SUMMER RESIDENTS ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Chatham, Massachusetts
Minutes of Meeting of July 18, 2008~
Present: Kathy Abib, Bob Champlin, Don Edge, Kay Flynn, Jill MacDonald, Kathy Malfa, Hugh Moulton, Nell Pinckert, Phil Richardson, Peter Tarrant, Arnold Trebach, and Bob Young.~~
Also present: Dr. Robert Duncanson, Director, Chatham Department of Health and Environment~
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Don Edge at 9:00 AM.~
1. The committee approved the minutes of the previous meeting, that of July 11, 2008.~ There was no open forum discussion.~ ~
2. Bob Duncanson then provided a wide-ranging review of the progress and problems in the development of the comprehensive wastewater management plan for the town.~~ This was a subject with which many committee members were familiar because for several years it has received the highest priority attention from this group.~ The Draft Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan (CWMP), completed in April, is the first town-wide plan completed by a cape community that integrates the findings of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project (MEP). The MEP, a cooperative effort of MA DEP, the School of Marine Science and Technology at UMass Dartmouth, the Cape Cod Commission, and the town, is designed to bring a uniform, scientifically-based methodology to the assessment of estuaries in southeastern MA. Chatham was the
first community to participate in the MEP, which while it resulted in some delays in completion of the CWMP, has provided a wealth of data on the condition of our estuaries as well as recommendations on efforts to restore the estuaries. The target for restoration is the 1950’s, prior to the development boom that has negatively impacted the estuaries, and in effect to restore eelgrass, which Bob characterized as “the canary of estuaries.” The Draft CWMP was submitted to the State and Cape Cod Commission in April for the first round of regulatory review.~ As is usual, comments were received on the Draft CWMP asking for additional information about aspect(s) of the plan.~ After revision the Final CWMP will be submitted to the State and Cape Cod Commission for further review.~ It is hoped that final approval of the plan will be achieved by the end of this year.~~ The plan calls for Phase I, covering approximately two-thirds of the town and necessary to meet the
Total Maximum Daily Loads for nitrogen, to be completed in 20 years, and Phase II, covering the remaining one-third, in another 10 years. ~
In answer to the question of how the town will pay for the implementation of the plan, Bob explained that efforts were in progress to seek funds from many sources to meet the estimated price tag of $300 million (in 2007 dollars).~ These sources included federal and state funding programs.~ It is expected that the cost of the wastewater treatment plant upgrade/expansion will be borne on the tax rate. The Board of Selectmen will be discussing this fall how to fairly distribute the costs for the collection system. Historically, collections systems are paid for through a betterment process, i.e. each property which the pipe goes past (i.e. is “bettered”) pays a portion of the contract cost. Betterments can be assessed based on a variety of ways such as lot frontage, lot size (square footage),
etc. What mechanism is used will be a policy decision to be determined by the Board of Selectmen. Also to be determined is how much of a betterment will be assessed: this can range from 0% (no betterment) to 100% (all betterment). If less than 100% is done by betterment the remaining % would likely be borne on the tax rate. One advantage of placing the cost on the tax rate is that it is deductable on state and federal income taxes; a betterment is not. The downside is that it would increase the tax rate and everyone would be paying for projects that may not benefit them directly, but would benefit the town as a whole. One issue that needs to be addressed is those properties that already paid a betterment when the original wastewater system was constructed in the 1970’s. In addition to these costs, there will be costs borne by each property owner to connect to the system and monthly user fees thereafter. The estimated gross cost per household might be in the
neighborhood of $42K. Clearly, there would be numerous questions of fairness and equity raised in the coming years, along with political discussions on all aspects of the new wastewater system.~ His best guess was that given full information on all features of the system, the voters of the town will approve of it when asked to do so.~
~Not much mention has been made of the penalties that might be imposed on the town by the state or federal government for not meeting certain deadlines/actions.~ There could be fines of $10,000 a day at the state level for not complying with the existing Administrative Consent Order, and $25,000 a day if the town is seen as violating the Federal Clean Water Act. Chatham has thus far not been penalized for missing deadlines and extensions have been granted in large part because of Chatham’s pioneering efforts. ~~~
3. The chairman reported that on July 15 the BOS had appointed Bob Champlin, Phil Richardson, Katherine Malfa, and Kathy Abib to the SRAC until May 31, 2011, and that it had appointed Bill McGagh and Bob Young as associate members until May 31, 2009, unless sooner revoked or a successor appointed.~ Don said that an associate member votes when a full member is not present.~ Phil joined the Streetscape Committee and Bob Champlin, the Management and Finance committee.~
· Three signs advertising the Summer Town Meeting received BOS approval.
· Christie’s plans and no-chains are unrelated matters, and the Traffic and Public Safety Committee will look into a combination fuel station and Christie’s Market at the Rotary.
· The August 8th speaker will be Mark Zibrat, Acting Chairman of the Planning Board.
· Affordable Housing, it was agreed, should remain part of the work of the Streetscape Committee.
· Kathy Malfa gave an update on the Human Needs survey. Because of confidentiality laws, we will not be able to get an unduplicated count of needs recipients vis-à-vis services.
4. Old Business:
· The 2008 Summer Town Meeting program was approved (attachment)
· Dress will be jackets and no ties for men
· Sub-committee membership was reviewed, and members were urged to serve on at least two sub-committees.. Phil Richardson will serve on Streetscape, and Bob Champlin on Management & Finance.
· Selectmen’s goals were discussed, and it was generally agreed that their form and substance could be improved. Don Edge will attempt to determine if the BOS is interested in our views on their goals, and if so, Don and Hugh Moulton will develop a brief example of a Goal with objectives, activities, implementation, assessment, and responsibility.
5. New Business:
· Don will schedule a meeting with Town Moderator Bill Litchfield (Edge, MacDonald, Moulton, Tarrant, Trebach).
· Christie’s at the rotary was briefly discussed. The Transportation and Public Safety will look into this and determine if a position paper is appropriate at this time.
· Nell Pinckert reported on the results of a Streetscape sub-committee meeting. She seeks more ideas and requests that we submit customer satisfaction items in writing. Jill questions the inclusion of lot coverage.
· Jill MacDonald reported that the Board of Selectmen want one amendment to the zoning by-laws,~ covering auxillary affordable apartments, to be prepared for presentation at the Town Meeting.~ The Planning Committee will be meeting on this issue on July 22, 2008, and Philip Richardson agreed to attend that meeting and report back to the Committee.~
The meeting ended at~ 10:47 AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Arnold Trebach, Recording Secretary
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