1 GUILFORD SHELLFISH COMMISSION MINUTES March 12, 2014 7:30 P.M. Town Hall, second floor, Selectmen's Meeting Room Commissioners: Absent: Wardens: Commercial: Guests: Chair TR Brysh, Vice Chair Stephen Goldschmidt, Allyn Brown, Eric Mull, Robert Gould George Beauvais, Anthony DeLucia Wayne Vetre None John Hall, potential GSC member At 7:30 pm Chair TR Brysh called to order the regular meeting. 1. Public Forum There were no comments. 2. Minutes of February 12, 2014 Upon review, Vote: Stephen Goldschmidt moved to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Allyn Brown. Carried - Brown, Goldschmidt, Mull, Brysh Abstained due to absence - Bob Gould 3. Commercial Activity and License - Stephen Goldschmidt - he had emailed his monthly report. - no commercial payments have been received this month. - there was no activity for new commercial grounds. - the database is up to date. 4. Bills and Correspondence Correspondence Chair Brysh advised : - he had forwarded an email from the Selectmen's Office regarding the flyer for the Guilford 375th Anniversary Crystal Gala on March 29, 2014, relocated from the Guilford Yacht Club to the Pine Orchard Country Club in Branford. The Guilford Yacht Club had unexpectedly lost their catering service. The 375th Committee decided to find another venue with catering. - on March 10, 2014 Chair Brysh had been served a subpoena for the Nicholas Crismale case and has been in contact with the Prosecutor in that case. Stephen Goldschmidt had emailed State Senator Ed Meyer advising him to include in new legislation
that the Town of Guilford and State of CT, Bureau of Aquaculture (BoA), have jurisdiction over the use of shellfish grounds and waters. -GSC received a DEEP form requesting review of an area of the East River to the Neck River, in regards to their fall 2014 plan to dredge the channel at the Guilford Marina. The two commercial fisheries with licensed grounds in that area, Dolan Brothers Shellfish and Bear Neck Shellfish, had sent letters to GSC advising that there would be no impact to their operations. Chair Brysh will include these letters and return this form advising the DEEP. - Ally Brown advised that there will be an April 9, 2014 seminar by a Southern CT State Univ. professor regarding Long Island Sound, held at The Whitney Center in Hamden. Bills Eric Mull reported that there was some confusion with bills received from Waste Tech. Allyn Brown will contact the company to clarify. Waste Tech - trash removal $ 209.00 Warden Wayne Vetre $ 80.00 Warden Bob Kazden $ 200.00 Recording Secretary Judy Anderson Castellano $ 102.00 Stephen Goldschmidt - sampling mileage $ 44.55 Total : $ 635.55 Vote : Stephen Goldschmidt moved to approve paying the bills, seconded by Allyn Brown. Carried - Unanimously 5. Wardens' Report Warden Wayne Vetre reported that due to winter weather conditions there was very little shellfishing activity, though he had encountered people after dark in some areas especially at Chaffinch Island. Wayne will attach the Vibrio shellfish disease information to new recreational licenses when distributing to the public. 6. Subcommittees A. Recreation - Stephen Goldschmidt /Bob Gould Stephen Goldschmidt reported that he had emailed members the Recreational Report, but had not received any new database input from Laurie Kelly since the January meeting. Bob Gould reported on February annual recreational license sales : 24 Residents, 10 Seniors, 15 nonresident. B. Water Sampling / Stephen Goldschmidt / George Beauvais - sampling was done February 23 with good lab results. - West River had a high bacteria count. - Stephen had met with Guilford Health Director Dennis Johnson and BoA Dave Lamoreux
and taught them how to use the Davis weather station. Dave will now be able to obtain live rainfall statistics via computer. C. Boat - George Beauvais Chair Brysh advised that he had contacted East River Manina to schedule the boat launch for April. D. Stocking Eric Mull / TR Brysh / Bob Gould / George Beauvais / Allyn Brown Discussion was held on whether or not to stock oysters at Great Harbor this year, concerns that the budget may be stressed to stock both clams and oysters as a resource. It was decided to stock oysters in Great Harbor with further discussion at the April meeting. E. Finance - Eric Mull/ Bob Gould Eric Mull submitted the Finance Dept. February Operating Statement reviewing the figures to stock shellfish. Discussion focused on : - Shell Beach and Great Harbor where round clams should be stocked before the summer season. - Chair Brysh wants to stay within the $30,000 budget for this line item, as GSC has some decreasing revenue this year. - Stephen Goldschmidt reviewed stocking when waters are cold to allow clams to dig into the bottom. F. Special Projects Eric Mull / Allyn Brown Allyn Brown advised that he will contact the Boy Scout Troops to plan Beach Clean Up days. G. Signs - TR Brysh / Allyn Brown Allyn Brown reported that he had re-installed a very heavy fallen sign. Chair Brysh had hauled a sign back to its' origin. Discussion concerned ways to safely and permanently install signs as soil erodes each year, especially after destruction from coastal storms. The majority of signs are still in place. H. Website- TR Brysh 7. Updates Chair Brysh advised that he continues to update the GSC webpage with Town webmaster Traci Brinkman. A. Land Acquisition Commission (LAC) Liaison - he is working on a map with the nonprofit Guilford Land Conservation Trust (GLCT) reviewing properties "which may be of interest at some time for the purpose of preserving Open Space." - the Town has submitted a grant application for a project that would use dredging spoils,
working with the DEEP and Army Corps of Engineers to restore eight acres of marshland along the West River, near Chittenden Park, reconstructing a retaining groin along the channel to hold spoils from entering the river again. - Commercial Lot 35 and Chaffinch Island Recreational Shellfish areas are the locations where the Town wants to dump the spoils. GSC is also concerned that there would be an impact on the dilution calculation zone, that could push the open water area into the Chaffinch recreational area, changing the water flow. The dilution calculation is unknown until after the completed project. Sampling results often have higher than satisfactory bacteria levels at the mouth of the West River sampling station. The impact of this restoration project, resulting water flow out of the West River, and impact on Chaffinch and Grass Islands, is unknown. These "potential undesirable impacts are likely irreversible and must be carefully studied before the project can be approved." Stephen Goldschmidt will meet with Kevin Magee this week to express GSC concerns, review the Town grant application and the permitting for this project. This restoration would harden the shoreline to major storms. There has been rapid erosion over the last three years. The Guilford Yacht Club will benefit, as their annual dredging spoils would be used for this project providing them savings to their cost. B. Sea Grant Advisory Board (SGAB) Stephen Goldschmidt, SGAB liaison for GSC and the representative for all CT Shellfish Commissions, on the advisory board for CT Shellfish Initiative (CSI), formerly the Shellfish Management Plan, reported : - he had emailed his February 24, 2014, presentation on the role of Shellfish Commissions, the history of CT shellfishing, the process and reason for sampling, and statewide statistics on permits. He had presented at the meeting Sea Grant had organized to kick-off the CSI, including CT legislators and others. "The purpose of the initiative is to determine whether issues, concerns, or recommendations can be addressed through funding" and legislation relating to the shellfishing industry. - he noted that there is evidence that Native cultures had been shellfishing at least 15,000 years ago and Native Americans about 4,000 years ago. - Many were interested in the GSC work and sampling process with the BoA. Stephen was asked by the BoA to provide a presentation "on the business case for how shellfish commissions can be viable" at the January 2015 conference for shellfish commissioners. C. Harbor Management Commission (HMC) 8. Old Business Chair Brysh reported : - Alison Varian had sent an email advising that the GSC concern of a large pole, once used as a mooring, remains in the water. The owner has had a mooring permit for three years. - Allyn Brown wants to see this pole off the Trolley Road ramp removed for safety and environmental concerns. - The shellfisher who owns an 80 foot sailboat has rescinded his mooring application due to impact on shellfishing in the area and the limited amount of time the boat will be moored. GSC had sent a letter to HMC expressing concern regarding the 1,000 feet from commercial lots, size and nine foot draft of this boat and use of the large head. It would have been located south of Harrison Cove and Little Harbor.
A. Fire Rescue Boat Update 9. New Business Chair Brysh reported that a GSC letter had been sent to the Guilford Fire Commissioner regarding the GSC contribution of $10,000 toward the purchase of a new Fire Rescue Boat. A. Fiscal Year 2014-2015 Budget During review of the GSC 2014-2015 budget : - Chair Brysh will look into increasing the Stocking line item, if allocations can be made from other line items. - At some point, $10,000 will be donated for the new Fire Rescue Boat. B. Chittenden Park / West River Restoration Project - he had met with Town Environmental Planner Kevin Magee regarding this project's impact on commercial and recreational shellfishing grounds. - he had a discussion with Dave Lamoreux, BoA, regarding the impact of the restoration project and the potential impact on the dilution zone and classification of Chaffinch Island shellfishing area. Chair Brysh reported that he and Stephen will meet with John Henningson, Chair of the Hazard Mitigation Commission, regarding water flow issues resulting from the project. Stephen advised that GSC will have input when the project preliminary studies begin. C. Consider Recreational License Fee Change for Town Employees 10. Adjournment Chair Brysh advised that an email had been received requesting that GSC consider reducing the recreational license fee for half the Town employees who happen to be nonresidents. The current annual fee is $75. During discussion it was noted that resident employees pay annual property taxes in addition to the annual shellfishing fee, that the vendors' would have increased administrative time. It was decided to retain the present fee schedule without revision. Vote: At 8:24 pm, Bob Gould moved to adjourn, seconded by Stephen Goldschmidt. Carried Unanimously Respectfully submitted, Judith Anderson Castellano Recording Secretary