Minutes of the Old Lyme Conservation Commission September 6, 2016
Call to order at 7:30 p.m.
Members present: Maureen Plumleigh, George James, Rebecca Waldo, Rachael Gaudio,
Guest Anu Godfrey Fogg
Minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
New Business
There is one opening for regular membership and two openings for alternates.
Tom Sherer has the information about the lake bed blanket. It was noted that four people have requested the use of a lake bed blanket.
There was a lively discussion of the various options for solar installation. Solar City and Vivint Solar are two companies that sounded very attractive with no money down and twenty year contracts which include maintenance and a much lower electric bill.
The Commission wanted to know whether or not the Town was going to test the three shallow wells at the southwest corner of the lake for contamination. There was a tentative agreement to do so before the Sanitarian resigned. With 421 properties around the lake, the Town has well data on 105 wells. The Town has data on 56 drilled wells and 36 dug wells. 13 are characterized as unknown. Recent public announcements on the internet urge residents to have their well water tested. Get a test bottle and instructions from town hall. Septic system pompouts are required every seven years. However, many experts suggest pumpouts every two to three years depending on the size of the lot and the soils.
Weed harvesting was discussed at some length.While weed harvesting in the lake is desirable when many acres of weeds are killed and add to the nitrogen of the lake bed, the harvesting requires machinery, a nearby area to store the harvested weeds, and mixing of the weeds with soil before it can be used. Once composted, it could be sold or applied to town fields.
Old business: It was noted that the Rogers Lake Authority has apparently accepted the Conservation Commission’s Long Range Plan. We look forward to see what actions the RLA takes to implement the Plan’s recommendations.George and Rebecca will attend the next RLA meeting. Anu will work on the web site. Rachael will focus on land use and open space matters.Adjourned at 9 p.m. Respectfully submitted, George James, secretary
| 
