urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags013fMinutes of the Herring River Technical Committee
September 27, 2006, Wellfleet Senior Center, corrected 10/12/06 1 of 11
Present: Carl Brievogel; John Riehl; Stephen Spear; Eric Derleth; Tim Smith; Steve Block; Gary Palmer; Jack Whalen; J. Portnoy; Joel Fox; Hillary Greenberg; Bob Hubby and PersonNameGordon Peabody.
Absent with notification: Diane Murphy and Andy Koch.
Present as participants in Agenda items were Gabrielle Sakolsky, Entomologist with Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project, Dan Silverman, Wellfleet Fire Chief, Dave Crary, CCNS Fire Management Officer, Carrie Phillips, CCNS Natural Resources Director and Peter Watts, Herring River Stakeholder Committee Chair.
Meeting called to order at 12:12pm.
Laura Watts, recording the Committee minutes.
Chair announces the minutes of our previous (9/05/06) have been reviewed on line by the Committee, with submitted corrections made by the Chair. Chair asks if there are any additional changes necessary to the minutes? The Chair entertains a motion that the minutes be accepted as presented.
Motion to approve minutes, Portnoy seconds, approved unanimously.
Public comments
There were no comments from the public
Announcements
J. Riehl reminds “State of Wellfleet Harbor Conference” will be held on Saturday, Nov. 4th at the Wellfleet Senior Center Sat. 8:30am.
Chair announces Diane Murphy has been involved in an innovative project using oysters in coastal ponds for algae control.
Chair congratulates John Portnoy on receiving an Environmental Award from The National Park Service, for his work on the Herring River. Chair also mentions that John has had an article published in the Journal of Shellfish Research “Effects of Tidal Restrictions and Potential Benefits of …Restoration on Fecal Coliform and shellfish-Water Quality”. John has provided copies for Committee members because the study was conducted in the Herring River.
Committee business HRTC 9/27/06 page 2 of 11
Chair passes out copy of letter he submitted to Town Clerk and Wellfleet Board of Selectmen disclosing his part time employment by two property owners in the Ryder Beach area of Truro. The chair mentions that disclosure prevents the perception of conflict and protects the Committee process. Normally, copies of a disclosure letter do not require circulation within the Committee but as Chair, he felt the Committee should be informed.
House keeping issue, minutes on website, can’t find July 11th minutes. Hillary Greenberg’s computer, with the minutes she took at that meeting, crashed. Hillary will contact the Chair if they can’t be recovered and he will exhume a copy from his archives.
All future minutes, approved by the Committee, will be emailed by the Chair to Hillary, who will forward them to Town Hall for posting on Website.
The Chair requests that all documents created for Committee use contain presentation date, reference to the HRTC and contain attribution as to generation. Wellfleet, MA should also appear on any documents, to clarify which Herring River we are referring to.
If possible, each page should be numbered and include HRTC with a date.
The Chair asks each Committee member about their opinion regarding our progress and what they think is the most important, short-term goal.
Hillary- progress had been good, would like to see it move faster, short-term goal finishing restoration plan.
Joel Fox- going well, short-term goal, thinks a lot about low lying road and if we could get work on that started before project approval, ahead of game.
J.Portnoy- good progress, short term is the acquisition of CYCC land and golf course relocation.
Gary Palmer- new member, working on getting up to speed
Jack Whalen- been involved for 7 years, going fast now, dike is at top of list
Steve Block- golf course and to be certain we understand all the issues and leave nothing outstanding, with no surprises
Tim Smith- get restoration plan underway so public processes with NEPA and MEPA can begin.
Eric Derleth- golf course needs to be addressed but pleased with progress.
Stephen Spear- going great, lot to do, done very well, MOU-II is important so we will know that we can seriously pursue the restoration.
John Riehl- we’ve cast a wide net, HRTC 9/27/06 page 3 of 11
I think we need to bring the process to a close, make some decisions. Before going to selectman we should have a list of private properties.
Carl Brievogal- we should move as fast as we can to a definitive point, golf course and dike issues need clarity to continue.
Robert Hubby- the progress has been phenomenal, one of the critical things we need to do is be sure the Over Sight Committee is fully equipped and organized.
