The Conservation Commission met on Tuesday, April 24, to discuss a variety of things that require their attention.
First off was the continuing issue of what to do about the nefarious activities at the Kendall Pond Conservation area. Neighbors in the surrounding area have grown increasingly aggravated with living in vicinity of the parking lot of the conservation area, where they have seen the unruly behavior for themselves and feel it has been going on for far too long.
In response, the neighbors have come together to form the “Friends of Kendall Pond” (FOKP) to make sure their voices are heard as well. At the previous Town Council meeting, the neighbors were frustrated that the Conservation Commission went on ahead without their plan to make the decision to install cameras in the parking lot area. Chairman for the Conservation Commission Marge Badois said at Tuesday night’s meeting that getting input from the FOKP was not part of the agreement” that they two groups had made.
To keep transparency between the two parties, a meeting was scheduled between the Conservation Commission, the neighbors of Kendall Pond, and town staff to discuss how they would handle these issues going forward. The Town Council felt that the neighbors should have a say in what the decision will be regarding what action to take with the conservation parking lot. Ultimately, the issue was tabled at the Town Council meeting, and more information is expected to be given at the next meeting scheduled for Monday, May 7. Due to the arguments that have transpired over the past few weeks, the cameras have not yet gone up at Kendall Pond.
The commission was also very pleased at the amount of usage the Musquash area has gotten now that the weather is getting nicer again. There were about 300 maps placed in the map box of the Musquash area in the beginning of the weekend and there were only two maps left by the end of the weekend. The Historical Walk that was scheduled for Saturday, April 21 also saw a big turnout for the Conservation Commission with a head count of 42 people on a gorgeous spring day. People were itching to get out of their homes and enjoy the outdoors after a harsh New England winter.
The commission also talked about the possibility of hiring a surveyor after aerial photos showed someone building on conservation property. According to members of the commission, monitoring would be the appropriate first step to take, but if they do not know the exact property line it would be difficult to move forward with any type of action. In those types of cases where the property line is fuzzy, a surveyor would be helpful to determine the official lines. One surveyor’s price was $75/hour, which was felt to be a reasonable rate by the commission. Sometimes to enforce a boundary, surveillance is the most effective way to go.