Conservation panel flags Delta Drive wetland risk

Conservation Commission · Meeting of August 11, 2026

LONDONDERRY — The Londonderry Conservation Commission cautioned the Planning Board that a Delta Drive lot line adjustment could leave transferred land accessible only by crossing wetlands. Member Bob Maxwell said the application suggests a buyer wants the lot with the existing building but not the extra acreage behind it, prompting the boundary shift. The commission voted unanimously to pay $749 to the Rockingham County Conservation District for Ingersoll property monitoring and approved the July 14 minutes as amended, with member Elkel Bickford abstaining.

Chair Marge Badois reported a beaver dam near Faucher Road is "backing up into the Londonderry Country Club" and said she would contact the Department of Public Works. The commission raised no objections to a separate subdivision proposed for 2 Perkins Road. Members also learned the Forest Society has sent abutter letters about unresolved land encroachments "numerous times over the past 18 years."

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,086 words

Source: the Conservation Commission meeting of August 11, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.

The Full Article

Roll Call and a Seat Reshuffled

Chair Marge Badois opened the meeting by reporting that Harry Schwartz, a full member, had resigned from the commission, creating a vacancy. Alternate member Gary Della Grotta agreed to move into the vacated full-member seat, with his former alternate position to be posted for a new appointee. Later in the meeting, Badois said she should have formally appointed alternate Michael Speltz to vote in Schwartz's still-open seat before the commission's vote on the Rockingham County Conservation District monitoring payment; she acknowledged the oversight after the vote had already been taken. The practical effect was limited to that single motion, which the minutes record as carrying unanimously regardless.

DRC Review: 16 and 22 Delta Drive Lot Line Adjustment

This item exists because any proposed lot line adjustment or subdivision within Londonderry routes through the Development Review Committee process, with the Conservation Commission offering comments to the Planning Board on wetlands and natural-resource impacts before that board acts. The applicant did not attend, leaving members to interpret the plan themselves.

The question before the commission was whether to flag any concerns about the adjustment, on Map 14, Lots 21-11 and 4, for the Planning Board's consideration.

Member Bob Maxwell told colleagues the application materials indicate a prospective buyer wants the lot containing the existing building but does not want the additional open-space acreage behind it, which is why the owner proposed shifting the boundary to shrink one lot and enlarge the other. Vice Chair Gene Harrington raised the core concern: the land being transferred into the larger lot is surrounded by wetlands on most sides, meaning the only land route into it runs through the lot with the existing building, which the new boundary would separate from it.

"My concern is that the only access to the part that's being transferred is from the existing lot," Harrington said, adding that reaching the rest of the open space would otherwise require a dredge-and-fill permit to cross the wetland.

Members debated alternate access routes, noting the property might be reached from the northeast corner off Delta Drive or by crossing the northern edge of the lot from a nearby cul-de-sac. They examined a gray area on the plan that proved to be an existing drainage easement to be abandoned and replaced by a proposed temporary drainage easement, and questioned how a stormwater basin on the property had evolved into what a survey by Gove Environmental had flagged as true wetland. One member noted that existing lot sizes, at roughly 2.7 and 5.6 acres before adjustment, are small enough that they would not fall under the town's wetland buffer ordinance, though a dredge-and-fill permit would still be required to alter the wetland itself.

The commission settled on a single comment for the Planning Board: "This could be creating a future problem for the transferred acreage due to having to cross wetland to access it." No formal vote was required for this advisory comment; it will be transmitted as part of the DRC review process. No next hearing date for the Planning Board's consideration of this application was discussed at the meeting.

This matters for whoever eventually buys the larger, non-building lot: without a clear wetland-crossing solution, that parcel could face permitting hurdles the current lot line adjustment does not resolve.