PersonNameGordon Peabody- “I’m not sure how many have had committee experience but I can say that you may never be on such a hard working, cohesive committee like this again. I’m proud of our Committee. We must all be prepared to choose wisely, because our children will inherit our decisions on natural resources. We need to begin focusing on the design of a transition process, to the next committee”.
Presentation by Steve Block
Documenting “In Kind Services” for matching grants.
We don’t always require documentation of services. It would be good to have documentation, if we are called on it. If we broke down hours by government employees, etc., we would have a rough estimate of time at comparable rate for matching. Volunteers cannot match their time.
Chair- how about site visits, preparation time…things like that?
Steve- there is more points for having matched dollars than in kind.
Eric Derleth- suggests keeping quarterly totals is good idea, to synchronize with grant application deadlines.
Bob Hubby- are subcommittee hours, putting together reports, included?
Steve Block- yes
The Chair appoints Eric Derleth, Tim Smith, Steve Block and himself, to a working group that will structure a recording system for staff employee time in this project. The Chair will send his draft calculation structure to the other members for review and comment. The working group will then use existing data to document a set of “In Kind Matching” funds.
Archives SubCommittee draft presentation, email guidelines, Robert Hubby. Bob and the Chair met and discussed process of archiving. The draft guidelines include 11 points and sample. The Chair asks the Committee to review each point.
Stephen Spear- asks about point number 4 clarification on “forward motion”.
Chair- we have tried to create a three level HRTC 9/27/06 page 4 of 11
review process by describing how to determine content, having an on line review available and a final review by the Chair and the Archivist, who is Bob, the Vice Chair. All emails can be considered Public Record. I will be sending our approved draft to the Public Records Office for review.
Helen Wilson- first, you got the guidelines right. Second, any deliberations or exchanges, even how to be good committee members, COULD be considered. Important to create a good archive. Any exchanges under your jurisdiction should be shared at meetings.
Bob Hubby- picks up at point 5
J Riehl- this seems to be broader than what was shared last time
Chair- in reviewed the Attorney General’s email Public Records Guidelines; these points are specific to those requirements.
J. Riehl- in practice this isn’t too different from what we’ve discussed
Hubby- number 6-11 without comment
Chair- does anyone have any comments, are we clear on our motives?
The Chair entertains a motion regarding the draft email guidelines.
J.Riehl & R. Hubby discusses the correct wording of a motion.
R. Hubby motions “Recognizing the need for comprehensive archives for any email correspondence relating to the charge of the HRTC as established by the August 2005 MOU between the Town of Wellfleet BOS and the CCNS, it is proposed that the September 18th Draft guidelines, eleven in number, be submitted to the State Attorney General’s Office of Public Records, for approval.
Steve Bloch second, approved unanimously
Chair asks Tim Smith what course of action the Committee should take to follow up on a Gulf of Maine Grant application for $70,000.00, due on November 17. Can this provide the detailed LIDAR mapping we need?
Tim- the ideal situation would be for the applicant to be the Town. That doesn’t mean the Town has to do the narrative and paperwork. It’s really up to us to decide how the committee can support the Town in this process. There are different pieces we need to consider, budgeting, acknowledgment and support from the Town administration.
Chair- what I am looking for is a working group to spear head progress.
Chair appoints a working group to begin looking into grant issues.
Tim Smith- Hillary Greenberg, himself and he will ask Rex Petersen and a Wellfleet Selectman to join.
Steve Block- you will need to explain to the Town how it works, and the Town will probably have to contract it out.
From the audience, Helen Wilson, under HRTC 9/27/06 page 5 of 11 no circumstances should you consider one selectman’s opinion as the approval from the whole group,
when you go to get permission from selectmen to apply for the grant one selectman is not enough.
John Riehl- what is the matching percentage?
Tim Smith- 1 for 1, we are asking for max of 75K
J. Riehl, so the Town would have to come up with 37.5K?
Chair- first, we should get our working group going to identify our options.
Steve Block, we don’t want the BOS to think they have to come up with the match, when there are other sources that it can come from.
Chair- there can also be some administrative costs for the Town written in.
Tim Smith- the project will be defining in a fairly broad way.
