LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS

Mansfield LWV Annual Meeting

When:  May 28, 2008: 5:15 p.m. Social, 5:30 p.m. Business Meeting, 6:00 p.m. Dinner,                                                         7:00 p.m. Speaker, DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy.

Where:  First Church of Christ, Mansfield Center.

DEP Commissioner to Speak at Annual Meeting

DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy will speak at the May 28 Annual Meeting of the Mansfield League of Women Voters at First Congregational Church in Mansfield Center.

Commissioner McCarthy will address the DEP’s “No Child Left Inside” initiative and other environmental concerns.

The goal of “No Child Left Inside” is to “unplug our kids from their computers and reconnect them into the natural world,” according to the DEP.

Commissioner McCarthy, who has three children of her own, was appointed in 2004. She came to the Connecticut DEP from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, where she worked on environmental issues at the state and local level for 25 years in a variety of high-ranking positions Prior to joining the DEP, she was deputy secretary of operations for the Massachusetts Office of Commonwealth Development, responsible for coordinating the policies of the state’s environmental, transportation, energy and housing agencies.

The Annual Meeting begins at 5:15 p.m. with a social time, followed by a short business meeting at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m., and the speaker’s talk at 7 p.m., followed by audience questions.

Members and the public are welcome. Those who come to the dinner must make a reservation. The form is in this newsletter, and the dinner cost is $15. Reservations should be made by May 21.

Water Wise: Facts and figures

Some facts and figures from the March 5 Water Wise forum:

The lowest availability of water in Connecticut and highest demand occurs in late summer. (Robert Hust, DEP)

The following state agencies have a role in water management: the Department of Environmental Protection, Department of Public Health, the Office of Planning and Management, and the Department of Public Utility Control.

The state’s Plan of Conservation and Development determines a lot of the state’s water policy (RH, DEP). The town’s policy resources are the Mansfield Plan of Conservation and Development (2006) and a study the town commissioned in 2002, Water Supply Plan for Mansfield, which was consulted in updating Mansfield’s subdivision, plans (Gregory Padick, town planner).

The Windham Water Works supplies 20,000 customers, or 4,000 accounts. Its permitted plant capacity is 4.1 million gallons a day. Currently it operates at 2.5 million gallons a day (Michael Callahan, WWW).

UConn’s water storage, a one-week’s supply, is in three elevated tanks on Route 195 and an underground reservoir under Towers dorms (Tom Callahan, UConn).

The value of UConn’s water assets is nearly $7 million. It would cost $27 million to replace its system. (TC, UConn).

On average, 1.3 million gallons of water a day goes into the UConn system. That rises to about 1.98 million gallons at peak times (September, usually). When students are on campus, usage picks up 500,000 gallons per day (TC, UConn).

Panelists raise questions about future water supply

Several panelists at the March 5 “Water Wise” forum sponsored by the Mansfield LWV and the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources said that while our water capacity in the Mansfield area is sufficient now, future water management and supply are uncertain.

“If we want Four Corners better developed, we need to look for more water,” said Gregory Padick, Mansfield director of planning.

Based on currently available information, UConn’s water system has enough capacity for existing and committed developments, he said. Ongoing studies will help confirm capacity and help the town and university plan for future needs.

Denise Burchsted, executive director of the Naubesatuck River Watershed Council, warned that committed demand may be outstripping supply.

A dry Fenton River is not an impediment to growth, because there is water under the river, she noted, “but we want the rivers wet so that we can enjoy them.”

At times, Eagleville Brook has had as much as 12 inches of sediment deposited into it in one year, she said, attributing that to high density development enabled by the existing water supply.

Mansfield and the University of Connecticut have some hard decisions to make in the future, said Michael Callahan, chairman of the Town of Windham Water Commission.

“The questions for Mansfield and UConn will be, where will the water come from?  Who will be responsible,” he asked, “UConn?” Other possibilities would be for Mansfield to form a water authority, or for a regional authority or private company to manage the water supply and infrastructure.

Infrastructure improvements and accommodating needs as the town grows will need to be addressed, he said.

Thomas Callahan, associate vice president for operations at UConn, posed the question of what will be the future role for UConn in Mansfield’s public supply.

“We’ll support aspirations we can all agree on,” he said. He added that UConn would seek to diminish its role in the long run.

The University currently consumes 85 percent of the water it produces, he said.

It also supplies water to 100 households in Mansfield, as well as to the municipal building, Community Center, EO Smith Regional High School, Glen Ridge, Holinko Estates, the nursing and rehabilitation center, senior housing east of Maple Road, the Storrs commercial area, Celeron Square, Courtyard Condominiums, and the Bergin Correctional Center.

Windham Water Works supplies Mansfield customers at the south end of town, Padick noted that existing services extends northerly along Storrs Road to Puddin Lane and west to the Freedom

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Green condominium complex (including the Eastbrook Mall area), and north along Stafford Road to the Thornbush Road area.

Most residences in town are served by bedrock wells.

