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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-071122 July 11, 2022Planning & Development Department 367 Main Street, Hyannis, MA 02601 – Phone: 508-862-4678 Town of Barnstable Land Acquisition and Preservation Committee www.townofbarnstable.us/LandAcquisitionandPreservation Agenda Notice of Meeting as Required by Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2009, amending MGL Chapter 30A DATE July 11, 2022 TIME 5:30 p.m. LOCATION Selectmen’s Conference Room, 2nd Floor, Town Hall, 367 Main Street, Hyannis CALL TO ORDER AND INTRODUCTION OF MEMBERS NOTICE OF RECORDING Please note that this meeting is recorded and broadcast on Channel 18. In accordance with MGL Chapter 30A §20, I must inquire whether anyone is taping this meeting and if so, to please make their presence known. APPROVAL OF MINUTES  June 13, 2022 This item was taken out of order. This was heard after new business. There was a motion made by Phyllis Miller. There was a second by Farley Lewis. So voted: Aye: Unanimous Naye: 0 Abstain: 0 TOPICS FOR DISCUSSION New Business  Presentation by Chris Nappi, Natural Resources, Marine & Environmental Services, regarding the state of the Town’s herring runs The Alewife and the Herring look very similar. There are three herring runs that the Natural Resources maintains. Santuit pond is in Mashpee, but much of the river is in Barnstable. Under investigation is Little River. It comes from Cotuit Bay and travels approximately 4.5 miles to Lovell’s Pond. Mill pond in West Barnstable was stocked with Ann Canedy - Chair Present at 5:50pm Farley Lewis – Vice Chair Present Phyllis Miller Present Elizabeth Lewis Present Steve Gould Present Douglas Payson Present Elissa Crowley Present Anne Rowland Present Tracy Pratt Present herring in 2019. In 2019, through community involvement, they were able to stock the pond with 750 herring. For herring stocking program was paused in 2020 and 2021, due to COVID. The program was restarted in May 2022. All runs this year were at a low annual average, but the north side herring run was at an all-time high. The final count is unknown, but it is believed that the final count is around 500. The counting program is the next step after the stocking program. There were no herring counted going into Mill Pond. However, there are other fish that were observed which is beneficial to the ecosystem. The Division of Marine Fisheries aids the Town in the stocking effort. They bring the herring. There is no public access to Mill Pond. Special authorization was granted by a private homeowner to access the pond for stocking efforts. There is no active herring spawning in this location. Herring are important for Alewivers. There are other species of fish in the pond as well. The vegetation around the herring run was planted to help the run become passable for the herring. The herring want to access the spawning ground at night which could explain why there has been no herring counted. The Americorps did phragmites removal this year which started to choke out the end of the run. Removal restores the flow back to the salt march. The removal of phragmites requires continual maintenance. The Centerville River run flows into Long Pond in Centerville and continues to Lake Wequaquet. There are a lot of issues with the run and it is difficult to manage. There have been studies on the water flow and the water level rise. It was difficult to access the location as well as trying to find volunteers to count. Last year, residents counted over 10,000 fish going into Lake Wequaquet. There are huge fluctuations each year due to herring spawning. The residents wake early in the morning to count the herring. There is no one reason why there has been such a large fluctuation for the spawning count. The current water level is not playing a role in this issue. The water level has dropped by nine inches in the past month. Natural Resources visits the herring run locations frequently. About five years ago, Long Pond water level was very high. The control structure is sand bags which are used to control water flow. NRCS granted funding to Barnstable for this effort. The previous Natural Resources director ha s papers from 1994 to redo the structure in Long Pond. Marstons Mills River There is a volunteer program to count fish. There was 16,000 fish last year. There was 2,700 fish this year counted. The statistics have not been conducted on the count this year. This is an important herring run. There was a screening remodel from 2018 to 2019. It is a diversion screen to force the fish to enter the man made “flume” to enter into Middle Pond. The screen is maintained every day. Natural Resources will visit the location up to three times per day during this time. The man made ditch is failing due to age and the wood and earth design. It is 18 inches wide. There is a lot of predation that occurs at the location. It is a spot that the fish sto p and delay the migration. The predators are mink and otters. There is a working plan to reroute the fish back into the historic river and the cranberry bo gs. The cranberry bog owners have reconfigured the bog to allow this to happen. The fish could continue naturally into the bogs to meet up with another pathway. This can occur once the culvert is changed at the end of Whistleberry lane. NECS will aid in funding the new control structure. There have been many designs discussed for this project. There was a model to change the earth and wood model to concrete. Now, the new plan recommends a natural stream. It is a better alternative. The new culvert replacements would mean that the herring could follow the screens the entire way. This project is assisted with the cranberry bog owner and the Barnstable Clean Water Coalition. There is a wait for easements due to the line following along the line of private property owners. The private property owners will need to be granted permission. This is a preliminary plan because the Town has not yet approved the project. Santuit River Every run is below average this year. The town of Mashpee has not yet provided Barnstable with a final count this year. There are a lot of issues happening on the Santuit River. DMF and the town of Mashpee are attempting to remodel the control structure. There are high flow rates which makes it difficult for the fish to pass. There are also water quality issues at the Santuit pond, such as high algae blooms. There are about 30,000 plus fish that pass this run which is common to see. Old King’s Road Culvert Replacement The culvert replacement was from 2019 to 2020. The new replacement meets the standards for wild