Lake Pocotopaug Commission
Regular Meeting
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Eaton E. Smith Meeting Room - Town Hall
Minutes
1. Call to Order & Roll Call Chairman Hart called the Lake Pocotopaug Commission to order at 7 PM.
Members Present: Chairman Bob Hart, Vice Chairman John Ciriello, John Jordan, Jack Solomon (7:04 pm), Irene Curtis, Jim Smith, and Tom Wells.
Others Present: Town Manager: Alan Bergren, Recording Secretary Kamey Ahrens.
2. Approvals of Minutes, July 19, 2007: Motion by John Jordan to approve the meeting minutes dated July 19, 2007, with the correction of a typographical error on page 2.
The members of the commission reviewed the summary of the survey results that Chairman Hart was able to put together to get a sense of what the public point of view is on the lake.
Motion was seconded by John Ciriello. Vote passed 6-0-0.
3. Public Remarks: Beth Angel, Country Lane, invited the members of the commission to join on the creation of a forum on IWWA. Beth asked if the LPC would be interested in sponsoring or co-sponsoring the group. They would be very interested in the commission members participating in discussion. They are looking to form the group the end of September early October.
4. Presentation – “Phosphorus and Lake Pocotopaug”, Dr. Peter H Rich, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut John Ciriello introduced Dr. Peter H. Rich, recently retired from the Department of Ecology and Evolutional Biology at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Rich is a limnologist, who has conducted research in limnology and aquatic systems. Dr. Rich speaks to the commission tonight about phosphorus at Lake Pocotopaug.
Dr. Rich presented the commission with his knowledge of phosphorus and what can be done in the future to help with this problem.
5. Administrative Business & Communications
A. Town Managers Report
1) “Proposed No-Phosphorous Fertilizer Ordinance” Status. Town Manager Bergren spoke with Attorney Brooks and she has been working on the final version including adding Dr. Wagners final comments and all of the information that was received from the other sources. Mr. Bergren hopes to have this report by early next week and at that point will forward it to Chairman Hart & Vice Chairman Ciriello once it is received. The Town Council would like to hear back from the members of the LPC. Town Council is looking to schedule a hearing in mid September.
2) Christopher Brook Status Town Manager Bergren stated the IWWA has received some information from 3rd party inspectors and have requested a proposal from outside firms to do an overview of all the material that has been received. Vice Chairman Wilson of the IWWA continues to discuss with Attorney Brooks the procedures and steps that need to be in place in reviewing these documents on what steps need to be taken.
3) Fall Lake Lowering Notification Town Manager Bergren sent a letter to Mr. Bevin requesting a plan on lowering the lake with a lead time request of two to three weeks. Chairman Hart asked that he be notified the day the draw down is to take place.
Jack Solomon asked Mr. Bergren if the contract with ENSR has been signed. Mr. Bergren replied it is his understanding that it was in the hands of Chuck Lee for final approval. The LPC commission believes it is past that point and asked Mr. Bergren to look into and report back to the commission.
Chairman Hart asked Town Manager Mr. Bergren about a concern a resident had earlier in June where samples were taken from the lake and sent out, if there were any results that could be shared? Alan Bergren replied they came back as pollen. There was an email that was sent with these results and Mr. Bergren will resend to the members of the commission. [Chairman’s note: The results reported by Alan were not the lab sample results. After later investigation it was found that no algae or pollen testing was done on the samples taken in June by the Health Dept.]
Mr. Duncan has provided the LCP with information. John Ciriello will make copies for the commission members for review.
Regarding getting results from the state fish survey of the lake done in the spring, Alan Bergren suggested getting help from Peter Aarastad.
The letter that Chairman Hart sent to IWWA regarding Mr. Finkelsteins addition to his deck was read by the IWWA commission and the LPC requests were made part of an approved motion by the IWWA.
A local resident on Spellman’s Point provided the Chairman with a report dated 2005 regarding the Lake George Association and the construction projects that take place for keeping the lake clear.
A letter has been received from Stan Zaremba, Department of Environmental Protection, titled 2008 request for proposals for the non point source management grant program. This is an opportunity to submit proposals for projects that the LPC needs to begin pursuing. Jack Solomon suggested contacting Gail Hamm for support and assistance.
Chairman Hart wrote a letter to the Editor that will be in this week Rivereast that will discuss the results from the survey.
6. Commission Meeting Liaison Reports
A. IWWA Meeting – T. Wells reported on the applications that were discussed related to the Lake Commission. Minutes are on file for the IWWA in the Town Clerks Office.
B. P&Z Commission Meeting – 1st Wednesday T. Wells reported on the applications that were discussed related to the Lake Commission. Minutes are on file for the P&Z Commission in the Town Clerks Office.
C. Town Council Meetings – 2nd & 4th Tuesday, J. Ciriello reported at the previous meetings. Minutes are on file for the Town Council meetings in the Town Clerk’s Office.
