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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCanoe River Comm 02/04/1999Foxborough Mansfield Sharon Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee Canoe River Aquifer 417 Bay Road Easton South Easton, MA 02375 Tel. (508) 238-3641 Fax: (508) 238-5303 Norton AGENDA Thursday —February 4,1999 Foxboro Town Hall 1:00 P.M. I. Call to Order II. Review Minutes of January 7,1999 III. Regional Water Conservation Seminar Set up Subcommittee — Gregory Meister IV. Canoe River Monitoring Project — Dave Masciarelli V. Update on Greenbelt Project Presentation by U -Mass Dartmouth VI. Annual Awareness Day — Saturday, May 15,1999 Canoe River Campgrounds — Mansfield — Bob Jones VII. Old Business VIII. New Business �t Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee„ n.. Minutes of the meeting held by the Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee on February 4, 1999 at 1:00 p.m. at the Foxborough Town Hall, 40 South St, FoxboSough, MA. Members present: Wayne P. Southworth, Easton; Leonard F. Flynn, Robert Jones, Ed Tartufo, Mansfield; Bob Boette, Joan F, Sozlo, Foxborough; Suzanne Erikson, Susan Mims, Fred Watson, Norton; Dave Masciarelli, Greg Meister, Sharon Others present: Patrick Rogers, EOEA - Taunton Rive; Barbara Hyland, State Representative, Foxborough/Mansfield; Dick Lewis, Mansfield; Warren McKay, Water Superintendent, Foxborough I. Call to Order; Meeting called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Wayne Southworth. II. Review Minutes: of the January 7, 1999 meeting - Minutes were read and accepted unanimously, with the following comments by Leonard Flynn regarding the 187 acres along Rt. 495 in Norton. 'Leonard said that the section on this topic in the minutes needs further clarification, and he will further clarify the land situation when it comes up for discussion during this meeting rather than adding to the minutes. III. Regional Water Conservation Seminar Set up Subcommittee: Wayne Southworth distributed copies of "On Tap" to all the members. Even though this newsletter is for small water system communities, it has excellent suggestions for water supply conservation that can apply to large water systems too. Gregory Meister requested that the committee form a subcommittee to address the issue of water conservation and to adopt a series of recommendations to be presented to the member towns to consider for adoption. Greg would like to see all towns adopt a weekend water ban on sprinkler systems. This has worked well for Sharon. Some discussion ensued about water bans and the legalities involved with such actions. Joan Sozio mentioned that Foxborough had adopted the State's regulations on the State of Water Supply Conservation. The State of Water Supply Conservation allows towns to place various restrictions on water usage as needed, and violators can be fined for non- compliance. She recommended that a Conservation/Emergency Contingency Plan be formulated by the committee to be considered by all towns. Such a plan has thresholds dependent on stream flows, groundwater elevations, etc. that trigger various conservation measures. The Department of Environmental Management encourages this type of plan. Patrick Rogers mentioned that Connecticut had an excellent conservation plan similar to what Joan is proposing. He will supply the committee with a copy. Wayne also has a Massachusetts' conservation plan for the Committee's use. A water conservation subcommittee was formed. Greg Meister, Wayne Southworth, Dave 2 Masciarelli, Warren McKay, and Bob Jones volunteered to serve on the subcommittee. Representative Barbara Hyland inquired about the Ipswich Water Conservation Conference. This conference will now take place during a waterworks conference in Worcester at the Centrum on April 6 -7th. Wayne also mentioned that we are planning a regional conference on water conservation. Patrick Rogers mentioned that the Taunton River Basin Team will be meeting on February 24, 1999 at Easton Water Works from 9 - 12p.m. to discuss coordinating team problems. Leonard Flynn mentioned the Interbasin Transfer Act and. the requirements that the Town of Canton must undertake as part of these regulations. Several CRAAC towns are currently involved with interbasin transfers. Patrick Rogers suggested that Michele Drury from the Department of Environmental Management be invited to speak at one of our meetings to explain the Interbasin Transfer Act. The committee agreed. IV. Canoe River Monitoring Project: CRAAC along with the Taunton River Watershed Alliance (TRWA) applied for and received $12,000 in volunteer monitoring grants to buy monitoring devices. CRAAC will decide where to place the devices in the river. Testing of samples will be done at Bridgewater State College. Samples will be taken twice a month for one year. Pat Rogers suggested that CRAAC team up again with TRWA and the Old Colony Planning council to apply for $150,000 planning grant for bio-assesssments and sediments and a $100,000 planning grant for growth planning. Motion was made, seconded and approved to become partners with TRWA and Old Colony to apply for planning grants. V. Update on Green Belt Project: There are problems with the data base. There are also some errors on assessor maps in Foxborough, Norton, and Mansfield. A list was given to these towns to check addresses etc. The maps will contain all of the properties within the 500 foot buffer zone. There may be money left over after the project. When project is done saturated soils may then be added to the maps. Maps hopefully will be ready for next meeting. Regarding the 187 acres along Rt. 495 in Norton, Leonard Flynn stated that the Mass Highway Department has reorganized again. Dan Lento is now managing properties. Leonard told Mr. Lento that we were suppose to get a deed for 177 acres of the property and a care and control agreement for the remaining ten acres. Instead, we ended up with a care and control agreement for 187 acres. A motion was made, seconded and approved to give Leonard permission to send another letter to Mass Highway expressing that we want 177 acres deeded back to the town and a care and control agreement for the remaining ten acres near the highway. Suzanne Erikson reported that there was no change on the Johnson acres situation. She is hoping to get Robin Leal, Director of Norton's Grant Program, to help the conservation agent apply for a grant. 3 VI. Annual Awareness Day - Saturday, May 15, 1999 Canoe River Campgrounds - Mansfield. Bob Jones said that the owners of the campground, Joe and Ema Gonsalves, will speak at the Awareness Day and are very excited about having the Awareness Day at their campground. Wayne will look into having someone from the Ipswich River Water Conservation Conference to also talk on that day. VII. Old Business: CRAAC received a letter from William Keating, thanking us for the kind letter we sent him wishing him well in his new position as Norfolk District Attorney. In his letter he wished the committee every success in the future. There was some discussion on the status of the Mill Dam in Mansfield. Pat Rogers will look up the status of the dam on a list of dams in the Taunton River Watershed. Annual Reports were mailed out to towns. VII. New Business: Bill Hardin was elected president of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. Members on the committee were very happy to see Representative Barbara Hyland at our meeting and back in "action". Next meeting Thursday, March 4, 1999 at Norton library. Meeting adjourned at 3:00 p.m.