DRC Review: 2 Perkins Road Subdivision

The second DRC item, a proposed subdivision on Map 13, Lot 22, drew far less debate. The applicant again did not attend. Members noted heavy equipment staged at a cut-in to the western parcel, speculating it was there for drainage testing rather than tree clearing, and discussed a steep driveway shown on the plan to reach a second, elevated lot.

Members agreed the wetlands on the property are not large enough to trigger a buffer requirement, and said that if the applicant leaves forest cover intact as shown on the plan, it would provide noise mitigation from nearby Interstate 93 traffic. One member noted potential traffic and sight-distance issues near the site but acknowledged those fall outside the commission's purview. The commission agreed to send no comments to the Planning Board on this application, a more routine outcome than the Delta Drive item.

Public Comment

No members of the public were present for the public comment period.

Old Business: Recreation Plan, Site Visit, and Sign Design

Badois reported continued difficulty reaching the company that originally produced the town's recreation plan; she said she has called and emailed with no response and will keep trying. Speltz raised the need for a site visit to a property the commission is considering purchasing, citing recent dry weather as good timing. Members agreed to meet Tuesday, August 18 at 1 p.m., with Badois to coordinate details by email. Separately, Speltz reported that sign builders have finalized a design for a planned commission sign; the design will be shared with the town's historic division as a courtesy before fabrication proceeds.

New Business: Mathes Trail and Beaver Dam

Badois told the commission a mountain bike rider had alerted her that the Mathes Trail is "practically impassable," overgrown enough that a brush mower may be needed to clear it, work she suggested doing in the fall so regrowth would be limited before spring. She said the trail's Faucher Road entrance has already been mowed and weed-whacked, apparently by the Trailways volunteer group, and that she intends to check with a Trailways contact to see whether work can be coordinated.

Separately, Badois reported that a beaver dam near Faucher Road has risen roughly two feet above a nearby boardwalk after a complaint from resident Tom Kimball, who told her the backed-up water is affecting the Londonderry Country Club. "It's backing up into the Londonderry Country Club, and he has requested that we do something," Badois said. Members recalled that the commission does not use heavy equipment on beaver dams and that a prior partial removal, which held for a couple of years, may have been done by contractors working near the trailhead rather than by the commission itself. Badois said she would contact the town's Department of Public Works about possible next steps.

Speltz reminded the group that the Mathes property is owned by New Hampshire Fish and Game under a memorandum of understanding that permits the commission to maintain the single trail without prior consultation, though members agreed it would be courteous to notify the agency before undertaking equipment-based maintenance work.

New Business: Map Updates

Badois asked GIS Manager and Comprehensive Planner Michael Bazegian how many newer trails appear on the current trail map, saying updated maps need to be printed and that the map is missing from where it used to appear on the town website, apparently since a recreation guide was discontinued. She also asked about restoring online access to the map, which currently exists in an outdated form on the Avenza mobile mapping app. Badois said she still needs to ask Trailways volunteer Mike Byerly what color blazes he used marking the Piper Rising trail so the printed map can match.

New Business: Forest Society Encroachments

Badois and Speltz reported meeting with Ilissa Sargent of the Forest Society, raising the commission's concern that annual monitoring reports documenting multiple encroachments on the Bacchus and Ingersoll properties had gone unanswered. Badois said she received a response, from a Forest Society contact identified only as Carrie, stating the organization has been corresponding with individual abutters and had sent a generic letter to all abutters asking them to respect the blazed boundary and recreational-use guidelines; the response stated such letters have gone out "numerous times over the past 18 years." Members noted the Forest Society had not previously informed the commission that this outreach was occurring. The conversation also touched on the apparent loss of a part-time conservation officer position that previously could enforce boundary respect in person, with members uncertain whether such a role still exists in any capacity.

New Business: Taking Action for Wildlife

Badois described an email from Taking Action for Wildlife outlining a free Community Technical Assistance Program available to conservation commissions, covering services such as educational outreach, wildlife habitat management planning, and use of state wildlife action plan mapping to prioritize conservation. The program requires at least one roughly hour-long meeting with program staff, which could be held during a regular commission meeting, and applications should reflect interest from multiple members in a tangible project. Members discussed matching the program against items already identified in the commission's strategic plan, with one member noting the assistance is informational and data-based rather than funding or labor.

