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City of Nashua Planning and Zoning
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City Hall, 229 Main Street, PO Box 2019 Baer aten Commission
Nashua, New Hampshire 03061-2019 Transportation
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589-3119
Date: February 28", 2017
To: John Griffin, CFO; Daniel Kooken, Purchasing Manager
From: Madeleine Mineau, Waterways Manager
Re: Contract for Aquatic Invasive Species Control and Management in the Nashua River
During summer 2016, the Nashua River upstream of the Mine Falls dam to the Hollis, NH town
line had extremely dense cover of aquatic invasive vegetation. The Waterways Department and
Mayor’s Office received several complaints from residents concerned about this condition in the
River which was unsightly, made recreation unpleasant, and navigation by boat difficult.
Furthermore, excessive growth of vegetation can impair water quality due to reduced dissolved
oxygen which can cause fish kills.
With assistance from the State Invasive Species Coordinator, we conducted a survey of this area
of the River in September 2016 to determine the extent and dominant species in order to
determine the most effective management action. Considering the results of this survey,
herbicide application was the only effective management action recommended.
The City’s previous action to control Water Chestnut by mechanical harvest has been very
effective with continued control by hand pulling by volunteers. Unfortunately, the decline in
Water Chestnut created an opportunity for other invasive species present in the River to take
over. The vegetation is now dominated by milfoil and fanwort which cannot be mechanically
harvested or hand pulled, leaving herbicide treatment as the only recommended effective
management strategy. The City already uses similar herbicide treatments every other year to
control aquatic invasive species growth in the Nashua Canal.
Solitude Lake management is the only company in the region that provides this type of services
therefor we solicited a proposal directly from them for herbicide treatment of the aquatic
invasive species in this area of the Nashua River. Their original proposal was for $117,950
however, we were able to negotiate cost and scope of services to reduce the cost to $95,728.
The Waterways Department recommends awarding the contract for aquatic invasive species
control in the Nashua River to Solitude Lake Management of Shrewsbury, Mass, in the amount
of $95,728.
