Conservation Land:
Trails were pruned and freed of poison ivy and catbriar vines. A giant boulder was cleared as future site for the bronze plaque honoring major donors to OPET’s conservation land fund.
Trunk River:
An Article was submitted by OPET for the 1999 Spring Town Warrant, asking the town for funds to draw up plans for the repair of the Trunk River jetties. The article passed. OPET’s Board met with Brian Howes, the originator of the weir plan, George Calise, Town Engineer, John Ramsey of Applied Coastal Engineering, and Paul Montague, Shellfish and Herring Constable, to discuss the design. It was decided that the DPW would submit the plans for permitting to the Conservation Commission and would sponsor an article at the Fall Town Meeting (Article 66) asking the town for funds for the repair cost. Getting a permit to eliminate the silt ledge in the Trunk River Lagoon and Trunk River is part of the repair project. It is this ledge and not the weir that currently controls pond level and saltwater inflow. Last-minute Newsflash: the article passed, thanks to OPET's Barry Norris taking the stand at Town Meeting!
Peterson Farm:
OPET is represented by Birgit Rose on the Peterson Farm Management Subcommittee which is charged by the Conservation Commission with developing a management plan for the 40 acre Farm, a large part of which lies in the Oyster Pond watershed. A conservation restriction will be placed on the Farm; agricultural activity (sheep) will be limited to existing fields; no pesticides will be allowed without permission by the Conservation Commission; no new buildings; no new roads, just passive recreation -- good news for our pond.
Grants:
The Community Foundation of Cape Cod awarded OPET a grant in support of continued pond studies from June 1999 to May 2000. A report on the studies of the preceding year, financed in part by OPET and in part by a grant from the Community foundation, was sent to all Cape towns, as mandated by that grant.
Affiliations:
OPET is a member of the Falmouth Associations Concerned with Estuaries and Coastal Ponds (F.A.C.E.S.). Board member Bob Livingstone is OPET’s representative there. OPET also is a member of the Massachussetts Congress of Lake and Pond Associations and joined the coalition Citizens United for the MMR (Massachusetts Military Reservation) Watershed and Wildlife Refuge. The coalition’s members back the proposal to designate the 15,000 northern acres of the Otis Military Reservation as a water protection area and wildlife refuge and to transfer the land from the Army National Guard to state environmental agencies.
Pond Studies:
Dissolved oxygen, temperature and salinity readings were taken at various pond locations throughout the year, fish traps were set and a plant survey conducted. Water samples were collected by Pond Watcher veterans John Dowling, Barry Norris, Julie Rankin and Marge Zinn; rookie samplers this year were Tanya and Martin White; Birgit Rose served as occasional substitute and also made frequent temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen measurements with OPET’s field instrument throughout the year. Samples for fecal coliform counts were taken by Stan Hart and Birgit Rose. High school student Eric Vince trapped fish, Dick Backus and Bob Livingstone collected and identified plants growing in the pond. For some results see Pond Samplings.
Educational Activities:
OPET’s Annual Meeting in July 1999 was well attended with standing room only. Dr. George Woodwell, director of the world-renowned Woods Hole Research Center, was guest speaker. His talk on A Building for the 21st Century: Architecture and Manners in a Full World was attended by many OPET members, by individuals from the town at large, and by a contingent of teachers in town (and even in house) for a summer course at SEA. The Falmouth Enterprise and the Upper Cape Codder reported on the meeting and the talk. The meeting also "netted" a high school student for a fish study: Eric Vince of Gainesville, FL, on summer vacation with his parents in their house on Ransom Rd, set minnow traps at various pond locations throughout the month of July. He identified the species caught, counted them and measured their body length. His parents helped, too, finding minnow literature and taking their turn at hauling traps. The liaison with SEA continues: SEA students use Oyster Pond as their field laboratory, and OPET Board member Stan Hart lectured to SEA students on Oyster Pond’s geological history.
Concern with Septic Systems:
OPET’s Board’s concern about nutrient input into the pond from septic systems was the reason for a special Board meeting at which Mike McGrath of Holmes & McGrath Engineering explained the denutrifying Ruck septic system to Board members. The Trustees of the Treetops Condominium Association had also been invited to that meeting because Treetops had to tackle several failed septic systems in the past year, and OPET’s Board hoped Treetops would consider the possibility of replacing the failed systems with denitrifying ones. None of the Trustees attended the meeting, but Treetops residents Fred Hilton and Robert Johnson were there and, of course, Barry Norris, Treetops’ representative on OPET’s Board.
Why not volunteer for some of OPET's activities? Become a water sampler, fish trapper, Newsletter writer, trail trimmer, contributor of ideas or information! We have the equipment, all you need is enthusiasm!
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