D. Water & Sewer Commission – 1st Tuesday Jack Solomon stated there was no issue that pertained to LPC discussion at this meeting.
E. Friends of Lake Pocotopaug – Jack Solomon reported on the previous meeting noting the Friends of Lake Pocotopaug made a motion at their last meeting in favor of the purchase of three more ultra sound units to be placed throughout the lake.
F. Park & Recreation Advisory Board – 1st Tuesday John Ciriello stated there was no issue that pertained to LPC discussed at this meeting.
G. Zoning Board of Appeals- Jim Smith reported there was no Zoning Board of Appeals meeting this month.
7. Committee Reports
A. Education Committee – Ciriello
1. First Annual Lake Pocotopaug Conference The Education Committee has met although progress is slow. The anticipate progress by the next regular LPC meeting.
2. Invasive Weed Prevention Program John Ciriello presented the commission with the program that the State of New Hampshire does to prevent the spreading of Exotic Aquatic Plants in their lakes. The commission discussed the advantages of having a program like this in place. John Jordan stated he didn’t feel the town needed to spend money on this type of activity because there is no evidence of exotic plants in Lake Pocotopaug at this time. Chairman Hart agreed there is not signs however felt they should begin the process to keep it that way. Jack Solomon suggested spending a minimal amount of money, perhaps putting signs up to advise the public of the concerns.
3. Survey Results These results will be posted in Friday’s paper as previously discussed in addition to being found on the town’s website.
4. Other John Ciriello said that he and Jim Smith are going to begin taking photographs from the lake of the all the property around the lake for viewing today and additional study in the future.
B. Monitoring Committee- Solomon
1. Lake and Watershed Test Results Jack Solomon presented the commission with a spreadsheet of summary charts reviewing the progress to date. The commission discussed the numbers. On the tributary monitoring which is still being held up waiting for the ENSR contract, Jim Smith & Irene Curtis have volunteered to work together in this process. Jim will lead and Irene will coordinate volunteers.
2. Status of ENSR/Town contract Previously discussed under the Town Managers report.
3. Other Chairman Hart discussed the high count of coli form at Mallard Cove and the concern.
8. Reading Assignment -
A. Review of July 19th Reading Assignment – “Lake and Watershed Restoration and Protection, ENSR Slide Presentation, 2003”, (posted on LPC website ref. page.)
B. August 16th Reading Assignment - “Lake Pocotopaug 2003 In-Lake Water Sampling Results, ENSR International, March 2004”, (posted on LPC website ref. page).
Chairman Hart requested the members of the commission review this reading assignment and discussion will take place at the September meeting.
9. Unfinished Business:
A. In Lake Solution Trial Test Programs-. Chairman Hart reported on the Solar Bee test that is being done at St. Albums Bay, and they have agreed to share the conclusions and report with the LPC. Thus far it appears that no improvements have been found.
B. Investigate Alum Treatment Stations for Lake Tributaries Jim Smith provided the commission with the information that he has obtained on the treatments and where they would be located and how they would work. Chairman Hart directed J. Smith to call Mr. Lee for further discussion.
C. Hale Brook and Christopher Pond dredging Hale Brook is looking to be scheduled late fall, funded by the developer and scheduled with Public Works. Christopher Brook lacks the funding for dredging. The town continues to investigate. Alan will obtain an estimate within 1 or 2 months.
D. Fish Stocking Program John Jordan discussed his findings of which fish would be best to be stocked into Lake Pocotopaug. J. Jordan will continue to investigate prices for the purchase in addition speak with Ken Wagner and Chuck Lee to make sure all is in agreement on the plan in addition to speaking to Peter Aarrestad for advice.
E. Consider By-Laws Change to Allow Meeting at Sears Park Chairman Hart read article 7.1 of the By-Laws for the record.
A motion was made by Chairman Hart, to read an amendment add to article 7 and amend the by-laws, read into the record and vote on at the next regular scheduled meeting. Amendment as follows: Article 7 Meetings: Section I Regular Monthly meetings will be held on the 3rd Thursday of the month at 7pm at the East Hampton Town Hall or with sufficient advance notice at another publicly accessible location in East Hampton. Motion was seconded by John Jordan. Vote passed 7-0-0 This change will be posted to the minutes, have on the agenda at the next regular scheduled meeting for a final vote.
10. New Business: Irene Curtis asked about having a program over the winter mapping where the storm drains are located. In addition further discussion on marking our storm drains locations.
11 Public Remarks- Ray Serra thanked the LPC for their time and commitment to the lake.
12. Adjournment A motion was made by Jack Solomon, seconded by John Ciriello to adjourn at 10:22 p.m. Vote passed 6-0-0.
Respectfully Submitted, Kamey Ahrens Recording Secretary
| 
