The Conservation Commission interviewed Richard Lombard of 46 Calla Road to fill an open, alternate spot at their May 29 meeting.
“I have a pretty good idea of what Conservation Commissions do, in Massachusetts, I was on the Board of Health for a town for quite a while and the Open Space and Trails Committee,” said Lombard. “There were a lot of issues that kind of bothered me, like putting a development on top of a Zone two aquifer, so I would go to a lot of different meetings besides the Board of Health.”
He indicated it was his first time serving locally for a New Hampshire town. While the Town Council must approve the appointment, the Conservation Commission voted to recommend Lombard’s appointment.
“Thank you for volunteering!” said Chair, Marge Badois.
Members wanted to look into new ways of increasing public participation at their meetings by formally adding a public comment section in agendas.
“We pretty much let anybody comment, but it was pointed out to me that because it’s not in our agenda, people don’t know that they can come and be called on,” said Badois.
Member, Deb Lievens, asked how other committees conducted public comments. Town Council stuck out, having comments at the start of each meeting, while others only have comments after a formal presentation.
“At the town meeting, one of the articles that won a majority of the votes was to have public comments before and after each meeting,” said Vice Chair, Eugene Harrington. “I don’t see a problem with doing that, we’re not exactly overwhelmed with crowds here.
Such a model would allow people to comment without having to sit through a full meeting while allowing residents to respond to whatever was discussed. Members agreed to put public comments at the beginning and end of every agenda moving forward.
There were technical difficulties in getting the new email system to work for everyone. The Chair singled out a lack of notification as a particularly annoying issue.
“If you send an email to somebody on the new system, and you have a typo in the address, you will never get a bounce back notice,” she stated. “I need to go back through the last six months of email to see who emails us on a regular basis that we haven’t seen in a while. It’s got some kinks for sure.”
Alternate, Mike Speltz, had been in contact with the NH Department of Environmental Services regarding a dock permit for the boat launch on Brewster Road.
“I had a very brief conversation with the right guy. However, I lost contact with him. I talked to him in Thursday, but he was gone Friday, and he was gone today,” said Speltz. “I will keep trying, but he is an expert on structures.”
The Conservation Commission meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 7:30 p.m. in the Moose Hill Council Chambers.