LYNNFIELD — A new treatment proposal is in the works for Pillings Pond.
The Conservation Commission voted unanimously at a recent public hearing to issue an order of conditions for pond management activities to control nuisance vegetation and algae. The action was prompted after Town Administrator Rob Dolan filed a request on behalf of the town for a new notice of intent.
Commission member Kirk Mansfield said the pond was supposed to have been treated in May by contractor Solitude Lake Management, but Solitude failed to do so and also ignored several attempts by the commission to contact them.
“Solitude then said they would do a double treatment, but that didn’t happen either,” Mansfield said. “It’s been very frustrating to say the least that they haven’t responded to us.”
Commission Director of Planning and Conservation Emilie Cademartori said the current order of conditions is outdated.
“They haven’t done a great job collecting the information we are asking for,” she said. “They tell us they will, but they don’t. We think with a better-thought-out permit, a tighter permit, they will have to do those things, whether it’s Solitude or another contractor. Plus, the current order is out of date. It is using chemicals that are no longer the chemicals of choice. The project is intended to collect and take into account more data about the pond so we treat it as necessary.”
Commission Chairman Paul Martindale, in his final meeting as a member of the commission (his letter of resignation was accepted by the Board of Selectmen Wednesday), agreed.
“Despite informing them what we wanted, their proposal didn’t include any of the additional items we asked for,” said Martindale. “They have not responded, so we basically have no contract in place or contractor. We have paid them a lot of money for years and it’s frustrating they are not responding.”
Cademartori said that one of things that needs to be implemented in any new treatment proposal is mapping.
“Our current practice does not map the presence of invasive plants to track the presence of active plants and we also have no follow-up maps (after treatment) showing (areas) that are still problematic,” she said. “We will be creating more information both prior and post-treatment to ensure the treatments are both necessary and effective.”
Martindale said the commission’s consultant, Bob Hartzell of CEI, wants to bring back consideration of physical cutting as opposed to using the chemical-only approach currently in place. He is putting together the whole project.
“Chemicals, if overused, may end up killing water plants we want to keep and also, if done too much, tip the eco-cycle in favor of algae,” Martindale said. “The result is that a mix of herbicides and removal of invasive plants allows us to take out only the plants we don’t want, as opposed to also taking out the ones we want to keep.”
Martindale said having Hartzell on board is a “great advantage,” with Cademartori adding, “Bob gives us a set of eyes other than the contractor and we should have better results.”
After the meeting, Mansfield posted an update on Facebook.
“The good news is that as of today, ConCom is speaking with another company and diligently working to get the pond treated,” he wrote..
Mansfield said the pond is still being monitored for algae and any detrimental weeds and that the Board of Health will be taking more water samples the next day and he will be posting the results as soon as he receives them.
In a July 24 post, Mansfield assured the public that the commission’s “Sub Committee and Conservation Commission are diligently working on getting this pond treated (and that) Pillings Pond is very important to us.”
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
