fHerring River Technical Committee
Approved minutes from April 12, 2007 Meeting
Held at Wellfleet Council on Aging, Wellfleet, MA
Present: Tim Smith, Jack Whalen, Eric Derleth, John Portnoy, Joel Fox, John Riehl, Gordon Peabody, Carl Breivogel, Robert Hubby, Hillary Greenberg, Stephen Spear
Absent: Diane Murphy, Andy Koch, Steve Block, and Gary Palmer
In attendance: Laura Slifka(CCCHFA), Helen Miranda Wilson, Jeff Hughes, Dave McGowan(TNC), Kevin Cahoon (Asst. Director Wellfleet DPW)
Chair called meeting to order at 12:40 pm.
Chair entertains motion to approve corrected 3/19/07 meeting minutes
So moved by Joel Fox, seconded by Stephen Spear.
Motion passed unanimously at 12:41 pm.
Chair welcomed Laura Slifka from Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fishermen’s Association in Chatham.
Chair also welcomed Dave McGowan from The Nature Conservancy.
Chair opened floor to public and committee announcements.
Carl Breivogel announced that he is no longer the herring warden for Wellfleet. His replacement is Jeff Hughes. However Carl Breivogel will be staying on as an asst. herring warden. The town of Wellfleet is aware of Carl Breivogel’s continuing acting role on this committee.
Helen Miranda Wilson expressed concern about the lack of reference about sea level rise in the CRP.
Chair focused committee’s attention to the low-lying roadway document sent by ENSR. Due to town meeting and scheduling conflict with the town of Truro DPW, they were unable to attend today. An effort was made to have representatives from the Wellfleet DPW attend the meeting today.
Chair temporarily suspended discussion over agenda items #4-6 until Wellfleet DPW staff arrived.
Chair next opened the floor to Dave McGowan to discuss the role the Nature Conservancy will play in the Herring River Restoration Project. Currently, The Nature Conservancy is trying to figure out what would be the best action taken so that there is proper money allocated to the project. The Nature Conservancy works hand in hand with government and private agencies to make projects, such as this one, possible. Currently, over the next three fiscal years, there is the opportunity to gain support from our congressional delegation financially. Dave McGowan also discussed the options of grants and their timing.
Chair leaned discussion towards the merge of the Herring River Restoration Project with the work/restoration part of the Country Club. There are still negotiations as to the purchase price for the 25 acres from the Country Club according to Dave McGowan. That needs to be in place before the two projects can be intertwined.
Jack Whalen asked about funding for the whole project minus the Country Club project.
Dave McGowan agreed; he went on further to discuss the specifics of the grants that are currently available and what would need to happen to make it possible for this project.
John Portnoy inquired as to how we get things in place for action this summer (specifically June).
Dave McGowan discussed the fact that a lot of things are still up in the air but some elements of restoration could be possible.
John Riehl asked about the spending timelines put on specific grants and the concerns about the project not being finished by the time the spending time limit expires.
Stephen Spear discussed other elements that could happen (such as permits, etc.) so that the project could move forward without just waiting for money, Eric Derleth discussed project readiness and the funding element part of the project, adding to Stephen Spear’s/Dave McGowan’s comments. Eric Derleth put out the idea that certain granting agencies might look at the project as not quite ready to act due to the indecision of the towns on the project because the grant deadline is June 28th. If the committee can link the 25 acres that need to be acquired from the country club, it might make the project look closer to ready than not.
Tim Smith agreed with Stephen Spear and Eric Derleth and John Portnoy. Even though there is money secured, it won’t be enough for the acquisition. Tim Smith also suggested moving forward with the CYCC aspect of the project but linking it to the larger project might be a better way to go about obtaining funding.
Stephen Spear had specific questions as to the deadline for spending grant money from the NOAA grant. He also had a question about the payment to the CYCC; does it need to be paid all upfront or can it be over a period of time.
Eric Derleth suggested that it most likely needed to be upfront with the money;
Tim Smith added that the money used to acquire the land would be used to pay a contractor to develop new land to replace the land given to the town. Jack Whalen added that without developed land already in place, the CYCC would be sunk business wise.
Hillary Greenberg asked if the town would be able to give the $1.2 million without having someone match right away.
Chair asked Dave McGowan how the committee could be sensitive to the needs of the CYCC but move forward with the restoration project.
Dave McGowan thought that the restoration project was a tad premature to advance forward to obtain more grant money.
