To the Popponesset Community:

The PBA Board has been very active this winter addressing many significant community needs and projects. We have recently completed a two-month budgeting process and have made our initial budget recommendations for 2021.

Our operating budget has not changed from 2021 vs 2020.  And while we have accomplished several of our important goals over the past two years, despite best intentions we weren’t able to move as fast as possible on some of our previous approved projects. The result is that we have some funds available to us this year that have carried over from the prior year. We plan to apply these carried-over funds to several prioritized projects this coming year. The projects include:

Security
We have a new security task force and in January we held an online security meeting with the community resulting in recommendations for several new initiatives. We plan to work with our new security company, our neighboring communities, and the Mashpee town officials to send an early and consistent message on security, especially at the beaches. We will also use extra private and police details in the three weeks around July 4th.

Water Quality
We will continue to fund water quality studies to establish a good baseline of the water condition of the beaches.

Beach Accessibility
We will expand on the progress we made in 2018 to increase accessibility to the beaches by adding a beach boardwalk on Squaws Lane and a mobi-mat at Sandy Beach.

Community House
We will purchase some new playground equipment plus some other exciting summer improvements and also budget for continued architectural work and future improvements to the house.

Deans Pond
We will work with a nationally recognized firm (Solitude Lake Management) to address the biological health of the pond and perform recommended maintenance, as well as target critical areas to address invasive species. We feel very strongly that if we do not invest in the pond now, this precious resource will continue to deteriorate.

Drainage
In 2020 we were able to complete several significant drainage projects. We plan to be more aggressive with drain cleaning this year and to use this time to assess our needs and designs rather than planning new larger projects.

We plan to apply most of the roll-over funds to the above prioritized projects, leaving some for any additional unexpected needs and costs. We strongly believe these collective expenditures are warranted. We will mail PBA members a more detailed budget letter.

If you are a member of the PBA and need to update your contact information please contact us here: UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFO

We will again open up our April 10th meeting to the community online at 9:30 AM. Login information for the meeting will be on the calendar [CLICK HERE] and posted on Facebook. You can feel free to ask us any questions during the meeting or contact us here: CONTACT

Looking forward to spring returning in Poppy,
The PBA Board

Popponesset residents can help to forward the initiative to improve our water quality. Watch this informative video about the Town of Mashpee's plans for funding and designing a system for wastewater treatment.  See how you can be involved: Step one is to be educated about the issue. Step two is to register to vote in Mashpee and vote for the project to be implemented. The first important vote will be in the Town Meeting Warrant available in March.

Selectman Andrew Gotlieb on
TOWN OF MASHPEE WATER TREATMENT PLAN

To the Poppy Community:
In addition to all the troubles that COVID has caused, these have been very eventful months for the Board and for Poppy. Here is a brief summary of current issues as we head into Spring.  You will see separate summaries attached to this letter for security, the pond, and the water quality testing we have been doing. Please read those attachments for detailed information.

Drainage
We are happy to report that we were able to hit four drainage areas this year:  Nick Trail and Shore, Clover and Shore, Bearse (all relatively small projects) and Uncle Edwards. Thanks again to Tim and Christine for a job well done.
Phase I of the Uncle Edwards drainage project (See our previous letter : Jan. 4th Letter from PBA Board) is now complete and, in the recent major storm, we saw a significant reduction in the water left on the street. We plan to monitor that area next year and see if Phase II is needed. This fix was expensive, and budget will determine whether we can apply similar fixes elsewhere.

With Uncle Edwards Phase I completed, we will soon be looking at other streets in the area: Eliot and Shore, Squaws, Cordwood, Nashawena and Pembroke.  If you would like your area considered, let us know. We also plan do more drain cleaning to see if that will help but the high water table still poses a problem.

Beach Access
At the requests of residents, we hope to improve accessibility at the beaches by installing boardwalks - on Squaws and Sandy this year, and Dean’s Hollow next year.  Before planning gets too far, and before we contact Mashpee Conservation Commission as required, we will reach out to the affected areas for a site walk. You can expect the installations to resemble boardwalks at Bluff Avenue and Kim Path that we installed three years ago.

The Community House
Work has begun for activities at the Community House for the Summer of 2021. Given continued Covid-19 concerns, we plan on hosting all activities outdoors like we did for summer of 2020, which was a huge success. The team is preparing for summer Arts and Crafts, Summer softball and soccer, Bingo, Movies on the Big Blow-Up Screen, our Third Annual Trivia Night, Summer Concerts and our Annual Road Race.  Watch for more details on our website as the season gets closer. Please contact any Board Member if you can volunteer to help for any events. We’d love to have your help!

Dean’s Pond
 The Pond Subcommittee is growing concerned about the continuing growth of invasive species and their long-term impact – see the attached Pond Report.  The long-term funding needed to maintain a healthy pond is beyond our regular budget and the Subcommittee is looking into fundraising, grants, and other sources of revenue. Link: POND REPORT.
 
Budget 2021
We are in the process of putting together the 2021 budget. Due to COVID and other issues, we have some “one-time money” this year that we can apply toward some of our current issues - in particular toward increased security. The problem with “one-time money”, however, is that once it is gone - we can’t plan to spend to that level every year.

Finally, at the end of February the 2021 invoices and statements will be going out. Please be on the lookout. Spring feels far away but it’s not. Let’s all hang in there.

The PBA Board

Links:
SECURITY REPORT
WATER QUALITY REPORT

Please read this important report in it's entirety. It summarizes how we, as a community, must face the current situation relating to important issues for the future of Popponesset such as: zoning, planning, drainage, water quality, security, etc: