Maquoit Bay Water Quality Task Force

Mission/Purpose

See Committee Responsibilities

Membership

The Task Force shall be comprised of two (2) Town Councilors who shall be non-voting, and four (4) members from the following disciplines, appointed by the Town Council Chair, for a total of six (6) members:

Oceanography
Biological Sciences
Municipal and/or State Environmental Agencies
Natural Resource Conservation
Marine Science

Task Force membership is limited to the six(6) members listed above. However, the Task Force shall proactively engage with the groups, communities, and professionals it deems necessary in order to seek the broadest representation of views to assist the Task Force in meeting its responsibilities. The following entities are identified as resources: Maine Department of Environmental Protection; Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Maine Department of Marine Resources; Maine Department of Transportation, Casco Bay Estuary Partnership; and Friends of Casco Bay.

Members:

Kristin Feindel
David Page
Heather Hunt
Ben Twinning
Jennifer Hicks, Town Council Representative
Steve Walker, Town Council Representative

Meeting Schedule

This Task Force shall meet on an “as needed” basis. Meeting shall be publicly noticed by the posting of agendas and related materials on the Town’s website. It is the Town Council’s intent that Task Force meetings be scheduled so that they can be televised on one of the Town’s two cable tv channels and recorded for on-demand streaming from the Town’s website.

Committee Responsibilities

The Task Force is charged with assisting Town staff in establishing a baseline of the quality of water within and entering Maquoit Bay, evaluating the water quality impacts associated with existing and future land uses in the watershed, and developing water quality loading models to assess present and future loadings of nitrogen and fecal coliforms. This will be achieved through the following tasks:

Development, review, and approval of the final RFP delineating the study’s scope of work.
Participation in the selection process of the consulting firm hired to perform the study
Public review of study results via presentation to Town Council
Brainstorm ways in which to utilize study results / make recommendations to Town Council as to how to address noted non-point source pollution problems noted in study results.

Committee Staff

Jim Flood, Project Engineer (Project Lead)

Ashley Charleson, Environmental Planner

Annual Reporting

The Task Force shall report on its activities to the Town Council, at least quarterly.

Agendas & Minutes

Agendas and meeting materials are available prior to the meetings. Minutes are available following approval.
View Most Recent Agendas and Minutes