Lake Nipmuc Assoc Meeting Minutes mar 2008 rev2.doc (Microsoft Word, 36KB)

Lake Nipmuc Association Meeting

Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 7pm

Mendon Senior Center

·         Meeting called to order

·         Motion made to accept February 7th, 2008 meeting minutes. Motion seconded. Minutes accepted.

·         Status of membership

·         Status of Financials

·         Stormwater Update – Shirley S.

Shirley read an e-mail from State Representative, John Fernandes’ office regarding the impact of runoff from Route 16 into Lake Nipmuc. His office will coordinate a site visit with MassHighway, DEP, Lake Nipmuc Association, Mendon Conservation Commission, and Senator Moore’s office. Tentative date is set for March 26th at 10:30am at Lake Nipmuc Marina to discuss solutions. 

Shirley also read an email from Margaret Van Deusen, Chief Legal Counsel for Charles River Watershed Association. She said the case against Mass Highway's flagrant violation of the Clean Water Act did begin in Federal District Court on Feb. 8th. Kate Bowditch of CRWA testified but hasn't been cross examined yet. Peter Angelini of the Leominster Land Trust also testified in support of their case that Mass Highway has turned a blind eye to their duty to control and treat the storm water and trash that flows off their highways and pollutes our rivers, lakes and streams. The case is continued and Margaret will let me know what happens.

·         Lake Monitoring – Shirley S

Shirley has been in contact with the following people to find out about loans of testing equipment: Diane Switzer, EPA: Warren Kimball, DEP; and Arthur Screpetis, DEP. The message from all was that there was no funding this year. Warren Kimball of DEP referred her to Tammy Gilpatrick who is our BRWA volunteer monitoring coordinator and with the Blackstone River Coalition.

Shirley read a letter received from Tammy Gilpatrick of the Blackstone River Coalition. She said the first thing to do is "nail down what we are trying to accomplish" and suggested that we begin with e-coli testing. Since the town only tests at the beach and people swim in other parts of the lake, she thought this was important.

Tammy said we could use bacteria testing equipment at the BRWA’s headquarters and that, although the reagents are expensive, "I am sure we could find the money some place." So maybe BRC would help pay for the reagents. Tammy concluded with, "I would be happy to work with you and to sit down and try to flesh this out more. Perhaps starting the season with some intensive bacteria sampling would be a good way to begin.

Some sources of e-coli or bacteria can come from failing septic tanks and lawn fertilizer runoff. Effluent from tanks and fertilizer can cause eutrophication, a dramatic increase in aquatic plant growth and lowered oxygen levels. E Coli bacteria can cause serious illnesses and make water unsafe for swimming.

Other tests can include turbidity - suspended particles clog gills of fish, affect oxygen levels and water temperatures. This can be caused by construction and road run off; dissolved oxygen, and nutrients.

Shirley is going to meet with Tammy and discuss this further. Diane's son gave Shirley a list of questions to ask.

Sue B noted that the Parks Department would like testing done at the town beach but were declined by the Board of Health. The Association could possibly work with both departments to come up with a plan.

·         Goose committee – nothing to report at this time

·         Public Education committee -

Shirley summarized the Boating Laws from the Environmental Police web site. She suggested putting them up on the website. However, it was noted that lake owners are given a copy when they get their permits.

Use of jet skis was addressed and, according to the law, no person under the age of 16 may operate a personal watercraft. Shirley mentioned that some towns are banning jet skis. Westborough passed a law just last month banning them on Lake Chauncy. There was some concern about the 30% of MTBE contaminated gasoline that goes into the lake from the 2 cycle engines. Another member stated that they thought MBTE has been banned but it will need to be researched further.

The Town would like the Association to bring the lake usage bylaws up to date. For example, it says in Ch. XII, p. 19 "No operator of any power driven boat and no water skier shall come within 50 feet of any person swimming or from any raft." and "No boat shall come within fifty feet of shore at a speed in excess of five miles an hour."  The present law has this distance at 150 feet.

A possible ban on snowmobiles was also discussed.

Shirley also bought enlargements of Priority Habitat mentioned at the last meeting.

·         Website committee –

After some discussion, the logo that had been submitted was compared and members voted to approve the design submitted by Carol. I made the motion to approve and Ileen seconded it. All were in favor.

Ted also explained how he could put a contact email address on the website.

·         Invasive Plant Life –

Shirley read a letter received from Michelle Robinson of DCR. They will begin scheduling the Weedwatcher's training sessions in May. Ted will post it on the website.

·         Public Access –

Sue B had spoken with the Office of Fishing and Boating Access and they were coming out Thursday, March 13th at 11:00 AM to look over the site. She said this would be a car top access for non-motorized canoes & kayaks (carrying the boat to the Lake). The State does all the work, free of charge. Sue had checked with town hall to be sure of the easement.

There was much mistrust expressed over having the State involved, even though Sue explained that there were no strings attached beyond picking up rubbish and keeping the site reasonably clean. She mentioned having a couple of trees cut down, but Laura T. expressed concern over removing them due to motorized vehicles backing up to the shoreline which may create erosion and other misuses. Sue invited everyone to be present when she meets with the State.

Someone argued that even if they didn't own the water, they could stop the access, however, in MGL Chapter 91: Section 18A. Public Access to Great Ponds it says all you need is a petition with ten signatures presented to the attorney general.

I pointed out that by cooperating with Sue and anyone else that wants this, we could be influential in establishing regulations. (I think some of these are quite strict, like prohibiting use after dark, requiring a permit, etc.)

·         It was also agreed that anything published on behalf of the Lake Association would be approved by all Board Members before it went out.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35pm

This page was last updated on 01/03/09.