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Home My WebLink AboutDraft Minutes LCPC October 12, 2023 Page 1 of 3 1 Local Comprehensive Planning Committee Minutes Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 5:30 PM Call to Order Chair Felicia Penn opens the meeting at 5:30 p.m. Member Present Absent Felicia Penn X Wendy Northcross X Cheryl Powell X Mark Hansen X Amanda Converse X Sue Rohrbach X Meaghan Mort X Fran Parks X Lindsey Counsell X Jennifer Williams X Bob Twiss X Avery Revere X Also, in attendance are Planning & Development staff Elizabeth Jenkins, Director; Kate Maldonado, Assistant Director; James Kupfer, Rob Steen, Assistant Director DPW & Kelly Collopy, Communications Manager DPW Notice of Recording This meeting is being recorded and broadcast on Channel 18 and in acco rdance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 30A Section 20, the Committee must inquire whether anyone is taping this meeting and to please make their presence known. No response. Minutes Approval of the minutes from January 26th and June 22nd will be approved at the next meeting. Topics for Discussion Phase II Introduction & Overview Kate Maldonado shares the plan for Phase II. Topics for this phase will include Land Use Topics & Community Goals along with a strategic Action Plan. As they go through Phase II, this group will refer to that vision from Phase I. Four topics will include land use and housing, natural resources, facilities and infrastructure, economic development and culture, heritage and design. The consultant team will draft the chapters, goals and strategies. Once that has been completed the draft will be presented and finalized. The action plan will be developed on how to achieve the goals and measure performance. Kate shared the Phase II timeline with the group and shows the targeted date of April 2025 for completion is the hope but not set in stone. Community meetings will be scheduled after the first two topic areas are completed and will be just as important as Phase I to seek input from the public. The next two topic areas and community meetings will follow. Combining all the data gathered from the four phases will be drafted into the action plan with a goal of a completed local comprehensive plan. Kate outlines the meeting for tonight by starting with land use and notes the next meeting will have an interactive mapping exercise referring to the 2010 land use map. Page 2 of 3 2 Presentation by Department of Public Works on the Town’s Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP) Rob Steen, Assistant Director for DPW introduces himself along with Kelly Collopy to present the towns CWMP. The plan was created to deal with nutrients in our embayment’s. The CWMP ties into any of the first three topics in Phase II that the group will be addressing. Wastewater issues and what creates the general problem is listed: • Impaired embayment’s • Groundwater quality concerns • Pond water quality concerns • Failing/Expensive septic systems • Economic development requirements • New flood zones The "208” Problem – Nitrogen and sources of nitrogen (controllable and non-controllable). The effects of nutrients in coastal waters in a healthy system versus an unhealthy system is discussed. Regulations MEP – Mass Estuaries Program and TMDL (total maximum daily loads) created by DEP. What is a watershed? A watershed is the area of land that drains to a particular point along a stream. Barnstable watersheds show what percentage of nitrogen needs to be removed in certain areas. Title V – which properties work and what properties do not work. • Solutions – traditional sewers • Non-traditional – dredging, aquaculture • Management – flow and load reduction regulations • Fertilizer management – small portion • How does traditional wastewater treatment work. • Collection • Transport to treatment • Treatment • Transport to disposal • Groundwater • Inverse farming – aeration tank. Food to animals using ecosystem in aeration basin. Nitrogen transformation is discussed and how the new sewer project will handle this. Non-traditional solutions are shown. Plan – 3 ten-year phases: • Phase I – years 0 to 10 • Phase II – years 10 to 20 • Phase III – years 20 to 30. Originally started as a 60-year plan but the Town Council decided to shorten that period. Key takeaways: ± 189 mils of road ± 11,823 parcels ± 87 pump stations Kelly Collopy, Communication Manager shares her role regarding the CWMP. She walks the committee though the Barnstable Water Resources website. The goal was to make it user-friendly to the public. She shares how the website tells a story: • The “I’m looking for” section was created because most residents are looking for answers to th ese questions • Email list to receive updates and water quality news (1800 subscribers to date) • Maps on the seven watersheds that the town is dealing with along with the CWMP 30-year plan • Latest news – video content for the CWMP • Additional assistance further detail on the most frequently asked questions • Coming soon – homeowner sewer connection guide in Spring 224 • Internal tables across the top of the web page • Communication will take place to keep residents informed of project status and updates available Page 3 of 3 3 Update on new LCPC Membership Jim Kupfer reports the committee is short for members for the next phase. A notice seeking new applicants was sent out in the same manner as the first phase with an addition on social media and notices in back packs going home with students in the public school system. As of this meeting there were twelve applicants. New members to be part of this group soon. Cheryl Powell inquires on advisory members being contacted to move up to the board. Jim confirms that all members received an email along with those who have been actively involved in the process to date. Felicia Penn points out that candidates running for Town Council, LCPC Advisory Members and Town Councilors are present in the audience tonight and thanks them all for being here. Public Comment Catherine Ledec comments on the fantastic presentation and thanks DPW staff. She has two process questions. How will the work of consultants/staff/committee members work with other boards/committee/commissions who may have topic specific expertise that could be valuable (i.e Conservation and Historic for example)? Secondly, you may find certain groups of residents or businesses for whatever reason have not participated in providing input to the LCPC draft, she would like to suggest when seeking community input and outreach activities begin that there be follow up actions to engage with those parts of the community where input would be very important but not yet expressed. Consider hosting focus groups and community-based charrettes. Felicia asks Ms. Ledec for a summary of what she did in Fairfax to achieve the goal of community participation. Felicia reports that this committee is looking to diversify and add members to the group who may not have participated in the first phase. Jim Kupfer answers the first of Ms. Ledec’s question on incorporating expertise. As Kate mentioned in her presentation each workflow topic will include an expert in the community which will be actively participating in the process. In terms of outreach to the public, we did a great job going to the community instead of waiting for them to come to a meeting once a month. Town Councilor Betty Ludkte commented on a great presentation on the CWMP. Phase I water was a great concern, focused on innovative and alternative septic systems and working with DEP. Bringing in the Green Center in Falmouth as an expert. Look further into innovative and alternative septic systems for the next phase. Bob Schulte relating to Ms. Powell’s comment, he is an LCPC Advisory Member and does not recall receiving an email asking if he was interested in participating. He is not sure at this time if he would be interested but checked with another member and they also did not receive an email. Asks staff to look into that issue. Next Meeting Date A discussion on meeting dates was had and choosing the fourth Thursday of the month with a secondary meeting date of the second Thursday of the month. A mapping exercise inviting Horsley Witten for November 30th will take place if the date is agreeable to members. Jim to send out information to the group with a tentative date of 11/30/23. Matters Not Reasonably Anticipated by the Chair None Adjourn Cheryl Powell makes a motion to adjourn. Sue Rohrbach seconds. Vote: Aye: Felicia Penn, Wendy Northcross, Cheryl Powell, Amanda Converse, Sue Rohrbach, Lindsey Counsell, Jennifer Williams, Bob Twiss, Avery Revere, Meaghan Mort & Fran Parks Nay: none Documents Used at This Meeting Respectfully submitted, Jennifer Engelsen, Office Manager Further detail may be obtained by viewing the video via Ch annel 18 on demand at http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us