J. Riehl- maybe I am being too cautious but will this working group report to the Committee for open discussion?
Chair- all working groups report directly to the Committee.
Chair presents Liaison SubCommittee Interim Report
Chair reports this SubCom was created to catalogue potential Restoration Partners, interested in providing support through their interests in social, ecological, educational, administrative, fieldwork or financial aspects of the proposed Restoration. Committee, members provide additional contacts.
Presentation on mosquito issues and the restoration area
Gabrielle Sakolsky Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project
Eric Derleth asks if mosquitoes infected with triple e and west Nile are only freshwater mosquitoes? The answer is yes, in Massachusetts to date.
Salt water and brackish water mosquitoes are more aggressive, they are less likely to spread diseases, Studies have proven vector competency for these species.
John Riehl- are people who supported this project because of mosquito control misinformed?
Gabrielle- standing water is the problem, if you can get the water moving and get fish in there, no problem. She is concerned if we flood areas that water can’t get back out of, then what?
J.Portnoy- the one factor that guarantees we will have a huge mosquito population is spring precipitation. John has requested weather data for 1905, to explore that aspect of the rational for the building of the dike.
Gabrielle- we have low-pressure equipment. HRTC 9/27/06 p 6 of 11
that can trench and drain to keep water moving. Gabrielle, the process thinly distributes the material in a wide area.
Helen Wilson- that resource can save town money
J.Portnoy- the one factor that guarantees we will have a huge mosquito population is spring precipitation. John has requested weather data for 1905 to explore that aspect of the rational for the building of the dike.
Carl Brievogel- in the existing marsh that is fresh but will become salt, will trenching mobilize heavy metals toxic to fish?
This problem has been discussed and work on Mill Creek was delayed as the results of these concerns.
Stephen Spear- what kind of mosquito species and numbers are you monitoring at the Dike and Black Fish Creek?
Gabrielle- there are no traps at Black Fish Creek. The majority of mosquitoes trapped at sites along the Herring River are Ochlerotatus Cantator, a brackish species.
Stephen Spear, can you show the difference between areas where there is mosquito management vs. no management?
Gabrielle- we do trap at both types of sites. Yes, there is an observable difference.
John Riehl, if you look at real estate, mosquitoes aren’t driving down property values.
Tim Smith, is there any sampling at other restoration sites?
Gabrielle- Yes, we have traps at Saga more Marsh during restoration.
Jack Whalen- are we going to have a problem near golf course?
Gabrielle- we will be watching this. If there is a problem we would be happy to work with you on a solution.
Joel Fox- can we do a study at Black Fish Creek? It would be interesting to see, there have been some changes there beyond the railroad bed.
Gabrielle- sure, I’d be happy to put a trap out there. Until this year we have never had Triple E on Cape Cod, this is from bird biting, fresh water mosquitoes. West Nile also showed positive in birds on Cape Cod. These are transmitted by fresh water, bird-biting mosquitoes.
Chair, we have 2 salt water 1 brackish water species we need to contend with in the restoration.
Eric Derleth- out reach is important; we need to get the message straight when we relate information on these diseases.
Stephen Spear- we are going to need a mosquito management plan …this is a big area, what is the story with your budget.
Gabrielle- that is a concern, we use to HRTC 9/27/06 page 7 of 11
have a two-person crew that just worked in the seashore. We no longer have a crew to do this work.
S. Spear- can you accept money from
Wellfleet or seashore? If they get a grant could they pay you?
Gabrielle- yes
Gary Palmer- will Truro receive more brackish water? Will lack of flushing create areas of standing water?
Chair- the area would drain more completely, better than now.
Stephen Spear- drainage for mosquito would also benefit other animals. The whole restoration process produces flushing, encouraging animals to move in.
Chair- appoints Gary Palmer, Stephen Spear, John Portnoy and himself to a Mosquito issues working group, to develop information and make a recommendation to the Impacts Sub Committee on inter-jurisdictional (Mosq. Prog./CCNS/ Wellfleet/Truro) mosquito management to be included in the comprehensive management plan.
1:55 Break
2:08 Meeting Reconvened
John Riehl presents Access SubCommittee draft report
Chair, we are looking at exchanging electronic comments, issuing final draft in two weeks for review and voting to approve at our next meeting.
