OWQAP Revised 4 15 Meeting Summary
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Meeting Thirteen Wednesday April 15th, 2015 8:30 AM – 11:30 AM Orleans Town Hall 19 School Road, Orleans, Massachusetts 02653 Revised Meeting Summary EXECUTIVE SUMMARY At its April 15 meeting, the Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel discussed outreach and public education, funding and financial activities, the Aquaculture Forum, the warrant articles for Town Meeting, and the 2016 fiscal year work plan. Outreach actions include display of the Conceptual Map at Snow Library, articles in the Cape Cod Times and the Cape Codder, informational flyers to be sent to Orleans residents, public forums on April 13th (through Orleans Citizens Forum) and May 4th (7:00 - 8:30 PM at the Council on Aging), and public service announcements on Channels 99 and 18 and WCAI and WOMR. The Panel provided input on the informational flyer for the public and encouraged members to include links to OWQAP events and information on their organizations’ websites. Mr. Domenica provided an update on funding and financing activities, reviewing financial tasks and a short-term funding plan. Over the next year, the Town’s consultants and leadership will work to achieve an affordable level by adjusting different financial mechanisms and seeking State and Federal funding sources. Mr. Domenica reviewed an initial list of short-term grant funding opportunities for planning, design and monitoring tasks required for the demonstration projects and on-going MEP evaluations of Orleans’ Amended CWMP. Ms. Karplus reviewed the Shellfish Forum agenda. The meeting will cover aquaculture and shellfish best practices from other Cape Cod and national sites, regulatory compliance, and Orleans specific issues, including the impact of site-specific factors on nitrogen uptake. The forum will culminate in development of a shellfish technical advisory group. The Panel provided input on the types of expertise needed at the forum. Mr. Domenica provided an update on the warrant article tasks, and reviewed the work plan for the 2016 fiscal year, including Town Cove PRB site testing, disposal site identification, and geo-hydrologic studies. He also reviewed the draft FY16 Public Involvement and Communications Approach, listing the goals of the process and roles of the Board of Selectmen, OQWAP, and Technical Working Groups within the engagement plan. The panel agreed that the Technical Working Groups should serve as task-oriented teams to carry out specific tasks approved by the Board of Selectmen, consistent with the principles agreed on by the OWQAP, which will meet quarterly to review progress and provide on-going input. Town of Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel 1 Meeting thirteen (4/15/15): Revised Meeting Summary ACTION ITEMS The following action items were captured during the meeting: CBI /Water Resources Associates/Stantec • Draft meeting summary for April 15th meeting • Deliver Conceptual Map and informational flyers to Snow Library • Coordinate radio (WCAI and WOMR) and TV (Channels 99 and 18) public service announcements with OWQAP • Create OWQAP process public informational flyer, review with Panel and Mr. Ford for approval, and send to Orleans residents • Include the phrase ‘Sensitivity Analysis” in the title of the user rate cases spreadsheet • Send information about the goals, objectives, and desired outcomes of the Aquaculture Forum • Include a discussion on the effects volume exchange variability on shellfish effectiveness during the Aquaculture Forum • Send out pre-registration information to the OWQAP mailing list about the Aquaculture Forum • Set meeting dates for OWQAP quarterly meetings for FY16 • Develop protocols for Technical Working Groups • Adjust FY 2016 Public engagement plan goals to add: o “…Orleans and surrounding towns” in goal three o “…knowledge and perspectives developed together by the Panel” in goal two o That the mission of the Wastewater Advisory Committee (the OWQAP) is also to “provide advice and input” to the Board of Selectmen. OWQAP • Send comments and suggestions on the April 15th draft meeting summary • Ask Sandy Marshal to moderate the OWQAP informational forum on May 4th • Review OWQAP process informational flyer • Send Ms. Smith additional details on the Warrant Articles and polling important for inclusion in the flyer • Share information and event notices through institutional social media accounts • Include links to OWQAP events and information on organization websites • Send additional advice or questions about the Aquaculture Forum to Ms. Karplus • Contact Mr. Domenica if interested in participating on a technical working group WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION OF PANEL The following documents were distributed to participants: Town of Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel 2 Meeting thirteen (4/15/15): Revised Meeting Summary • Meeting Agenda for March 15 • Draft Meeting Agenda for Orleans Aquaculture Forum • Revised Meeting Summary from March 11 • Final OWQAP Consensus Statement • Short-Term Funding Opportunities Handout • Financing Tasks for Fiscal Year 2016 Handout • Draft Fiscal Year Public Engagement