Eastham Water Resources Advisory Board-Waste
Water Management Planning Committee
Minutes of Joint Meeting of Sept. 19, 2005
Present were Co Chairs Weiss and Whitmore, and members Nugent, Williams, Holt, Olthof, Lightfoot, Wickson and Bayne, Health Agent Crowley and new Health Assistant Skidmore, CCC Water Quality Planner Tom Cambareri and Environmental Partners’ Paul Gabriel and Dave Patangia.
The notes of the Aug. 8 meeting were approved as written.
Because the Aug. 8 meeting had not been posted, the board voted unanimously to reaffirm the two votes which had been taken at the August meeting:
To recommend the Selectmen not bring an article regarding the potential municipal well to the Sept. 19 Town Meeting, because even though the board supports the concept, the data gathering phase was not yet complete.
To urge the Town Administrator to hire the authorized assistant health agent as soon as possible because some important water quality related work could not being done in a timely way without that added staff.
Weiss announced that Stan Holt has demurred to be reappointed to the WRAB, and that Meint Olthof has been appointed to replace him. Holt was urged to keep attending meetings as he is able to.
Update on well testing program: Crowley reported that the first three year cycle had been completed, and the second cycle is beginning with North Eastham. She introduced Len Skidmore, who is acting as a part time assistant agent, and will help her with the well testing mailings.
Windmill Weekend: Weiss reported that about 170 people visited the WRAB-WWMPC booth, which had displays provided by Wickson on septic systems, by Environmental Partners’ Patangia on potential well sites, and by Bayne on ponds, as well as the map of nitrogen levels in tested wells. It appears most people who visited the booth were concerned about water quality and amenable to the idea of public water.
Paul Gabriel reported on the progress Environmental Partners has made in the three months since they last spoke with the board. They have defined the service area for the proposed well, and screened two dozen potential well sites. They determined the two most likely sites are the existing well at Nauset Regional High School, and District H.
The existing regional school well is permitted for 100,000 gpd, and is using 5,000 gpd.
It is possible it could be expanded. The 300 homes in the study area need about 35,000 gpd on average, with a potential for 70,000gpd on peak days.
In Gabriel’s opinion, if the whole town were to be served eventually, it might be advantageous to seek sources outside the town boundaries, such as a site in south Wellfleet at Marconi and from Orleans.
The Town needs to resolve two major issues:
The political and legal issues involved in utilizing the regional school well.
Whether it will fund a well on town land, and to what extent it will pay for the service to the affected area. This may involve the seeking of loans and grants, which should begin soon.
Community education and the involvement of our state and federal representatives will be crucial.
Holt, looking ahead to educating the public for next spring’s Town Meeting, asked what compelling arguments there are for developing a well.
Crowley and Environmental Partners replied that the most immediate answer is that
The Massachusetts Contingency Plan under which the Town is working requires a solution to the problem.
Weiss, Whitmore and Crowley will provide a list of other arguments for well development for the next meeting. In addition, Weiss asked Holt to provide a list of questions he feels the public will ask for that same meeting.
Cambareri was then asked what he feels the compelling arguments are. He stated the Town must decide if clean water for the future is a priority as it begins to review water quality and supply issues.
Cambareri then provided the group with an update on the progress of the WIC application made jointly by Eastham and Wellfleet for studying the possibilities for joint or cooperative water supply planning. He explained that the purpose of the proposal is to bring Eastham to the same level of self awareness about water supply that Wellfleet and Truro have reached so that regional discussion can happen. This round of WIC funding would allow only about $50,000 for this project, which had been estimated to cost $65,000. He asked if, in light of the Town’s hiring of Environmental Partners, the Board feels the issues of municipal water supply are now adequately covered.
Weiss replied that E.P. was hired to help resolve the issues of the need for and the feasibility of a well for a specific problem area in Town; even when that is resolved, the Town still must project Town wide needs for the future. And now that the subject of utilization of wells/well fields in other towns has been raised again by E.P., it is especially appropriate to consider a regional approach.
Cambareri recommended that the Board make known its recommendation to the appropriate delegates, first and foremost Fred Fenlon, Eastham’s Delegate, and also to Marcia King, Finance Chair of the Assembly, and John Hodgkinson, Natural Resource Chair, as the Assembly of Delegates funds WIC.
Whitmore announced that the Eastham Forum will present a water related panel at is annual meeting on Oct. 18 at 7 pm. at the Methodist Church.
The next meeting will be on Monday, Oct.10, at 3 pm at the Police Station.
(Consequently the meeting date was changed to 10/17, as 10/10 is a holiday.)
Submitted by Sandy Bayne, clerk
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