Bob Hubby- when we get to the business of walking
trails, Open Space Committee could contribute to the Restoration Trail.
Chair, we want this to be an attractive plan to our Granting Partners, creating access, with guidelines to limit impact. We will need a catalogue of issues.
Communication and Education
Newsletter- Steven, Tim, John and the Chair are in the Newsletter working group. Have been exchanging emails regarding content, direction, and format.
J. Portnoy-. Who is actually going to put this together?
Tim, I put in an official request to see if CZM staff would be interested.
Chair, some of the mailing cost would be absorbed by our budget. We have lots of options. This should be a long-term publication that is informative.
The Chair will be meeting with John on Friday morning to review comments and produce a second draft.
Mailing list. Several versions of abutter HRTC 9/27/06 pg 8 of 11
mailing lists, from the Town of placeCityWellfleet, the Town of placeCityTruro and the CCNS, have been used.
The Chair appoints a working group of Hillary Greenberg, Gary Palmer and John Portnoy, representing Wellfleet, Truro and CCNS, to deliver a unified list to the Committee by our next meeting.
Public information brochure.
Chair, do we want an information brochure that is available for people?
Carl- I think it is a good idea
J. Riehl- expense, how would it be available for distribution. Would tend to preach to the converted, it wouldn’t reach the broader group of voters and citizens a concern we should think about.
Chair, the genesis of idea came from the conservation management people, who suggested most of the public needs to be informed. The Wellfleet Conservation trust believes a brochure is important and has offered support.
Eric Derleth- doesn’t have to be glossy, could be downloaded, introductory.
Tim- this is something that would be very good to have. The CZM offer stands to help, if we provide content.
R. Hubby- would like to see the basic brochure and be able to down load.
Chair, I’m appointing Tim Smith, John Portnoy, myself and I will contact Peter Hall from the Wellfleet Conservation Trust to explore their commitment and the four of us can catalogue our options, to bring back to the Committee.
Restoration Management
The Chair hands out draft notes on specific elements of management for review, including responsibilities, membership and qualifications.
Chair opens discussion by asking for Committee member comment.
Hillary Greenberg, this looks great.
J. Riehl- first step is to oversee the detailed comp. Plan and permitting second is implementation. Two phases should be called out
C. Breivolgel- we should add “monitor quality assurance” procedure.
Chair, that could be placed in the Project manager tasking.
J. Fox- How about compensation fund for issues, (number 21 under res. Plan components draft notes) unanticipated compensation fund?
Tim S- we need to be extremely careful how that is worded, if at all.
Chair, this has been a concern that has been voiced that we should consider. Bob- is there any type of insurance that could be bought by the committee? J. Fox- if twenty shell fishermen would be put out of business, if homeowners’ wells were breached, Moby Dick HRTC 9/27/06 pg 9 of 11 restaurant loses fresh water- in people’s mind the potential is there.
Gary Palmer- abutters want assurances that
wells will not be damaged. Agreement in placeCityTruro, no dollars just resolution.
Stephen S- intrigued with idea of having sometime of back up.
Chair- aspects of the of this salt/fresh water have been studied, additional studies will be done. If there is projected impact, it is important to locate it ahead of time and mitigate it. Draw down and drought are certainly the two greatest threats to water sources on Cape Cod.
Helen- we shouldn’t get insurance, it suggests a problem and legally we don’t have responsibility. Someone should follow up with Mark Forrest.
Tim Smith, insurance is unprecedented, beyond the scope of any restoration.
J.Riehl- I think Joel has identified two areas that make me think we should have provisions for this. An insurance policy would limit risk while instilling confidence in project.
Chair, would you look into it to see what the issues could be with insurance agencies and present findings to the Committee at our next meeting?
Chair, let’s move on to management membership
R.Hubby- stakeholder’s concerns, wants to be sure of the 14 points.
J.Whalen suggest CYCC be included.
J.Portnoy suggests Coastal geomorphologist/hydrogeologist or coastal ecologist, and Cape Cod Mosquito control added otherwise list is fine.
J. Fox, who will to manage this whole project? It seems like the Seashore owns most the property, there are private landowners impacted. Town should have a voice. All should have a voice.
