January, 28 2005 Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
Friday, January 28, 2005, 10 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.
Campus Center, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY
PRESENT: Karl Ahlen, Army Corps of Engineers;
Lisa Amato, Scenic Hudson; Jan Blaire, Irvington and FCWC;
Justin Bloom, Urban Green;
Camilla Calhoun; Carol Capobianco, Saw Mill River Coalition; Debra
Cohen, attorney;
Scott Cuppett, NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary; Ray Curran, Scenic Hudson;
Bob DelTorto, Westchester Count Parks Dept.; Lee Ellman, City of
Yonkers; Peter Feroe, Rep. Nita Lowey’s office; Leila Goldmark,
Riverkeeper; Kenneth Greehan, City of Yonkers; Jeanne Gural, Scenic
Hudson;
Elisabeth Kolb, NYS DOT; Lorraine Kuhn, Village of Ardsley; Dave
Kvinge, Westchester County Planning; Lawrence Lee, Village of Elmsford;
Rick Magder, Groundwork Yonkers; Dick Manley, Beczak Environmental Ed
Center; Robert McCrillis, Saw Mill River Audubon;
Jodi McDonald, Army Corps of Engineers; Ann-Marie Mitroff, Groundwork
Yonkers; Emmett Pepper, Citizens Campaign forthe Env; David Rambo, Town
of New Castle;
Kimberly Rightler, Army Corps of Engineers; Kathleen Savolt, Beczak
Environ. Ed Center; Jesse Sayles, NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary; Alix
Schnee, Rockefeller State Park Preserve; Mark Stellato, Town of
Greenburgh; Andrew Tiess, Village of Mount Kisco; James J. Vanoli, Town
of Mount Pleasant; Lisa Weiss, NYS DOT; Jean Zimmerman, author
INTRODUCTIONS: All present introduced themselves. Carol congratulated
and thanked Ray Curran of Scenic Hudson for his work on the daylighting
issue and the recent attention it gained when Governor Pataki mentioned
his support for the project in his State of the State address. Carol
also thanked Justin Bloom for his part in helping the Coalition secure
$100,000 from Riverkeeper and the Westchester DA’s office through an
environmental pollution case. A press release about the case was handed
out, as was a New York Times article about the daylighting of the
river, and a New York Times article about the Coalition’s stormwater
monitoring program funded by an EPA grant.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION: ROAD SALTING PRACTICES.
Elisabeth Kolb, Maintenance Environmental Coordinator for
NYS DOT Region 8, discussed best management practices
and the latest technology in road salting. Among her key points: Snow
removal is expensive, the DOT spends $100 million for winter highway
maintenance. Early response is important. Create a “brine sandwich,” a
layer of brine between the snow and pavement. In this way, less energy
is needed to remove the snow and ice. The goal is to keep the brine
layer alive, otherwise seven times more salt is needed. Know the
temperature of the pavement as well as the air; the DOT trucks are
fitted with sensors that record both, and in some regions the DOT is
using in-pavement sensors to measure pavement temperatures to determine
when to start spreading salt. Salt is only effective down to 15
degrees. Saw Mill River Coalition Calibrated spreaders adjust the rate of salt
spreading to the speed of the truck. David Rambo of the DPW in New
Castle, said the town bought new trucks outfitted with these spreaders
for $100,000 each. However older equipment can be retrofitted with the
automated spreaders, presumably at a lower cost. The automated
spreaders eliminate such waste of salt as the commonly seen mounds left
at traffic lights after the truck has stopped for a red light. Carol
mentioned that if municipalities are interested in purchasing automated
spreaders, perhaps they can get a better price if purchasing together
in a single order. The Coalition can help coordinate this. The DOT’s
storm plan tools include solid chemicals such as salt, liquid
chemicals, sand, and other methods. Some of the alternatives, though
less corrosive, are high in nutrients, which negatively affect
waterways. High salt concentrations also negatively impact waterways
and contaminate drinking wells, but the DOT has found it to be the most
effective overall. The DOT is continually studying ways to reduce the
amount of salt that must be
used for driver safety. Kenny Greehan of the DPW in Yonkers noted that
safety, not the environment, is the primary concern of communities, and
the only way for this to change is if the state creates standards for
municipalities to adopt. Jesse Sayles of the NYS DEC posed that a
snow-tire policy and snow removal and filtration technology would help
alleviate environmental salting issues. Another way municipalities can
reduce salt intrusion into waterways is to cover their salt storage
areas. The DOT had to replace 100 salt domes due to structural
deficiencies, which caused worker safety concerns. The new storage shed
design is of canvas and cement. Elisabeth encouraged municipalities to
share information with others about what works and doesn’t work and
invited communities to attend, at no cost, the DOT’s annual Snow
University, which teaches the latest methods of effective snow removal.
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN: ARMY CORPS/WESTCHESTER COUNTY REPORT.
Dave Kvinge, Director of Environmental Planning for Westchester County, and
the Army Corps of Engineers’ Karl Ahlen, Project Manager; Kimberly
Rightler, Project Biologist; and Jodi McDonald, Rivers & Lakes
Section Chief, explained the work plan for the year for the Saw Mill
River ecosystem restoration and watershed management plan. Restoration
study and work will begin at the Stump Dump in Elmsford. For the
watershed management plan, the parties will gather existing information
from various agencies such as the DOT and FEMA and overlapping data
from County Watershed Advisory Committees. Karl said that had funding
been unlimited, the project would be completed in two to three years,
but this won’t be the case. Lawrence Lee of the Village of Elmsford
brought up the problem of flooding and asked why, after several studies
and great cost, the issue is not prioritized ahead of restoration. Karl
explained that at the time of the flooding study several years ago, the
economics were not favorable but that the issue is being revisited. He
said flood control is separate from the current projects with
Westchester County as the non-federal partner. The Coalition is being
viewed as an integral part of the watershed management plan. Carol had
available at the meeting the comment letter she wrote on behalf of the
Coalition in response to the public scoping session in October 2004.
