Public Hearing

Public Meeting

HARBOR COMMITTEE

Wednesday November 30, 2005

Hearing Room A

Time: 4:30 pm

Members Present: Kerry Adams, Alice Brock, Heather Bruce,

Mel Cote, and Gerard Irmer.

Members Absent: none

Advisory Staff: Maxine Notaro and Doug Taylor

(Rex McKinsey was absent)

Others: Philip Scholl (interested in becoming a member)

The meeting was called to order at 4:35 p.m.

AGENDA

Philip Scholl, a prospective Harbor Committee member, was interviewed. Jerry gave him a few details and told him that the group usually meets twice a month.

He had no questions but just sat in on the meeting.

Doug Taylor informed the group that the Economic Development Committee (EDC) would like to meet with the Harbor Committee. Maybe at the 1^st meeting in January. Alice wondered if they would they be willing to meet at our usual hour?

Doug will try for the January meeting. It will be on the 2^nd Wednesday in January which is January 11^th.

Alice Brock announced that the Provincia is not hooked up to the sewer and has apartments on it. There was no follow-up to this statement.

Review/amend/approve minutes

Motion: Approve the minutes of the November 9^th meeting as amended.

Motion by Kerry Adams Seconded by Alice Brock Vote 5-0-0.

Public Statements

There were none.

CCNSGMPIAC Hearing 12-1-05 at 5:00pm

The hearing announcement was an agenda item to remind everyone who could to please attend.

Resignation:

A copy of the letter of resignation from Ann Colbourn was contained in the packet.

New Business:

Review 2005 Amendments to the Harbor Plan status

The letter to Dennis Ducsik and Ben Lynch referred to in the minutes of Nov 9^th was sent out on Nov 14^th. Jerry Irmer said he received a reply to the letter and copied it for all the members of the committee. Heather has been working on “what’s wrong with Appendix C. “ Jerry said that eventually we’ll have to adjust the letter. We’ll have to have another letter….. maybe….. Heather would like another meeting with Truman Henson – “they’re just going to have to bend on this or we’ll have to go higher up.” The 4^th Wednesday in January would be a good time to meet with Truman Henson. The meeting will take place on January 25^th (exactly one month after Christmas)! Truman Henson of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) can be here since he’s in the Hyannis area a couple of times a week.

Motion: The Chair should send a letter to Truman Henson for his attendance at the 4^th mtg in January. Kerry Adams made the motion

It was decided that no motion was needed……….. just a letter from the Chair.

Heather said, “Nobody wants to bother listening to all my stuff but everyone wants to know what it’s all about. Beverly Dwyer – who headed the Chapter 91 Steering Group - went to Boston to speak to Sharon Pelosi, the department head of DEP, to question the amnesty.” Sharon was incorrect in refiguring the amnesty equation and Heather will delve into this at a later date.

Basically, Heather said that if they’re not going to bend with us, they are going to be brought to court. Jerry Irmer told Heather that there are no dates on any of the drafts so it’s difficult to tell whether she is handing out the 1^st draft or the 60^th.

Alice Brock asked if there were any way that we can get the approved part of the harbor amendments presented? We could have done that at the past meeting. This seemingly innocent statement seemed to ignite a verbal firestorm – in other words – the two women on the committee were in disagreement. Heather feels that this whole thing is about money and Alice just wants to move on and O.K. what everyone agrees with and leave the Chapter 91 and amnesty flap to solve at a later date.

Alice said, “why can’t we get the part we’ve worked on for so many years approved?” Heather is not comfortable with leaving out Chapter 91. Alice continued by saying, “why can’t we just separate and have the Chapter 91 by itself?”

Kerry Adams managed to wedge in one small statement. “I think we should put this on hold until we talk to Truman Henson.”

Jerry Irmer asked, “Why can’t we just send what you (Heather) have to Truman? Want to get it to him within the next week?” In this way Truman Henson will not be blind-sided but will come to the January meeting prepared to answer all of Heather’s questions.

Motion: Make all possible moves to have the uncontested amendments to the Harbor Plan ratified and put the sections in place.

Motion by Alice Brock Seconded by Kerry Adams Vote 1 in favor-4 against

Motion does not carry.

Heather’s final retort was, “You guys have no clue!”

Board of Health meeting results

Now that Ann’s gone there is no representative to the BoH meetings.

Any other business that shall properly come before the Committee

Kerry gave a report on estuaries. The meeting was disheartening because there were very few people in attendance. DEP – Brian Dudley – gave a spiel on what their projects are. He gave a talk on nutrients and not on bacteria. He proposed a three year study and they want to determine eel-grass growth. After 3 years you get a model. The study costs $50K and there will be no results for 5 years. They propose having 9 stations in Hatches Harbor and then the cost would go up because it’s based on the number of stations. Jerry said that it sounds like it’s all geared for the National Seashore Park (NSP). Kerry said that you get the data when it’s all done – and you get a model….. then you’ll be able to make changes in the harbor depending on what you want. If the town doesn’t buy into this we may get together with the NSP. Jerry asked - what about resubmitting the grant for Center for Coastal Studies (CCS)? Truro & Provincetown are the only two towns on the Cape that haven’t bought into this. Kerry said we thought we could get a good bacterial count. He complained that the Board of Health (BoH) should be in bed with us on this thing. KA is going to start working on this and maybe use some of the Harbor Access Gift Fund. Heather – the only problem is – we’re not at a point to support this – because the people having Chapter 91s are going to have to be reimbursed.

KA said it would be $80K for a 5 year study but the NSP offered to do the testing for us and we would just pay for the supplies.

Mel Cote said this would supply the overall condition of the harbor and give us a baseline. Mel continued saying, “This is not a short-cut method.”

Mel was going to look into the “no discharge” area. It has to be done by Rex and will be done in the winter. We should go to the town counsel and see if they support us. Most of the Cape towns already have this.

Next meeting: December 14 at 4:30pm.

Recap:

Heather, once again, said she wanted to put all amnesty licenses on hold until we figure this out.

Maxine Notaro wants an updated list on Chapter 91 licenses. She has a list and wants it updated because when people come in for permits this information is important.

Heather will try to have hand-outs for the next meeting. DEP is the group who has all the lists. Maxine said they have a book downstairs but it’s terribly out of date.