Plan • Final OWQAP Conceptual Map • Revised February 25 Meeting Summary Please refer to meeting handouts for details of the presentations. All meeting documents and presentations for the Town of Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel will be located here: http://www.town.orleans.ma.us/water-quality-advisory-panel/pages/workshop- materials Dave Dunford, Orleans Selectman and acting meeting chairman, called the meeting to order. The OWQAP approved the February 25th and March 11th meeting minutes, allowing for small typographical corrections. Ms. Stacie Smith, facilitator from the Consensus Building Institute, will send out a summary from this meeting, upon which the Panel should comment. The minutes will be finalized at a future Orleans Board of Selectmen (BoS) meeting. Ms. Smith outlined the ground rules for the meeting and reviewed the agenda, explaining that the meeting would focus on outreach and public education plans, financial and funding activities, the Town Warrant Articles (WAs), the 2016 project work plan, and the cumulative outputs of the process. Ms. Smith reviewed the action items, noting the successful completion of most of the items. The Consensus Statement was finalized with input from Panel members, and approved by all the constituent organizations – the document includes the initial approval, text finalization, and formal approval dates on the agreement. The Conceptual Map was also revised for clarity and to correctly illustrate the scope of potential non- traditional technologies (NTs), and approved by all Panel members participating in the consensus. OUTREACH AND PUBLIC EDUCATION UPDATE The Panel provided updates on outreach and public education efforts. The Orleans Citizens Forum on April 13th attracted around 125 citizens, many of them new to the process, who asked thoughtful and factually-based questions. The Panel agreed to sponsor an additional forum from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at the Council on Aging on May 4th, Town of Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel 3 Meeting thirteen (4/15/15): Revised Meeting Summary with the same panelists - David Dunford, Alan McClennen, and Mike Domenica - who presented at the Orleans Citizens Forum. While Sims McGrath, Orleans Selectman, would be willing to serve as moderator, group members suggested first asking Sandy Marshall, a former professional conflict manager, to moderate. Ms. Smith shared that the Cape Cod Times published a summary of the Consensus Statement the week of April 6th and The Cape Codder will publish a version on April 17th. The feedback about the Cape Cod Times article has been positive. Mr. Griffin Smith, CBI Associate, reminded the Panel about radio outreach options: WCAI could air a 400-character announcement, which could be used to share a brief informational update and direct listeners to further online information, and WOMR could air a summary segment. Mr. Smith also noted the possibility of running a segment on Channels 99 and 18, if the Panel developed the content, or solicited student volunteers to help film and produce the session. The Panel agreed that it would be best to use the radio and TV opportunities to air public service announcements directing citizens to existing information online and at Snow Library, share the broadcasting times of OWQAP meetings, advertise the May 4th Forum, and announce any new process updates or forums. Members also noted the potential of airing a recording of the May 4th forum and recommended asking the radios’ websites to reference OWQAP events and websites. Snow Library would display a large copy of the Conceptual Map along with informational handouts. The group suggested including a label or QR code on the map to direct viewers to the OWQAP website. Ms. Smith asked the Panel for input on the informational flyer for the public. The OWQAP provided the following feedback about the flyer. • Ensure the flyer is visually appealing and light on text • Keep the information within the flyer to an introductory/newspaper level • Include no financial information • Add in the NT icons with accompanying explanations • Use the front and back sides of the flyer or a tri-fold to maximize the amount of information to be shared • Share key components and expected outcomes of the plan along with a list of informational action items related to Town Meeting and the polls Ms. Smith agreed to develop a draft flyer and send it to the group and Orleans Town Counsel for review, to ensure it meets appropriate guidelines for use of municipal funds and information sharing. The flyers could be sent to all Orleans residents. Mr. McClennen, Orleans selectman, will send Ms. Smith additional details on the WAs and polling information for inclusion in the flyer. The Panel also suggested having copies of the flyer next to the Conceptual Map at Snow Library to provide further information. Town of Orleans Water Quality Advisory Panel 4 Meeting thirteen (4/15/15): Revised Meeting Summary In addition, the OWQAP provided the following further outreach ideas, questions, and comments. Bullets represent overall discussion topics, not views of the group as a whole. • Social media should be used to engage younger voters.