1/18/18 Minutes
Minutes, Hollis Conservation Commission, 18 January 2018
Members present: John Mattor, Joanne Toone, Martha Turner, Catherine Hewitt and Chris Jones.
The minutes of HCC Meeting November 2017 were approved.
We welcomed a new member to the Conservation Commission.Chris Jones, a former neighbor of Catherine, will be joining us.Chris mentioned that he regularly visits Indian Cellar and will now be sure to check out Googins Woods.
John mentioned that he had received a document from the town regarding public notice requirements.We passed the document around and our understanding is that this relates to site walks or special meetings rather than our regularly scheduled meetings that are listed on the Hollis Town website.
John has purchased a bike rack for $160.00 and it is in his barn for storage until the spring thaw.It is the same size and design that we had looked at before. There was some discussion about whether to hire someone to install but John (with some help) will probably do it.
John is working on trail ‘arrows’ that will need to be remedied at both Indian Cellar and Googins Woods in spring.
John replaced the plexiglass cover on the kiosk at Indian Cellar.It will need a new headliner and fresh info on the display board.Catherine suggested a map from google earth or a Topo Map.John thinks he has a copy of the original Do’s and Don’ts that need to be on the board.
We had a discussion about making some of the trails at Indian Cellar and Googins Woods available to snowmobiles.John suggested we invite someone from the ‘Hollis Honkers’ to the next meeting. Joanne said that she would reach out to them via their Facebook page to offer an invite for a representative from the group to attend a HCC meeting.
John informed us that the boxes of old HCC files from the Town Office were downstairs and invited all to take a look after our meeting to decide what needs to be kept and what can be recycled.
John will not be available for our meeting in February as he will be in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) on vacation.We decided to next meet in March because the winter is a quiet time for the HCC.Martha said she would let the town know so that they can cancel the meeting on the town website.
Martha mentioned that it looks like the teahouse renovation to a private home will be happening.They have enough land to drill a new well and therefore would not be using the one that is on the conservation land.There may be a public hearing for the application to the planning board. We should know next week.
Joanne shared a binder with the document she had shared as a pdf by email from the Maine Association of Conservation Commissions.This will be kept at the library in case needed for reference at a meeting.Joanne also mentioned that she had come across another organization that we may want to explore: The Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative.She will send a link to their website to all members to take a look at.
Catherine mentioned her ongoing interest in a project to determine what land we have here in Hollis (e.g. Tree Growth, Farmland, Conservation Land etc.).Possibly the Southern Maine Conservation Collaborative could help.She also referred to a need to utilize a GIS system.
Catherine has reached out to an individual who may be able to assist in the creation of a standalone web site for the HCC.She will reach out to John Sheahan who had content for the potential updated page on the Hollis Town website. It will be easier for us to host our own and have a link on the town website to it so that we can maintain the content.
John briefly mentioned an email he had received regarding an ecology school that is located in Ferry Beach but hoping to relocate to Simpson Road.It was generally agreed that this would be a good neighbor although it was mentioned that it could lead to increased traffic in the area.
Chris asked about funding for the Conservation Commission and John explained that we had a $100,000 gift from Poland Spring that was to be used for the ongoing upkeep of Indian Cellar.
John mentioned that he received a call from a person from Idexx who organizes volunteer days for Idexx employees.We hope to have some volunteers to work on the trails later this year.
We had a brief discussion about plans for Googins Wood.A potential video, 3rd and 4th graders to create trail placards featuring things of interest along the trail etc.
We looked at the boxes/maps that John had and made decisions about what to keep.With permission from Mary Dyer, the library director, we now have a box upstairs in the storeroom with our materials in it (marked Hollis Conservation Commission).
Minutes submitted by Joanne Toone