Milfoil Meeting Minutes

Milfoil Control Committee
Meeting Minutes
August 14, 2020 – Virtual Meeting
Approved 1/29/2021
                
Members present: Susan Goodwin, Marc Martin, Tom Ouhrabka, Jim McDevitt, Linda Murray, John Russell, Kathy Barnard

Susan Goodwin called the virtual meeting to order at 8:37 AM.

Minutes – The May 15, 2020 meeting minutes were reviewed.  Susan suggested removing the following: In the paragraph that begins with Procellacor treatment (4th paragraph), 12th line – remove - This date is “to be determined”.
Tom made a motion to approve the minutes as amended.  Jim seconded the motion. All members present voted in favor of approving the minutes by roll call vote.

Susan reported that Amy Smagula (NHDES) toured Back Bay.  She observed a good deal of milfoil in the Frog Pond extending from the Bay Street bridge to approximately 100’ into the pond.  Amy did not observe milfoil in other areas of Back Bay.  Amy will inspect again in late September.  Solitude will also inspect as the final part of their contract with the Town.  Linda mentioned that some abutters did not receive the abutter notice until after the chemical treatment date. Susan will discuss this issue with Solitude.  Jim mentioned kids were swimming in Back Bay the day of the treatment.  He called the Police Department and the dispatcher said they had no knowledge the treatment was taking place.  Linda will discuss this issue with the Town Manager.
It seems that we will not need the DASH unit to hand pull milfoil in Back Bay this season.
Jim said we need to aggressively work to eliminate the milfoil in the frog pond.
Susan will talk to Amy to see if she thinks the barrier should be reinstalled to prevent the milfoil in the Frog Pond from flowing/floating into Back Bay.

Tom reported that Bob Patterson and his DASH unit were used for a half of a day in Brewster Heath due to heavy milfoil growth.
The divers/DASH unit will need to return for another half day to full day of pulling in Brewster Heath.
The Lake Wentworth divers have pulled small amounts of milfoil at several locations in Crescent Lake/Lake Wentworth.
Goodwin basin has been inspected and no milfoil was observed.

Budget – Susan reported that the Milfoil Control Committee had spent approximately $8,000 of the 2020 budget thus far.  This does not include the last phase of the work performed by Solitude and work conducted by the DASH unit/divers.  Also, the Lake Host program may need additional funds
The Milfoil Control committee’s budget for 2020 was $29,150.  Susan suggested requesting the same amount for 2021.  The committee members discussed this issue and felt we should ask for the same amount of funding since there is no way to predict if there will be milfoil re-growth in 2021.  The funds would then be needed.  If there is no re-growth, the money will not be spent.
Kathy made a motion to approve submitting a budget for $29,150 for milfoil control activities for 2021. Tom seconded the motion.  All members voted by roll call vote in favor of the motion except Linda, who abstained.
Susan will compile the budget information and send it to the committee members prior to submitting the proposed budget to the Town Manager.

Susan has had discussions with Pat Tarpey from the Winnipesaukee Association to develop a lake-wide program for milfoil pulling.  This idea is in the early stages of development and more information will be available in the future.

Linda made a motion to adjourn. Jim seconded the motion.  All members present voted in favor of the motion by roll call vote.

Meeting adjourned at 9:11 AM.

Submitted by
Kathy Barnard