TOWN OF ARLINGTON VISION 2020 ENVIRONMENT TASK GROUP
RESERVOIR COMMITTEE
June & September 2005  - Meetings On-Site at the Reservoir

In attendance: Town officials: John Sanchez, Teresa DeBenedictis; Reservoir Committee/ Vision 2020: Brian Hasbrouck, Jane Howard, Elizabeth Karpati, Leslie Mayer; David White; Raph Elwell; also some residents. Notes: Elizabeth Karpati

The sheet metal wall driven into the dam is complete; the concrete top part is done on the Lexington side and partly on the Arlington side; the cap on the concrete remains to be done.

· The new auxiliary spillway and the wetlands replication area are well in progress.

· The project has been going well, without snags. It is about 50% done and should be completed before the planned date of November 2005.

· If it continues to go equally well, there may be enough left of the contingency funding included in the budget to repair the bridge over Mill Brook at Hurd Field.

· Attendees noted with satisfaction that very little damage had to be done to the trees growing on the dam.

September 1, 2005

 In attendance: Town officials: Brian Sullivan, Nancy Galkowski, Kevin O’Brien, John Sanchez, Teresa DiBenedictis; Consultant: Mark Mitsch; Reservoir Committee/Vision 2020: Cathy Garnett, Brian Hasbrouck, Jane and Peter Howard, Elizabeth Karpati, Ann LeRoyer, Leslie Mayer, Sherry Miller, David White; “Arlington Advocate” reporter: Jennifer Mann; also some residents. Notes: Elizabeth Karpati.

· The dam reinforcement including the concrete cap is complete. A wide stonedust path is being installed with the cap serving as its edge toward the reservoir; on the other side of the path, loam will be added and seeded with grass.

· The new spillway and repairs on the old spillway are nearly complete. The bridges over both spillways are complete and look very good. They can carry a weight of 1.5 tons, e.g. an ambulance or maintenance equipment.

· Beyond the old spillway, part of the slope from the dam down to Sickle Brook has been cleared of trees and shrubbery for installation of a “drainage blanket” which appears as a strip of gravel along the bottom part of the slope; the top part will be seeded with meadow grasses, to which shrubs can be added.

· A total of about 150 trees of 5” or more in diameter had to be taken out for construction of the new spillway, etc. Making the dam safe the conventional way would have caused the loss of more than a thousand trees.

· Plants are growing vigorously in the 3500 sq.ft. wetlands replication area.

· The main items of work remaining are installation of a new gate in the outflow and of chain link fences along the sides of the spillways. The job should be finished by the end of September.

· Rebuilding the bridge at Hurd Field won’t be part of this project.