Lakes and Waterways Commission

RECEIVED By City Clerk at 1:44 pm, 9/29/21 Meeting Minutes for 8-19-2021 7:00 PM Location: Virtual Zoom Meeting Attendees: Tom Murphy-Acting Chair, Kate Mallory, Thomas Volper, Bernadette Lucas, Art O’Dea, Cindy Roberts, and Peter Manor- City Engineer. Completing Minutes: Art O’Dea I. Administrative Business A. Call to Order - This meeting is being conducted under the Act Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency, signed into law on June 16, 2021, by Governor Baker. Public access to participate has been made available. - Tom called meeting to order at 7:05 PM and determined a quorum was present. B. Review of Past Minutes (July) - Cindy motions to approve, Tom Murphy seconded this motion. Minutes approved by all present committee members. II. Engineer’s update A. Engineer’s Report - Pete Manor provided the engineers report to the committee. - Lake Attitash just above normal, all other water levels are fine. - Newburyport looking to establish access to Amesbury water supply for emergency supplemental supply. Nothing formally established to date. - Cindy asked for status on EPA compliance. Peter commented on issues to clear various retention ponds and basins for storm drainage. B. Update on Lake Gardner - Engineering firm compiling plans for permitting process. - Tom to forward current plan to members for review. - Bernadette asked for process for weed abatement. - A beaver dam near Woodsom Farm is being addressed by the Conservation Committee. C. Recent Correspondence - A Conservation Commission member to replace Michael Jewell is under discussion III. Current Business A. Membership Status a. Current Status – Chair Issue - Tom will remain acting chair for the time being. Previous conversations with candidate about chair position have fallen through due to other committee commitments. b. Conflict Acknowledgement Status 1 August 19, 2021  - Tom reminded the members to complete and return the forms associated with their conflict acknowledgement requirements. B. Lakes and Waterways to Capture and Assess Data - Tom initiated a discussion on the role and function of the commission. A critical issue is that nothing can be done without a budget, though we need a foundation to make the request. This would make the commission take an active role. - Pete commented that it is the Board of Health that has testing responsibilities. - Bernadette noted that a volunteer organization has extremely limited resources to perform testing. - After further discussion Tom summarized the consensus of the group that the commission’s role is to recommend what is required, and have the city establish resources to perform the testing/evaluation/assessment. - Further discussion was held on resource requirements, and it was concluded that we can simply make recommendations to spend more money to take care of our water resources (aside from water treatment / board of health (safety)) – regarding water health, and perhaps prioritization of the application of resources can be a function of the commission - Tom suggested that a draft proposal would be for discussion in the next meeting (supported by assessments), aligned with recommendations from Waterways Assessment. C. Annual Report - The annual report, as distributed to members with additions to recommendations on Lake Gardner sand replenishment and parking strategy, was discussed. A motion was made by Art, that was seconded by Cindy, to authorize Tom to enter the recommendations relating to Lake Gardner, and to then submit the revised report to the Mayor’s office. D. Waterbody Assessment - The status of the web ready version of the Waterbody Assessment document was discussed. Cindy offered to talk to Meghan to format entire assessment document for distribution a. Recommendation consolidation - Tom suggested that the commission review their respective waterbodies to identify commonalities (e.g., weed issues, nutrients, etc.), and differences. It was suggested that a matrix of issues on city water bodies could be used as a guide, for each member to identify which ones are in common, as well as the use of the water body and potential number of people impacted. - For the next meeting, Tom offered to put together a matrix and distribute so that each can fill in their respective waterbodies in advance. IV. New Business - Kate brought up a summary of her research on cyanobacteria testing on Pattens Pond. DPW does not test since it is not part of the water supply. The board of health is supposed to post water bodies with cyanobacteria, but since they are not used for recreation, no testing has been performed. DPW posted a sign for pending testing and initiated testing. She will distribute what she compiled for her analysis. A. Waterbodies Status - Lake Attitash Update: Cindy reported on presentation by Comprehensive Environmental Inc. to the Lake Attitash Association on overflow of nutrients and massive amounts of invasive plants. – properties must comply with restrictions on fertilization, come up with a no fertilizer zone around the city to avoid pumping nutrients into all water bodies. 2 August 19, 2021  - It was discussed that the Clarks pond dam inspection is becoming due V. Meeting Adjourned: Motion to adjourn, seconded at 8:59 PM. Next meeting September 16th will be conducted remotely. Next meeting: September 16, 2021- Remote 3 August 19, 2021