Lakes and Waterways Commission

City of Amesbury Lakes and Waterways Commission Meeting Minutes for 10-15-2020 6:45 PM This meeting will be conducted under the ‘Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law G.L. c.30A, §20’, signed on March 12, 2020. Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting Attendees: Tom Murphy, Cindy Roberts, Meghan O’Neill, Michael Jewell, Bernadette Lucas, Thomas Volper and Robert Desmarais, Director DPW. Completing Minutes: Meghan O’Neill, Secretary I. Administrative Business Tom murphy read the following to the committee in regard to meetings held in person: “Pursuant to Governor Baker’s March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A, §18, and the Governor’s March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitations on the number of people that may gather in one place, this meeting of the Lakes & Waterways Committee on 10/15/20 is being conducted via remote participation. No in-person attendance of members of the public will be permitted, but every effort is being made to ensure that the public can adequately access the proceedings as provided for in the Order.” A. Call to Order Completed by Tom Murphy, acting chair. B. Review of Past Minutes (October) Review of September Minutes. Cindy asked to adjust spelling of Nichol Farm. Approved by all.II. Introduction of new members: Tom Volper (Associate Member), Michael Jewell (ex officio Conservation Commission). Both provided brief introductions. Welcome to both! III. Engineer’s update A. Engineer’s report - Rob provided the report, Attitash is currently at 95.7, down 1 ft from previous years and draw down is occurring for drinking water. Meadowbrook at 95.5” at Stateline damn, Tuxbury is 95.3” and Lake Gardner is 86. No water flow from NH entire summer season. May not complete winter draw down. There is a regional draught that is concerning for entire area. - Discussed stormwater management plan, which L&W provides public oversight for. The committee became involved in 2007, serving as the public review forum necessitated by the EPA. The plan outlines 6 control measures including runoff, operations and public involvement, outreach and participation. The group needs to review the plan and be able to discuss at the next meeting on Nov 19th. This is on the Amesbury website and Rob will email all a copy. Rob will schedule an annual review in Dec/Jan and can complete a more thorough presentation. This needs to be updated by June 30th to meet EPA guidelines. 1  - Question about the makeup of L&W and if participants should have certain backgrounds or more engineers should be included. Are there any gaps in attendees or experience we should have? Currently many members represent the many bodies of water in the community. Rob stated that its ok to not have technical members- the group is well proportioned for our role. - Questions to Rob about who is responsible for the harbormaster plan. The L&W bylaws make reference to this and the group wants to pull in the appropriate resource. Rob and Michael mentioned Craig Bailey as a good place to start, who is the current Deputy Police Chief and volunteer HM, this was previously held by his father, Jack Bailey, who is still the go-to for questions. There is no longer a town boat and unsure about status of patrolling. Tom will reach out to Craig for next steps. IV. Current Business A. Membership status - Meghan is now a full member; this was approved by City Council and she needs to go to Town Hall to be sworn in. - Bernadette has turned in her application but has not heard anything back yet. - The chair spot is currently open as Tom continues to function in the “acting” role until a permanent replacement is established. B. Review Bylaws - Tom discussed confusion about watershed management and how to handle this piece of the bylaws. This is developed by DPW with L&W guidance and feedback, this is then approved via Con Comm to finalize. Need to have a more blanket statement about watershed oversight to clarify. - Looking at specific entries in the bylaws; group agreed that 2.1- 2.1.7 should be in the bylaws but need clarification on 2.1.5. This was drafted in 2011 per Rob. Long overdue to review again and ensure it is clear what L&W is involved with and the chain of command as there is significant overlap with Con Comm. - Questions about removing conflict resolution from bylaws. Confusing for people about where to go as we need to be able to direct community members appropriately. Cindy believes this was added when there was a dispute about water levels over 10 years ago. Cindy stated that L&W should support the public, support DPW and support ConCom with water related regulatory items, the group agreed. - Cindy believes the group was formed initially to oversee the recreational use of the lake, environmental management and water levels. - Rob supports a more general description of groups overall charter and involvement. - Michael expressed concerns about getting sign-off from other impacted boards and committees. Should these groups review and sign-off on updated L&W bylaws? Many of the items fall under Con Comm authority. - Upholding river heritage is also listed, does the group think we do this, or should do this? Once again, a broader statement around supporting efforts across the waterways would be more fitting. - Discussion about reaching out to local companies/organizations- real estate association in Newburyport, Tree companies, landscaping companies, chamber of commerce, etc. to ensure they are aware of rules and can act in accordance with expectations when completing work n ear water and in watershed area. 2 V. Discuss Conservation Commission - Michael provided an update to the group on Con Comm recent projects and oversight. There is currently phased development around Bailey’s Pond, there is a new entrance for the sports park being worked on, reconfiguration of the 495 on/off ramp. They are also discussing how to replicate any wetlands that are destroyed or disrupted during development. Con Comm is also following the new elementary school build, this will be the focus on the Nov. meeting. There will also be new athletic fields as part of this project. - Con Comm is still remote, struggling to ensure a platform for community members to join, not all have computers and/or are comfortable with remote meeting technology. Trying to do the best they can. Asking Caitlin to guide them to make sure they are following legal guidelines. VI. Website update efforts A. Bylaws—Discuss Revision - Discussion about where community members go for questions and issues. Con Comm seems to be the forum. How to delineate between water body and property specific- example being the runoff retention ponds in Spindletree neighborhood. - L&W should support initiatives and apply for grants to help with funding. Meghan asked about signs in watershed- by Attitash. These educate people about certain activities to avoid. Can we put more of these up? These were placed by the Lake Attitash Association but a good example of community education, especially for new Amesbury residents that don’t proactively check website for rules/regs if they live by water. B. Website Content - Review of website updates. Michael recommends adding “use and betterment” to the mission statement after management. Also, adjust time to the meeting details, should display as 6:45. - Meghan asked group about removing weed surveys that are older than 5 years and possibly explore completing another survey with current results. Bernadette completed this previously for Lake Gardner and does not want to do in the future. We would need funding to help with this. Grants are needed! - Should content related to climate change and the vulnerability of the waterway and ecosystem be added as well? VII. Goals/ mission discussion follow-up A. Lawn Care Companies and fertilizers and herbicides near water bodies - Cindy inquired about protecting water quality by educating about fertilizer. How do we educate and enforce? This has to be in homeowners deed in order to intervene. This is important to have in new development documentation/deed. Not in new Merrimac development deed and this abuts Attitash. As a side note, there are tons of docks on Attitash that are not per regulation and this is not enforced. Have to be realistic about a meaningful impact. B. With Con Comm—Homeowners’ guidelines (pointing to resources) - Will continue to work with Michael to establish how L&W can better support Con Comm. VIII. Waterbodies Did not get into detail about each body of water. Rob did state that there are beavers on multiple ponds causing a disruption in water levels. 3 IX. Review Action Items - Tom to reach out to Craig Bailey to learn more about harbormaster position and involvement in L&W. - Group to review Stormwater Management Plan, emailed to group by Rob. - Adjust mission statement on the website, should also be link to ConCom webpage, remove links that are not active on our page. X. Next meeting: November 19, 2020 Meeting adjourned at 8:31 PM 4