Approved Herring River Restoration Committee Mtg Mins

Minutes

Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)

Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters

Wellfleet, MA

November 17, 2016

9:30 am-5:00 pm

Members Present: Tim Smith, Steve Spear, Eric Derleth, Steve Block, Hunt Durey, Gary Joseph, Peter Herridge

Others Present:  Margo Fenn, Don Palladino, Martha Craig, Helen Miranda Wilson, John Portnoy, Mark Borrelli, Carole Ridley, Agnes Mittermayr, Mark Adams, Kirk Bosma (by phone), Dave Smith (by phone)

Approval of Minutes: The Committee voted to approve the minutes of the 10/12/16 and 10/13/16 HRRC meetings.

Schedule of Meetings:  The Committee approved the following schedule for upcoming meetings:          

            December 21, 2016                 HRRC regular meeting

            January 12, 2017                     HRRC regular meeting

            January 18, 2017                     Regulatory Oversight Group meeting

The first meeting of the Herring River Executive Council will also be scheduled for early January 2017.        

Discussion and Updates:

Bathymetric Mapping:  Mark Borrelli from the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (PCCS) gave the HRRC a presentation on recent seafloor mapping in the lower Herring River.  Friends of Herring River provided funding for a boat and side-scan sonar equipment to do this mapping.  PCCS also collected bottom sediment samples and took salinity and temperature measurements, as well as videos of the river bottom.  This information will be useful for establishing baseline conditions for the Restoration Project.

Project Phasing:  Class 1 & 2 Activities:  The Committee discussed which Project elements should be included as Class 1 activities- i.e. those elements that will be proposed for permitting and construction during the first phase of the Project.  The group reviewed the language from the FEIS/EIR (Chapter 5, pp. 330-331), which outlines the regulatory strategy. The Committee discussed its approach to secondary management activities such as channel modifications and vegetation management.  The group agreed that the initial permits should generally describe the suite of possible management techniques and map the areas where these activities could take place.  ESS will prepare a programmatic description of this process. As the adaptive management process proceeds, the HRRC will develop more detailed plans for review by both the Herring River Executive Council and the Regulatory Oversight Group.

The Committee discussed holding a public meeting in 2017 to hear questions and solicit input on the broad topic of vegetation management. This could involve the National Park Service fire management team. Friends of Herring River (FHR) is planning a series of educational workshops during the winter months.  Vegetation management could be part of this series.

Outreach and Communications:  Carole Ridley updated the Committee on outreach activities. FHR has prepared several letters to address public concerns raised in the October 25, 2016 Wellfleet Board of Selectmen meeting.  Letters have been sent to the Boards of Selectmen in Wellfleet and Truro, to members of the shell-fishing community and to potentially affected property owners in Upper Pole Dike Creek.  These letters clarify that tidal flow will not be allowed into the Upper Pole Dike Creek basin during the first phase of the Project’s implementation.  Tidal restoration in Upper Pole Dike Creek would only be proposed in a subsequent phase of the Project if and when necessary structural flood prevention issues are resolved with private landowners.

The Committee discussed other public outreach and education efforts.  FHR is planning a series of workshops at the Wellfleet Library starting in January of 2017.  FHR is also updating its fact sheets on a number of issues of concern, and will provide regular newsletter updates to interested citizens by email.  The website is also being updated.

CBI Facilitation:  The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) is continuing to facilitate discussions between HRRC and the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club (CYCC). HRRC is formulating a response to CYCC officials regarding an implementation plan for raising the CYCC golf course.  Another meeting with the Club is scheduled for early December.

Updates on FY17 Work Plan:  Don Palladino and Martha provided the Committee with an update on the status of ongoing consulting contracts.  FHR is also evaluating some other proposals from Woods Hole Group (WHG) for ecosystem modeling (SLAMM), the next phase of the Graphic User Interface (GUI II) and additional hydrodynamic modeling work.  The Committee also discussed a proposal from the U.S Geological Survey (USGS) to do groundwater monitoring in Mill Creek.  An additional site visit is needed to refine the scope of work for this proposal.

Documents Referred to in the Meeting:

            -Minutes of the 10/12/16 and 10/13/16 HRRC meetings