Joint Lake Wyola Advisory Committee (LWAC) & Board of Selectmen October 20, 2007 Meeting Minutes Lake Wyola Advisory Committee Members present: Chairman Robert “Bob” Thompson, Select Board representative Ralph Armstrong, Board of Health representative William “Bill” Elliott, Walter “Skip” Trybulski, Mark Rivers, and Lauretta Gass, recording for the LWAC. Select Board members present: Chairman Becky Torres and as a resident and not as a member of the Board of Selectmen because she is an abutter to the lake Debra Pichanick. Also Present: Gate and Dam Keeper Howard Kinder, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Walter Tibbetts, Town Administrator David Dann, and Administrative Secretary Leslie Bracebridge recording for the Board of Selectmen. Meeting opened at 9:00 A.M. Unanimously voted to accept the August 18 and September 27, 2007 minutes. Topics Discussed: * The Conservation Commission may continue their hearing until November 8 if the Massachusetts Historical Commission and the Massachusetts Endangered Species Act (MESA) approvals are not ready by Oct.25. * Mary Jane Bacon, Aide to Senator Stan Rosenberg will meet with the new Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Commissioner Richard Sullivan. She hopes to learn the intent within DCR to fund dam repairs. She suspects a bond bill. The Governor initiates that action and the legislators “carve it up.” Mary Jane indicated to David that Senator Rosenberg would now be willing to earmark funds for the dam repairs. * Lake Wyola Association (LWAC) members will be encouraged to send historic picture postcards to their legislators as a reminder that the dam is a historical site and it needs repairs which will also be of benefit to the DCR recreational site. Skip will negotiate purchase and use of 200 postcards from the Friends of the Shutesbury Historical Commission. Bob can provide a mailing list and postage for the postcards to be mailed to LWA members. (He is also developing a good Lake Wyola property owner email list.) Skip will write a letter that includes a list of representatives and senators and their addresses, and mail two postcards one for a representative and one for a senator; (and a third card for someone else?) to each LWA member, but will wait for numbered bills in each branch of the legislature before running the postcard campaign. Members will be asked to put on their own stamps before mailing. Out of state members can send their postcards directly to Commissioner Sullivan. * The $16,000 cost overrun with New England Environmental (NEE) is under Select Board review. Regardless, NEE is still working on preparing documents for the MESA report for the Conservation Commission. * Fox news will feature a story pushing for public funds for dam repairs. The reporters and photographers visited Lake Wyola with dam safety engineer Laura Wildman. Laura investigates dam failures to determine why they happen and the destruction left behind. She spoke with Gate and Dam Keeper Howard Kinder and resident Kenyon Fairey who lives below the dam. Bill Elliott reported that Laura voiced her opinion concerning the importance of the water level being held down until after the dam repairs in order to reduce the chances of the dam over-topping. Bill will email a request to Laura for her vitae and her written findings. The LWAC unanimously voted to send a copy of Laura Wildman’s report to Shutesbury’s dam engineer Morris Root. * Kenyon Fairey stated that she keeps her important personal items ready so that in the event of a major rain she can quickly evacuate. She wondered what would happen if a 1-inch storm instead became a 5-inch storm. * David paraphrased Morris Root’s most recent assessment of the water level: After thorough inspection, Morris Root is fairly convinced that the dam could sustain over-topping not to exceed 6 inches. Therefore Morris maintains that the water level can remain at the recreational level. The Select Board is proceeding as rapidly as possible to get the dam repaired in the fall of 2008. * Becky offered to call both Representative Kulik and Senator Rosenberg to notify them of the TV publicity and David offered to notify the head of the Office of Dam Safety (ODS) William Salomaa. * A notice will be sent to LWA members either through their newsletter or in a separate mailing that on Oct. 28 Dam Keeper Kinder will begin lowering the water level at a rate of 3 inches per day to the winter level of a foot or 2 below the spillway. David will arrange for signs to be put up locally. * Bill advocated for lake level actions be written into the Lake Wyola Dam Emergency Action Plan including keeping the lake level at the winter level until the dam is repaired; drawing the lake down may not save the dam, but it would give some extra time to emergency management people, in the event of a major rain storm, to notify residents below the dam to evacuate. Bill said that the management of the lake level is the most important action we can take until the dam is repaired. * The town has been acting on the advice of the town’s engineer, the Dam Keeper is advised to lower the lake level for any potential problems, Engineer Wildman’s report will be sent to the town’s engineer for feedback. * Engineer Root’s contract does not include 24 hour monitoring of qpf’s; Emergency Management Director Tibbetts and Bill have been doing that. Funds are available to contact Engineer Root whenever additional help is needed. * A suggestion was made to fix the boat ramp during the drawdown so boats can be taken in and out even when the lake is down to the winter level. * Kenyon described two kinds of insurance: flood insurance and dam insurance. She noted that the value of even one property below the dam is more than the cost to repair the dam itself. * Engineer Root will be asked to come down and re-inspect the dam and comment on Laura Wildman’s letter, and to attend the LWAC and Dam Management Committee meeting on November 17th. * Under normal conditions, the level can be lowered no more than 3 inches per day, consistent with Department of Environmental Protection regulations. In the event of an emergency, it would be dropped faster. The lowering capacity is complicated by how much water is coming in and the fact that the sluiceway can only open so wide. Once the water goes over the spillway, a lot more water exits the lake at any given time. * It was agreed to send the following notice to the Lake Wyola community: The Lake Wyola Advisory Committee met on Saturday October 20 and want to inform all of the Lake residents that the lake will be drawn to the winter level at the rate of 3 inches per day starting October 28 so you will need to get your boat out soon. It will be drawn down as much as 2 feet to the winter level. In the event of a storm it will lowered at a faster rate. There has been algae bloom all over the lake for several months. Are they dangerous? Bill had sample blooms evaluated by an expert a few years ago, who identified them as “not toxic.” The current blooms seem to be the same blue gray clouds extending from a few inches to a few feet below the surface and a few square feet to larger. Bill recommended that a certified Lake Manager be hired by the town. He felt that management of algae and vegetation requires an expert. Becky offered to review the content of previous discussions concerning lake management. Resident permitting process: * Chairman Thompson has done two mailings to lakefront property owners concerning the permitting process. * David, Ward Smith and Bob will visit with MESA in December to learn what can and cannot be done, so it is important that people get their intentions to Bob. The DEP is willing to cooperate and communicate on a number of subjects. Bob hopes to direct requests to the Conservation Commission in December and January. The Conservation Commission is also waiting for some DEP rulings. Bob is working to get the DEP, the residents and the Conservation Commission all into the current process and with the same information. Bob suggested that a group of LWA people might want to help others. Bob will coordinate people. Ward can do the wildlife habitat studies for all three groups to save money, and combining permits also saves money. * Skip has asked a Boston wetlands attorney to research and prepare a guideline for what and how applicants should prepare Notices of Intent for the Conservation Commission as he has gotten some different answers from different DEP people. He hopes by the November 17 meeting to have a synopsis of what should be done. * Dredging is taking soil from beneath water. Digging is taking soil on land. The next meeting will be at the town hall on November 17. Engineer Morris Root will be invited to attend. Becky will communicate with the state reps. David will notify Bill Salomaa and the town administrator in Leverett. It is not known what time Fox will air the dam segment. Adjourned at 11 AM Respectfully submitted, Leslie Bracebridge Administrative Secretary 071020 Joint LWAC & Selectmen 1