Hooksett Conservation Commission Meeting - February 9, 2026
Hooksett Conservation Commission Meeting - February 9, 2026
The Hooksett Conservation Commission met on February 9, 2026, at 4:30 PM. The meeting was chaired by Al Stein (Co-Chair) and attended by members Joe Carroll Woodburn (Chair), Philip Fitonitas, John Peroni, Alex Walzik, and Bob Barker (arriving late). The agenda included public comments, approval of minutes, a site walk report, planning for a public meeting with Moosewood Ecological, updates on Quimby Mountain stewardship, Stantec engineering design, Clay Pond gate issues, contract negotiations, Earth Day cleanup, and a wetland permit notification.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Carrie Hyde (36 Edgewater Drive) represented Hooksett Old Home Day. She requested the commission's help to have volunteers at the Riverwalk Trail and Heads Pond Trail on September 19, 2026 (Old Home Day) from 11 AM to 4 PM, to greet trolley passengers and provide information. The trolley runs every 20 minutes. She also suggested the commission could have a booth at Lambert's Park instead of the main area. The commission discussed logistics, including the possibility of using golf carts, and noted that the request would be considered.
Discussion Items
- Approval of Minutes (January 12, 2026): The minutes were approved with corrections for misspelled names (Philip Fitonitas noted his name was misspelled).
- Site Walk Report (January 17, 2026): Alex Walzik reported on a site walk at a property (325 North Candia Road) with significant wetland violations. The site walk had 15-20 attendees; the owner was absent. The project involves restoration of a forested area where trees drowned due to flooding. The restoration plan is on hold pending zoning approvals. An ecological consultant (Damon Burt of Moosewood Ecological) is providing updates to DES for the next three years. Commission members expressed concerns about enforcement, a large canvas building, a propane tank, and heavy equipment. It was noted that neighboring properties experienced flooding up to seven feet.
- Moosewood Ecological Public Meeting: The commission rescheduled a public meeting with Moosewood Ecological to March 12, 2026, from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM in the town hall meeting room (originally planned for February 24 but moved due to a candidate forum). The meeting will address ongoing restoration work.
- Quimby Mountain Stewardship and Survey: The commission discussed the need for a boundary survey at the northern edge and a corner of the property. A surveyor (John Gotchel) was suggested. The survey is needed before trail work.
- Stantec Engineering Design (Cedar Swamp Trail): Stantec is handling the bid process for trail construction. The addition of two paved ADA parking spaces would raise the cost to over $75,000. The commission decided to bid the parking separately to decide later whether to pave or provide accessible but unpaved spaces.
- Clay Pond Gate (North Candia Road): The town council approved installing a gate at the Candia border but not locking it. The commission discussed legal restrictions on locking gates on class six roads. Kathy was asked to research the relevant RSA. The commission will gather more information before responding to the town council.
- Contract with Moosewood Ecological: An insurance requirement from the town's insurance carrier (Premix) was resolved when Moosewood agreed to obtain additional coverage for $150 (after February 14). Legal also had minor requests that were incorporated. The contract is expected to be finalized soon.
- Earth Day Cleanup (April 18, 2026): The commission decided to hold the cleanup at the Riverwalk Trail from 9 AM to 1 PM. DPW will be contacted for a trailer and employee support.
- Wetland Permit Notification (49 Kimball Road): The commission reviewed a request for a seasonal dock (10 ft by 30 ft, 300 sq ft) for private use. The property is vacant with a gravel boat ramp. The commission voted to sign the waiver of intervention, allowing the permit to be processed within 10 days.
Key Outcomes
- Votes:
- Motion to approve the January 12, 2026 minutes passed unanimously (with corrections).
- Motion to sign the wetland permit notification for 49 Kimball Road (Tyler Edsall) passed unanimously.
- Action Items:
- Send a letter to the landowner and Moosewood Ecological requesting copies of annual restoration updates.
- Invite Code Enforcement Officer Dana Pendergast to a future meeting to discuss enforcement options.
- Send a letter to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Planning Board expressing concern about ecological impacts at the North Candia Road property.
- Research the legal status of the Clay Pond Road (class six vs. abandoned) and the RSA on locking gates.
- Kathy to distribute the updated flyer for the March 12 public meeting.
- Scheduling:
- Public meeting with Moosewood Ecological set for March 12, 2026, 5:00-6:30 PM in the town hall meeting room.
- Earth Day cleanup date: April 18, 2026, 9:00 AM-1:00 PM at Riverwalk Trail.
- Old Home Day participation to be discussed further at a future meeting.
- Meeting adjourned at approximately [time not specified] after a motion to adjourn.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Shall we start? Okay, yes, it's 4 30. Yeah, we're gonna call the meeting the order. This is the conservation commission. The date is February 9th, 2026. And um I think Al is gonna chair the meeting tonight. So you want to proceed? Introduce yourself. Okay, and are we doing that first? I'm Joe Carroll Woodburn, Chair, Co Chair Allen Stein, co-chair. Philip Fitonitas, member. Well better alternate. John Peroni member. And I believe Sheena is excused, and typically Alex will be here. And Bob Barker. Bob Barker often arrives a few minutes late, and we have a new alternate that was uh officially signed their paperwork, John Pennell, and we uh you haven't heard from him, is that right, Kathy? I have not. Okay. So can we do the Pledge of Allegiance, please? And so one nation under liberty justice for all. I don't know. We I always like to prevent our guests from being aboard with our mundane business. So if if uh people are okay, uh I'd like to uh have our guests step to the microphone. Can you just identify yourself and your address, please? Okay, Carrie Hyde, 36 Edgewater Drive and Hooksit. I'm here representing Hooks It Old Home Day. Uh one second, Carrie. Yep. There's a page in the back of your pamphlet in a packet uh with regard to this matter. Go ahead. Okay. Um so the committee for the last two years has worked with the Heritage Commission and the Historic Society to have a hooks it um trolley ride, a heritage trolley ride, and it does a loop in hooks it. So this coming year, September 19th, that's a third Saturday in September, um, is old home day in hooksit. And the loop starts obviously at town hall, it goes over to Prescott Library, it'll go hopefully to the Legion, and then it'll go over to the Congregational Church, Veterans Park, stop over at um what we'd like to do is add the Riverwalk Trail, and then it goes over to the head school, and then the last stop would be the head pond trail. So we'd like to incorporate those trails on the heritage tour. And what we'd like to ask for the from your committee is if you'd have someone at the head at the beginning of the trails to kind of give information to people who get off the trolley. The full loop will be about 20 minutes. So every 20 minutes you'd see the trolley come by, people get on, get off. Um it would start at 11 a.m. and go until 4 p.m. The event starts at 10 a.m. with the parade. And then we start our opening ceremony over behind town hall at 10 30, and then the whole day would end at 4 30. The trolley would run until 5 to make sure there's no stragglers left somewhere, and they need we also have two school buses that'll be shuttling at some spots, but it won't be doing the full trolley run because um normally we do parking at Cygna, but we can't do that anymore because they're supposed to be turning that into something. Um so the school buses will shuttle from Lamberts Park, well, the Legion, Lambert's Park, the courthouse, because there's parking there, and then it'll go, I'll have it go over to Heads Pond, because there's a few parking spots there, and then it'll loop back to town hall where there's more people can get on and off. Um another thing that the committee would like to do is Old Home Day started at Lamberts Park. That's where originally had vendors and they would gather. So we would like to have some vendors at Lambert's Park, a couple food trucks. So when people get off, they'll be able to kind of mingle there.
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