Public Meetings - Come learn, listen, participate and help us!

May 25, 2010

PLEASE JOIN US FOR AN EXCITING WORKSHOP!

MAY 25, 6-8 PM, Lakeville Public Library
4 Precinct Street, Lakeville, MA
Free and Open to the Public. Refreshments will be served.

HOW DO YOU PICTURE LAKEVILLE’S FUTURE?

Tools for smart growth + smart water resource management

Mass Audubon and the Horsley Witten Group invite you to a free workshop!

Join us and learn effective strategies for working with your local officials to guide community development, protect your vital water resources, and ensure a high quality of life for years to come. We will focus on Lakeville as an example, but welcome participants from all surrounding communities.

Program Overview
Over the past 40 years, the landscape of Massachusetts has been dramatically transformed.  Mass Audubon’s Shaping the Future of Your Community program helps municipalities plan for a sustainable future.  In this workshop, Mass Audubon will provide town specific maps and information describing Lakeville’s natural resources, discuss how recent development trends are impacting the nature of Lakeville, and describe tools available for managing and preventing negative impacts of development.

In December 2008, the Horsley Witten Group released The Taunton River Watershed Management Plan, Phase 1, Data and Assessment, Final Report, which identified the shifting of water resources throughout the Taunton watershed.   Phase 2, currently underway, includes the design of demonstration projects throughout the watershed, including several projects in and around Lakeville.  Come and learn about innovative wastewater designs, attractive and effective stormwater management techniques, and local codes that can drive local development in a positive direction.   This work is performed under the direction of a Steering Committee, including MA DEP, MA DCR, SRPEDD, OCPC, The Nature Conservancy, and Bridgewater State College. 

INQUIRIES:
Stephanie Elson • 781.259.2146 • email selson@massaudubon.org • www.massaudubon.org/shapingthefuture
Ellie Baker • 978.499.0601 • email ebaker@horsleywitten.com • www.horsleywitten.com

May 2009

Taunton River Watershed Management Plan Innovative Approaches to
Watershed Protection and Restoration

Help us Identify Candidate Demonstration Projects Throughout the Watershed

Horsley Witten held a public meeting on May 12, 2009 at the Lakeville Public Library Lakeville to present an overview of the Phase I results and describe the next steps, including primarily the on-the-ground demonstration projects that we will be selecting and designing over the next 6-12 months.  Click here to download the flier for this meeting.

Currently, we are actively working to identify potential demonstration projects in the watershed in the areas of low impact development, alternative wastewater management, and habitat restoration or protection. In addition, we have selected two communities, Norton and Lakeville, to team with our project to work through a code reform project to facilitate techniques such as LID, alternative wastewater management options, and improved habitat protection.

Thank you very much to the Town of Lakeville for offering to host this public meeting.

Materials from this meeting are provided here:

1.  Overview of Watershed Plan project, Powerpoint Presentation by Ellie Baker

2.  What Types of Demonstration Projects are we Looking to Design?, Powerpoint presentation by Rich Claytor, P.E.

3.  Form:  Potential Demonstration Project - If you know of a project that would be a great Taunton River Watershed potential demonstration project, please let us know!  Download the Potential Project Form here:

We will be collecting a list of potential projects, and then selecting the best 6 projects based on a number of factors:

• Ability to demonstrate the techniques identified in the Phase I report (LID, alternative wastewater management, habitat/riparian buffer improvement, water conservation)
• Ability to address the water budget or habitat issues identified in the Phase I Report.
• Physical and regulatory constraints.
• Site Visibility/ accessibility and likelihood of construction.
• Willing partner.

For the six projects that are selected, Horsley Witten Group will be providing free services to bring the project to 75% design.  Materials produced will be sufficient to take the project into the permitting phase, and will provide a kick-off point for project proponents to apply for outside grant funding to actually construct the project.  This is a tremendous opportunity, and we encourage you to take advantage by letting us know your ideas!

For a description of Horsley Witten Group’s scope of work pertaining to these projects, see Section 8 of the Phase I report (click here).  Please send the form back to Ellie Baker, Horsley Witten Group, by email (ebaker@horsleywitten.com) or fax (508-833-3150). 

 
Questions: Ellie Baker, Horsley Witten Group, ebaker@horsleywitten.com, 978-499-0601

March 2009

Horsley Witten Group participated in a public meeting of the Upper Taunton Wastewater Evaluation Project on March 12, 2009 to provide an overview of the Phase I results of the Taunton River Watershed Management Plan project and introduce Phase II of the project. Phase II will identify pilot or demonstration projects for the Watershed Plan. We are actively working to identify potential demonstration projects in the watershed in the areas of low impact development, alternative wastewater management, and habitat restoration or protection. In addition, we will be selecting two communities to team with our project to work through a code reform project to facilitate techniques such as LID, alternative wastewater management options, and improved habitat protection. The presentation provided at this meeting by Mr. Rich Claytor, P.E., LEED AP, Principal of Horsley Witten Group, can be downloaded here (3,388 KB pdf).

The meeting took place at Bridgewater State College in the Moakley Auditorium. The Upper Taunton Wastewater Evaluation Project team presented information on the community Needs Assessment Report and summarize the range of regional disposal options being considered. This information is the basis for the Environmental Notification Form (ENF). Public comment on this information is welcome and will be considered in developing the ENF, which will be submitted to MEPA in late spring. A public meeting on the ENF will be scheduled during MEPA's public comment period. More information on the Upper Taunton wastewater evaluation project can be found at http://www.tauntonriverwastewater.org/.

