1988-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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I in the Johns Pond area, pot hole repairs and patch- procedures, including the filing of an Environmen- ing on Uncle Percy's Rd., Shore Road, as well as tal Notification Form under the state Environmental miscellaneous repairs to other private roads. I feel Policy Act. An extensive hydrogeologic study was that private road repair monies should be increased completed to determine potential impacts of the to accommodate even more repairs. proposal on downstream waters which indicated no significant impact. On November 28, the Secretary , Cemetery of Environmental Affairs issued his decision that We have improved our maintenance of the the state was satisfied that no Environmental Im- ! cemetery with the assistance of part-time employee pact Report would be required for the project. Leigh Potter, and we have received many positive However, that decision was not available at the Spe- comments on the appearance of the cemetery. We cial Town Meeting on the same evening where a are looking forward to the fulltime employment of number of citizens expressed their concern about Mr. Potter in our Grounds Department. potential wastewater plant impacts on the Mashpee River, leading to the indefinite postponement of an Flumes and Rivers article to modify a portion of the plant location. In Thanks to the approval of the Board of Select- response to those concerns, the Commission has un- men, we were able to totally rebuild the Santuit dertaken a full review of the project and will attem- Flume. This project was instrumental in protecting pt to resolve all questionable issues prior to pro- the environment of this fragile area. ceeding with the plant and wastewater collection system. In light of the advantages of private funding Closing Remarks and unified wastewater treatment facilities demon- 4' The size of this department remains the same. strated by the East Mashpee proposal, the Commis- However, we believe this year will bring an in- sion has initiated the development of a unified Cen- crease in our staff, which will be very welcome. tral Mashpee wastewater system to be funded by We were happy to be a part of history by being in- eight private developers, four of whom were in the volved in the move of St. Jude's Chapel. process of developing their own treatment plants. If it is determined that the DPW will be the op- As in the East Mashpee case, private funds will be erator of the landfill, we will accept the responsibil- used to construct a large facility to treat wastewater ity with enthusiasm. Many projects are being prepared. not only from the eight projects (four of which Chapter 90 related road projects and town road would have used septic systems only) but from oth- projects are in the making. er existing developments and neighborhoods. be- As always, I would like to thank the staff of the cause the treatment plant results in water roughly DPW for its continued support and cooperation. eight times lower in nitrogen than that produced by the septic systems now used by every home and Respectfully submitted, business in Mashpee (other than Mashpee Com- mons), the proposal has great potential to not only Ernest S. Virgilio, Director protect the groundwater which we all drink, but to Department of Public Works actually improve the quality of water in our bays. Aside from their health and environmental ad- Report of the vantages, the two proposed projects will be con- structed totally with private funds, resulting in over Sewer Committee $5,000,000 of facilities which might otherwise have to be built by the Town. Because federal funding To the Honorable Board of Selectmen for such projects has ended and state funds are hard and the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: to come by, such public/private partnership is our only reasonable hope of cleaning up the potential We are hereby pleased to submit the first annual problems which Mashpee's recent rapid growth has report of the Mashpee Sewer Commission. Follow- made inevitable. Although there are many details ing on the work of the previous Sewer Committee, which have to be worked out, and though much the Commission was authorized by the Town Meet- careful study, planning and design is needed to an- ing in 1987 but formally elected in May of 1988. swer all potential environmental and other concerns At our organizational meeting on May 23, 1988, the which will arise from something as new and previ- Commission elected Tom Fudala as Chairman, ously unforseen (unthinkable) as Town wastewater 17 George Costa as Vice-Chairman and John Doherty treatment facilities, the Sewer Commission greatly as Clerk and began its work on the East Mashpee appreciates the support, understanding, honesty and wastewater treatment facility authorized by Town assistance of the Town's citizens, invites your com- ; Meeting as a result of over a year of negotiations by ments and questions, and pledges its best possible the Sewer Committee. Formal work was begun on effort in protecting and enhancing the quality of our the design details and on the required state application precious waters. rr 103 -