Herring River Restoration Committee

Meeting date: 
Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Minutes

Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)

Wellfleet, MA

March 8, 2017

9:30 am-5:00 pm

 

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

 

Others Present: Margo Fenn, Martha Craig, Christine Odiaga, Don Palladino, Helen Miranda Wilson, Carole Ridley, Karen Larocque

 

Administration/Coordination:

 

Communications/Coordination with Friends of Herring River: Don Palladino updated the Committee on recent outreach and education activities. Meetings are planned with the Wellfleet Chamber of Commerce and the Shellfish Advisory Board. FHR representatives will also attend the next meeting of the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission. The Committee discussed the agenda for a March 23, 2017 workshop on the scientific studies of interest to shellfishermen and growers. There will also be a public meeting on the Restoration Project in Truro Town Hall on April 6, 2017.

 

FHR will soon launch a new website, which will include buttons for access to meeting materials and minutes for the HRRC and the Herring River Executive Council.

 

The Committee discussed two petitioned town meeting articles pertaining to the Restoration Project.

 

Discussion and Updates:

 

CYCC golf course design: HRRC members discussed development of a scope of work for permit-ready plans for the golf course.

 

Pre-construction monitoring: The Committee discussed the scope of needed baseline monitoring for the Herring River adaptive management (HRAM) plan. Eric Derleth noted that the draft HRAM consequence table includes a detailed outline of measurable attributes for all of the objectives. These form the basis for what will be monitored. Decisions about when, where, and how this monitoring will be done will be detailed in the HRAM plan. The monitoring plan will be of interest to the shellfishing community, and will be incorporated into the permit applications. It is also important to formulating funding requests, as ongoing monitoring will be part of the overall Project costs. There was a symposium of science advisors that reviewed this issue a few years ago.

 

Vegetation Management: The Committee reviewed a draft PowerPoint presentation on vegetation management and had a lengthy discussion about how to address the issue of herbicide use to control invasive species, as the Restoration Project is implemented. After thorough discussion and debate, the following statement and motion were unanimously approved:

 

HRRC Vegetation Management Recommendation

3-8-17

 

Phragmites management is an important element of the Herring River Restoration Project (Project) because the plant is an aggressive, non-native invasive species that can rapidly displace salt marsh and other native vegetation. Re-establishing native estuarine plant communities is a primary Project objective. These native communities provide critical food and habitat for estuarine birds, animals, fish, shellfish and other wildlife. Numerous scientific studies have identified significant impairments associated with Phragmites invasion in estuarine settings, including declines in habitat quality and diversity for plants, fish and wildlife, and disruptions to biogeochemical cycles.

 

Tidal restoration and saltwater inundation are expected to eliminate the majority of existing stands of Phragmites in the Project area, which are located in the lower and middle basins of the Herring River system.

 

Phragmites has the potential to expand or colonize in upstream areas of the Project where salinity levels will be high enough to stress freshwater wetland vegetation, but too low to stop Phragmites growth, which can tolerate salinity up to approximately 20 parts per thousand.

 

Methods of Phragmites control that do not include the use of herbicides, such as cutting, burning, and flooding, can be used during implementation of the Project to reduce and prevent the spread of Phragmites. The efficacy of these methods will be evaluated as part of the Project’s monitoring program.

 

The HRRC acknowledges the significant community concerns and questions about herbicide treatment of Phragmites in Herring River and that Town Meetings in Wellfleet and Truro will consider articles directing the Selectmen not to sign any permit applications for the Project that include potential herbicide use.

 

Therefore:

 

The Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC) recommends to the Herring River Executive Council (HREC) that the permit applications seeking authorization to implement the Project not include the use of any herbicides in the Herring River Restoration Project area. These permit applications will specify other non-chemical methods of Phragmites control.

 

The HRRC requests that the HREC make a determination on this matter, so that the HRRC may move forward in preparing permit applications.

 

CBI Facilitation: The Consensus Building Institute (CBI) is continuing to facilitate discussions between HRRC and the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club (CYCC) to develop a conceptual Memorandum of Understanding between CYCC and HRRC. The Committee reviewed the latest draft of the conceptual MOU and provided comments and suggestions to the drafting subcommittee. Hunt Durey moved, seconded by Eric Derleth the following motion:

 

The HRRC authorizes its Chair to sign the final MOU with the Chequessett Yacht and Country Club (CYCC), provided that it is substantially consistent with the March 3, 2017 draft and that final agreement on the Water Level Review Threshold (WLRT) will be based on no Project-related increase in Mean Tidal Water Level in the Lower Herring River basin.

 

The motion carried unanimously. The group discussed next steps to finishing work on the MOU. Margo Fenn suggested that HRRC and CYCC prepare a joint summary of the purpose and content of the MOU to present to the Herring River Executive Council, town officials and the public.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 pm.