Eric Derleth discussed the specifics of grant proposals and the point system in place to determine projects ranking as to which projects would be funding and which wouldn’t. Eric Derleth also suggested measuring this project on a regional level; if it couldn’t pass at the regional level then it would be sunk elsewhere.
Chair suggested a working group for this grant proposal process.
Eric Derleth thought it was a good idea and offered to be a part of it..
Chair appointed Eric Derleth, John Portnoy, Dave McGowan, and Tim Smith to be a part of the Grant Liaison Working Group.
Stephen Spear suggested that if things don’t go as planned in the grant proposal process, that a contingency plan should be put into place.
Helen Miranda Wilson discussed the town of Wellfleet’s role in the acquisition of the 25 acres.
Joel Fox expressed concern about the restoration of the Pole Dike.
Eric Derleth suggested that if we can’t include the area of the Pole Dike by the allotted time, than making the project smaller shouldn’t hurt the grant proposal project.
Carl Breivogel asked if putting the smaller but then suggesting the larger number of acreage would be a possibility.
Eric Derleth seems to think it would be a possibility.
Chair reopened discussion about the low-lying roadways document.
Kevin Cahoon was introduced to the meeting. Unfortunately, due to illness, Kevin Cahoon was unable to fully review the document prior to this meeting. He discussed some of the surprises that he discovered reading the document. The main concern of the project from his aspect starts at High Toss Rd. A larger crew would be needed to properly open up the roads. The DPW is currently working with Wellfleet Conservation Commission to make sure that the roads are opened up in accordance with their standards. Kevin Cahoon stated that his contact with the Nat’l Seashore is Richard Ramos.
Stephen Spear asked Kevin Cahoon if all the culverts that the DPW was concerned with were included in the document sent from ENSR.
Kevin Cahoon said that they were – every one of them.
Stephen Spear also asked if the size of the culvert was addressed in the document.
Kevin stated that he was unsure.
Stephen Spear added that he might be able to provide data to help choose the proper size culvert to ensure that the right culvert would be installed.
John Riehl asked if there would be any advantage (from a funding aspect) to having the best possible phase in place by June concerning High Toss Road. Stephen Spear suggested that having the DPW show that the funds to replace the culverts would aid the restoration project funds (matching funds concept).
Chair asked Stephen Spear to work with Kevin Cahoon to make information available on culvert sizing and water volumes that Stephen had access to. John Portnoy added to the conversation about the hydrology factor.
Carl Breivogel added that the elevation of the culvert is an important factor. John Riehl suggested that after the dike is built, if we abandon the roads that currently are closed but will be opened to aid traffic woes, it might save some money.
Kevin Cahoon stated that Snake Creek Road (Rainbow Way) is not documented as a town road; it’s listed as a private road.
Stephen Spear asked John Portnoy about LIDAR radar, how accurate is it? John answered that Slade surveyed every fifty feet. Surveying will be accurate; we paid a lot of money for it.
John Portnoy asked why railroad is shown at some low elevations?
Joel Fox answered that there have been some blowouts.
Tim Smith: Discrepancy about low-lying roads with regards to NGVD, NAVD. We must clarify this in order to properly portray road elevations. If you add .8 to NAVD you will have NGVD. Consistent datum is very important. Tim will clarify this with ENSR.
John Riehl: Can we define a standard for this whole project?
Eric Derleth did not receive the Low Laying Roadway (LLR) documents and feels we must synthesize this document. He is wondering if we have to review what we asked for? The documents that were transmitted were quite large and did not transmit well.
Chair: The upcoming Conceptual Restoration Plan (CRP) will need to provide good quality maps with proper scale for our review. Hard copies to be supplied to listed Committee members so requesting them, per contract. Chair requested Tim Smith to verify this.
Committee discussion on elevation references being depicted consistently. NAVD=North American vertical elevation=one station in Canada all data is based on one point. This is the standard. It is also more accurate.
Committee member with concerns regarding the LLR report are to submit them to Tim and he will transmit them to ENSR.
Chair asked to be copied on all correspondence with ENSR
There was no narrative submitted with the LLR documents. This information would have proved very useful. Survey datum that may have been used is NAVD. We do not know how they got from NAVD to NGVD.
Helen would like to see specified exactly where on the road layout it floods. She feels it may be easier to move the road within the layout without too much hassle.
Committee discussed the need to know which roads should be retained. DPW said all paved roads must be maintained throughout the entire process. We must get all of this information recorded on a map.
