Town of Mashpee
Environmental Oversight Committee
Minutes of Meeting
August 14, 2008
Present: Chair-Don Myers, Beverly Kane, Ted Theis, Rick York, Ed Baker, Ralph Marcelli
CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Don Myers, Chairman.
APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES:
Motion made by Mr. Marcelli to approve the minutes of July 10, 2008. Motion seconded by Mr. Theis. All voted unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
No new business at this time.
OLD BUSINESS
Ralph Marcelli-Education
Mr. Marcelli announced that the DEP zone delineation has been approved.
Additionally, Mr. Marcelli shared with the Commission that he was in receipt of a letter dated July 18 from Earth Tech regarding the condition of the waste water treatment plant. The letter indicates that the condition has progressed to a safety issue, with the steel holding the grading being compromised as well as corrosion of the tanks. A quote of $52,000 was provided for prepping and painting only, and does not include repairs to the facility. Earth Tech states that the plant won’t last another 5 years and recommended immediate plans to repair it. Mr. Marcelli is asking Earth Tech for more information regarding the warranty, the original cost of the facility and who was responsible for maintenance of the facility and hopes to have the details available prior to the next Environmental
Oversight meeting.
The Committee felt that the facility was fairly new, built when the high school was constructed, and should not be encountering such problems. The plant should last indefinitely with preventative maintenance, unless a maintenance schedule was not provided. Earth Tech should have provided annual reports regarding the state of the facility. Mr. Theis advised that the School Board attorney should review the contract with Earth Tech. The Committee agreed that no additional work should be pursued until all questions are answered.
Ed Baker-Review of Action Items
2. Mashpee River Restoration
Mr. Baker has attended a Waterways Commission meeting but there had been no discussion on the issue. Mr. Baker feels that encouragement from the Board of Selectmen would be helpful and Chairman Meyers agreed to check in to it further.
3. Combine Water-Sewer
The Board of Selectmen requested that the Town and Water District attorneys discuss how best the merger could occur. The Chair hasn’t yet received an update.
4. Natural Fertilizers/Friendly Lawn Program
Mr. Theis is working on creating a smaller document from the Plymouth and Falmouth facilities, in order for it to be printed.
5. Grant Applications
The Board of Selectmen is drafting an RFP for a contract writer. The Chair has learned from Joyce Mason that the county will be contacted for more information to learn how they manage their contract grant writers.
7. Town-Wide Stormwater Management Plan
Three active items-
Road Specifications for Subdivision Regulations-Although there has not yet been a meeting, Catherine Laurent has been contacted and the meeting with Charlie Rowley should occur soon. The Committee emphasized that they wish to have the opportunity to comment on the drafted regulations and wanted to ensure that the regulations are reviewed in conjunction with NPDES PII Small MS4 document. The Chair confirmed that the April 1, 2006-March 31, 2007 copy received by the Environmental Oversight Committee is the most recent copy. The permit has expired and the town is awaiting the state’s release of the application.
It was also questioned whether or not the Department of Public Works currently has regulations on paper and, if not, what the legal standing of their regulations would be if not on paper. It was suggested that, at present, DPW regulations are verbal. The necessity of combining the regulations is to ensure that the town has set standards so that if a private road eventually becomes a public road, it has already met the town standards preventing additional costly changes to the road. When a private road wishes to become public, the DPW assesses the road based on their standard, and then notifies the homeowners of the costs involved with making it a public road. Homeowners can make the final decision about whether or not they wish to convert voluntarily and pay the costs.
The Committee questioned whether or not there should be additional oversight by a Board, such as Planning, Zoning or Board of Selectmen, for the regulations. Presently, applications to convert a private road to a public road are made to the Town Manager because it must appear on the Town Warrant.
PowerPoint Presentation/Stormwater Primer-Beverly Kane wishes to wait until the next meeting, allowing more time for comments about the document, before sharing the final changes. The distribution of the document will rely upon grant writing activities. Grant money should be available to fund this type of a project.
Swail Construction for Sampson Mill Road
The Committee would like to invite Ms. Laurent to the next Environmental Oversight Committee and provide her with an agenda to discuss the following topics: Road Specifications in consideration of the NPSD document, Swails at Quiniquisett Ave., Lantern Ln. and Sampson’s Mill Rd. and Recycling/Unit Based Pricing.
8. Santuit Pond
One company has forwarded questions regarding the RFP for Santuit Pond. Mr. Baker and the town responded to the inquiry. Proposals are due on September 1 so it will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Additionally, there hasn’t yet been a change in the request to Cable Technology to fund two water quality measuring devices. Rick York has been working on a proposal because he was asked to seek additional funds for the devices elsewhere. Mr. Baker feels that there should be better support to get the devices for the pond since the pond needs more monitoring. The dissolved oxygen numbers are low at the bottom early in the morning but the measurements are needed at night, which would be provided by the measuring devices. The pond is showing signs of producing blue-green algae which could be anabaena and microcystis, two types of toxin producing algae that have the potential of being very harmful. Mr. York will get a sample from the pond this week in order to check the type of
algae.
Mr. York has had a very busy summer season setting 1 million oyster seed, which has been growing very quickly, and 1 million scallop seed. In addition, the lab has been relocated to the Police Department. Once the lab is completely set up, it will be a first class facility that can assess both salt and fresh water samples. The lab may be able to assist with some of the sampling managed by the Environmental Coalition.
