Lake Management Committee Meeting Minutes

Minutes of meeting held January 12, 2017 7:00 P.M. at Town Hall College Highway, Southwick, MA, with attendance as follows:

 

        

Guest(s): Jean & Tom Despard of 129 North Lake Avenue, Southwick

2. Lake Level - 223.9' MSL which is still down 6 inches from nominal.  

3. LPP for Despard Docks – Jean & Tom Despard had an appointment with LMC to discuss the permitting of their existing docks via the LPP vs. Chapter 91 License as they had received a "Statement of Administrative Deficiency" dated October 14, 2016 from DEP stating that they needed to contact the Town regarding a local permit for said docks.  The DEP letter stated that the Chapter 91 License Application did not clearly state that the Despards owned the property off of which the dock was located and accordingly recommended contacting the Town regarding the Local Permitting Program.  The LPP process was explained to the Despards, along with its 600 sq ft limitation and property ownership.  The Despards were going to measure the total square feet of each dock and provide additional requested documentation.   There will be a future meeting with the Despards once all the data has been compiled.    

4. LPP - Dick presented information on a complaint about docks breaking up that were left in the water (now ice) at 166 Berkshire Avenue.  Con Com has already sent a letter to the owners to immediately remove same or face fines.  

5. Lake Treatment - Dick provided copies of Solitude's 2016 Final Report for Congamond.  

6. Annual Town Report - All read the draft annual report prepared by Dick. Two minor corrections were noted in the listing of members at the end of the report.  A motion was made by Mike DeBay and seconded by Malcolm DeBay to accept the report with the two minor corrections.  All were in favor.

7. There was a discussion about the use of 100% salt for treating the roads in the Congamond sub-watershed (~10 square miles) versus sand/salt mix previously used.  Dick provided copies of the Town's Lake Consultant, Ken Wagner, analysis of the situation.  Ken recommended a reduced salt or salt alternatives area for the Congamond watershed area as Congamond is a major part of the Great Brook Aquifer recharge.  The members discussed Ken's report and concur that the Congamond watershed area be designated a "reduced salt" area like many municipalities have done around key watersheds.  They also hope that the DPW will explore alternatives to sodium chloride and that proposed alternatives are first assessed by Ken prior to implementation.  A motion was made by Malcolm DeBay and seconded by Deb Herath to send a copy of Ken's assessment and recommendations, including Kens assessment of proposed snow/ice treatment chemicals to DPW Director, Randy Brown.  All were in favor.     

8. Budget – Dick, Mike DeBay and Eric Mueller plan to attend for LMC/Canal for the 1/26 Finance Committee meeting on the LMC/Canal Capital requests.  

10. The next scheduled meeting will be held on February 9, 2017.

Respectfully submitted,

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Richard Grannells - Chair