
5. New Business
d. Snowshoe hike - set Sunday, Feb. 25 as the date.
e. National Trails Day - Saturday, June 2. Will gather a trail work crew to reroute the trail on the west side of the Town Forest.
f. Land Resources Management Workshop Feb. 15 - Adair will drive, Lee and Matt will carpool with her.
g. Town Meeting - discussed preparation. Adair said that DES has recently issued a permit for the Town of Pittsburg to fill and repair a similar town ball field also located in a wetland.
h. Publicity - Lee will send in an article about the snowshoe hike.
Meeting adjourned 9:10 pm.
Respectfully submitted, Adair Mulligan, Secretary pro-tem
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