10/27/2005 BLUE RIBBON COMMITTEE Minutes

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wr 5 w Tom Fudala spoke: "It's sort of a vague concept, but it's all about coordinating different towns. `{we've been tallying to the towns before. They have excess funds at the end of the year. It's a formal way towns gather and get federal hiding-that's where ars 4 extra money Val] come from.'a Torn Fudala said, "It's a great first step-absolutely appropriate step as is funds we could get funding. If the Everglades got a hundred million dollars. I feel very strongly about a toilet tax that needs to be levied on everyone on Cape Cod. Everybody flushes the toilet. 0% of the people don't believe that it costs anything to them. There needs to be a tax every time we flush the toilet, It costs money every time we flush the toilet. I don't want to say what night happen but will happen. Building in .done 2, we overestimated the maximum flows in Mashpee. Centerville uses 80 thousand gallons a day. People are going to have to pay for that and that's the bottom line. We've got to pay to solve the problern, where it's a toilet tax. Tom Fudala added, At the public infonn.ation campaign, nobody realized they were the problems they're going into major public information. If you have a septic system you are part of the problem." Beverly Kane spoke: "I have a different take on this. This is an 18-month group it's all good to have all this background information. But I think we have to be careful in setting goals for this committee, To develop action plans that is going to help the problem. Beverly Kane also added: "#I we've identified and described the resources and the uses of our estuaries. We know, simply put, there's too much nitrogen. I think we have to try not to duplicate other committee's work. I see the whole sewer system, which is the biggest contributor for nitrogen, is septic systems. I dont see this committee being able to construct any action items that would go along with the Sewer Commission, They're doing the work. To me,that portion of lets, say 6% of the total nitrogen."' Beverly Dane continued, "what I thinly we should do we should concentrate on a town wide education program and concentrate on fertilizing, storm water discharge, and run-off. Those areas where we can come up with bi-laws or regulations whether it be by the planning board, the board of health or the conservation commission. At least have an impact on making twelve to 14% in terms of those areas that contribute to the nitrogen problem. And the other question I have in nay mind, I don't know where along the gra we became wedded to the big flush toilet.} We flush away our human waste. Does the Board of Health in Mashpeep ennit a composting toilet? Say I want to put a composting toilet in nay home, why do we have to have flush toilets anyway? It's a. waste, We don't have any other permanent war to get rid of our wastes,," she said. Glenn Santos said "You're right Beverly. To make a perfect example, 70% of the sewers, the clean effluent in Florida what they use it for is irrigation, for golf courses, town islands, ball fields everything. Of course they need irrigation out of the year, up here we need it maybe three. If we got an effluent going at a million gallons only for two to three months of the year, that's the bind of problem we have, also."