life passage underneath as well has provide a natural bank to go under the road. This is promising to see as wild life has a safe passage. The amount of otters and mink that have been hit by cars has declined due to this safe passage. Little River (Lovell’s Pond) Natural Resources is seeking to do a full assessment to restore this location. There is a large opportunity here. There is a lot of habitat at Lovell’s Pond. It could be a very successful. There are culverts, road crossings, and many private property owners. NECS has shown a lot of interest in this restoration effort. Councilor Clark added that is it very difficult to count the fish for the Mill Pond run due to fact that it is difficult to access the site. Canedy asked what the Committee could do to support the effort. A letter of support would be beneficial to support the project. There was a question about other monitoring programs involving other fish species like white perch. Barnstable Natural Resources does not provide this. The Division of Marine Fisheries is responsible for this. All species are taken into account for the new herring run designs to allow eel, turtles, etc to pass through. There was a comment about predator control at the checkpoints. Predators will not be removed. That is an over step for the ecosystem. Herring is also a source of food for the predators. Monomoy does predator control. However, that effort is not designed for fish control, but nesting birds which is environmentally different. The new designs will provide more shelter for habitats as well. Natural Resources does their best to leave the environment natural instead of offer too much intervention. The Department of Public Works wrote the grant for the funding. In addition, a vote might be taken to support the initiative. There was a motion made by Farley Lewis to write a letter of support for Natural Resources’ projects. Town councilor Clark recommended to send letter of thanks to the private bog owner and the residents that have volunteered to count the Herring. There was an inquiry about whether or not the private property owners that require an easement will need funding for the project. However, this is most likely not the case due to the fact that only access would need to the runs. Perhaps, a lease could be made. The presentation will be uploaded to the Town of Barnstable webpage as well as laserfiche for public viewing.  Presentation by Ian Ives, Long Pasture Mass Audubon, regarding accessibility trails This presentation was given to the Disability Commission last month. It was well received. Disability Commission Chair Paul Logan requested that the next meeting be held at Long Pasture to observe the project. Mass Audubon protects about 40,000 acres of land within the Commonwealth. There are about 1 million visitors annually. There are over 130,000 members. All Persons Trail is intended to provide information to other entities to make accessible trails. The funding would be to used to add ADA features. There is not a wealth of information about creating accessible trail. This was an opportunity for Mass Audubon to become leaders in this subject. A comprehensive guide was drafted. There is a difference between accessible routes vs. accessible trails. The guidelines are available online as well as a summarized version. Long Pasture is one of the final three for the project. There is an effort to meet or exceed the ADA standards. Mass Audubon would like feedback from constituents and visitors. This is a greater effort for inclusion and equity. The permitting process will take time. All Persons Trail will include seating, ADA picnic tables, cable beads for the blind, and navigator support for physical support efforts. There will be multisensory signs and displays. There was a large response in support for the Gardens, especially for smell. There are currently 12 All Persons trails. The new Discovery Center was finished at Long Pasture last year with ADA access. Developing An All Persons Trail This is in high demand. More people now want to get outside which can be attributed to COVID. There was a question about managing all season use. This is possible to do. There was a question about whether or not a boardwalk would be installed on one of the trails. There would need to be minimal impact on the resource area. The grade may need more than a five percent grade change. There is a lower threshold to meet. In addition to the All Persons Trail project, Gene Guill, Tales of Cape Cod president, is working with Ian Ives to connect Tales of Cape Cod’s property at the Iyannough Grave Site to the Long Pasture trail network. This would include interpretative markers. David Wheedan, Wampanoag tribal chief, has issued a letter of support. The presentation will be uploaded to the webpage as well as laserfiche for public viewing. Old Business  Update on status of outstanding Conservation Restrictions - Harju, Amaral, Prince Ave, Wakeby, Penn, Bowles (Commerce) , and Silvia There are no updates except for Wakeby. Suggestions were approved by the State.  Update - Pathways Project and Trayser Bridge Construction Proposal The first grant was lost. The second application for grant funding was turned down. There will need to be further discussion with stakeholders and staff.  Update - Centerville Cranberry Bog There was no update.  Update- Twin Brooks Proposal Save Twin Brooks had an informative meeting last week. The meeting included a report on the sale of the Conference Center to Irish Village. DEP ruled that pond number 4 was not in jurisdiction. Fundraising has been ongoing. A matching grant was received. The Cape Cod Commission continues its hearings. The parcel has not yet gone before the Planning Board.  Update-Open Space & Recreation Plan Once there is a support person on staff for LAPC, the Committee can go begin to go through the Plan.  Report from Phyllis Miller/Tracy Pratt regarding Santuit Preserve Waiting for Structures & Grounds to clean up the area. Joe Marshall is the point person. The pond is in bad shape due to cyanobacteria. There is a lot of evidence of otters.  Report from Farley Lewis regarding Community Preservation Committee Open Space applications The last CPC meeting was cancelled. There is no update. MATTERS NOT REASONABLY ANTICIPATED BY THE CHAIR There were no other matters reasonably anticipated by the chair. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. ADJOURNMENT There was a motion made by Douglas Payson to adjourn the meeting. So voted: Aye: Unanimous Nay: 0 Abstain: 0 The list of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the chair, which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law.