April 2008

Workshops

A public workshop entitled "Water and the Future of Your Community" was held on April 30, 2008 at the Southeastern Regional High School in Easton. Thank you to all who attended and participated. This workshop provided an overview of the study, and presented preliminary results of the water budget, habitat and stream buffer analyses, with particular attention focused on the Coweeset Brook watershed located in Easton, West Bridgewater and Brockton. A copy of the agenda and slideshows is available below for download.

We anticipate participating in another public meeting to present further results of the study in June (exact date and location to be determined). Please check back for more information.

Slideshows:

• Agenda
• Introductory Slideshow
• Water Budget Analysis and Low Impact Development
• Ecological and Stream Buffer Analysis
• Village Center Districts and Trading of Development Rights

November, 2007

Interactive Public Meetings about the Taunton River Watershed Study

The Taunton River Watershed Study held four successful public meetings in November to engage the public and listen to the watershed issues that you, the residents, businesses and municipalities, think are most pressing in the Taunton watershed. Meetings were held on:

• November 5 (Bridgewater State College),
• November 8 (Southeastern Regional High School, S. Easton) and
• November 13 (two meetings, Bristol County Agricultural High School, Dighton).

Download meeting announcement here (202.8 KB).

Horsley Witten Group presented a Powerpoint presentation, which you can download here (4.8 MB), and provided several handouts to guide the discussion, also available for download (Priorty of Concerns Worksheet (56 KB), Management Plan Figure (687.1 KB), Watershed Map (2.4 MB), and Water Budget Approach 2.1 MB)). Participants were asked to join in small group discussions to identify the most important issues facing the watershed, ranging from wastewater to low flow issues in the Taunton River tributaries to education of the municipal boards and staff. The full list of issues identified by the groups in the four meetings is provided here (7.8 KB), along with a ranking that resulted from an individual voting process. The issues that rose to the top in these discussions were:

• The level of public education and training for municipal boards, commission and commissions;
• The level of general public education and outreach on environmental issues;
• The amount of habitat, wetlands, and open space being protected;
• The extent of inappropriate development; and
• Water quantity, flow and quality in the rivers, lakes and streams in the Taunton watershed.

The need for education of both the general public and municipal officials on these issues was the overwhelming priority concern at these meetings, and even if this was not identified by a discussion group as the top priority, it came up in discussions as a problem area, and a potential solution for other priority concerns.

Once the full list of issues was identified, attendees discussed potential solutions to address those issues. Solutions included:

Education:

• Mandatory training for local officials
• Outreach efforts using PSAs on radio and town websites
• Use a positive message
• Use good science as a basis for education and awareness
• Reach kids in high school and younger: science fairs, scouting troops
• Organize an umbrella educational organization, similar to DEP Wetlands Circuit Rider program, to reach all communities
• Get people out to experience the river, solicit corporate sponsors and adopt a wetland program

Extent of Inappropriate Development and Habitat Protection:

• Improve local regulations
• Improve local enforcement
• Improve education and training for officials

Water quality and flow in rivers, streams and lakes:

• Improve aquifer recharge using LID and Smart Growth techniques
• LID retrofits
• Find illicit connections in the stormwater system
• Limit "effective imperviousness" into the NPDES Phase II permits
• Improve Water Management Act permitting process
• Provide education and outreach about outdoor water use

We would like to thank everyone who participated in these meetings, and provided valuable insight and feedback for our study as we move forward. We will cover these key topics in more detail in our April 2008 public meetings (exact times and locations to be determined). We hope to see you there!

September 15, 2007

Taunton River Watershed Day

Photos by Michelle West

Taunton River Watershed Day was held at Watson Pond State Park in Taunton on September 15, 2007. We had a great group of people in attendance, and we managed to fit in some great informational walking tours and a nice barbecue lunch before the wind and rain took over. Three tours were offered:

• Local development and stormwater management tour, led by Rich Claytor, PE, Principal at Horsley Witten Group
• Hydrology and water quality tour, including a stint on the water in some rented kayaks, led by Neal Price, Senior Hydrogeologist at Horsley Witten Group, and
• Wetland and shoreline ecology tour, led by Alison Bowden, Freshwater Programs Director for The Nature Conservancy Massachusetts Chapter.

MassAudubon's Sarah Slack, Director of the Oak Knoll Sanctuary in Attleboro, offered a hands-on investigations table for children. They sampled water from the pond's edge and investigated the plants and critters that they found. A table-top watershed model was also a big hit.

Senator Pacheco (D - First Plymouth and Bristol Districts) gave lunch time remarks in support of the watershed study, and we offered a free barbecue lunch, using donations from local vendors.

Many thanks to:

You can download the Watershed Day announcement here (379.9 KB) and an agenda of the day's events here (48 KB).

June 13, 2007

June Public Meeting

Bridgewater State College hosted the first public meeting to introduce the project on Wednesday, June 13 at the Moakley Center .  The consultant team, led by Horsley Witten Group, presented an overview of the project, preliminary findings and a discussion of future possible scenarios to manage the Taunton River Watershed.  The topics of wetlands, water supply, wastewater, stormwater and smart growth were discussed.