Waterford/East Lyme Shellfish Commission - Minutes - 09/17/2020

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Waterford-East Lyme Shellfish Commission
Meeting Minutes
Thursday, Sep 17, 2020
Virtual meeting held via Zoom, 7:30 pm
Members presént: Chair Peter Harris, J. Patrick Kelly, Eric Kanter, Tom Bowlen, Margia
Benvenuti, Larry Tytla, Paul Spakowski, and Fred Wise
Members absent: none
Guests: Tim Londregan
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm and a quorum established.
oor
on
Review and approval of previous meeting minutes:
20 Aug 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes - Approved following a motion by Ms.
Benvenuti, seconded by Mr. Bowlen, vote 8-0.
Review and approval of treasurer's report
Treasurer's report given by Mr. Kelly. Report approval tabled till next meeting on a
motion by Ms. Benvenuti, seconded by Mr. Kanter, vote 8-0.
Chief Warden's Comments : Mr. Harris gave the Warden’s report forwarded to him by Chief
Warden Chmiel.
Old business:
Discussion and potential action on purchase of shellfish stock from Commercial
Aquaculture suppliers: Mr. Wise reported back to the Commission on pricing, size, and
quantity following additional discussions with multiple commercial shellfish growers.
Motion made by Ms. Benvenuti, seconded by Mr. Kelly to purchase $1500 worth of
Topneck clams ($0.23 each) from Dolan Bros with an additional $75 delivery charge
and $2000 worth of 2” oysters (approx. 10,000 count) from Niantic Bay Shellfish Farm.
Motion approved 8-0.
New Business
a) Discussion and potential action on funding of Save the River/Save the Hills (STR-
STH) pump out boat. After much discussion, the commission thought the best course
of action would be for STR-STH to meet with each Town's First Selectmen/BoS to
request that funding be restored for the pump-out boat directly from each town.
WELSCO supports the pump-out boat but feels WELSCO is being asked to pay for
this program disproportionately compared to everyone on the Niantic River that
benefits from the pump-out boat. WELSCO would like to work with both towns and
the other stakeholders to find a viable solution. No motion was made regarding this
item.
During this discussion, Chair Harris recognized Tim Londregan of Marker 7 Marina to
speak, Mr. Londregan discussed the importance of the pump-out boat and the risk of
losing this service.
b) Discussion and potential action on 2020-2021 scallop season. Few scallops are being
collected inadvertently by clammers. Concerns related to the cost to announce a
potential season and the lack of scallops were prominent. No action was taken at this
meeting. Decision can be made at the Oct or Nov meeting.

c) Discussion and potential comments to be supplied to the East Lyme Planning Dept.
regarding their 2020 Plan of Conservation and Development for the Town of East
Lyme. WELSCO has been asked to submit comments prior to the Nov 10, 2020 public
hearing. Some initial ideas were discussed but not finalized.
7) Ex-Officio comments : no comments, Ex-Officio absent
8) . Correspondence
Correspondence from DEEP was received by Mr. Harris and forwarded to the commission
related to a dock application that was discussed by WELSCO at a previous meeting. No
action was needed for this. Also forwarded to the commission by Mr. Harris were e-mails from
DA/BA and Save the River Save the Hills related to the pump-out boat agenda item. Also
forwarded to the commission by Mr. Harris from the East Lyme Planning Dept was the 2020
PoCD draft discussed in New Business agenda item 3.
9) Public Comment —No public comment.
10) Meeting adjourned at 9:05 pm on a motion by Mr. Spakowski, seconded by Mr. Tytla, motion
passed 8-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Harris