TOWN OF ARLINGTON VISION 2020 ENVIRONMENT TASK GROUP
RESERVOIR COMMITTEE
May 22, 2003  Meeting Minutes


In attendance:   Bryan Hasbrouck, Jane Howard, Elizabeth Karpati, Leslie Mayer, David White.
The meeting was facilitated by Leslie Mayer. The minutes are by Elizabeth Karpati.

Next meetings:  TBA.

Cleanup, etc:
· The cleanup on May 17, 9–12, attracted about a dozen volunteers and generated about a dozen bags of trash. In addition, some more wood chips supplied by the DPW were spread on the trail. Meg Muckenhoupt planted the planters at the playground and will water them. Leslie hopes to get the summer staff at the swimming area to take over the watering later.
· On May 31 the Boy Scouts will paint the bathhouse. The Parks & Rec Dept. will provide them with paint and tools and will do the preparation work. 
· The beach will open June 19, but some repair work on the pipes is necessary before the swimming area can be filled; the filling takes about 2 weeks. Dan Brothers of Facilities Management Corp., who manages the rink in winter, is in charge of Res maintenance in summer.

Res booklet:
· The booklet was handed out to Town Meeting members last night. There are 1500 copies left; we could save 500 and sell 1000.
· The booklet was paid for with federal grant money. Jane will ask Alan McClennen whether it is legal to charge for it. If not, we could ask for a donation. Where should the proceeds go – into the park beautification fund, earmarked for the Res?
· Where to sell/dispense the booklets? At the Res? Can the swimming area staff be asked to handle something peripheral to their normal duties? Fewer copies would be sold if available at Town Hall. John Jalbert is interested in fundraising, maybe with a “Day” at the Res.
· The Res booklet is also available on the Town website.

Water chestnuts:
· The capital plan was approved. It contains $15,000 for water chestnut harvesting, so there is no need to ask for the money via the warrant article.
· Manual harvesting before mechanical harvesting is probably not worth while, and the water is cold and it is hard to get volunteers. After mechanical harvesting it is important to get the leftovers where the machine couldn’t go. Would the Scouts be available to help?
· Jane will invite Roger Frymire to the June meeting to discuss when/how best to do manual harvesting. We should check the condition of the Res before the June meeting.

The Dam:
· A year ago Rich Bento and Phil Farrington were ready with a letter for the Selectmen asking for approval to go ahead with work on the dam, but then nothing happened.
· Mr. Sanchez, the new DPW head, appears very knowledgeable about dam safety matters and has already spoken in Town Meeting on the need for the funds in the capital plan for design and work on the dam. He says he has met with Weston & Sampson on all outstanding projects.
· Leslie will check that Mr. Sanchez has the latest version of last year’s draft letter to the Selectmen.

Year-end Event:
· The Vision 2020 year-end event will take place on June 24 and will feature the Res. It will start with a tour of the Res at 5:30, continue with a look at the Reeds Brook project around 6:30, and end with a light supper at Symmes.

 

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