9. Land Steward Program
A letter dated August 14, 2008 was received from Conservation Agent Drew McManus regarding an update for the Land Steward Program. Agent McManus and the Assistant Conservation Agent, Liz, will be scheduling a volunteer meeting in August. They have received observation forms from volunteers who have begun to assess their parcels. Liz will also be following up, on site, on an individual basis. In addition to managing the Land Steward Program, Agent McManus describes Liz’s contributions in the department which has improved enforcement and the permitting process. The Conservation Department will continue to work toward improving the Land Steward Program.
Mr. Baker feels that more effort is still needed based on feedback he has received from some of the volunteers to include:
-emailed questions to which no response has been received
-suggestion that assignment of large areas should be given to multiple volunteers
-some volunteers still awaiting the arrival of their packets
Ms. Kane is going to Area 2 this weekend to perform her walk through with a group of four volunteers. She will be testing out the map in order to identify the parcel’s boundaries. Ms. Kane had expected to receive an inventory of the parcel, perhaps from a database, which would better describe the topography and allow volunteers to be better prepared for their walk through.
Since the provided maps have minimal boundary markings, the Committee discussed using the town’s GIS system to preview the parcel and use the zoom function to identify some details. Volunteers should travel the perimeter to assess the accessibility of the parcels and not enter if it is not accessible. Mr. Theis added that he had volunteered both the VFW and the Boy Scouts to review any challenging parcels.
Mr. Baker is concerned that the part time Conservation Agent hired to manage the Program, as indicated in the letter, has been busy working in other areas of the Department, which has allowed progress to be made in those areas. In order for the town to take over the Program and run it properly, the part time position was needed to focus specifically on Land Stewards.
The Committee was in agreement that the implementation of the Program will take some time. It was suggested that Agent McManus be invited to attend the Environmental Oversight Committee meeting in October for an update. Additionally, the Chair will request more information about which parcels have been reviewed for the September meeting.
10. Stormwater Biofilter
Still Pending
12. Recycling
The Committee would like to discuss further with Ms. Laurent the “pay as you throw” option.
Additionally, the Chair has received a copy of the Board of Health Regulations in an effort to confirm whether or not they are enforcing recycling pick up for private haulers. Ms. Mason has responded that they are enforcing it but that the Board of Health will be updating its 1999 regulations to reflect what is currently being accepted.
The Committee feels that recycling is evidently not being enforced. Mr. Baker indicated that the New Seabury Peninsula Council Newsletter reported that they would be seeking a private hauler who will offer recycling services. Members have indicated that once they identify a private hauler willing to offer recycling, they will share that information with other interested parties within the town. Mr. Theis also read an article in the Enterprise that reflected similar issues in other neighborhoods. Mr. Theis will be attending the quarterly Neighborhood Watch meeting and will make an announcement about this issue at the meeting.
13. Ashumet Pond
This item is closed.
14. Resident Comments regarding Mashpee’s Ponds Water Quality
In October the volunteer sampling will close and will be followed by a report for 2008. The Chair checked the Cape Cod Commission website for more information regarding the PALS Program. The website indicated that the last report was released in 2003. Mr. Baker agreed, but added that the Mashpee Environmental Coalition releases a report each year which includes numbers for phosphorus and chlorophyll-A which are near surface sample results taken one time each year in August or September. It is unclear what role the Cape Cod Commission will play in obtaining the 2008 numbers but sample bottles are being made available and they will coordinate the pick up of this year’s samples. Mr. Baker added that the 2007 numbers were received two weeks ago. The results are in the mid range,
except for Santuit Pond which looks terrible. Currently they have only a five year history, a longer time period would be better for assessing any issues because water could have a couple of bad years, affected by rains, abnormally high temperatures, etc. The chemical analyses occur only one time each year so it’s just a snapshot. Mr. York confirmed that the pond is worse than it was 10 years by observation alone. It has degraded quite a bit and indications are that it continues to get worse. A state report from 10 years ago indicated that the bottom of the pond could be seen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. Theis announced that Family Fun Day at South Cape Village will be on Saturday where the VFW will distribute water and recycling brochures. There will also be a stack of recycling bins available to Mashpee residents.
Also, Mr. Theis attended the Conservation Commission meeting that included discussion about the cranberry bogs. Many residents voiced their concern about the pollution around John’s Pond. Following the meeting, Mr. Theis questioned some of the residents if they understood their role in the pollution. Mr. Theis plans to create a brochure on his own and at his own cost, about Septic System Maintenance and include information about flushing medications and cleaners.
The New England Water Environment Association annual meeting will take place in Westford at the Westford Regency on September 10. Mr. Theis suggested a town sewer representative attend. Mr. Theis will forward the information by email.
Mr. Theis also announced that the difference between a swail and sump pit is that a swail contains bacterial activity. He is working on developing a sump pit insert for swails to avoid land use issues, particularly near water, that could be retrofit and utilized town wide.
MEETING ADJOURNMENT:
Motion made by Mr. Baker to adjourn the meeting at 8:25 p.m. Motion seconded by Mr. Marcelli. All voted unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer M. Clifford
Board Secretary
| 
