1/27/2020 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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4 Board of Selectmen Minutes January 27, 2020 APPOINTMENTS & HEARINGS Public Hearing: New Shellfish Aquaculture License (Shellfish Grant), Thomas F. Smith— Great River Oyster Company, 226 Monomoscoy Road, Mashpee, MA: (continued) To comply with the Town of Mashpee Shellfish Regulations, the boundaries of the licensed shellfish aquaculture areas will be marked with yellow balls at least 15" in diameter labeled with the words "Shellfish Aquaculture" and the license number shall be at least 2"tall. Marker balls would be placed at the boundaries and anchored. One of the marker balls will depict the DEP Number. For bird control measures a wire line system will be mounted on top of each floating cage. Approximately 20% of the gear or 8" will be visible floating over the water line. The location for the offloading of the gear will be the Town Landing at Great River. Mr. Smith indicated the site will not impede boaters or navigation. Most boaters do not navigate in the muck area. Kayakers are known to frequent the site. It was disclosed the applicant previously submitted an application for a Shellfish Aquaculture license. The Board of Selectmen at their June 4, 2018 meeting voted to take the matter under advisement to their next meeting. At the Selectmen's meeting of June 18, 2018 Mr. Smith withdrew his application to make changes to address some of the concerns which arose at the June 4, 2018 Public Hearing. In addressing previous concerns Mr. Smith intends to use solely floating gear, units that would be flipped regularly to prevent fouling, and as per the Army Corps of Engineers requirement. Mr. Smith would only be allowed to utilize 20,000 square feet of floating gear. The dock has been eliminated from the actual grant and seed growing would also be excluded from the application. Ashley Fisher, Shellfish Constable indicated the Mr. Smith poses a high risk to the aquaculture community due to his past shellfish violation in January, 2017 where Mr. Smith purchased 3,000 9-13 mm oysters and deployed them with the Oyster Gro cages under his dock. This is a direct violation of Mashpee and State regulations that prohibit the processing of seed shellfish without a State issued propagation permit or Town aquaculture license. In concern, Ms. Fisher indicated the violation could have potentially affected the public health of the community and the livelihood of the surrounding permitted aquaculture license holders. It was noted there was a citation issued on the dock located at 226 Monomoscoy Road. Mr. Smith indicated that he did not hire the right contractor to install the pilings, but the issue was rectified and the dock was approved. Mr. Smith stated he had no control over the contractor who violated the cease and desist order. Mr. Smith stated that approximately 90% of the dock work was completed correctly. The Board of Selectmen related concern with respect to the previous shellfish violation,the illegal seed, and the lack of compliance with the rules and regulations of the Town and State. It was disclosed the Town of Mashpee has received several letters of concern objecting to the shellfish aquaculture program as proposed. (enclosure)