May 9, 2005 Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
Monday, May 9, 2005, 10 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.
Campus Center, Pace University, Pleasantville, NY
Present:
Karl Ahlen, Army Corps of Engineers
Robert Baron
Carol Capobianco, Saw Mill River Coalition Allegra Dengler
Robert Goldstein, Riverkeeper
Barbara Kendall, NYS DEC
Lorraine Kuhn,Village of Ardsley
Lawrence Lee, Village of Elmsford
Robert McCrillis, SawMillRiver Audubon
Ann-Marie Mitroff, SawMillRiver Coalition
Jim Moran, City of Yonkers
Joseph Moran, City of Yonkers
Richard Morris, City of Yonkers
Emmett Pepper, Citizens Campaign for the Env Lucille Sciacca, Philipse Manor Hall
Angelo Spillo, Pace University
Victor Tafur, Riverkeeper
James J. Vanoli, Town of Mount Pleasant
Lisa Vasilakos, Westchester County Planning
Introductions:
All present introduced themselves. Among the handouts: registration
forms for the Saw Mill River RATs program and flyers for the
presentation “What’s Happening on the Yonkers Waterfront,” co-sponsored
by Groundwork Yonkers and Beczak.
Special presentation: stormwater refresher course.
Barbara Kendall, Stormwater Outreach Specialist for the DEC HREP,
reviewed and discussed the Phase II requirements, annual report filing
specifics, available guidance materials, and the reporting and
implementation of measurable goals. Her many informational handouts
included a draft of the Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination
model ordinance and outfall and system mapping requirements; a chart
outlining stormwater pollution prevention plan requirements for NY
SPDES general permit for construction activities; and the Stormwater
Management Guidance Manual for Local Officials for construction and
post-construction runoff management.
Among her important points:
• 90 percent of water quality problems are from nonpoint source pollution
• flooding costs $650 million a year in property damage claims in NYS
• keep and treat water on-site before discharging to local waterways
• Phase II annual reports should tell how you are carrying out initial Notice of Intent
• fill in annual reports online but send two printed copies to Albany (only)
• comments from public meetings regarding your stormwater plan must be attached to the annual report
• ultimate responsibility for compliance rests with village/town boards, city councils
• EPA web site has a wealth of educational materials, www.epa.gov/npdes
• working together with other municipalities can be cost effective
• your local watershed group can help you with several aspects of your plan
Barbara
said that in the coming years the state will be taking a harder look at
progress, and she cited two areas in particular: that local stormwater
laws are in place and being implemented, and that municipalities are
showing an increase in measurable goals.
After Barbara’s
presentation, Carol asked the representatives of the municipalities in
attendance to talk about their stormwater needs and how we can work
together to find funding.
Yonkers: Illicit discharge detection
funding and community outreach/education. Jim Moran said it has been
very costly to inspect and verify illegal discharges through the sewers
on their many waterbodies. Up until now, according to Barbara, there
has been no funding source from the state for sewers systems, as the
state has been focusing on septic systems. Yonkers also noted that it
has been marking storm drains on the Bronx River and is working with
the Coalition to do the same on the Saw Mill River.
Karl Ahlen
of the Army Corps of Engineers mentioned that as part of the watershed
management plan work with Westchester County, outfall pipes need to be
checked for sedimentation sources. If municipalities want to piggyback
on this project they can negotiate to join the project as nonfederal
partners.
Town of Mount Pleasant: Funding and readdressing
ordinances. Jim Vanoli reported that the town’s attempts to clean out
catch basins, as mentioned in Phase II BMPs, has been thwarted. His
sub-contractor uses a vacuum-type method that sucks out the catch
basins and shoots the water back into the basin, but he got into legal
trouble with the county. According to Jim, it was said that the water
had to be treated before being sent back into the basin. This put a
serious financial burden on the town. This is an issue that needs to be
addressed.
Ardsley: Funding and outfall mapping. Lorraine Kuhn
said that as a small village with lack of staff and funds, they are
recruiting volunteers to map the storm system.
Elmsford: Flooding and outfall mapping.
Reports
• Army Corps/Westchester County projects: Karl
Ahlen reported that the scoping documents have been finalized and are
on the Army Corps web site. Preliminary wetland mapping of the
restoration sites will be done in May and June. Coordination of the
watershed management plan will also begin. Rep. Nita Lowey officially
requested upward of $400,000 in funding for the 2006 budget, the
results of which won’t be known until after mid-June. The Coalition and
members had sent 11 letters of support for Corps funding to the
Congresswoman in March, which was a great help in the process.
• Intermunicipal cooperation: Ann-Marie
Mitroff, pollution prevention director for the Coalition, reported on
the $15,000 follow-up HREP grant the Coalition received to work toward
an Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA). An IMA drafted by the Coalition was
handed out for municipalities to review. The wording is broad, yet
encompasses issues important to the communities in the watershed, such
as stormwater and flooding. Rather than spending a lot of time on the
wording of the document, she recommended we adopt the agreement quickly
and use the grant money for a joint project, thus putting the IMA into
practice immediately. The Coalition will write a cover letter
explaining the IMA to decisionmakers and Ann-Marie will follow up with
the municipalities.
• Coordinator’s report: Carol reported on several issues of the past quarter.
• Daylighting:
Scenic Hudson has begun the ecological study of the site, and has
offered some of the grant money to the Coalition to help in
facilitating data collection and other aspects.
• River Rats: The Saw Mill River Rats (Restoration Action Team)
program launches with training sessions starting May 14. The
restoration sites will be on county property along the river at
Woodlands Lake in Ardsley. The County Parks Department has become an
integral partner, offering landscape design, training, and biodiversity
study of the sites. The New York Times called and will be doing a story
on the program in the coming weeks. The project is being funded through
a grant from the Westchester Community Foundation and part of the
environmental benefit fund from the DA’s office and Riverkeeper.
• Stormwater outreach:
Coordination of three communities to participate in stormdrain marking
is progressing. The goal is to have the markers in place by summer.
• Land use:
Coordinating intermunicipal meetings with the towns of Mount Pleasant
and Greenburgh and the Village of Elmsford to select mitigation sites
for the proposed DEP UV filtration plant at Grasslands Reserve in the
Saw Mill watershed that will remove 62 acres of trees and impact 3
acres of wetlands. Currently the DEP plans to mitigate outside the
watershed, but we are looking to direct them otherwise. Met with Dobbs
Ferry mayor regarding Akzo Nobel site. Wrote letter to
Hastings-on-Hudson outlining concerns for the proposed development on
the 9A parcel. Carol and representatives from 10 Saw Mill River
communities (including Ann-Marie Mitroff for Dobbs Ferry) are attending
the excellent four-day Pace Land Use Center Leadership Training Course,
courtesy of the DEC HREP, which is sponsoring the workshop.
New business
• Robert Goldstein announced that with part of the $100,000 received from the
Westchester DA’s office (most of which Riverkeeper has directed to the
Coalition), Riverkeeper will develop a Saw Mill River web site. He
would like input from Coalition partners as to what kind of information
they would like to see on the web site. Some immediate thoughts
included Phase II stormwater information. Carol will solicit input from
the Coalition partners.
• Allegra Dengler said that the DOT is cutting trees along the Saw Mill
Parkway, degrading the aesthetics of the parkway and the adjacent South
County Trailway, and yet they are leaving the invasive vines, which can
kill trees and lead to more hazardous situations. The safety issue
along the parkway was raised, including the deaths last year of a young
couple who were killed when a tree fell on their car on the parkway in
Yonkers. Carol will call the DOT to find out their tree maintenance
policy.
Next meeting: September. Specific date to be announced.