Brewster wants to spend $150,000 on water quality. What to know and when to vote.

Water quality is among the topics that will get attention at Brewster's upcoming special town meeting, including requests to fund a townwide pond management plan and associated pond pilot studies, as well as funding to initiate creation of a Herring River watershed permit.

The meeting, with 14 items on the agenda, convenes at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13 at Stony Brook Elementary School, 384 Underpass Road.

Town Manager Peter Lombardi said the pond management plan listed among capital and special project funding requests is a recommendation of the town's Water Resource Task Force as a next step in implementing Brewster's Integrated Water Resource Management Plan.

"We recognize that we need to focus on meeting our nitrogen mitigation requirements in the Pleasant Bay watershed.  We also need to begin work developing a watershed permit for the Herring River watershed under the new DEP regulations. However, we want to make sure that we continue to focus our water quality planning efforts on our 80+ ponds, as well," Lombardi said.

How much will a pond management plan cost in Brewster?

The pond management plan will identify principles and recommendations for protection and improvement of Brewster's freshwater ponds. A total of $100,000 is sought from free cash and water quality stabilization to fund the effort.

"The goals of the plan will be achieving water quality standards consistent with desired uses of the individual ponds through cost-effective management strategies that support healthy ecosystems and crucial habitat for biodiversity," Lombardi said.

Several other Cape towns have similar plans in place, including Barnstable, Eastham and Wellfleet, he said.

The funding will also support demonstration projects at one or two ponds once the plan is complete, he said.

Why does Brewster want a pond management plan?

Data about everything from algae sampling, geographic information, how many houses are around each of the ponds, the storm drain locations, the history of cyanobacteria blooms and more has been collected by various entities over the years, according to John Keith, vice president of the Brewster Ponds Coalition. He said part of the management plan will be compiling all the data into one place.

Having a detailed profile of each pond will allow pond-specific plans to be developed to treat and protect them.

"There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Each pond's got specific circumstances: what are its sources of pollutants, does it have herring or not, does it have bogs? So, you need a pond study for each pond to determine how best to protect it," he said.

What is the Herring River Watershed permit?

The town is also requesting $50,000 to develop a Herring River Watershed permit under the state's new watershed regulations for certain nitrogen sensitive areas and updated Title V septic regulations.

The first step is to identify future residential development potential within the watershed — which encompasses the neighborhoods around Long Pond, Sheep Pond and Seymour Pond — to understand what the town's nitrogen mitigation requirements might be under the new permit.

Where can I find the warrant?

Find the full warrant online at www.tinyurl.com/BREWSTERtmwarrant. Hard copies will also be available at Town Hall, the Council on Aging, the Brewster Ladies Library, Ferretti’s, Village Marketplace, Ace Hardware, Brewster General Store and Cumberland Farms.

When and where is the Brewster town meeting?

The meeting, with 14 items on the agenda, convenes at 6 p.m. on Nov. 13 at Stony Brook Elementary School, 384 Underpass Road.

What is a town meeting?

A town meeting is both an event and an entity, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website. As an event, it is a gathering of a town’s eligible voters, and is referred to as “the town meeting.” As an entity, it is the legislative body for towns in Massachusetts, and is referred to simply as “town meeting.” Thirteen of the 15 Cape Cod towns including Yarmouth have “open town meetings,” meaning all voters who live in that town may vote on all matters. Falmouth, though, has a “representative town meeting,” where all voters elect town meeting members who then vote on all town meeting matters. The town of Barnstable is governed by an elected town council rather than by a town meeting.

Heather McCarron can be reached at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Water quality among issues on Brewster special town meeting agenda