HomeMy WebLinkAboutArticle 68 Wrk Grp Minutes - 06 29 2010_201402041900181475ARTICLE 68 WORK GROUP
MEETING HELD TUESDAY, JUNE 29th, 2010
AT 10:30 AM, CONFERENCE ROOM, 2 FAIRGROUNDS ROAD
Approved Meeting Minutes
Members Present: Peter Boyce, Cormac Collier, Caroline Ellis, Bam LaFarge, Mark Lucas, Wendy
McCrae, Mike Misurelli, Richard Ray, Lee Saperstein, Ernest Steinauer, and Lucinda Young
Members Absent: David Fronzuto, Seth Rutherford
Guests: Patty Roggeveen, Doug Smith, Whitey Willauer
Others: Jim Sutherland, Administrative Assistant
1. Call to Order
Chair Young called the meeting to order at 10:31 am.
2. Review and Approval of Preliminary Agenda
The meeting agenda had been distributed previously via e‐mail and was introduced at the meeting for
discussion. Ms. Young solicited comments regarding said agenda. She also asked whether there was
any objection to switching the order of item #6 (Discussion of Draft Interim Goals including
subcommittee participation) and item #7 (Report on Ordinances and Regulations to control fertilizer use
in other jurisdictions [Saperstein]) between the draft agenda distributed on 24 June and the final agenda
distributed prior to today’s meeting. There was no objection voiced to this change.
3. Approval of Minutes for Meeting of June 1, 2010
The meeting minutes from June 15, 2010, had been distributed previously via e‐mail. Ms. Young asked if
there were any comments or corrections regarding these meeting minutes. Mr. LaFarge commented on
the good quality of the minutes, which was appreciated by the Administrative Assistant. Ms. McRae
questioned the statement in the minutes about applying fertilizer within 25 feet of a water body; she
felt that this distance was not sufficient for application. This was a statement in the Draft ARTICLE 68
document that was discussed at the previous meeting and its inclusion in the minutes by no means
implied that the statement represented a consensus of the group. It was made clear that the Work
Group will return to the document and refine various criteria as part of a subsequent process.
MOTION: There was a motion made by Mr. LaFarge, seconded by Mr. Boyce, that the meeting minutes
for June 15, 2010, be approved as distributed. Motion passed.
4. Announcements and Chair’s Report; Report to the Board of Selectmen (Boyce); Comments
from members of the Working Group
Ms. Young followed up making contact with Representative Madden. The earliest possible date
commitment for him would be the August 10th meeting. Mr. Saperstein suggested that the Work Group
inform Mr. Madden of questions that would be asked and for which answers would be expected. Ms.
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Young asked the members of the Work Group what they would prefer to do. Mr. Collier suggested that
more information was needed as to whether a home‐rule petition is necessary or required along with
Board of Health regulations. Mr. Boyce suggested talking to Dr. Sarah Oktay about previous discussions
that occurred when the draft document was being prepared. Ms. Young will contact Mr. Madden and
Mr. LaFarge will contact Dr. Oktay. There was further discussion about a small group of members
meeting with Mr. Madden prior to the meeting with the entire Work Group to discuss questions and
strategies, although no decision was reached. Mr. Ray suggested that the Town Counsel could provide
information about the home‐rule petition matter. Mr. Saperstein recommended that the Work Group
request from the Board of Selectmen the best approach to this matter. Ms. Roggeveen advised the
Work Group to request previous legal communication on this matter from Erika Mooney at the Town
Manager’s office, i.e. communication between the Town Counsel and Dr. Sarah Oktay, the previous
ARTICLE 68 committee chairperson.
Ms. Young reported that since the last meeting she had met with Mr. Rutherford, Mr. Misurelli and Mr.
Lucas regarding their participation/involvement in preparing an educational component for Nantucket
Best Management Practices (BMP). UMass will be making a BMP document available very soon; Ms.
Owen (UMass) has been contacted about providing some help with this material. Ms. Young also has
contacted NOFA individuals on Island about providing some educational material; Mr. Collier will work
with these individuals to prepare material. Ms. Young and Mr. Steinauer discussed how to measure the
effectiveness of anything passed related to fertilizer application; they discussed possibly writing a grant
proposal for the installation of monitoring wells in order to measure effectiveness. There also is a need
for soil scientist input; suggested individuals are Mary Owen, and Dr. Scott Ebdon from UMass Ag
Extension.
