5584-R1_NewGloucester_2017AnnualReport_Web

ANNUAL REPORT Environmental Resources Committee

The Committee meets at the New Gloucester Public Library on the second Wednesday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. We welcome new members. The meeting time could be changed to evening hours if preferred. The Committee works with other committees and departments pursuant to tasks, including Public Works, Planning Office, Code Enforcement, Recreation Committee and others. Activities of the past year included: • Displays at the library: ◦ Firewood/safe stove installation/alternative wood products ◦ Ticks and tick-borne diseases • Workshops: Sponsored a public meeting in March at the Meeting House on solar energy and heat pumps, given by Revision Energy • Fairgrounds: ◦ Pollinators Garden: plant tags were added as well as an information box with handouts. Additional shrubs were added to either side of the garden. Ongoing maintenance of the garden is provided by committee members and other volunteers. ◦ Planning and layout for a nature trail. ◦ Invasive shrubs were removed along the driveway, with the help of an energetic student team from Gray-New Gloucester High School. The Public Works department then graded and seeded the area. ◦ A design for the next phase of planting was submitted to the planning office. • Stevens Pond and Brook: Stevens Pond has long been a Youth Only fishing site, and is stocked yearly by Maine IF&W. Members are committed to continuing this use and helping to improve both areas. Committee members have met with town staff on an ongoing basis. • Sabbathday Lake: Amember of the committee regularly attends Sabbathday Lake Association meetings. Additionally the committee: ◦ Visited the area across from the old grange hall, following complaints about erosion of the beach area, problems with trash, and unsafe boat access. Findings were communicated to town staff, and Public Works stabilized the eroded area with riprap. ◦ Completed two site walks to a private property on the lake, where culvert outflow has excavated material along the slope between the road and the lake, delivering sediments to the lake. Much of a cove has been filled in over the years, impacting two property owners. Committee members attended a meeting onsite with staff from Cumberland County SWCD, and relayed information to the property owners and to town staff.

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