She also noted a recent need for a watershed management plan: The New
York City DEP is building a UV filtration plant for the NYC drinking
water supply on land in Mount Pleasant and Greenburgh along a Saw Mill
River tributary. The DEP plans to remove 62 acres of forest and fill
three acres of wetlands, but plans to mitigate these losses outside the
Saw Mill River watershed. She has sent a comment letter requesting
mitigation within the Saw Mill River watershed,
and the affected towns also are requesting this, especially
in that they both suffer from flooding. Jim Vanoli, Town Engineer for
Mount Pleasant, said he would work with Carol to determine some
mitigation sites in the watershed. Dave said it is important to have a
list of such sites so that when opportunities and grants become
available we know where to focus attention. A watershed management plan
will assist in this area. Carol noted that Ann-Marie Mitroff, Pollution
Prevention Director, is drafting an Intermunicipal Agreement focusing
on communities working together on this and other issues. The
discussion remained on the subject of flooding, as it is persistent in
several communities. Jim explained the stormwater controls for a
particular development project in Mount Pleasant a few years ago. Carol
mentioned that we need to start thinking about retrofitting the
landscape rather than looking at stream channelization as a solution.
It is clear, too, that the Army Corps has limited funding during this
time of war. Ways in which communities can take action on flooding on
their own included cleaning out catch basins, finding and eliminating
illicit discharges, and
identifying backups in the stream channel caused by downed trees. Scott
Cuppett of the DEC said that in general, removing downed trees is not
the best practice. The fallen trees supply some of the last refuges in
the river for aquatic life. He suggested retrofitting the landscape,
starting at the top of the watershed and working down. Jan Blaire of
Irvington and the FCWC seconded the catch basin cleanup and
Intermunicipal Agreement ideas and recommended, in addition, the use of
more pervious surfaces and an education campaign. Carol noted that
she’d like to see communities work together on the issue of trash as
well, perhaps doing away with open-mouthed storm drains that let in
soda bottles and other large garbage items that end up in the river and
replacing them with grates that accept only storm water, such as can be
seen in Manhattan and elsewhere.
DAYLIGHTING REPORT: Ray Curran, Senior Planner with Scenic Hudson,
updated us on the efforts to uncover the river in Yonkers, an issue
that recently received media attention after Gov. Pataki announced his
support in his State of the State address. Ray gave an overview of the
project, which will include Chicken Island and Larkin Plaza. The
developer chosen by the City of Yonkers for the ball stadium, which
worked on the Baltimore inner harbor development, embraces the idea and
is looking at other restoration opportunities along the Saw Mill River
as well. The state had provided some funding for a feasibility study
last year, and now Scenic Hudson has received additional funding from
the state for an ecological analysis. Jeanne Gural, a field biologist
with Scenic Hudson, said they would take a “mosaic approach,” looking
to create pocket habitats. More technical analysis needs to be done and
some additional state funding is expected. During the lively discussion
of the daylighting project, which included the history of the
redirecting and covering over of the river, it was mentioned that the
channelization of the stream into what is known as “The Flume” was an
Army Corps project. Jodi McDonald of the Army Corps said that if this
is so, funding might be available through a special Corps fund that
modifies past projects for ecosystem improvements. Kathy Savolt of the
Beczak Environmental Education Center said that her organization is
very interested in being involved in the educational aspect of the
daylighting, as the Center is within walking distance from Larkin
Plaza. The timeframe for daylighting is not scheduled, but Lee Ellman
of the Planning Dept. in Yonkers said that the deadline for the ball
stadium is 2007.
COORDINATOR’S REPORT: Carol briefly summarized some of the additional
projects she’s been working on that weren’t mentioned above.
• Funding—Besides the $100,000 environmental benefit fund that came
through Riverkeeper and the DA’s office, the Coalition received a grant
from the Westchester Community Foundation to help launch the Saw Mill
River RATs (Restoration Action Team). This project will engage
volunteers in restoring habitat along the river with the aim of
increasing biodiversity.
• Stormwater outreach—the DEC HREP provided
125 stormdrain markers that say “Don’t Dump, Drains to the Saw Mill
River” to be placed by volunteers in the spring in Yonkers, Elmsford,
and Pleasantville.
• Land use—several communities are considering
proposed developments along the river, which need to be monitored for
ecological sensitivity.
• Media/Education—Columbia University urban
design graduate students used the Saw Mill River for their fall
semester projects. The results will be posted to the school’s web site.
The Coalition teamed with Westchester County Parks for “Make a
Difference Day” in the fall in which volunteers removed invasive vines
along the river at Woodlands Lake. In addition to much media coverage
about the daylighting and polluter fine case, Carol was interviewed for
a half-hour program on Pleasantville Community TV, along with the village’s
Conservation Advisory Committee chair. By request from the NYS DEC and
Pace Land Use Center, Carol submitted nominations from each watershed
community to attend the Pace Land Use Center workshop this spring.
Carol also reviewed the work plan for the Coalition for 2005.
• Streambank & Habitat Restoration: River RATs program, Daylighting,
Stump Dump & Woodlands Lake;
• Stormwater & Pollution
Prevention: Water quality monitoring, stormdrain marking, investigating
an end to “floatables”;
• Watershed Management Plan—working with
County/Army Corps, Intermunicipal Agreement, land use issues,
investigating flood abatement.
NEXT MEETING: Spring. Specific date to
be announced.
