07/30/2026 WATERWAYS COMMISSION Minutes (2)

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MEETING MINUTES Town of Mashpee Waterways Commission 16 Great Neck Rd. N. Mashpee, MA 02649 Waquoit Meeting Room Date: 30 July, 2026 Chairman Stephen Mone called the meeting to order at 6:05 PM in the Waquoit meeting room. Present: Dick Noonan, Ron Marchessault, Rick Santangelo Attendees: Lauren Surbey-Mashpee Enterprise Appointments and Hearings: None Minutes: A motion was made to accept the minutes from the Commission Meeting held on 11/25/2025 by Dick Noonan, was seconded by Ron Marchessault, and passed unanimously. Old Business: None. New Business: The Committee interviewed two new candidates for the Waterways Commission. Lawrence “Larry” Travers and Michael Zafiropoulos presented themselves to the commission for questioning. Both candidates are full-time residents of Mashpee, and are active boaters who keep their boats on Popponesset Bay. Michael indicated his family has been coming to Mashpee and boating on Popponesset Bay since 1970. The condition of the Bay back then vs now was one of his major motivations to apply for a position. Larry indicated he is retired and has lived here full time for 6 years. He noted that with more free time, he wants to give back by protecting the fragile Popponesset Bay ecosystem. At the end of the interviews, the candidates were invited to stay for the rest of the meeting, which they both did. Discussion continued on the letter to abutters of the Ockway Bay Marina and Dredging Project. It was agreed the abutters should be invited to a Committee Meeting once the Committee has more detailed information on the proposed project since there will likely be many questions. This meeting should be after the summer. The Committee agreed that it would be best to hear from the abutters early on and get their thoughts on the proposal before moving forward. The Chairman put up a picture of the latest dredge survey of the Popponesset Bay approach channel, which had been dredged under the “Longer, Wider, Deeper” project. He pointed out several areas that had started to fill with sand. In addition, the sump that had been dredged was also almost full of sand. The Harbormaster will have more information on this, as well as mooring regulation changes and account balances at the next meeting. Dick Noonan informed the Committee that he had spoken to the Harbormaster about the Great River dredging project and was told that all the permits were in place except for the Army Corp of Engineers. It is unknown when this last permit will be approved.