TOWN OF ARLINGTON VISION 2020
ENVIRONMENT TASK GROUP
RESERVOIR COMMITTEE
January 23, 2003 Meeting Minutes
In attendance: Gene Benson, Jane Howard, Elizabeth Karpati, Oakes
Plimpton, David White.
The meeting was facilitated by Gene Benson. The minutes are by Elizabeth
Karpati.
Next meetings: Monday, February 17; Monday, March 17; Wednesday, April 23; Thursday, May 22; Thursday, June 12; all
at 7:30 PM., Town Hall Annex, First Floor Conference Room.
Warrant article requesting funding for weed control:
Water chestnut harvesting on the Res was done by the Con Com for the
last several years. Capital plan can’t fund any Con Com activities this year unless there is an override, but water chestnuts are not yet under
control; if they are not harvested this year, they’ll proliferate again. Time for harvesting is in July; if money is appropriated by Town Meeting,
it should be available July 1.
Spy Pond Committee drafted an article asking for weed control funding
for the pond, which will need treatment again in 2004; Res Committee decided to join; now Friends of Menotomy Rocks Park are adding their
request for Hill’s Pond – combining the maintenance needs of all of the Town’s water bodies in one article. The Res is the most urgent because
ground gained will be lost if harvesting is omitted this year.
All three groups need to gather their own information – rationale and
estimates – and participate in the presentations to the Finance Committee and Town Meeting. David White will get the materials used by the Con
Com, and an estimate from Gerry Smith, who did the previous harvesting.
Tentative speakers from the three groups: David White, Leslie Mayer
for the Res; Bill Eykamp, Elizabeth Karpati for Spy Pond; Clarissa Rowe, John Pickle for Hill’s Pond; possibly Gene Benson? Need to meet
and coordinate before the Fin Com meeting. Our presentation could be reinforced with the poster boards of the Res and Spy Pond that were
displayed at Town Day.
We want to get the support of the Con Com and Parks & Rec (but the Con
Com probably can’t be a formal sponsor of the article).
Other matters:
Funding: Leslie has contacted State Representative Jay Kaufman about
possible sources of funding, but has had no response yet. If Town Meeting doesn’t appropriate any money for the Res, we could try to get
money from the park beautification fund.
If we want to do any hand harvesting of water chestnuts, it should be
done after the mechanical harvesting, to pick up the stragglers in shallow water where the machinery can’t go.
The Recreation Dept. wants to put a temporary fence on the berm again
for the swimming season. It does seem to help in keeping the geese out of the swimming area.
Reservoir booklet: Leslie has the latest version; David has
before-and-after pictures of the water chestnut infestation. The booklet should be printed and passed out at Town Meeting before the vote, along
with samples of water chestnut seeds!