Waterford/East Lyme Shellfish Commission - Minutes - 02/20/2020

Waterford-East Lyme Shellfish Commission         
 
 
              
                      Meeting Minutes 
        
 
 
                Thursday, February 20, 2020 
       
 
                      Waterford Town Hall, 7:30 pm  
 
 
Members present:  Chair Peter Harris, J. Patrick Kelly, Paul Spakowski, Tom Bowlen, Larry 
Tytla, Elizabeth Gelinas, and Marcia Benvenuti 
Members absent:  Eric Kanter 
Guests: Ex-Officio D. Cunningham 
 
  
1) The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm and a quorum established.   
 
2)  Approval of Minutes from previous meetings: 
The minutes of the Jan 16, 2020 Regular meeting were reviewed and approved on a 
motion by Mr. Spakowski, seconded by Mr. Tytla, vote : 7-0 
 
3) The Treasurer’s report for January 2020 was approved on a motion by Mr.  Spakowski, 
seconded by Mr. Tytla, vote : 7-0 
 
4)   The Warden’s report was delivered by Chair Harris.  Mr. Harris discussed a potential issue 
with the number of boats in the Niantic River and this is being reviewed by the Bureau of 
Aquaculture.  This review is in its preliminary stages but this may impact the shellfish beds 
open/closed status in the summer.  Mr. Harris forwarded and e-mail to both the EL and WTFD 
Harbor Management Commission chairs regarding this issue.  Discussion ensued. 
  
5)  Old Business-  
a)  Work by Chief Chmiel to hire an additional shellfish warden continues. 
 
b)  Chair Harris announced he will remain on the commission but still intends to step down as 
Chair.  A decision naming the new chair will be made at the March meeting. 
 
c)  A secretary has not been identified.  Discussion ensued on how to effectively recruit a 
secretary given this problem exists for other town commissions.  A possible solution 
discussed was having a secretary from another board or commission also perform 
WELSCO secretary duties.  The hiring of a bookkeeper was also discussed with several 
possibilities discussed.  Also, Mr. Kelly stated that Waterford will no longer provide printing 
services to WELSCO.  Further clarification of this policy should be discussed with town 
officials. 
 
  
6) New Business- 
a)   Compensation increases for the Chief Warden and Warden were approved on a motion by 
Mr. Spakowski, seconded by Ms. Gelinas, vote 7-0.  Compensation for the secretary was 
tabled pending hiring a secretary or discussions with town officials regarding job sharing 
possibilities (5c above).  
   
b)  Chair Harris discussed funding of a SeaGrant Responsible Lawn Care publication that 
WELSCO has funded previously.  Cost is $1000 for The New London Day ad and will be 
divided equally by Waterford Shellfish, East Lyme Harbor Management/Shellfish, and the 
Niantic River Watershed Committee.  Motion was made to approve $250 for this by Mr. 
Spakowski, seconded by Mr. Tytla, vote 7-0. 
 
c)  Ms. Benvenuti submitted a letter for the record which is included below. 
 

7) Ex-Officio comments-  
Updated the commission on town matters including the progress being made on the Public 
Safety building renovations. 
 
8) Correspondence -  
a) An e-mail was rec’d from the Waterford Town Attny clarifying that liability insurance 
coverage does not include WELSCO employees. 
b) Chair Harris shared an e-mail between himself and Dr. Jamie Vaudrey (UCONN Avery 
Point) regarding eelgrass restoration feasibility. 
 
 
9) Public Input–   
  
a) Fred Wise, 138 Niantic River Rd, Waterford requested a copy of the eelgrass e-mail and a 
Bureau of Aquaculture presentation related to the National Shellfish Sanitation Program. 
 
10)  The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 pm on a motion by Mr. Spakowski, seconded by Mr. 
Tytla. 
   
Respectfully submitted,  
  
 
Peter Harris