HomeMy Public PortalAboutPleasant Bay Alliance -- 2016-06-14 Minutes Pleasant Bay Alliance
Steering Committee
Meeting Minutes
June 14, 2016,4 pm, Brewster Town Hall (Room C)
Attending: Chuck Bartlett, Fran McClennen,Judith Bruce, Dolly Howell,Allin
Thompson,Jane Harris,Carole Ridley
Allin called the meeting to order at 4:05 pm.
The following meeting minutes were voted and approved:
April 27,2016-motion by Judith,second by Dolly
May 11, 2016-motion by Judith,second by Chuck
May 18, 2016-motion by Judith,second by Chuck
Allin called for a vote on the annual re-organization of the Steering Committee.
Judith moved to retain the current slate of officers:
Allin Thompson -Chair
Judith Bruce -Vice Chair
Jane Harris-Treasurer
Jane seconded the motion,and the vote was unanimous.
Coordinator's Report
1.The 2016 water quality monitoring program is getting into gear. A media release
resulted in seven new volunteers. Training sessions are scheduled for June 23,29
and 30. Bob Duncanson will present the training information. This is the first year
volunteers will not be asked to transport samples to New Bedford.
2.The Coastal Work group will hold its third project meeting with Center for Coastal
Studies on a Sea Level Rise study underway. The meeting is scheduled for June 22 at
9 am at the Chatham Annex. The study is progressing nicely.
3.Two shark tag acoustic receivers have been installed in Pleasant Bay. Carole will
share a visual of the locations provided by Greg Skomal. The receivers will be
checked every couple of weeks,and Dr. Skomal will share the information with the
Alliance.
4. Regarding watershed nutrient management planning,the following summary of
activity from the last Steering Committee meeting was provided.
At the May 11 Steering Committee meeting, which was attended by Selectmen and
Town Administrators and Managers,the Alliance was asked to draft a proposed
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joint letter from the towns to the Cape Cod Commission in response to a letter sent
by the Cape Cod Commission to the Alliance. The draft letter was sent to the
member Towns'Administrator/Manager on May 19th. The letter was discussed at
the Brewster Board of Selectmen's meeting on May 23rd,and the Board voted
unanimously to authorize its Chair to sign the letter on behalf of the Board,and
allowing for word changes that maybe requested by other towns that do not change
the overall meaning and intent of the letter. The letter was also discussed by the
Chatham Board of Selectmen on May 24th,at which meeting Paul Niedzwiecki
advised the Board that Chatham's request for a letter from the Commission
indicating that their approved CWMP is compliant with 208 process would be in
question if the Board signed the letter,because signing the letter would indicate
changes in the plan that would trigger DRI review. Bob Duncanson assured the
Board that the Alliance's work simply compiled the Pleasant Bay portion of the four
town plans,and represented no change in Chatham's plan.The Chatham Board
voted unanimously to take no action on the letter. At both the Brewster and
Chatham meetings,it was reported that the Alliance was preparing a draft
watershed report that would be submitted to the towns as WMAs for their use in
meeting 208 tiling requirements on June 30th, A draft report was submitted to
Harwich Town Administrator on June 2nd. Additional comments from Orleans staff
and consultants were included in a draft submitted to Orleans and Brewster Town
Administrators and Chatham's Town Manager on June 3rd.
On June 6th,the draft watershed report prepared by the Alliance was discussed by
the Harwich Board of Selectmen. At the same meeting, Dave Young of CDM Smith
presented watershed reports for other Harwich watersheds. Dave reported that he
and the Wastewater Implementation Committee understood that the Alliance was
preparing the Pleasant Bay report.When asked if the Harwich information in the
report matched the Harwich CWMP he noted that they matched"about 95%"and
the remaining differences were really clarifications that could be handled in a brief
phone call with Wright Pierce. Paul Neidzwiecki noted that,although he had not
reviewed the draft report,he was concerned that the report could affect the
Commission's review of the Town's CWMP. The Board instructed CDM Smith to
create a Pleasant Bay watershed report to be added to the other watershed reports
they had created.The Board did not vote on the letter,but the Coordinator was
contacted the next day by the Selectmen's office and provided with a copy of the
letter signed by all five Selectmen.
The Orleans Board of Selectmen took up the letter on June 1st,but deferred action
until June 8th,at which time they would invite Paul Niedzwiecki to address the
Board regarding 208 process requirements,and by which time the Alliance would
have submitted a draft Watershed report. At the June 8th Orleans Selectmen's
meeting,Alan McClennen reported that Orleans would meet its June 30th 208 filing
requirement by submitting its approved CWMP and modified CWMP as"bookends".
Paul Niedzwiecki confirmed that the town had submitted required information and
the towns report is being formatted. He indicated that the four Pleasant Bay town
plans had been developed independently.The 208 plan considered a watershed
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basis for planning,however the plans would be submitted independently by towns
to the Commission for watershed assessments.The Orleans Board voted to take no
action on the letter.
Carole commented that the unfortunate effect was the focus on each towns'
individual action rather than a watershed perspective and collaborative approach.
Each town ended up submitting different types of information and different levels of
detail. In the case of Harwich,the care taken to coordinate with CDM Smith and
avoid duplication of effort would be countered by a request to have the watershed
report redone by CDM Smith.
After considerable discussion of the events,and shared observations by members of
the Steering Committee who attended or viewed the meetings,the following points
were made:
The Alliance should continue its work in combining and assessing the four town
plans. It was agreed that the Steering Committee would reconvene after the June 23-
24th Cape Cod Commission event and consider information provided at that event.
At that time the Steering Committee would consider how to move ahead with and
report the results of the watershed based analysis.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:30 pm.
Signed Date (./1",,i,
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