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Minutes Lake Beseck Ad Hoc Advisory Committee July 22 2013

August 28, 2013  /  Amy Poturnicki

Minutes

Lake Beseck Ad Hoc Committee

Middlefield Community Center

July 22, 2013

Present: Amy Poturnicki, Craig Lundell, Rebecca Adams, Ed Bailey, John Brayshaw (ex officio), Rob Poturnicki, Jim Irish, Randy Bernotus.

Absent: Daria Vander Veer, Lucy Petrella

Also present: Mark June-Wells of NEE and Matt Sanford from Milone & MacBroom (M&M), LLC; and Chuck Lee of DEEP.

Amy Poturnicki called the meeting to order at 7:10.  She then made a motion to accept the minutes of the June 26, 2013, Rebecca Adams seconded the motion.  The motion passed unanimously.

Amy Poturnicki called for public comment but no one from the public was there wishing to comment.

The committee then heard from Mark June-Wells and Matt Sanford regarding their proposals for assessing and dealing with the sedimentation and aquatic plant issues in the lake.  Matt distributed materials from M&M and went over the types of projects they have done. 

He explained that the company is located in Cheshire and his unit specializes in lake and wetlands restoration.  Chuck Lee at DEEP has worked with them on many projects dealing with lake restoration.

Matt Sanford presented and distributed a draft scope of work tailored specifically to Lake Beseck including conducting the storm water study required for eligibility for many grants.  The plan and the discussion included outfall mapping and sampling at outfalls during storm events.  Jim asked for Matt to explain bio-swales in more detail. Matt drew an example and discussed the purposes.  These act as wet meadows where the plants slow the pace of the water while also absorbing metals and pollutants and trap sediment.

The committee discussed the goals of maintenance dredging key portions of the lake. Chuck Lee explained that the time necessary to obtain permits and approvals from DEEP to dredge will likely run past the time that the lake will be drawn for the dam repairs. He also advised against dredging while another project is occurring in the lake.  He suggested that dredging could be done after the dam repair is complete as it will be easy to lower the lake with the weir boards that will be installed at the dam. 

The committee discussed immediate priorities, the wisest way to move forward, how to get the most out of the money allocated by the Town and resources that could save money.  Chuck Lee, Matt Sanford and Mark June-Wells agreed that the group needs to match priorities with the $91,000 allocated, consider time restrictions, and the need for a storm water study in order to be able to move forward on many fronts. 

Amy Poturnicki made a motion and Randy Bernotus seconded that we recommend to the Board of Selectman that they hire M&M to perform the work in conjunction with Mark June-Wells, as our limnologist.  The motion passed unanimously.

Matt Sanford asked the committee to discuss and determine the direction that the committee would like Milone & MacBroom to proceed with the work. The DEEP recommendation was, as originally planned, to focus on the storm water study first.  The dredging of silted in areas can be done during the larger of the usual draw downs since the materials are exposed then and it would still be dry dredging which is much less expensive.

Mark June-Wells discussed the results of other projects he has worked on both with and without dredging and explained that projects are often tackled with multiple approaches, in addition to ongoing monitoring, to reach the desired results.  The dredging work has to be part of a larger management plan and we will not be able to dredge with the $91,000 allocated but we can get started collecting data and testing right away.

Matt Sanford described the steps that would be necessary for dredging:

1. Survey. 2. Sediment Testing. 3. Preliminary Design. 4. Regulatory Permitting. 5. Final Design. 6. Technical Specification. 7. Go out to bid. 

The group discussed how to expand the scope of work so that we could accomplish the storm water survey and get closer to a dredge plan.  Matt Sanford said that M&M could cover items 1-4 above within the budget. At the same time, the town and the committee could work to secure grant opportunities through STEAP, the federal government, and the Clean Water Act to accomplish 5, 6, and 7 and move toward dredging.  Rob Poturnicki made a motion and Rebecca Adams seconded it to accept the original proposed scope of work and the additional items were moved and seconded and all voted in favor to recommend that to the Board of Selectmen.

Ed Bailey made a motion to adjourn and Rebecca Adams seconded it at 9:10.  All were in favor.

Respectfully submitted,

Rebecca Adams

Secretary

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