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		<subject index="0" >July 25, 2006</subject>

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CONSERVATION COMMISSION
MINUTES OF MEETING
TUESDAY, JULY 25, 2006

PRESENT:	Sally Underwood-Miller, Stephen Shatz, George Shippey, Don Deno
		Joseph DeGiorgis, John Hart, Cathy Plakun

Call Meeting to Order/Adopt Minutes - The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m.  Member Shatz made a motion to adopt the Minutes as corrected the following corrections:  the Commission needs a sewer permit for the Blasnik property and Pine Woods should be two words.  Member Shippey seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

Town of Stockbridge/Stockbridge Bowl Association, Stockbridge Bowl, 5 ½ ft. Drawdown - NOI - Gary Kleinerman representing the Stockbridge Bowl Assoc., Thomas Harrington, Counsel for the Town, and Ken Wagner of ESNR who prepared the NOI on behalf of the Town, appeared to present the 5 ½ ft. drawdown of the Bowl.  Member Shippey stated that they are direct abutters to the Bowl and although there is an appearance of a conflict, they feel that with the size of this project, the public nature of the project and the fact that the have no financial interest in the project he will participate in the hearing.  Member Deno stated that is in the same situation as member Shippey and will participate in the hearing as well.  The Chairman stated that she would also appear to have a conflict as well as her husband is employed in the summer for a property on the lake but does not benefit in any way and will also participate in the hearing.  Members Underwood-Miller, Hart and Plakun hold memberships in a private club that borders the lake.  The Chairman also sits on the Board of the Stockbridge Bowl Association.  She stated that she will recuse herself from voting at the SBA meetings on any SBA matters that will later come before the Conservation Commission and vote only on such matters when they come before the Commission.  She further stated that as a main recreational resource for the Town, there would be few people who could not in some way be directly affected by the health and well-being of the lake.

G. Kleinerman submitted commercial DVD produced for the lake.  T. Harrington stated that the Town of Stockbridge has filed a NOI for a 5 ½ ft. winter level drawdown of the Stockbridge Bowl from October/November to February to control rooted plant growth especially targeting the non-native invasive Eurasian watermilfoil.  K. Wagner stated the NOI only asks for permission to do the drawdown; it does not supply the means to do so.  A subsequent NOI will  include a bypass pipe to get around the sewer and gas lines and potentially dredging in the outlet channel to facilitate the drawdown.  He stated that given the fact that the additional activities are extremely expensive it is important to get regulatory approval of the actual 5 ½ ft. drawdown first. The milfoil in the lake extends out in some places 20 ft. although it has never been more than 10 or 12 ft.  With the 5 ½ ft. drawdown you take control after about 7 ½ - 8 ft. of water due to the ice and contact with mating period.  He stated that the most critical conditions aside of considering the some of the possible side impacts in greater detail a monitoring program that would more complete than before to satisfy the needs of all the state agencies.  K. Wagner stated that is willing to put together a letter laying out the details.  He would include that the drawdown is intended to drastically reduce the abundance of Eurasian water milfoil in the shallow water zones around the lake as well as intended to foster the growth of additional Chara.  Therefore, we would no expect any significant reduction in Chara or snails.  The biggest question of a drawdown is weather dependent.  The Chairman stated one of her primary concerns is that in the past is has not generally worked at all in terms of handling the drawdown.  She feels that although it has fallen on the Highway Dept. to do it she feels that they do not have the resources to manage such a project.  She strongly hopes that there would someone other than the Highway Dept. responsible for the gate.  G. Kleinerman stated that the grating has been or will be changed at the outlet which will assure of getting water out of there when they open the flood gate up.  He stated that Cris Irsfeld indicated that Clinton Schneyer, Highway Supt., will be taking the grating out which is a very fine grating and put in something else in its place.  It probably will be a reinforced mesh that they use in concrete which will keep twigs and logs from going downstream. The Commission requested a guarantee that it will work.  Town Counsel suggested it be an order in the Order of Conditions.  G. Keinerman stated that he and member Shippey will work together to come up with a conclusion of how it will work and who will monitor the gate, the level, who is doing the sampling when member Deno is away in the winter, as he has in the past done it.  Shep Evans stated that the people who are responsible for managing the flow of water out of the lake should manage at how they are managing.  He stated that if you don't measure and monitor it on a regular basis you will not know how you are doing.  K. Wagner pointed out that the sole applicant is the Town and although the Bowl Association as well as other very interested observers enjoy the benefits of better management of the lake, the control of the dam and the flow it is Town property.  The Chairman stated that the Town needs a person solely responsible to manage it.  G. Kleinerman and G. Shippey will set up a meeting with the Selectmen to come up with a plan.  G. Kleinerman stated that once the diversion is in it will give them the ability of opening up the flood gate and see what happens.  K. Wagner feels that they will get another foot beyond the 2 - 2 ft. drawdown because of the compaction of silt going downstream.  They also have a retention pool down below there where a lot of silt will fall out.  S. Evans stated that the Town has not received optimum flow at the dam according to the standards set by the New England Aquatic Base Flow used as a guideline by Fisheries and Wildlife.  The flow is the function of the size of the watershed that drains to the point where you are measuring and in this case the watershed of the Bowl at the outlet of the lake is approximately 11 ½ sq. mi.  During low flow in the summer, one half times the sq. mi. of the watershed times 11 ½ equals cfs brings it to five plus is an appropriate minimum flow to support life in the habitat downstream from that point.  During the highest flow of the year which is in the spring the guideline flow is four times the watershed or 44 to 47 cfs.  The maximum flow ever been able to be produced coming out of the pipe at the outlet was 9/10 of an inch per day during the drawdown.  T. Harrington will draft the Order of Conditions and will e-mail them to the Commission.

Berkshire Natural Resources Council, Inc., Old Colonial Rd. - NOI Continuance - Bryan Emmet appeared representing the applicant who are proposing to do invasive plant species control in calcareous marsh and bordering upland with mechanical and chemical controls.  The Chairman and member Shippey did a site visit for the property and the Chairman stated that it seems to be okay.  Member Shippey made a motion to close the hearing, seconded by member Shatz and all voted in favor.  The Commission wants photos of what it looks like now and then yearly until and after after the work has been completed for 4 - 5 years.  The Commission would like to learn from this project.

David & Betsy McKearnan of Interlaken Crossroad and their landscape contractor appeared at the request of the Commission.  They have dug trenches near the road to the right side of their driveway and have brought stone in.  Mr. McKearnan stated that an increasing amount of water has gone under their property and when it washes out their yard due to heavy rains.  There is currently a 15 inch culvert under their driveway.  Okerstom-Lang has worked with the property before.  They believe they need an 18 inch culvert instead of the 15 inch.  There is a perennial stream on the property which flows at 4-5 gal./min.  The culvert has been replaced.  They need to stabilize the site and file an NOI.  They will put straw bales around the piles which will keep the silt out of the stream.

The Commission signed Determinations of Applicability for Michael Blasnik of 18 Mahkeenac Rd. and Estanne Fawer of 45 Interlaken Rd.

The Secretary will put reviewing fees for RDA's on the next agenda.

With no further business, the Commission adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

					Respectfully submitted,

					Denise A. Schneyer, Secretary