HomeMy WebLinkAboutCanoe River Comm Minutes 12/01/2011CANOE RIVER AQUIFER ADVISORY COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES — December-1,1011
the Canoe River Aquifer - Advisory Committee on
ThursdayA ,T, c be I, AOl inning at 1 PM at the Mansfield Town Hall Room 2AB,
6 Park R sfi d, A.
Members present- ; aynq Ps" Southworth, Easton; Janice L. Fowler, Easton; John J.
Fresh, Jr.,' Easton; Kevin O'Donnell, Mansfield; Ed Tartufo, Mansfield; Bob Boette,
Foxborough; Frances Shirley, Norton; Jonathan Rowe, Norton; Leonard Flynn,
Mansfield; Jennifer Carlino, Norton; Dave Masciarelli, Sharon.
Guest: Adrienne Edwards, Easton GIS Specialist; Xia Jin, Mansfield GIS Manager.
1. Call to Order - Southworth called the meeting to order at 1 PM,
2. Review Minutes of November 3, 2011 - TartufoBoette moved to approve the
minutes of November 3, 2011 as corrected. Voted.
3. Open Space Map & Greenbelt Update - nothing to report; Flynn noted that the
ACEC program is going defunct due to cuts in funding. Carlino/Flynn moved to send a
letter to Liz Sorenson thanking her for all of her support and years of service in the
Commonwealth and noting our disappointment the ACEC project is inactive.
4. GIS Presentation — Xia Jin, GIS Manager — Town of Mansfield - Jin's
presentation included the following: an Introduction to GIS; its uses to Mansfield in
drinking water, in stormwater and in conservation. Flynn noted that GIS has also been
helpful in the Canoe River Green Belt Land Analysis; should consider putting in the
depth of saturated soil; this is a great tool.
Questions: how much is available on -line — property boundaries, zoning, voting districts,
open space, aerial; how long have you been working with the GIS. Jin: eight years;
departments are responsible for their infrastructures; in the Town Hall, if there is a zoning
change, I help management.
5. CRAAC Educational Outreach Kiosk Discussion - Edwards: have not heard
yet about next year; we discussed a kiosk linked to the website where the data would be
stored; this might be the time to make a fresh new website.
Highlights of discussion: if the town has GIS, could it access the website; have been
discussing same, perhaps our next meeting should talk about our website; perhaps at the
following meeting in Sharon, their GIS person could be a guest; putting information on-
line is the best exposure; still think there is a need for the kiosk along with the website;
perhaps there is something we can do with the colleges, as well as the work done to date
to protect the land.
CRAAC -2- December 1, 2011
6. Annual Canoe River Aquifer Awareness Day April 28, 2012 — Southworth:
date has been set for April 28, 2012 at the Easton Water Works who will be celebrating
their 125'h year; hopefully all our members will be able to attend this year's event;
usually there is well over 100 attendees.
7. Proposed AT &T Cell Tower Within 400 Feet of Sharon's Well #6 -
Masciarelli: this is still in fi•ont of the Zoning Board; it is not within the 400 feet, nor has
it ever been.
Discussion: are their any activities that would be harmful to the site (all these questions
has been asked - ex: backup generators, still in design stage); is the 400 feet a code
requirement (yes); what they should be looking for is the core of influence (400 feet is an
arbitrary number but it is a pristine area); backup generators use only propane fuel.
8 Discuss the Program for CRAAC 250i Anniversary Celebration at the Sharon
Community Center on September 14, 2012 - Southworth: have reached out to
speakers but have not had any response; should branch out; looking for suggestions or
avenues (Bill Vernon did follow us a lot of years); by next month's meeting we need to
have someone in mind.
Comments: need someone close to our philosophy - one who agrees with what we are
trying to accomplish; Easton, like other municipalities, have been re- districted; perhaps
someone from one of the colleges; will carry this to our next meeting; think we need to
have a small three person subcommittee; have talked about looking for donations.
9. Beaumont Pond Update - Boette: they have settled on a drawdown; no
chemicals; went back to the original order of conditions and got more reports to be done;
have already started the drawdown; total feet of drawdown will be four; pond was
originally a natural area but gravel was hauled out to build Rte. 495 or Logan Airport.
10. Adjourned at 2:05 PM.
Next meeting is in Easton and are planning to have new photographs of members taken
for website.