Minutes of September 7, 2000

[Approved 9/21/00]

Present: Bob Boisselle, Bill Dailey, Paul Locke, Nancy Naslas, Bruce Rider, David Valade

Voted to accept the minutes of 8/3/00 as amended.

Invoices

• New signs at Towners Pond, Swains Pond, Knox Trail, Flagg Acres Trail, and Rocky View Trail, etc. have been completed and installed. The total installation cost for all signs and installation with concrete base comes to a total of $5,360.

• Secretarial services for the month of for July $150 and the month of August $65.

• $20.77 for a book Bob purchased and $14.42 for stationary material $14.42.

Voted: to pay the total of the above invoices for approximately $5,610.19.

Mt. Hood Haul Road

Pictures were brought in that show some sort of liner put down at Mt. Hood, and also our first resource area turned orange at this point. Bob will deliver these pictures to Joe Lynch to find out what is going on and why there is a need for a liner.

Correspondence:

• Dept. of Environmental Protection, and Revised Wetland Protection Act forms of which we have copies.

• Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary offers an Autumn 2000 Wetland Workshops: September 23 - Hydric Soils Workshop; October 11, Vernal Pool Certification Workshop.

• A letter from the Bob Durand of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs is as follows:

  "As Massachusetts Secretary of Environmental Affairs, one of my top priorities is help citizens reconnect with the natural world and a principle component goal is to provide useful tools for exploring the environment to the citizens of Massachusetts. I am pleased to be able to provide you with a copy of a field guide to the animals of the vernal pool, produced as a cooperative project of the natural heritage endangered species program of the Division of Fishery Wildlife and the Vernal Pool Association of the Reading Memorial High School."

Bob: This is a Vernal Pool Association of Reading Memorial High School, a group of students led by a Science teacher, which is doing a great deal of work in vernal pools. They produce sweat shirts, tee shirts, posters and books. I have seen them at other outside conferences, especially at one in Providence on vernal pools, everyone was flocking to their table to purchase their items.

• From: The City of Melrose, Park Department, from Richard Amirault:

  "The Park Dept. wishes to thank the Conservation Commission for their favorable vote on the Crystal Street Request for Determination. This is a magnificent project that will add character and beauty to the Ell Pond area. The work is planned for September to be performed with the conditions voted by the commissions as stated herein below:

  1. Remove old hay bales and silt fence along the perimeter of Ell Pond.

  2. Reinstall hay bales and silt fence along the perimeter of Ell Pond for the duration of other work.

  3. Mechanical removal of invasive plant species, as identified per plans, with no introduction or use of chemical herbicides.

  4. No grass to be planted down grade of the 46' elevation.

  5. All work to be performed and completed as per approved plans dated August 1, 2000."

Paul: In addition to those requirements, the minutes also show requirement for pond-friendly fertilizers, and the requirement was not just to prevent to keep the grass going beyond the 46-ft. elevation, but to actively re-establish and revegetate the native plant species.

• Correspondence from: Jennifer Soper, Regional Planner of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, Commonwealth of MA:

  "Thank you for submitting the last remaining documents to complete Melrose's Open Space and Recreation Plan. I am pleased to write that the plan is approved. This final approval will allow Melrose to participate in DCS grand rounds through January, 2000. Congratulations on a job well done. Please call (617)626-1015 if you have any questions or concerns about the plan."

Bob: In the past we talked about having some extension service talk about inventory of plants along the trails that we have. Right now I have contacted the Massachusetts Audubon Society and asked them to draw up an estimate and Jeffrey Collins has responded as follows:

"Thank you for contacting the Ecological Extension Services of Mass Audubon Society with the step inventory and trails planning in Melrose. Following their proposal for completing an ecological inventory, the trail improvement plan and interpretation plan and interpretative brochures for the Flagg Acres and Knox Memorial Trail, the project would likely involve two days in the field and that is an inventory and three days working on the plan with additional two days designing a brochure. The Ecological Inventory will report on the deadlock, superficial geology, as well as the soils of the area. We will catalog the common plant species present and map of distribution. We will lift animal species encountered and those that are likely to make use of the area for nesting, feeding or migration. We will take particular attention to the expense of invasive exotic plant species, which were noticed in the preliminary visit and common on methods for control. The trail improvement plan will analyze a current trail network and offer recommendations on surfacing location and maintenance. The Mass Audubon designs buildings and maintains miles of trails on our own sanctuaries and we will offer information directly from our own experience. We will calculate the carrying capacity of the trail system, highlight viewpoints for enhancement, comment on signage, parking and trail access issues. An interpretative brochure will include information on natural history of the area, taking advantage obvious features such as a large rock, outcrop near the head of Knox Memorial Trail, to teach visitors about the interplay of rock, soil, water and wildlife that make up local ecosystems. Drawings of the most common plants would enable visitors to get to know the area better and maps will help them navigate the trails. The final product will be a report on a natural history inventory and trails recommendation and two photocopy ready brochure designs, one in color and one in black and white. Timing the field will limit the number of plants and animals that we are to identify on the site, for instance a breeding bird census is best conducted in May or June. We will be able to complete a report by the end of September 2000, but it will be necessary to exclude some plants and animals that may be encountered in other seasons. I look forward to your response. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions."

