Westport Island Shellfish Committee Meeting

September 9, 2008

Meeting Minutes

 

 

Present:  Joe Donohue, Lincoln Richardson, Eugene Fairfield, Donna Curry, Clem Sledge, Ron Aho, Mike Innes

 

 

Approval of minutes from previous meeting: Minutes from previous meeting were approved by committee members.

 

 

Fowles Cove Survey Date/Another Flat Survey: Joe had staked out the Fowles Cove ahead of time to make the survey process more efficient.  Thanks! 

 

Lincoln made new survey boxes for the committee so we no longer have to borrow them from DMR. Thanks!

 

Those participating in the September 6th survey were Lincoln, David, Clem, and Donna. Ron now has the raw data and will share the results with us at the next meeting. He will also compare those results with us.

 

 

Squam Creek Update:  Joe reported that he and Jerry Bodmer examined areas around Squam Creek. A house around the area recently had serious septic problems so they checked out that issue. In looking at the property, they found that there was no connection between the septic problem and runoff into Squam Creek.

 

They also talked to several land owners abutting Squam Creek. Joe will continue to look at areas surrounding Squam Creek, including the following residents and owners who abut the watercourse: Harrison (Map 3, lot 44.1), Stires (Map 3, lot 38), Butterfus (Map 3, lot 3.4), B. Cromwell (Map 3, lot 1), T. Cromwell (Map 3, lot 1), DePietro (Map 4, lot 8), Forrest (Map 4, lot 3), Segerstrom (Map 4, lots 55 & 61), and Hopkins (Map 4, lot 50). [See attached map for locations]

 

Once Joe finishes his investigation, he will check with Anna (DMR) again to check about further testing.  He will also check on cost of hiring a private company to test our samples.

 

 

Committee as Water Testers: Presently, Joe is the only authorized water tester on the committee. We need to investigate the possibility of sending other interested committee members for training so that they can help with sampling with DMR, especially if we were able to speed up testing.  Joe is not available during the winter months.

 

 

Other Surveys: Ron just received the data from the April survey of Mill Cove. He will also analyze those results and get back to us by our next meeting.

 

The committee decided to sample the area around Hubbard and Tyler Islands. The date is September 27th at 4 PM. 

 

The next potential area is Brooks Cove at the southern end of the island.

 

 

Shellfish Resource Mapping Project: We will address this issue at our next meeting.

 

 

Warden’s Report: Two residents reported clammers in Fowles Cove on Saturday, September 6th.  Apparently, the committee forgot to let the area residents know that there would be a survey conducted on that day.

 

Clem has been sworn in as a warden.

 

 

New Committee Member: Eugene Fairfield is now officially an alternate member of the Shellfish Committee.  Welcome, Eugene!

 

 

Next meeting: The next meeting will be held on October 7, 2008, when the following item will be part of the agenda:

Shellfish Resource Mapping Project

Results from Fowles Cove and Mill Cove surveys

 

 

Conservation Credit Update as of September 9, 2008

 

Individual

Activity

Date

Points Accrued

 

Forest Smith

Survey of McCarty Cove

May 10, 2008

4

Committee meeting

July 1, 2008

1

Committee meeting

August 5, 2008

1

 

TOTAL TO DATE

6

 

Mike Innes

Committee meeting

September 9, 2008

1

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lincoln Richardson                                                       Clem Sledge 

 

_________________________________                  ___________________________________

 

 

Joe Donahue                                                                Donna Curry 

 

_________________________________                  ___________________________________

 

 

David Besecker                                                            Jay Seigars

 

_________________________________                  _________________________________

 

 

Eugene Fairfield

 

_________________________________