Dayton Planning Board

February 4, 2014

 

Members Present: Rand Clark (Chair), Dan Plourde, Valerie Cole (Alt)

Town Employees: Jim Roberts (CEO)

Guests: Sharon Martel (Dayton representative to SRCC), LaMarr Clannon (NEMO) Dennis Finn (SRCC)

 

LaMarr Clannon of Non-Point Source Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) gave a PowerPoint presentation on water quality and protecting water sources from pollution. Saco River Corridor Commission (SRCC) is working with NEMO to provide planning strategies and information to towns in the SRCC to help protect the Saco River's water quality. The following points were made in the presentation:

 

• The primary source of pollution in Maine streams is non-point source (run-off from fields, farms, drainage from developed areas.)

• Traditionally, storm water management was seen as storm water disposal. Now it is more desirable to manage storm water run-off through low impact development.

• One important point of low impact development (LID) is to allow rainwater to soak into the ground as close as possible to where it fell

• Examples of LID:

• Creating depressions in parking lots that contain vegetation, so vegetation can act as a buffer.
• Controlling roof water drainage so that it flows onto the lawn, not down the driveway and into the street.
• Grass or gravel parking lots, so rainwater can soak through. Some of these have a plastic netting underneath which allows vegetation to grow through, and minimizes the chances of tearing up the ground.
• Green roofs and green walls consisting of plants which help absorb rainwater and assist with cooling in the summer.
• Porous pavement which allows water to drain through instead of funneling water into storm grates. This works very well.
• Interlocking pavers with a gravel layer underneath to clean and filter the water.
• Rain gardens which can be put into retention areas and can be used as landscaping.
• Tree box filters
• Turf reinforcement to prevent run-off from happening too quickly and carrying away sediment.

• Retention ponds are now seen as undesirable, as the water tends to collect and stagnate. They also become breeding ground for mosquitoes.

• Subsurface gravel wetlands are seen as the best water quality system to date. The water stays in a gravel layer, so mosquitoes are not much of an issue.

• Maine Cooperative Extension has a handbook on ground cover that is available on line.

 

The presentation adjourned at 8:15 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for March 4, 2014, 7:00 PM.

 

 

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Valerie J. Cole, Secretary

 

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Rand Clark, Chair

COPIES TO: Jim Roberts, Code Enforcement Officer; Selectmen; and Tax Assessor

THESE MINUTES MAY NOT BE TRANSCRIBED VERBATIM. SECTIONS MAY BE PARAPHRASED FOR CLARITY.