Bob: For the budget for the Ecological Inventory, trail improvements and interpretative brochure design for the Flagg Acres and North Memorial Trail, we are looking at 16 hours for the inventories @ $50 an hour for $800; the plan, 30 hours @$50 for $1500; brochure design 20 hours @ $50 an hour for $1,000; expenses of $100 for a total of $3400.00.

Bob: We are scheduled for what we have now. We have $8,549 for the Knox Trail and Flagg Acres Area. That was part of the state grant two years ago, still not having spent all of that money. The signs were moved into that budget item. Part of that agreement was participation of the area in doing something in outreach program. That extra $3,000 could probably be used in this particular portion of it and plus we have maintenance and professional services accounts which are still open to use.

Nancy: Should we consider going ahead with the work now and amend it in May or June when they can go and re-survey, or wait until May or June, or not do it at all?

Bob: They could actually conclude a report by the end of September this year, but it would be necessary to exclude some plants and animals that may be encountered in other seasons.

Paul: If they do May and June, are they going to be missing anything that they would be finding now?

Bill: And would their pricing change in another 6 or 7 months.

Dave: Why don't we ask them, the experts, when is the best time to do it?

Nancy: We could have one field survey now and then one field survey in the spring, and then have a report due the end of June to keep it in the fiscal year.

Bob: We will make it clear that the bill has to be in hand by June 30.

Voted: To approve expending up to $4200, assuming they have two days in the fall and two days in the spring for the survey.

Bob: The last item on the agenda tonight is basically what you have in front of you. I have been attending conferences for the past couple of months and it just so happens that "Canadian Geese" show up as some of these topics. I went to a couple of lectures and what you see is what came out of it. They don't recommend shooting them or poisoning them, sending dogs after them could cause some problems with Bird Associations in some communities, but it is recommended in other parts of cities and towns in MA or other parts of the country using certain species of dogs that just chase the geese off the court and they just leave. They have also used a spray repellent for which you need basically a licensed pesticide applicator to apply, but you don't need a permit to apply it. It is called Rejex-it. But there is a non-lethal strategy, basically it is called fencing near the water line which is basically what we are trying to do with the high shrubbery at the area, but there are two or three gaps in that. You can see the birds are coming through that area. There is also flagging in which you are putting out a 2 x 3 flag, almost like a triangle, putting about ½ dozen of these out in their area. The geese find it bothersome and they can't take off in flight, but they do not guarantee the flags will be standing overnight. The next method is called roping at the water line. Instead of putting up a fence, you put within 2 ft. of the water line a cord just about 2 ft. above ground and the birds don't like to go down under these ropes. They don't like anything touching their neck, so it sort of moves them to one side or to a different area.

Nancy: Is the area that you are most referring to right by the gazebo at Ell Pond?

Bob: That is correct. A different option is if you really want to do something about those geese. This showed up in one of the newspapers in Ohio, and what they have done there is two models of Canadian Geese which looks dead. They are either floating on the water or put on the grass. These dead birds "examples" cause the geese not to come into the area when they find the particular birds. They are almost a rubber plastic type material so you can either float them or put them on the grass. I don't recommend putting them on the grass, but we can get the Fire Dept. to let us have our boat or get someone who has a paddle boat three or four houses from the area to go out and put these two or three geese in the water, anchor them and see how that works. I am going to pass this on to the Ell Pond Association and see what they want to do on it. They should be the ones that should initiate it, I have already talked to the Engineering Dept. about putting up some sort of fence.

Nancy: Couldn't we put up a plastic fence that looks like a chain link fence, but it is a small spider mesh plastic green in amongst the weeds.

Bob: That is what I am going with, for the Engineering Dept. to put it up. My only concern is that will it force the geese to move downstream to the private property which is adjacent to the gazebo? However, it is really getting bad there. I drove by today and there must have been at least 30 of them on the bank and there were spots everywhere. You could see it from the roadway/sidewalk.

Nancy: At the same time if we do put in the geese floating and any fencing, I think a little information here would be important, just a temporary sign, to let people know what we are trying to do.

Bob: I would like to hold off on the decoys until the spring and at least try the fencing and see how that works. We have a "don't feed the geese" sign there already - 2 ft. wide and 2 ft. high, but if you go by there you will see children and mothers feeding them bread. I will pass this item on to the Melrose Ell Pond Committee.

Public Comment

Terry Waugh was in attendance and already expressed her view on the liners that are at Mt. Hood at the present time.

Nancy: Are we passing out our trail maps at the Victorian Fair?

Bob: I believe we still have some left over to give to realtors to pass out.

Bob: Paul is working with the city to update the web site after some of our pictures were obliterated, and also ask them to enter our approved minutes in the year 2000.

Bob: There is so much weed and the water lily is so heavy in the first pond at Mr. Hood, please take a look at it.

Terry Waugh, 357 Porter St: On the trail going up to the 2^nd pond, has it been drained?

Bob: Possibly, they are using the 3^rd pond as a reservoir for their water, so they filled the 3^rd pond from their well, then they send it out to the appropriate sprinkling system on the fairway.

Terry: It is very, very low.

David: Before the well, the 3^rd pond was about as dry as you could get it.

Bob: Usually what they will do at this time of the year is to start draining down the third pond for the rains and snow for the coming year.

Voted: to adjourn at 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy Pritchard
Conservation Secretary