J. Portnoy- can’t we keep this management committee mentioned on page 1
J. Fox- there are two many partners
J.Riehl supports Joel’s point of view. I would suggest considering out of this group a much smaller executive committee. Project manager would be a member of that small group, a non-voting member.
Carry Phillips CCNS- there is going to be a lot going on from small to large-scale decisions. It might be difficult to educate everyone in a timely manner. Management does heavy lifting but defer to executive group when needed.
Eric D- I think you will have to have what Joel suggests. There will be decisions in the year 2020, I’m not coming back. Long-term management
will be the ownership of the affected landowners HRTC dateYear2006Day27Month99/27/06 pg 10 of 11 and seashore. There should be a document that addresses long term management.
Tim Smith- 50 years from now are the motives and ideals of the committee going to be the same. Protection needs to be written in.
Break called at 3:30pm
At 3:45 PM meeting reconvenes
Chair, The purpose of this portion of our meeting is to explore a concept that was presented by a bridge engineer at our last meeting. We need to consider either building a second, possibly very expensive roadway next to the dike during rebuilding, or use a by pass, alternative roadway. Our concerns only begin at finances; we cannot afford to have a lengthy construction window because we cannot even think about impacting the herring migration window and shell fishing concerns favor winter. Our granting partners would not be supportive. A by pass would reduce cost significantly and provide a shorter time frame for construction. We have fire officials from Wellfleet and the CCNS to discuss public safety issues related to the use of a by pass.
Fire Chief Dan Silverman- we looked at how it affects our operations, fire protection and emergency services. Must have access regardless of what is going on at dike. Can live with bypass access off High Toss Road, has been used before in 1974 as bypass …Concerns- improving the quality of High Toss for ambulance and fire trucks. Response would be slower due to winding and poor conditions. Must be graded. The big heavy tanker, water must be brought with them, poor turn radius, turn at the end of the road need to be widened so they can make the turn, Brush cutting, weight rate bridge to 66k lbs, 14x14 ft corridor w/vegetation. Need
to travel 30-35 MPH for sufficient response time. A longer duration.
David Crarey, CCNS doesn’t see any problem with proposed plan to use High Toss as a bypass for the bridge. Restored marsh could be seen as a firebreak.
J. Riehl- Snake Creak Road, would that impact you if that road disappeared?
FC-no, it’s not passable as is.
Discussion follows related to the availability, existing and potential, of water sources to refill tanker truck.
Gordon thanks the three men for their presentation
J. Reihl suggests that DPW manager is invited to November meeting to see what suggestions and concerns he has.
Chair will contact him for briefing, possible visit Oct or Nov. meeting
HRTC 9/27/06 Page 11 of 11
Eric Derleth- we will have all this information via our consultants when is the best time to invite DPW? A lot of questions we can’t yet have answer.
Chair, we need to have an initial meeting
J.Fox- for budget purposes the sooner the better
Memorandum of Understanding II
Chair introduces, Carrie Phillips, CCNS Natural Resources Manager. Chair asks her what she learned from the first MOU and what suggestions she would make for the second one?
Carrie Phillips- in terms of MOU it’s main purpose was to get things moving, it has some success but is coming to end of it utility. The next MOU should looks at the next critical phases of development and implementation. Don’t make it too broad, revisit in a few years. Cautions against mandatory sunset clause but suggest building in re-evaluation.
Structure MOU to carry past implementation and not get too far ahead.
Carrie suggests that she and John Portnoy work together with Committee and Town partners to develop the MOU2. The group would advance it and when they felt it was appropriate, forward it to the Superintendent with their recommendation for signature. If he agrees it would then be sent to their solicitor in Boston for review and comment and/or approval. Once both the Superintendent and Solicitor approve, the Superintendent would sign it for the Park.
Chair suggests a working group to begin developing MOU II between CCNS, Wellfleet and Truro. Carrie Phillips, John Portnoy, Gary Palmer, Rex Petersen and a yet to be named Wellfleet selectman, Hillary Greenberg.
The group will make a progress report to the Committee at the October meeting.
The next meeting is scheduled for October 26th
Chair entertains a motion to adjourn
Joel Fox- so moves Hillary Greenberg seconds, unanimous
Adjourn 4:55pm
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