New Business: RCCD Monitoring Payment for Ingersoll Property

Badois presented the annual estimate from the Rockingham County Conservation District for monitoring the commission's Ingersoll property, totaling $749. Vice Chair Gene Harrington moved to pay the amount from the commission's line-item budget; member Bob Maxwell seconded. The motion carried unanimously, according to the minutes.

New Business: Hickory Hill Kiosk and Cooper Parcel Gate

Member Bob Maxwell reported that the kiosk at Hickory Hill has become difficult to reach because a new parking lot drew foot traffic away from the trail leading to it, leaving that path overgrown. Badois said the kiosk needs to be relocated and the eroded path stabilized, and that the parking lot and the newer, actively used trail should be added to the town's trail map. Separately, Badois reported she found an Eversource gate left open at the Cooper parcel, where power lines cross Litchfield Road; she closed it and added a chain but found no lock. Members could not identify the town's current Eversource liaison contact and discussed possible leads, including a former contact remembered only by the first name Glenn, without resolving who holds the key needed to secure the gate.

Approval of Minutes

Members amended line 51 of the July 14 draft minutes, changing language describing the commission's position on the strategic plan from "spoke against shelving the Master Plan" to "spoke against drastically modifying the Master Plan." Speltz noted the town's strategic plan process itself is being held in abeyance until next spring, when it will restart, though departments will continue work on items not requiring new budget approval. Member Bob Maxwell moved to accept the minutes as amended; member David Heafey seconded. The motion carried, with member Elkel Bickford abstaining.

Adjournment

Vice Chair Gene Harrington moved to adjourn; member Elkel Bickford seconded. The motion carried unanimously, and the meeting adjourned at 8:09 p.m.

Marge Badois, Chair, present Gene Harrington, Vice Chair, present Bob Maxwell, member, present David Heafey, member, present Elkel Bickford, member, present Michael Speltz, alternate member, present Gary Della Grotta, alternate member moving into vacated full-member seat, present Susan Malouin, alternate member, present Deb Lievens, member, absent Michael Bazegian, GIS Manager/Comprehensive Planner, staff, present Harry Schwartz, former full member, not present; reported resigned No members of the public attended or spoke during public comment Tom Kimball, resident, cited by Badois as the person who raised the beaver dam and Londonderry Country Club flooding concern; did not attend the meeting Ilissa Sargent, Forest Society, cited as the contact Badois and Speltz met with regarding boundary encroachments; did not attend the meeting

Rockingham County Conservation District (RCCD) — billed the commission $749 for annual monitoring of the Ingersoll property, approved for payment this meeting New Hampshire Fish and Game — owns the Mathes Trail property under a memorandum of understanding cited regarding the commission's trail maintenance authority Forest Society — nonprofit land trust whose monitoring reports and abutter-outreach letters on the Bacchus and Ingersoll properties were discussed regarding unresolved boundary encroachments Taking Action for Wildlife — state program offering a free Community Technical Assistance Program the commission is considering for strategic-plan projects Gove Environmental — environmental consultant whose wetland delineation on the Delta Drive property was cited during the DRC discussion Trailways — volunteer trail-maintenance group referenced regarding mowing of the Mathes Trail's Faucher Road entrance Eversource — utility company whose gate at the Cooper parcel on Litchfield Road was found open and unlocked Londonderry Country Club — abutting property reported to be affected by rising beaver dam water near the Mathes Trail boardwalk July 14, 2026 draft minutes — amended this meeting on line 51 and then approved DRC application materials for 16 and 22 Delta Drive (Map 14, Lots 21-11 and 4) and 2 Perkins Road (Map 13, Lot 22) — cited throughout the respective DRC discussions