Chair stated that it is critically important to supply the BOS with the roads that are important to the town so that we may use the information to assess options and granting options. The BOS must be informed about High Toss Bridge Road and the bypass idea.
Chair will contact Park superintendent about roads of importance to Park.
Motion: Chair to be directed to speak with the CCNS Superintendent about LLR of importance. Bob Hubby Moved, Seconded by Joel Fox. Vote is unanimous.
Chair appointed Working Group to meet with DPW consisting of Joel Fox, John Riehl, and John Portnoy.
A meeting will then occur with DPW, CCNS, and Working Group.
Chair mentioned we needed to wait for corrected maps with proper datum prior to meeting. Meeting to be scheduled when updated maps are submitted. We must also engage Truro DPW in these discussions.
Land should be labeled with ownership.
Chair will contact Truro DPW, BOS and let them know we have identified roads that are low lying but we are awaiting accurate datum. We must convey that this is very preliminary information and more refined information is forthcoming. The meeting will prioritize roads of importance.
Working Group reports on Chequessett Neck Bypass: Fire dept would like a water source on the other side of the bypass. All tanks at sand pit are committed to other locations throughout town.
Eric thinks it is possible to get funding for this and there are a number of folks to pursue: Mass Corporate Wetlands Restoration Program, Susan Redlich, was at our last meeting, Town may provide some help. We must also demonstrate that it is absolutely necessary. The fire department has already said 20,000 gallons is sufficient.
Bob Hubby to contact Susan from MCWRP to identify a corporate entity to aid in this funding. The town has contracted with Winkler in the past to dig and bury similar tanks. Contractors in other towns have donated their services in excavation work. We will need to know tank specifications. Bob will need technical specs from the Fire Department. Joel and Bob will look into specs.
Abutter lists will be used for newsletters and updates. We used a very broad list and not all of them are considered legal abutters. List was generated through a GIS query for all properties within 10’ contour or abutting the 10’ contour.
Mill creek may have some wells that that are within the flood plain. We will discuss this at a later date.
Newsletter: people are to bring article suggestions to our next meeting. Any member can submit articles. John P. will select a map for the newsletter.
Hillary presents concept of a Working Group to review proposals for hydrodynamic modeling for use with the Gulf of Maine Grant. The working group will assist the town in the selection of a hydrodynamic modeler. The Town will need the committee’s full support in the review of the finished materials. We have been working on acquiring this information for two years. Group would review model selection. Once the model information is generated it will then be submitted to the committee.
Chair appoints Tim Smith, John Portnoy, Eric Derluth, Steve Block, Hillary Greenberg and Rex Peterson to the modeling advisory group.
The process should take around 1 month to 1-½ months. The information provided by the modeler will then be submitted to ENSR for review with the LLR. Spalding did a 1 dimensional model but nothing above high toss had been evaluated. We are seeking a 2 dimensional model with the use of our new topography that was just done. Most civil engineering firms do this type of modeling. Tide height and horizontal reach are what we are seeking.
Chair suggests we use this informal Working Group to assist the Town in the Bid Process as well as work scoping aspect of administering the 53,000 grant. The Group will report back to the HRTC when information is available.
John Portnoy: Mill creek is part of the restoration area and several private properties are going to be affected. John is suggesting a meeting or working group to meet with individuals with sensitive properties. Some things affected may be septic, land, change in vegetation, well.
Chair appoints Bob Hubby, Steve Spear, Tim Smith, John Portnoy and Hillary Greenberg to Mill Creek Abutter Working Group. John has a list in his head of people that may be affected. John will draft a letter, which the Chair will review, to these individuals alerting them that we are discussing these items and we will meet with them when the information is available.
MOU II: Lots of work has been done we are now going to begin attaching the components in a structure. Our next meeting is the 26th of April.
Who should we thank for the Brochure from CZM? Tim will get us the name and address of the individual responsible.
Chair thanks Tim, Stephen, and Eric for their contributions and infinite wisdoms!
Meeting to be held on June 5th for the CRP. ENSR is onboard for this meeting. Draft CRP will be out May 23.
Next meeting date: Tuesday May 8, 2007 12:30-5:00
Agenda suggestion: LLR, MOUII, road prioritization, mapping update, Cheq Neck bypass report, Grant discussions, stakeholders,
Chair entertains motion to adjourn, John Riehl so moves, seconded by Eric Derleth at 4:40 PM, unanimous vote
Chair thanks Committee members for a good meeting.
Submitted by Gordon Peabody
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