The Hudson Conservation Commission met on June 10 to discuss the recent rerouting of around 200 feet of the Hamblet-Nash Trail in the Musquash Conservation Area with a small bridge. The old trail suffered from flooding, and Vice Chair, Carl Murphy, was happy with the results.
“I think it’s a much nicer trail, it’s a lot dryer,” said Murphy. “I did some pricing for materials for a bridge, and it came out to about $530.”
Murphy and other members volunteered to build the new footbridge. Up to $600 was approved to cover the cost of materials.
The bridge is scheduled for construction at the July Work Day set for Saturday, July 13, from 8 a.m. to noon at the Hamblet-Nash Trail in the Musquash Conservation Area.
The Robinson Pond boat ramp and beach project remains on track as civil engineering VHB got the purchase order for all design and permitting requirements. The Town Engineer, Elvis Dhima, also announced progress on a promising grant to help pay for the project.
“I filed in the intent for a $1 million grant for the boat launch and beach area. I need to go back to the Board of Selectmen for communication,” said Dhima, who wanted to open to beach area of Robinson Pond after discovering there was a (largely unenforced) town ordinance restricting access to non-residents. “I need go back to the Board and ask them if they’re willing to open that up to everyone, obviously with some kind of limitation to capacity and vehicles if we take it, or we won’t be able to qualify for the beach area project.”
Alternate member, Linda Krisciunas, wondered if investing in the beach was worth it due to closures over the past few summers.
“I feel like Robinson’s Pond is closed a lot, you can’t swim there,” she argued.
The hope is that improvements to the beach area will reduce sloping around the lake, reducing runoff to the pond with the goal of at least partially alleviating the cyanobacterial blooms responsible for the closures. Even before the official start of the season, Robinson Pond had been closed for swimming.
Selectmen Liaison, David Morin, had high hopes for the beach area.
“Robinson Pond is closed already this year. I just want to thank this committee for putting forth the funds for the engineering to improve that for the town residents,” said Morin. “I know it’s a big chunk of your money that you would like to use in other places, but I think, as a town, as a whole, it will be a good thing and I thank you for doing that.”
The next meeting of the Conservation Commission is scheduled for Monday, July 8, at 7 p.m. in the Buxton Room of Town Hall.