1998-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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assigned tasks is to begin some long-overdue invento- Report of the rying and planning for our over 1387 acres of Conservation Commission Conservation Land. Last Spring saw the passing away of long-time 1998 saw the busiest year ever for the Mashpee Commission member and former chairman Harry Conservation Commission. Permits issued and tele- Desrosiers. He was a tireless advocate for natural phone calls were 8 % and 5% (relatively) higher from resource protection. Harry is sorely missed for his 1997 to 1998. Hearings increased by 13% from 1997 leadership, wise counsel and his commitment. This to 1998. With the economy still in „high gear",build- past fall, the Commission dedicated a 13.18-acre par- ing continues at an accelerated pace with concomitant small parking lot was created (on Great Oak Road expanded demands on our department. Many of the South).A granite rock with a bronze plaque commem- most desirable lots have already been developed; thus orates Harry's valued efforts on behalf of Mashpee's review of more"marginal"lots involves extra scrutiny adding to the workload. We have also encountered natural treasures. A path leads to a viewing area with one of Mashpee's best views: the Mashpee River, three difficult enforcement cases, demanding the use Gooseberry Island and Popponesset Bay. The of Town Counsel and (two) involving court actions. Commission would like to thank Marilyn Desrosiers These have also been very consuming of staff time. and Elliot Rosenberg for donation of benches, Cape Even greater demands upon staff-time have emanat- and Islands Engineering for donating the cost of the ed from the discovery of (and remediation analysis path construction, Bonito Construction for the dona- tion and transportation of the granite rock and Greg related to) the EDB contamination from the Mass. Taylor and the Mashpee DPW for creation of the park- Military Reservation of the Town-owned Quashnet ing lot. River Bogs. The impact of the FS-1 plume upon the Town/ Conservation Commission's Quashnet River The Commission would also like to thank Bill cranberry bogs continued to engender great environ- Lewis for donation of wire gabions and rock that were mental concern, cause monetary problems and exact a used to stabilize an eroding area of bank 'on the heavy workload on the Commission. The Ethylene Mashpee River,just south of the herring run adjoining Dibromide (EDB)-laden plume forced us to "kill off' Route 130. the 1998 cranberry crop from these bogs, thus depriv- ing us of approximately $100,000 in revenue. These In 1996, the State Wetlands protection Act was li monies were to be used for conservation land acquisi- amended to provide for more protection for the eco- tion and/or improvements. Though (compensatory) logically sensitive areas bordering rivers. Though it monies for the 1998 and 1999 crops have been appro- was an important step forward, like most state laws,it priated by Congress,the Town has yet to receive reim had some loopholes,areas of inconsistency and lack of bursement pending the resolution of legal issues relat- clarity. Under its local "Home Rule" wetlands protec- ed to access to the Bogs for plume clean-up. Equally tion bylaw, the Commission adopted regulations problematical has been the many hours of staff-time which buttress the State rivers protection statutes '! that have been(and continue to be)expended in work- while at the same time closing some loopholes/clarify- ing with the Air Force Center for Environmental ing language and adapting rivers protection to Excellence (AFCEE) on issues related to proposed Mashpee's own, particular, circumstances. The ability clean-up scenarios. Unfortunately, the very place ursuant to bylaw provisions 'i where EDB is upwelling in the bogs is one of only two to adopt regulations, p y which have been approved at Town Meeting, contin- areas on Cape Cod where native Brook Trout spawn. ues to be an effective tool to keep Mashpee's local, Evaluating clean-up proposals in terms of impacts and wetlands protection standards at the forefront of the permitting issues has presented us with one of the State. most complex and time-consuming projects that we have ever had to deal with. This past year the Commission assumed ownership li of three important parcels: the "Druley Property" (6.2 Diane Boretos joined the Commission as Assistant acres on Great Oak Road), the "Coughlin Property" Conservation Agent in June of 1998. Ms. Boretos « (18 acres on Great Hay Road)and the Fitch Property" i brings to the job impressive credentials. She has (11.2 acres on Meetinghouse Road).The first two will I worked in the past for the Massachusetts Department become part of the Mashpee National Wildlife Refuge of Environmental Protection as a wetland analyst. She (but still under the care and custody of the also has certification from the Society of Wetland Conservation Commission) and the latter fills in the Scientists and has expertise and experience in land last remaining gap in the Mashpee River corridor.The management and wildlife habitat analysis. One of her acquisition of these was made possible by the hard j 162