Town of Lamoine, Maine
The Official Website of Lamoine's Town Government
Home
Town Hall
School
Fire Department
Boards
Calendars
Newly Added

Lamoine Conservation Commission

Minutes - April 8, 2015 (Draft, subject to correction)

Members present: Larry Libby, chair; Anne LaBossiere, Linda Penkalski, David Legere

Absent Member: Doug Stewart

Alternates Present: Nancy Pochan, Larissa Thomas

Others in attendance: Carol Korty

Meeting was convened at the Lamoine Town Hall @ 7:00 p.m.

Comments from Planning Board/Select Board:

There were no Select Board members present. David Legere, alternate member of the Planning Board, mentioned that the gravel pit application was carried over to the next board meeting.

The Board voted to leave the current definition of a recreational vehicle in place. A recreational vehicle may be in use on a site for up to 30 days before it is considered as being used as a residence. Monitoring of this occurs only if there has been a complaint presented to the code enforcement officer. There is no time limit if the vehicle is just being stored on a property.

The Board has made a recommendation that the town provide town e-mail addresses for those who are members of standing committees and/or boards in Lamoine. These e-mails would be used for communications related to their work on the aforementioned groups.

Comments from members of the public:

Carol Korty spoke of her attendance at the last Planning Board. She had shared her concerns about the gravel pit referred to locally as the “Old King Pit” or the “Corps Pit.” She provided us with a thumbnail sketch of this pit's history. Carol's concern is that nobody had officially identified the water table level at the conclusion of the excavation. This digging had been done by the Army Corps of Engineers during WWII to obtain gravel to use at what is now the Bar Harbor Airport. At that time, nobody was responsible for any restoration at the excavation site. Carol feels that it is very important to at least have a hydrologist come in and determine the location of the water table level at present. Larry Libby suggested that Carol get on the Planning Board's agenda to bring her concerns before them.

Topics Discussed:

  1. Follow-up comments on Welch Presentation-All felt it was an excellent program and very well attended. A total of thirty-six people were there. We decided it would have been fitting to have something to give to Linda Welch as an expression of our appreciation for her presentation. This led to a discussion about how we might be able to come up with something to give in the future. One of the possibilities included a coffee cup imprinted with a LCC logo.

2.      Ideas for future public meetings-There was strong interest in selecting a program that would involve the young people of Lamoine. We brainstormed several options:

◦   Diver Ed

◦   Family Day/Picnic at Blunt Pond or another Lamoine venue

◦   John Peckenham to do a public meeting to share the results of GET WET!

◦   Michael Goode to speak on birds and bird life

◦   Rick Will to do something on archeology.

◦   Hal Bourne to do a presentation of the geology of the area (Do this in summer.)

                  Larissa Thomas suggested that we create a calendar of times for our public meetings. Nancy

                  Pochan mentioned that public meetings could provide a good arena to discuss topics relevant to areas of conservation and the environment.

3. Spring Shore Clean-up-David Legere described the shore clean-up that he does at the start of the season for his kayak business which is based in Bar Harbor. He suggested that perhaps we could schedule the clean-up of Lamoine's shores across the bay from where he would be conducting a clean-up to take place on the same day as his event.

4. Kids at Simon Woods Trail-Anne LaBossiere and Larry Libby shared information from the Simons who are looking for ways to interest children in using this trail with their classmates and/or families. They are thinking about hosting a tree identification hike in the spring  after the leaves have come out on the deciduous trees. The LCC would like to be involved in this. David Legere mentioned that we have some work to do on the trail before we are ready to involve school groups. Larissa Thomas suggested that it would be good to involve the school early on to see what kind of things might be included in this venture. It was agreed that fall would be a better time of year for a school class to participate. Carol suggested that we introduce the availability of this wonderful opportunity to school personnel this spring with the goal being to have it take place early in the fall. The Simons have come up with some ideas that we would share with school staff and discuss with them their recommendations re: which grades would be most suited to take part in this hike.

5.      Consider Strategic Planning-Larry reminded us that we had been interested in spending some time to consider what direction we might like to take as a commission, working within  AN ORDINANCE TO ESTABLISH THE LAMOINE CONSERVATION COMMISSION, approved at the Annual Lamoine Town Meeting held on March 6, 2002. We discussed the advisability of doing this outside a regularly scheduled meeting and with a facilitator's assistance. More discussion will be held at the next meeting.

6.      Other:    

                              Maine Land Conservation Conference, April 24-25-No one attending.

                             Snowmobile Trails-Solely dedicated for use by snowmobilers.

                              “Track Trail-” There is interest in exploring the use of this trail by the public. We need to check into this more thoroughly to see how we might proceed.

                            Request from Fred Stocking that LCC assist the Comprehensive Plan Process by making suggestions on adaptations that Lamoine might make to assist in the mitigation of the impact of climate change.

                            Simon Woods Trail Parking Lot's sign is ready. David mentioned that we need to put in some kind of markers at the boundaries of the lot to make it safer for snow plowing next winter.

                             Single stream recycling, Gouldsboro will be placed on May agenda.

 Motions and Outcomes:

 The minutes of the February 11th meeting were approved as corrected.

 Follow-up Actions and Who Will Do Them:

  1. Larry will check into the possibility of having a coffee cup with a LCC logo on it ordered that we could give to speakers at our public meetings.
  1. Larry will ask Stu for a copy of the DVD of the public meeting on Climate Change and Gulf of Maine Birds.
  1. David will check with Paul Davis and Jim Norris to see what the clammers are reporting re: the shorebirds and to see if they have noticed any changes in that population.
  1. Larry will check in with John Peckenham re: his availability to do a public meeting re: the findings of the GET WET! Program over the last few years. We are looking at May 13th or June 10th. Larry will also check with the school re: room availability. Students and their parents will be invited as well as members of the general public.
  1. David will get back to us  re: the date he will be doing his shore clean-up.
  1. Larry will contact Dave Herrick about the possibility of coordinating a clean-up of the shores of Lamoine to take place on  same day that David will be doing his clean-up across the bay.
  1. Linda will check with Dawn McPhail, principal of the Lamoine School re: the possibility of a grade level's doing a fall field trip on the Simon Woods Trail. She will ask if Dawn could mention this idea to her faculty and also say that we are seeking feedback from teachers re: what they feel would be of interest to the students. She will check to see if we need to provide a porta-potty at the trail head for student's use that day.
  1. Anne will contact the Simons to update them on our interest and that we feel we need to do the trail improvements and needed maintenance before promoting its use by school children.
  1. Continue discussion at the May Meeting of the efficacy of the LCC's engaging in a strategic planning session.

 The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 p.m. Minutes taken by Anne LaBossiere, approved on_____