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Home My Public Portal AboutNatural Resources -- 2022-01-13 Minutes (3)Agenda Item 1. 2. 4. 5. a Ora • F.. T. •'IrISOCTLA•. _ •.. 11657 Main St., Brewster,' 02631 Ii 89&4546 Call to Order: 7:00:00 PM Declaration of a Quorum: Commissioners: Pearson Present Hughes Present Select Board liaison Henderson Present Poole Absent Chaffee Present Natural Resources Department: Miller Present Burch Absent Aguiar Absent Sideris Absent Meeting Participation Statement Read: Pearson Public Comment: Notes from the Chair: Miller None Pearson Ferguson Present Williams Present Johnson Absent S T FIR, `f illift Taylor Present a. Volunteers for CCSC Committees The Selectboard is seeking residents interested in serving on two Sea Camps Planning Committees; the Bay Parcel and the Pond Parcel. • Chris Williams has volunteered to be on the Pond parcel committee • Pat Hughes has volunteered to be on the Bay parcel committee b. Conservationist Pesticide Advisory Council Pearson notes on December 14, 2021 this Commission submitted testimony at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Environment Natural Resources and Agriculture in support of the bills involving pesticide and herbicide application in the state of Massachusetts. The Commission has taken judicial and legislative action in regards to their charge to address the herbicide issue. The Commission has an administrative opportunity in response to the many citizen concerns that Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, MDAR, have recieved. MDAR has established a Conservationist Pesticide Advisory Council. With support from the Town of Brewster and the Brewster Conservation Trust, Pearson has applied for a chair on the council. Pearson will be joining a meeting in the next month as part of her application process. Hughes thanks Pearson for her willingness to serve on the Conservationist Pesticide Advisory Council. Miller states a resident visited the office interested in finding land for a bee farm. He had a hive near Baker's Pond last year and lost every bee in it. He reported it was likely due to pesticide use at a private residence where the bees visited the flowers that were contaminated with pesticide. Miller has approached Town Administration to find out what the Town Policy is for this situation. • Taylor states she would be happy to have anyone set up hives on her property. • Henderson states BCT's Land Stewardship Committee voted against the placement of Honeybee hives on any BCT property. BCT is trying to introduce native species, a non-native pollinator would compete with the native pollinators. BCT has a policy in place which does not allow placement of hives on their properties. c. Public comment meetings for Stellwagen an National Marine Sanctuary Draft Management Plan Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary is in the process of updating its' mangement plan. The management plan is updated every 10 years. The draft is in a public comment period through January 31st. Stellwagen is a regional resource and it is challenging to find the best solution for all involved parties. Pearson states for full disclosure, she sits on the Sanctuary Advisory Committee as a Conservation representative. Miller states for full disclosure, he sits on the board for the Orendah Wildlife Land Trust. A letter was written by their president based on his experience. The Gulf of Maine abuts Brewster; climate issues, fishing issues, low levels of oxygen at the bottom levels of Cape Cod Bay are all relevant issues to the Gulf of Maine. Since Brewster abuts the Gulf of Maine, it is something that the Commission can comment on. Pearson notes the land management decisions made by the Commission can effect the waters within the Gulf of Maine. Pearson suggests for the Commission to have a collaborative relationship with Stellwagon. Pearson would like to take a vote to support the points made by the Orendah Wildlife Trust in the letter they sent out. Hughes states the suggestion of working collaboratively should be brought from the end of the letter to the beginning, as it may make a more powerful statement. Motion: Brewster Natural Resources Advisory Commission to send an email to Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in support of the position of the Orendah Wildlife Trust, emphasizing for Land Trusts and Stellwagen to develop a more collaborative relationship. Commissioner Pearson Moved Commissioner Hughes Seconded Pearson Obstains Henderson Yea Ferguson Yea Hughes Yea Williams Yea Taylor Yea 6. APCC State of the Waters Report: Quivett Creek Coastal Embayment In APCC's State of the Waters Report, Quivett Creek has been given a grade as 'Unacceptable; immediate restoration required.' According to a news article, this is the first time Quivett Creek has been graded as such. The grade that they give is based on data that is collected by the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown. There is an index applied to the numbers that they get - if you get a grade of less than 65 then you are considered Unacceptable. Pearson raises the question to the Commission: is this a matter of concern for residents of Brewster? The Coastal Resources Management Plan contains a line item about Quivett Creek and its' manangement. Pearson also questions whether the Commission should continue the current management approach, or is there a need to adjust management practices in order to address this statement made by APCC? Hughes states for full disclosure, she sits on the board for APCC. Hughes states there is only one monitoring station in Quivett which is located in the marsh. Hughes states to base a finding which requires immediate restoration in Quivett using only one monitoring station with only a few years of data is problematic. One of the issues that arose during the Massachusetts Estuaries Project was a situation where whether marsh stations should be looked at differently than open water stations, due to several differential factors. It wouldn't be abnormal for a marsh to have high turbitity, which is one of the factors that determines whether the area is considered clean or not. Hughes raises two major points: is it appropriate to make a designation of impaired and in need of restoration based off of one station - second, should we be looking at a marsh station differently in terms of degredation than we do open water. Miller explains hydrologic features surrounding Quivett Creek. When the Massachusetts Estuary Project reviewed which estuaries they were going to go after, Quivett was taken off of the list because the creek fully flushes based on the tides and they did not see any evidence of degredation at that point. Miller states he has not noticed any drastic changes to Quivett Creek between then and now. Pearson states the Cape Cod Commission put out a 2017 report in which Quivett Creek was designated as 'Water threat level low,' determined by the Massachusetts Estuaries Study. The designation was based on the concentration of nitrogen, description of land use activities, and hydrologic characteristics. Pearson states management practices in which the town has recently updated, i.e. Stormwater Management Plan, and Nitrogen Loading Updates. Hughes seeks Chaffee's opinion for whether or not the Selectboard should write a letter to APCC regarding this discussion. Chaffee suggests putting together a brief email to summarize this discussion so she could approach the Selectboard and Town Administrator with this matter. Chaffee states the Town Administrator is planning a meeting with several key organizations involved in advocating for water quality, including the Brewster Ponds Coalition, to lake a look at where the Town of Brewster stands and what are the priorities going forward. Pearson slates she would be happy to represent the Natural Resources Advisory Commission at a Selectboard Meeting, if 7. Coastal Resource Management Plan: Coastal Resency Pearson states there is a window of opportunity to start public outreach regarding coastal resiliency. She suggests different ways to accomplish this; i.e. Public Forums, guest speakers and monitoring. Miller states the department has done some outreach with the Coastal Committee in the past. There is an opportunity to get drone footage along the Brewster coastline - that could be a way to engage people in learning more about coastal resiliency. Miller mentions some projects that the town has involvement in. Hughes Yea Hughes supports the idea of having workshops to involve the community. She states the coast is a public resource and working towards sustaining it is a constant concern. 8. Additional Reports or Updates Miller states the depart ment is reviewing the Brewster Shellfish Regulations. Miller requests for the Chair to forma sub- committee to gather information on shellfish regulations of other Cape towns and help update Brewster's Shellfish Regulations. • Pearson, Williams and Ferguson agree to help update the Shellfish Regulations, 9. Approval of Meeting Minutes: Pearson states approval of meeting minutes will be continued to the next meeting, due to time constraints. 10. Topics not reasonably anticipated by the Chair: Pearson states the Selectboard sent a letter to Holtec regarding their plan to release radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay. Chaffee states the Selectboard voted to send a letter in clear opposition of releasing radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay. Chaffee states many Selectboards and Commissions have sent letters. Chaffee suggests for this Commission to write a letter. 11. Topics for Next Agenda: aI Letter regarding the Commission's opposition to release radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay b. Aquaculture and Commercial Shellfish Regulations Sub -Committee 12. Next Meeting Dates: February 10, 2022 March 10, 2022 Adjourn: 7:56 PM Motion: Adjourn Commissioner Taylor Commissioner Pearson Pearson Yea Hughes Yea Moved Seconded Henderson Yea Williams Yea Ferguson Yea Taylor Yea