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Sandown commission approves $1,200 mapping contract, plans abutter letters for Hunt Pond
Summary
The Sandown Conservation Commission voted to spend up to $1,200 to have CAI update conservation parcel mapping and agreed to send a friendly informational letter — followed by a sterner notice if needed — to abutters of Hunt Pond Conservation Area after NRCS monitoring revealed motorized-vehicle activity.
The Sandown Conservation Commission voted Thursday to approve up to $1,200 to have CAI create and maintain an updated conservation-parcel layer for the town and to begin a two-step mailing program to Hunt Pond abutters after NRCS reported motorized-vehicle activity on conserved land.
The mapping purchase was described by the Chair as an option to have CAI import assessing parcels and keep conservation layers current; the company offered a one-time $800 parcel-creation option or a $1,200 import-and-update option. Pam (committee member) moved to approve the higher, $1,200 option and the motion passed by voice vote. "They're offering, for $1,200, it'll be whenever we add something, it's just gonna be added in," the Chair said, summarizing the vendor's proposal. The commission agreed to fund the work from the LUCT fund.
Commissioners framed the mapping vote as groundwork for clearer public-facing conservation records and for operational tasks the group faces when contacting abutters. Kristen, who led discussion of a draft abutter letter informed by NRCS monitoring at Hunt Pond, described a two-step outreach plan: "We're first sending a very friendly letter kind of laying out ... this is kind of some information about it, benefits of it," she said, adding that a second, sterner letter targeted at identified encroaching landowners would follow if problems continued.
Members also vetted the abutter roster before mailings. The commissioners compared an assessor-derived list with a staff list, identified discrepancies where parcels did not abut conservation land or were town-owned, and resolved to use the assessor's database as the official source for mailings. The Chair cautioned that a DES complaint received about one property earlier in the agenda "is not confirmation that a violation has occurred," and said the commission had only been copied on DES's receipt and referral to a regional inspector.
Next steps: CAI will be contracted for the mapping work under the approved price cap, staff will coordinate the mailings using the verified abutter list, and Kristen will finalize edits to the friendly letter for an initial mailing; commissioners said they will prepare a second, more direct notice for individual landowners if monitoring or reports show continued encroachment. The commission did not record a roll-call tally in the minutes; approvals were taken by voice vote.