Future water resources are likely to come from high yield stratified drift, which generally is found in sand and gravel deposits alongside rivers, said Robert Hust of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

(UConn’s Fenton and Willimantic river well fields are located in stratified drift along the rivers).

Connecticut probably has the most stringent water quality regulations in the country, Hust said. It does not permit large waste-receiving rivers to be drawn on for public water supplies because they receive treated industrial and municipal sewage discharges.

The problem Connecticut faces is, he said, is that there is no water infrastructure in the suburbs, where people are moving, and people are leaving cities where the infrastructure exists.

Conservation measures can help ensure future supplies, panelists said.

Glenn Warner, director of the Connecticut Institute for Water Resources, said that water re-use at businesses such as car washes and using non-potable sources of water for non-potable needs are among the conservation measures that could be taken, as well as capturing roof run-off for landscaping use.

UConn is looking into using reclaimed and non-potable water for its co-generation plant and irrigation purposes, said Thomas Callahan.

Vicky Wetherell of the Willimantic River Alliance urged consumers to be aware of where their well water comes from – bedrock, or a sand and gravel aquifer – and where the water they use drains.

“We all live downstream,” she cautioned, urging residents to use less water in landscaping and to be aware of how runoff from their property may affect other people’s wells.

Local program changes 2008-2009    (as discussed at February noon meeting)

1. Continue study item on Bergin Correctional Institution

   1. Change from “Continue study” to “Monitor”

   2. Or, drop and revive later as needed

2. Evaluation of Mansfield Downtown Partnership:

   1. Change to Monitor progress of

   2. Or move to an “action item” (this is not an active study)

3. Continue study of later start time for local middle and high schools

   1. Change to Action item. Already studied it.

4. Study proposed revisions to Mansfield Charter

   1. Drop

Action items

1.      Support extension of public transportation services and creation of safe bike and walking paths –

a.      Continue

2.      Support limited sewering, public water supply and distribution to defined areas.

a.      Restudy? (position adopted in 1971)

3.      Support the needs of working parents for quality, affordable care for school-age children when school is not in session.

4.      Monitor the ongoing Community Conversations on early childhood care and education and the work of Mansfield Advocates for Children.

a.      Drop “Community Conversations” part

5.      Support assisted living housing for aging, moderate income residents

a.      Continue and schedule a program on it

MEMBERSHIP

We are delighted to welcome three new members:

Michelle Baughman, 7 Blake Lane, Storrs, 477-0450, talentedandclever@yahoo.com

Elizabeth Cowles, 50 Meadowood Road, Storrs,   429-5383, (B) 465-4385, eah36@cornell.edu or richard.cowles@snet.net

Kathy Ward,   51 Chatham Drive, Storrs, 456-8258, (cell: 933-3506), wardgervino@charter.net

We have already welcomed, but I neglected to put on our new roster:

Lesley Kirschenbaum, 42 Briarcliff Road, Mansfield Center, 423-9590, llesleyk@yahoo.com

Other roster changes, e-mail: Gloria Gerald: glo_worm@charter.net

Lisa-Marie Griffiths:  lisa-marie.griffiths@uconn.edu

Ellie Lamb:  elamb@charter.net

Tulay Luciano: tulayluciano@yahoo.com

Catharina Melehy: cmelehy@sbcglobal.net

LWV Mansfield Annual Dinner Meeting

When:   Wed., May 28, 2008; Social 5:15 p.m., Business 5:30 p.m., Dinner 6 p.m. Speaker: 7 p.m.

Where:  First Church of Christ in Mansfield (Rt. 195 opposite the intersection with Rt. 89)

Speaker: Gina McCarthy, DEP Commissioner 
 

LWV Mansfield Annual Dinner Reservation Form May 28, 2008 

Dinner will consist of chicken or vegetarian entrée, with vegetables, salad, bread, dessert, and beverage. Cost is $15 per person. Please send your registration form and check payable to Mansfield LWV to Joan Neuwirth (54 Bundy Lane, Storrs, CT 06268) by Wed., May 21, 2007. 

Name(s)________________________________________________________________ 

Choice(s) of Entrée _______________________________________________________ 

Amount enclosed @$15 per person___________________________________________ 

CALENDAR

April

April 28, 2008 (Mon)             Board Meeting, Room B, Municipal Building, 7:30 p.m.

May 13, 2008 (Tue)              Mansfield Annual Town Budget Meeting.                                     

May 28, 2008 (Wed)             Mansfield LWV Annual Meeting, First Church of Christ, Mansfield Center

                                                5:15 p.m. Social, 5:30 p.m. Business Meeting, 6:00 p.m. Dinner, 7:00 p.m.

                                                Speaker, DEP Commissioner Gina McCarthy.

June 7, 2008  (Sat)                LWVCT Council, Hamden, CT

June 13-18, 2008                  LWVUS Convention, Portland, Oregon

The League of Women Voters of Mansfield web page address is

http://www.lwvct.org/lwvmansfield

Communications to the Mansfield LWV can be emailed to lwvmansfield@lwvct.org  

 League of Women Voters of Mansfield

P.O. Box 104

Mansfield Ctr, CT 06250-0104