Eagle Lake Committee
Eagle Lake Committee
Meeting Minutes
November 15, 2017
Opening
The regular meeting of the Eagle Lake Committee was called to order at 7:08pm on November 15, 2017 in Starboard Building by Earl Nezuch and seconded by Stephen Isabelle.
Present
Gerald Kersus
Dan Marinone
Sara Edmonstone
Stephen Isabelle
Mark Aucoin
Earl Nezuch
Approval of Minutes
The minutes of the November 8, 2017 meeting were reviewed. Stephen Isabelle made the motion to approve the minutes with no corrections, and Earl Nezuch seconded the motion. All members voted to approve the minutes.
Old Business
Recreational Use of Eagle Lake and the public park area
Stephen Isabelle was asked by the chairman of the committee to report on his research into the cost of rehabilitation of the Eagle Lake Park. The total dollar amount to bring the park area up to date, was $20,000 to $25,000. The cost was spread out in the following manner: Trimming all the trees that are hanging on or over live wires, dead growth all around the park, lumber for picnic tables, grills for outdoor cooking, sand for the beach, rubber pads or approved mulch for under the playground swings, updating some of the play equipment, fees and permits. The chair asked Stephen to work out what the annual cost would be to maintain the park once it is brought up to shape. A motion was made by Mark Aucoin and seconded by the Chair, and approved by all, to have a Town Councilman attend our next meeting on November 29, 2017
Eagle Lake Dam
The Chair asked for a report by Earl Nezuch regarding the dam. His first report was informing the committee that DCR considers the dam to be a “high hazard”. Even rehabilitating the dam would not satisfy the new codes regarding repairing current dams. DCR also reported that if this dam failed, there could be a significant loss of life downstream. Dan felt that there is room for an opportunity to discuss with DCR, and possibly challenging their assigning “high hazard dam” to Eagle Lake’s dam. Eric felt that challenging this would be very difficult. Alternately simply taking down the dam would cost the owners in the range of $200,000 or more. The committee felt that the Phase II study of the dam condition needs to be completed to accurately assess any repair costs. The NOI rationale of habitat connectivity eliminated the need for assessing the effect on wildlife. White Oaks currently owns the dam mechanical structure, and has publicly stated that they do not want the dam anymore. It was also discussed that even if the lake was drained, there would still be a stream flowing downstream of the current dam.
The chair asked Earl to come to the next meeting with a bulleted list of items regarding his research to present to the BOS to help them understand the impact of permanently lowering the water level of Eagle Lake..
At 8:15 Stephen Isabelle made a motion to have a short recess, this was seconded by Sarah Edmonstone. The meeting was called back to order at 8:24 by the chair. The committee officially made a motion to have Bob Lavigne to attend the next meeting. It was first motioned by Stephen Isabelle, seconded by Sarah Edmonstone and all approved.
New Business
The Chair brought up the topic of Public Awareness of the work that is being done by this committee and what we were charged to accomplish by the Holden Selectmen. Social media, flyers and phone communication were discussed. It was felt by all the committee members that we need to first approach the Board of Selectmen regarding their feeling on this topic.
Adjournment
A motion was made to adjourned at 8:45pm by Earl Nezuch and seconded by Stephen Isabelle. The next general meeting will be at 7:00pm on November 15, 2017, in the Starboard Building.
Minutes submitted by: Mark Aucoin
Approved by: [Name]