Mr. Boyce reported to the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on June 16th about Work Group progress. The
Work Group requested a narrowing of charge from a ‘to a plan for reducing nitrogen and
phosphorus…..’ by adding ‘contributed by fertilizer’. The narrowing of charge was granted. BOS asked
‘How could we define success?’; Mr. Boyce stated that success could be defined by meeting the TMDL
levels mandated. BOS asked if the fertilizer component N and P can be separated out of the pollution to
receiving waters; the answer is ‘no’. BOS asked ‘can we find hot spots?’; the answer is yes, but not
easily; it would be very labor intensive and costly. There was some concern by BOS about not knowing
how much the regulations will curtail the nutrient loading process.
5. Continue Review of Draft Version of ARTICLE 68
Discussion continued from the point reached at the end of June 15th meeting.
NOTE: For the remainder of this section of the meeting minutes, areas from the ATM Warrant ARTICLE
68 under discussion and consideration are presented in bold.
Section 13. Exemptions
A. The following activities shall be exempt from Section 12 of this Act:
3. Application of fertilizer for agricultural and horticultural uses, including sod farms.
There was discussion about the distinction between ‘horticultural’ and ‘agricultural’; properties with
flowers and lawns would have different application criteria depending upon the definitions applied to
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these two terms. Perhaps horticultural has a commercial connotation. Mr. Saperstein offered to do
some homework regarding these terms.
Section 14. Severability Clause
Should any section, part or provision of this Act be deemed invalid or unconstitutional, such decision
shall not affect the validity of the remaining terms of this Act as a whole or any part thereof, other
than the section, part or provision held invalid or unconstitutional.
A ‘boiler‐plate’ part of the Act; insisted upon if a home‐rule petition is developed. If someone complains
about a particular section of the Act with cause, the rest of the Act is not invalid.
6. Report on Ordinances and Regulations to control fertilizer use in other jurisdictions.
Mr. Saperstein had prepared a very thorough PowerPoint presentation of his research concerning this
matter. The file had been distributed prior to the meeting so that members could review the material.
All members of the Work Group, particularly those members not present at the meeting, are strongly
advised to review the report prepared by Mr. Saperstein. As a convenience to individuals reviewing
these minutes, aa of Mr. Saperstein’s presentation is provided as an addendum.
Following Mr. Saperstein’s presentation, there was some discussion related to enforcement of any
regulation that is passed. Mr. Ray acknowledged that an enforcement protocol will be a very difficult
part of the process. Mr. Collier has an intern in his office and will have this individual contact some of
Mr. Saperstein’s references across the country to find out how and whether enforcement is successful.
There was some discussion about possible zoning regulations in the future to limit the size of lawns on
properties with new construction; also, there was a discussion related to using drought‐resistant native
plants and suggesting these uses in the BMPs. There was some discussion about providing multi‐
language educational materials so all members of the population are reached with this material.
7. Discussion of Draft Interim Goals including subcommittee participation.
Ms. Young referred to the outline handed out at a previous meeting. She requested members to
provide feedback, volunteer for various tasks, etc.
Mr. Collier referred to the organics component and the fact that he will work with NOFA individuals for
documenting the organic approach. It was suggested that everyone work off of a master document; the
soon‐to‐be‐released UMass BMP document might serve as a good example. We should look at the
Nantucket Landscape Association BMP and see how that document fits the Work Group development of
criteria for Nantucket guidelines. Mr. Lucas will speak with Mary Owen at UMass Extension to see if a
draft document can be made available and whether she is available to meet with the Work Group.
There also was discussion about asking Patty Kellogg, MA DEP, to attend a future Work Group meeting.
Ms. Ellis and Mr. Collier will work on the public education component. There was some discussion about
the public education component. How to best disseminate information? Perhaps develop a brochure
that focuses on what the Work Group is doing; perhaps send it out with local tax bills to get the
information to individuals. It was suggested that Mr. Lucas conduct a tour of his golf course facility,
demonstrating building and course landscape practices to members of the Work Group.
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Other general questions: When and how to bring in the rest of the landscape community? Should we
hold a public meeting for comments?
Questions for Mary Owen: current data on what is working and what isn’t working as far as application
rates; what is the fate of nitrogen applied to the soil on a regular basis?;
8. New Business and comments from members of the Working Group. Agenda Items for the
next meeting will be reviewed briefly
Time ran out before reaching this section.
9. Adjourn
MOTION: A motion made by Mr. LaFarge, seconded by Mr. Misurelli, to adjourn the meeting. The
motion passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:55 am.
The July 13th meeting needs to be held somewhere else since the present meeting room is not available.
Mr. Ray offered a space in his building on Washington Street.
Next Meeting: Tuesday, July 13th ‐ 10:30 am in a location to be determined
Respectfully submitted,
James W. Sutherland, Administrative Assistant
Lee W. Saperstein, Secretary
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Report on Ordinances and Regulations to control fertilizer use in other jurisdictions (Mr. Saperstein).
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