VILLAGE DISTRICT OF EIDELWEISS
JULY 2019 NEWSLETTER
In This Issue:
Commissioner News
Congratulations to Kelly Robitaille
Dam Engineers Report
New Hire Donna MacKinnon
Grader Repair Status
Reinach Tank Status
Water Bills
Water Testing
Job Posting
Upcoming Meetings
New Police Chief
Don’t Feed the Ducks Reminder
Loon News
Committee News
Volunteer Update
EPOA Summer BBQ
COMMISSIONER NEWS
Congratulations go out to our DPW Foreman Kelly Robitaille who was recently awarded and named a Senior Road Scholar through the UNH T2 Roads program. Kelly took the initiative to undertake this program and completed 75 hours of training to receive this achievement. We thank Kelly for his ongoing commitment to our community.
The Dam Engineer with DES has completed a hydrologic study of our dam and it has been posted on the district website (Click Here). The dam was rated as being in fair condition with the recommendation that the hazard classification be changed from ‘low’ to ‘significant’. Simply stated, this means that should the dam be breached for any reason, the amount of damage would be more significant than previously classified. It does not mean that the dam is in any danger of breaching.
The Commissioners have hired Donna MacKinnnon as a part-time employee working with Nancy Cole, our district administrator. She will become familiar with the daily functions of the office and provide a much-needed backup for this key position.
Unfortunately, the Road Grader equipment is still out of service. It was expected to be back in working order by mid July but while in for repairs, additional repairs and work were identified. We hope to have it back on our roads by early August. In the meantime, the DPW continues to utilize other equipment for road repairs and maintenance.
Reinach tank project update. The subsurface exploration for the proposed tank construction has been completed. The completed tank design and specifications are due in August.
Outstanding water bills as of August 1st will be subject to $100 late fee and $10/month until paid. Please contact the office to make payment arrangements. office@vdoe-nh.org or call 603-367-9022
Job Posting for 2 part-time highway workers for snow removal with CDL-B license. Hourly rate $20-$25 commensurate with experience. Contact the office for application at office@vdoe-nh.org or call at 603-367-9022
WATER TESTING
There has been a lot of discussion about pond water testing at recent meetings. To clarify, there are 2 types of testing that have been historically conducted:
1-Monthly VLAP (Volunteer Lake Assessment Program) Testing (through NH DES) – this is done 3 times each summer (Jun/Jul/Aug) with 16 samples taken at pre-identified locations and depths across -Middle & Big Pea Porridge Ponds. Samples are collected by EPOA volunteers and delivered to a lab in Concord and paid for by the VDOE. --The testing provides a comprehensive review of pond health including e-coli. More information and historical reports can be accessed through the NH DES website (Click Here). The next scheduled testing is on August 18th at 1:00pm beginning at Geneva Beach. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help with sample collection should contact John Rocharz (jrocharz@bridgew.edu or 508-317-6730).
2-Weekly Beach Water Testing – the program was initiated and funded by the EPOA until 2016 at which time a warrant article funding it for 1 year was approved by the voters at the annual meeting. In 2017 it became funded via the VDOE Parks & Recreation line item in the operating budget that is funded by taxes. The cost for testing is $35 per beach per test ($175 weekly for 5 beaches) for 14 weeks (Memorial Day to Labor Day) totaling $2,450 plus the costs to pay someone to collect samples and drive to lab in North Conway. The person hired to clean the beach outhouses had been collecting the samples each Monday. Results are received on Wednesday. Re-testing can’t be done until the following week. Therefore, any positive results require that the beach be posted with a warning through the weekend. This test only identifies e-coli bacteria that many believe is due primarily to ducks that poop near the beach. Historically there have been a few positive tests. In 2018, one test result was positive at Geneva Beach. All re-tests have shown that the bacteria are gone by the following week. Based partially on a unanimous vote by the Environmental Committee, the Board of Commissioners decided this year to forgo this weekly testing given the time lag between samples taken and results along with the historical negative re-test results and the high cost. The BOC recommends that the EPOA resume funding this program if its members want to continue with weekly beach testing. The Town of Madison funds testing of two beaches on Silver Lake through taxes. The Silver Lake Association of Madison (SLAM) coordinates and funds similar testing at additional sites that is not funded by Madison taxes.
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Check the VDOE website for all meetings & locations.
Wed Aug 7th, 7:00 pm at the Town Hall Meeting room. The Town of Madison Planning Board will hold a Public Hearing to review plans for a new police tower (used for the 911 call repeater system) at the summit of Oak Ridge Road. The plan is to replace the current 60-foot tower with a 120-foot tower. The tower will not have a blinking light on top.
NEW MADISON POLICE CHIEF
It was recently announced that Madison Police Chief Ted Colby has resigned effective 8/1 for health reasons. Part-time Officer Bob King has been appointed as the new Chief. Bob has also served as a Lieutenant with the Ossipee Police and as Chairman of the Madison Board of Selectman, a position that he has just resigned from as he becomes Chief. We thank Chief Colby for his service to Madison and Eidelweiss and congratulate Chief King on his promotion.
MADISON OLD HOME WEEK
August 3rd – 11th, a fun filled week of family activities, food and friendly competition. For complete schedule (Click Here)
DON’T FEED THE DUCKS
Just a friendly reminder to not feed the ducks in our ponds. Doing so encourages them to linger at the beaches, which increases the opportunity for water contamination.
LOON NEWS
After the Loon couple on Little/Middle Pea Pond lost their chick in early July, they did not nest again. The Loon Preservation Committee (LPC) did not expect they would as they successfully hatched a chick. However, they have started to socialize with loons on neighboring ponds (probably Big Pea) with one of our loons often disappearing after taking off in the morning and returning in the evening hours. And, recently on a Saturday morning, a neighboring pair of loons were spotted having breakfast with our loons on Middle Pea. You can read more about this behavior on an 8/9/18 blog post written by the LPC on the Squam Lake Association website under “What Are Those Crazy Loons Doing?” (Click Here)
VOLUNTEER
UPDATE
We need
just 2 more volunteers to finish off the weekend beach raking through Labor
Day. If you can help, please send an email
to Mike Dolan (dolrn@yahoo.com).
Jay Buckley is coordinating two additional projects for August – specific dates TBD.
1-Reconstruction of the bulletin boards at the Huttwil parking area.
2-Line stripe painting of the basketball court at Eidelweiss Beach.
Anyone who would like to volunteer to work with Jay on these projects should email him directly at jaybuckley@verizon.net
EPOA PIGROAST
August
17th –5:00pm at the scenic overlook at the top of Oak Ridge Rd. Tickets
can be purchased on August 10th at the Huttwil mailboxes 11am-1pm or
call Bev at 603-367-8634. Tickets are $14 for EPOA members and $18 for
non-members and guests. FREE for children (hamburgers and hotdogs provided)