2019.03.25 Council Agenda Item 10

The Highland Lake Leadership Team (HLLT) is a group of representatives from the Towns of Falmouth and Windham, the Highland Lake Association, and other stakeholders whose mission is to improve the water quality of Highland Lake.  One of the charges of the HLLT is to evaluate existing ordinances in Falmouth and Windham for their effectiveness in protecting the lake, research lake protections utilized by other jurisdictions, and propose modifications to the regulations in Falmouth and Windham as appropriate.

In furtherance of this charge, the HLLT developed five recommendations last Fall which they proposed for adoption by the Town of Falmouth.  Representatives from the HLLT attended the 10/22/2018 CDC meeting to discuss their five recommendations and at its 11/13/2018 meeting the CDC indicated its support, in concept, for all five recommendations.  That support came with the recognition that some of the recommendations were not yet fully developed and that additional information gathering and research would be required in order for those recommendations to be implemented.  The CDC also recognized that this research process could generate the need for additional policy decisions to be made in the future prior to implementation.  With that in mind, the CDC recommended: that staff begin developing ordinance language and policy options for implementing the HLLT recommendations; that staff bring the results of the work described above back to the CDC for refinement, if warranted; that the Town of Falmouth work with the Town of Windham to explore options for coordinating HLLT’s recommendation to conduct photo inventories of the Highland Lake shoreline.    

At the 11/26/2018 Council meeting, Dennis Brown, Chair of the HLLT, presented the five HLLT recommendations to the Town Council, and the Council agreed with the CDC’s proposed direction as outlined above.  Staff have now drafted amendments addressing three of the five recommendations related to: third party reviews of stormwater and phosphorous plans; adjusting the phosphorous budget standards to match current DEP standards and the Town of Windham’s standard; and requiring post-construction inspections of stormwater facilities.  The HLLT recommendations for developing manure regulations and developing a program for photo inventorying the lake shoreline require additional time to develop.

Attached, please find an ordinance introduction letter, the list of HLLT recommendations previously presented to the CDC and the Town Council, and draft ordinance amendments.