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Town Of Brewster
2198 Main Street
Brewster, Massachusetts 02631-1898
(508) 896-3701 ext. 133
FAX (508) 896-8089
Date Approved: April 12, 2010; Vote: 4-0-1 (Bennett abstained)
TOWN OF BREWSTER MINUTES OF
COMPREHENSIVE WATER PLANNING COMMITTEE
REGULAR MEETING
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 4:30 P.M.
Brewster Town Office Building
Comprehensive Water
Planning Committee
Pat Hughes convened the Comprehensive Water Planning Committee meeting at 4:35 pm in the
Brewster Town Office Building with members Dave Michniewicz, Joanne Hughes, Elizabeth Taylor,
John Lipman and Jane Johnson.
Also Present: Sue Leven, Ed Lewis, Chris Miller, Peter Johnson, Carol Johnson
1. Discuss CDM timeline and status
Leven: Provided an update on the status. She wanted to confirm with the committee what their
expectations were for the next meeting. P. Hughes thought they were targeting a March 8`h date for an
update. Rob Musci has met with several people to gather information. The e-room has been updated
and it appears that it is a little easier to navigate.
P. Hughes: thought it would be nice to invite Paul Anderson, the new head of the Water Department,
to the meetings. She questioned whether the committee should have CDM present with the meeting
with Orleans?
Leven: Felt the meeting was geared more to the basic information and that CDM probably doesn't
need to be apart of the meeting. But she felt that a separate meeting between CDM, Orleans Town
Planner, George Meservy and herself would be merited.
2. Regionalization discussion and Questions for Orleans:
Taylor: How are we going to treat the Peer Review study during our conversation with Orleans?
P. Hughes: If you look at the draft of the questions, it appears that a couple of questions have been
raised and should be addressed.
Leven: Apparently, the Orleans Wastewater committee has dissolved or been sunset. George
Meservey would come to the meeting. Meservey felt he might be able to have one or two selectmen
and the project manager who was working on the wastewater study here for the discussion. Ms.
Leven wanted to know what this committee was going to ask Orleans to ensure that as many of the
appropriate parties were able to attend.
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Lewis: There aren't a lot of "wastewater" people there now and he wasn't sure who would be
available.
Leven: She had thought the purpose of the meeting was to meet and discuss the process and not the
product. She doesn't want this meeting to take apart Orleans's plan and it is not to be viewed as a
meeting with the selectmen.
P. Hughes: Liked the idea of meeting to learn about the process. The regionalization study needs to
be discussed and we do share groundwater and more than one watershed. She also felt it would be
important to discuss with the Peer Review committee but that didn't have to happen in the short term.
Leven: It is important that this committee not make any judgments against Orleans. Brewster is at an
early stage in the process and Orleans may be involved in discussions at a later date.
Lewis: Suggested that a press release be made to let the public know what is going on.
J. Hughes: Thought the public should be informed that a consultant had been hired. She wanted to
make sure that Brewster still retained the objective view of the process. She thought the peer
committee had some valid points that should be addressed earlier and not waiting several months.
P. Hughes: Without knowing a lot about the Orleans plan, it is interesting and not surprising that they
came up with the Tri-town location and that this is their preferred location. The capacity outlined does
not fully address all of Orleans needs and it does not take into consideration Brewster's new zoning
bylaws that address reducing nitrogen loading.
Miller: Pointed out that some of the earlier studies walked through the alternative solutions before they
got to the centralized solution.
Lewis: Felt that earlier on they might have come up with a decentralized solution but the Tri-town
solution was there and they owned it.
J. Hughes: Are we opposed to regionalization? Are we committed to regionalization?
P. Hughes: Thought we were open to regionalization. The committee would make a recommendation
to the Board of Selectmen once all the information had been evaluated.
Miller: In past discussions, he thought this had been addressed and correspondence had already
been made to Orleans.
Lewis: The Board of Selectmen had not formally addressed. They are awaiting the CWPC
recommendation. There are a lot of unknowns out there. Brewster does not have the same situations
as our neighbors and we need to know what the cost implications are.
J. Johnson: It was her understanding that there was a memo from Orleans that outlined that they
wanted to opt out of Tri-town in 2011.
Lewis: The agreement says they can opt out but there is a process they would need to go through.
The BOS has not heard anymore from Orleans and the feel that they had slowed down. The deadline
has not come up yet.
