1. Call Meeting to Order:

Chairman Romond called the meeting to order at 6:35 p.m.

2. Roll Call:

Members Present: Bill Romond, Pat Kearney, Steve Kruger, Moe Germain, Betty Carvellas, Rene Peterson, Karen Bates
Members Absent: John Nichols, Don Sargent

Also present were 4 CHS seniors from Mr. Fiske's Senior Seminar class.

3. Approval of Minutes - September 25, 2002

Mr. Germain made a motion to approve the minutes of September 25, 2002. Mr. Kruger seconded the motion and it passed.

4. New Business:
     A) The town and Stone Environmental will be meeting to discuss the draft copy of the Strategic Water Quality Plan. The Water Quality Committee will not be represented at this meeting.
     B) Pat Kearney has learned that a ballot item will appear in March, which will fund a low interest revolving loan fund for Colchester landowners to use to upgrade their wastewater treatment systems.
     C) Bill Romond will submit a grant proposal in the hopes of funding a professional upgrade of Colchester's Water Quality website. The deadline for submission is 9/25/02.
     D) Bill Romond will also prepare a proposal to the LCBP for funding of future ribotyping analysis of E coli collected during summer water quality testing. Deadline is Nov. 1.
     E) Discussion of Summer Water Quality Report, presented by Karen Brack:
          1) It was noted that no member of the WQC was notified of Karen's pending presentation of this report to the selectboard. Bill Romond will contact Al Vogele and Selectboard chair Paquette to apologize for our absence.
          2) Mo Germain discussed quality control procedures with one of the summer employees responsible for collecting water samples. It appears that there were times when the samples collected were not handled properly (i.e.-not put on ice, but carried around in a hot car for some periods of time). Such mishandling can result in high counts, such as July 23, when counts were so far from the norm as to be nearly impossible, from a statistical standpoint. Mo and Karen Bates will meet with Karen Brack to clarify some of these concerns.
          3) What level of quality control occurs at the laboratory, Endyne, performing the test?
          4) If actions will be taken or money will be spent based on the data collected during summer water quality testing, it is imperative that the data is analyzed and interpreted accurately. Suggestions for action should be made by a group of interested parties who are knowledgeable about water quality, microbiology, and the scientific method.
          5) Bottom line: The SWQP should address the issues involved with Water Quality testing in future years; (i.e. quality control, location of sampling, data interpretation, use of ribotyping technology) to ensure accurate, explainable results that can be a basis for action.

     F) Mo Germain compiled the results of 27 returned Water Quality surveys. We will attempt to obtain more responses, possibly using high school students on Election Day, or by sending the survey out via email.

     G) Renewed effort at Public Outreach - It was decided the committee will attempt to improve public outreach through 3 basic ways:
     1) Bill will assist Alice with designing a website to which a frequently updated news bulletin can be added.
     2) Reenie will write bi-weekly articles for inclusion in the Colchester Chronicle and Colchester Sun.
     3) An email list will be compiled so that bi-weekly email updates can be sent discussing water quality issues or announcing upcoming water quality related meetings. Email addresses will be solicited in the first article written for the Colchester papers.

     H) Mo Germain read the EPA publication National Beach Guidance and Performance Criteria for Recreational Waters-2002 (EPA-823-B-02-004). Mo feels that this is a high quality publication that should be referred to often as Colchester struggles with issues at Bayside Beach. The WQC has several copies and it can also be accessed on line - http://www.epa.gov/OST/beaches/grants.

5. Set Next Meeting Date and Meeting Location

The next meeting will take place at the Meeting House on November 13, 2002 at 6:30 p.m.

7. Adjournment

Having no further business to discuss, the CWQC adjourned at 8:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Reenie Peterson, Colchester Water Quality Committee

Approved this       day of:       , 2002

Colchester Water Quality Committee