A joint effort in Berlin between the Conservation Fund and the Society for the Protection of NH Forests is resulting in a 730-acre parcel of forest land being preserved as a working forest with traditional public access.
The property, all within city limits, is accessed from the Cascade neighborhood and rises up an easterly-facing hillside toward Sugar Mountain and Jericho Mountain, surrounding stretches of Tinker Brook and other perennial streams.
The Forest Society describes the property as a northern hardwood conifer forest that has been managed as a woodlot for decades with a 30-acre peatland and wet meadow at higher elevations. The wetlands offer habitat for wildlife as diverse as moose, white-tailed deer, black bear, beaver, snowshoe hare, ruffed grouse, songbirds and spotted salamanders. It also protects streams like Tinker Brook that feed into the Androscoggin River.
The Conservation Fund’s Vermont and N.H. representative, Sally Manikian, said land owner Craig Lombard approached her organization last year, with an interest in selling the land to an entity who would conserve the land as well as ensure community benefit. Before Lombard purchased the property, it was owned by Scott Dillion of T.R Dillion Logging.
The Conservation Fund purchased the property on a temporary basis last fall with the understanding the Forest Society would raise the necessary funds to repurchase the property and become the permanent owner.
A smaller 70-acre abutting parcel was also part of the sale and the Conservation Fund immediately sold that parcel to AHEAD, for a housing/development project. That project is not expected to get underway until next year.
Forest Society Vice President for Development Anne Truslow said the 730-acre parcel sits between the Gorham Town Forest and Jericho State Park.
“It has some wonderful attributes to it and is an extension of all the great work that has been done up there,” she said, referring as well to the 3,700-acre Mahoosuc Highlands Project in Shelburne.
Truslow said the Forest Society is buying it as a working forest and does plan to harvest wood off it. She noted, however, that the property has been harvested hard and estimated it will be several decades before it will be ready to be cut.
— BARBARA TETREAULT, CONWAY DAILY SUN
Housing Appeals Board dismisses latest Silver Scone appeal
The state’s Housing Appeals Board canceled a scheduled preliminary hearing on an appeal of New Ipswich’s approval of a variance for Silver Scone Teas, instead granting a motion to dismiss the case.
Silver Scone Teas is a business run by Jane Elwell out of her historic home on River Road in New Ipswich. Elwell initially began running the business, holding themed tea parties and bridal showers, without the proper town approvals. After shutting down in response to a cease-and-desist order from the town, Elwell has since been granted the variance and site plan review approvals needed to run the business in the residential area, with multiple conditions around the frequency and timing of the events.
Neighbors of the tea party business have objected to both zoning and planning board approvals allowing the business to operate up to four times a month in the town’s Village District, citing traffic and disruption to the rural, residential neighborhood. The group has appealed multiple decisions made in favor of Silver Scone Teas, including to Town Board, the Superior Court and the Housing Appeals Board, which has already once overturned the approval of a variance for the business. The variance has since gone through a rehearing, and was reissued.
The most-recent appeal was regarding a decision of the town’s Zoning Board, which upheld the Planning Board’s approval of Silver Scones’ site plan application. It was set to go before the Housing Appeals Board on Thursday for another appeal, but the preliminary hearing was canceled. Instead, the board issued an order granting a motion to dismiss the case, which had previously been filed by Elwell’s attorney on the grounds that it missed the appeal timeframe.
— ASHLEY SAARO/MONADNOCK LEDGER-TRANSCRIPT
Skanska chosen by Dartmouth College to manage and construct decarbonization program
Skanska, a global construction and development firm based in Sweden, said its program management and consulting group, Skanska Integrated Solutions (SIS), has been chosen by Dartmouth College to manage the design and construction of its decarbonization program, a 10-to-15-year initiative that will cover 5.5 million square feet of facilities and evaluate utility-scale clean energy sources, the company said in a news release.
“We’re incredibly excited to begin construction for Dartmouth’s Decarbonization Program, which represents an important step forward for the school’s efforts to decarbonize its campus,” said Keith Martin, vice president of SIS Operations at Skanska USA Building, in a statement.
The decarbonization program will feature the installation of new geo-exchange borefields, geo-exchange heat pump plants, a new hot and chilled water distribution system, and the conversion of all campus buildings from steam to hot water.
SIS has overseen sustainable projects for Skanska across the country, the company said. The project aligns with Skanska’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions along its entire value chain by 2045, with a 70% reduction in controlled emissions by 2030 globally, the company said.
— NH BUSINESS REVIEW