Michniewicz: Thought the Tri-town septage solution showed that the 3 towns could come together and
it made sense. He would like to look at the merits for wastewater solution to see if it made sense for
Brewster. He stressed the importance of looking at the facts. Water doesn't respect boundaries. It
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may make sense in the Pleasant Bay area. A good portion of the existing site is going to be
dismantled.
Bersin: Didn't think the Tri-town solution had the capacity to handle the flows from other towns. The
problem they encounter is how to get rid of the water. He had heard they were looking at golf courses
as a way to off load the water.
J. Johnson: Brought up the fact that it appeared they were using information on Namskaket that was
over 20 years old.
P. Hughes: Actually she thought the information was from 1994 and only 15 years old. But what is the
impact on the plume?
Taylor: The data on Namskaket showed that 15% of the discharge was going into the marsh. What
power does Brewster have to say they can't do that? DEP or perhaps CDM can help.
Miller: The clean Water Act may have some assistance.
J. Hughes: How did CDM adjust their timeline? It was noted that CDM provided an updated timeline
which was available in the a-room.
Lewis: Have you discussed how much additional money is needed for the research?
Leven: She has been discussing with Charlie Sumner, Town Administrator that an additional $250,000
would be needed. The funds would be divided between spring and fall town meetings and would be
for the next phase.
Leven: Provided David Young's comments regarding the upcoming meeting with Orleans:
1. The report would need to be verified and every assumption needed to be verified.
2. The economy of scale could help for neighboring towns - if more than one town is involved in the
process then money would be saved.
3. The discussion of fees probably should not be upfront
4. Namskaket discussion should be held until CDM is involved.
5. The benefits of regionalization should be addressed
J. Hughes: Back to CDM's revised schedule, are we on line with an end date of August 2010?
Leven: CDM is getting the research and she felt that they could let us know where they are at when
they met in March. She emphasized the fact that all CWPC meetings are public meetings and our
neighboring towns have all been invited to these meetings. She thought they could ask Mr. Meservey
when they needed a response.
Lipman: Would lean towards regionalization if it made sense and agreed with Ms. Leven that we
should find out from Orleans when they need a response and then take it from there.
J. Hughes: She emphasized that at the beginning of this process the committee stated that they
needed information in order to validate the need for regionalization.
J. Hughes: Motioned we are open to the concept of regionalization if, where and when it is determined
what Brewster's needs are and where the mutual benefits would arise. At that point we would notify
Orleans. Motion was not seconded but further discussion occurred.
Leven: Wanted to make sure that Brewster/CWPC develops a relationship first before the sparring
begins.
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J. Johnson: The committee wanted to meet with the wastewater committee but what happens now
that there isn't a committee?
Michniewicz: Why couldn't we invite some of Orleans members - if the committee has been sunseted
they should still be around and invited. Keep the meeting focused on the process.
Leven: Would extend the invitation through George Meservey. Reminded the members that this is a
public meeting and anyone can come.
Michniewicz: Are we going to check in and invite Harwich in for a discussion? Yes and it might be
interesting to have CDM there and let moderate the discussion
Michniewicz: Referenced the draft of questions and the fact the questions #1, 2, 5, 6 were process
questions it seemed that the others were addressing the "product". Changes were recommended so
that the "product" questions were modified to become process oriented. Leven would make the
changes and renumber the questions as appropriate.
Bersin: Noted that SMAST model had not been made available and then you are still going to end up
with the same questions.
Leven: Noted that she would call the Cape Cod Commission and see if they could help us to get that
information.
Other Business:
1. Review Minutes: January 25, 2010
Leven: Noted that D. Young would like to get a copy of the minutes as soon as they are available.
A discussion and minor changes were made.
J. Hughes: Motioned to approve with the changes discussed. Seconded by Lipman.
Vote: 5-0-1 (Michniewicz abstained)
2. Ponds Study:
Miller: just wanted to remind the committee that the report was still in front of the Committee and no
additional money had been requested at Town Meeting. The additional sampling would be done by
UMass Dartmouth and would cost approximately $250,000.
P. Hughes: would like to discuss further with Miller.
Taylor: Could we put a place holder for the Warrant and then decide the amount of money later?
P. Hughes: The committee should put this item on the 3/8 agenda.
J. Hughes left at 6:10 pm.
P. Hughes: She wanted to know if some of the $250,000 that Leven had requested and could help out
with the studies that Miller needed.
Leven: The $250,000 covers the beginning of the next phase if we need sampling money then she
would need to request an additional $200,000. Also, remember that CDM is coming back with the cost
for the satellite images.
Taylor: Motioned to adjourn. Seconded by Lipman. Vote: All Aye.
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