September, 14 2004 Meeting Minutes
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, September 14, 2004, 10:00 A.M. to 12:30 P.M.
Pace University, Pleasantville, NY
PRESENT: Lisa Amato, Scenic Hudson; Jan Blaire, Irvington and FCWC;
Carol Capobianco, Saw Mill River Coalition; Theresa Conway,
Pleasantville; Ray Curran, Scenic Hudson; Dorothy Fitch, Park Hill Land
Conservancy; Kenneth Greehan, City of Yonkers; Lorraine Kuhn, Village
of Ardsley; Dave Kvinge, Westchester County Planning Dept.; Lawrence
Lee, Village of Elmsford; Victoria Marshall, Columbia University;
Robert McCrillis, Saw Mill River Audubon; Ann-Marie Mitroff, Groundwork
Yonkers; Mark Stellato, Town of Greenburgh; Carolyn Summers,
Hastings-on-Hudson and FCWC; Victor Tafur, Riverkeeper; Kathy
Tucciarone, Village of Pleasantville; Stan Wecker, Saw Mill River
Audubon; MJ Wilson, Irvington
INTRODUCTIONS: All present introduced themselves. Due to the many new
faces, Carol gave a background summary of the Saw Mill River Coalition,
Groundwork Yonkers, and current projects. She had sent notice of this
meeting to the top elected officials and managers of each of the 12
communities in the watershed, as well as to other municipal contacts
and all Coalition participants.
WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PLAN: ARMY CORPS/WESTCHESTER COUNTY: The primary
focus of this meeting was to discuss the scope of work for the
management plan. Dave Kvinge, Director of Environmental Planning for
Westchester County who will coordinate the project, explained its
history, process, and funding. In 1999, the Army Corps completed a
reconnaissance study to identify sites for restoration. Sites in
several communities and the county were included in the report, but
only the county stayed on as a non-federal matching fund partner. This
current project has two main elements: 1) Ecosystem restoration of two
County-owned sites, the Stump Dump in Elmsford and upstream of
Woodlands Lake in Irvington, and 2) the drafting of a watershed
management plan for the entire Saw Mill River Basin. For the watershed
management plan, the County will use as a guideline the scope of work
it has crafted for other waterbodies in the County, most notably the
Bronx River and Croton Bay. The County will also draw on the input from
the Coalition, which already exists as an alliance of stakeholders
(municipalities, government organizations, nonprofits, businesses,
schools, individuals, et al.) Together we well collect and consolidate
recommendations and the identification of specific hot spots and try to
integrate these into the draft working document before the Army Corps’
public scoping session this fall (date and location to be announced).
The development of an intermunicipal agreement may be useful in this
undertaking. Dave said that this $2.5 million project will be funded
only $93,000 this year and $50,000 next year, so will go at a slower
pace; it was originally scheduled to be completed end of 2005. Among
the tasks the county aims to achieve is the collection of detailed
information about the Saw Mill River watershed, such as land use data
and other mapping, pollutant loading and other modeling, local
regulations, and floodways. Dave emphasized that the study is one of
ecosystem restoration, but said there is a lot of overlap with
flooding. We recognize that the way the flooding problem is dealt with
can impact other communities and affect the overall health of the river
as well. (Copies of Carol’s letter to the NY Times re: need for
watershed-wide planning was made available at the meeting)
The watershed management plan will be a technical document addressing
problem sites and presenting best management practices to reduce volume
and improve water quality. Each meeting attendee then gave input on
concerns of their affiliations. Pleasantville: Flooding (Thornwood and
Grant St.), dumping, and streamside restoration and cleanup (Parkway
Terrace between Bedford Road and Rte. 117) Elmsford: Flooding (and
resulting traffic and safety problems), stormwater, trash, enforcement
of environmental laws Yonkers: Environmental awareness Irvington:
Invasive plants, education Hastings-on-Hudson: Mapping of
wetlands, land use Greenburgh: Land use, flooding, and future
management of stormwater facilities Ardsley: DPW facility management
Park Hill Land Conservancy: Vines, planting of meadows and native
species that require lower maintenance Scenic Hudson: Daylighting the
river. Ray Curran, senior planner, gave an update of the efforts to
uncover the Saw Mill River in Yonkers. After an initial report that was
sent to the Governor’s office, Scenic Hudson followed up with a cost
analysis and feasibility study of daylighting the area at Chicken
Island and Larkin Plaza. The city and the development group both have
embraced the idea. The developer would like to expand on this effort
and upgrade the river north of the proposed ball stadium area (Chicken
Island) as well. Talks are in the preliminary stages at the city and
state levels to determine unresolved issues such as funding, permits,
lawsuits, etc. Carol will send the ideas/concerns generated at the
meeting to the county and Army Corps before the public scoping session.
Carol has already sent the project partners a number of issues (see
below) and has spoken at length to the Army Corps’ Project Biologist.
According to the biologist, at the public scoping session the Army
Corps will explain the scope of work and field questions. Public
comments will be taken in the weeks following the session. Carol will
notify the Coalition of the meeting date and time.
REPORTS:
• Columbia University: Victoria Marshall, a professor with the school’s Urban
Design graduate program, spoke about the program and its interest in
the Saw Mill River this semester. After site visits in October, the
students will choose from several projects proposed by Carol, Dave, and
the instructors. The results can provide meaningful data and
information to the Coalition and its work.
• Storm drain markers: Carol
showed the prototype of storm drain markers for Saw Mill River and
Hudson River catch basins being produced by the DEC. A small number of
markers will be made available through the Hudson River Estuary Program
and Hudson Basin River Watch for adhering to the curb of storm drains.
The Saw Mill River Coalition has been asked to help with this
educational outreach. Some communities have already expressed interest
in participating.
• Make a Difference Day: The County Parks Department
and the Coalition will team up to do either a cleanup or vine removal
project along the Saw Mill River on October 23 as part of this
nationwide event. Carol will notify the Coalition as details develop.
NEXT MEETING: Mid-December. Specific date to be announced.
ADDENDUM: Because of time constraints the following information was not
reported in detail at the meeting. Watershed Management Plan: This is
the first flush of ideas/concerns Carol sent to Army Corps and
Westchester County. > Improved public access > Habitat and
wildlife restoration > Removing and preventing floatables >
Improved water quality > Identifying all storm drains and illicit
discharges > Preventing stormwater pollution > Identifying the
Saw Mill’s impact on the Hudson River > Impervious surface modeling
> Restoring streambanks and preventing further soil erosion >
Open space and biodiversity inventories > Invasive plant removal and
replacement with native vegetation > Mapping of Saw Mill River
tributaries
> BMPs for road maintenance (salting, etc.) > Daylighting the
river (or as much as is feasible)
> Renovating Corps projects to restore ecosystems that have been
degraded
> Rectifying remaining flooding issues in an ecologically sound
manner (including wetlands restoration, wise land use practices, open
space protection, and possible retrofits in developed areas)
> Improved recreational opportunities, including connecting to
Croton Aqueduct and Hudson River greenway trails and completing the
South-North County trailways link; fishing opportunities; boating
opportunities; passive recreation opportunities
Departures: The National Parks Service Rivers & Trails Program
will be ending its technical assistance to the Saw Mill River
Coalition. Joanne Dittersdorf, who has been the NPS representative,
played an important role in the Coalition’s development. Her knowledge
of organizational process and of similar programs on other rivers,
including the Bronx River, helped in building the Coalition. Justin
Bloom, staff attorney at Riverkeeper, has played a supportive and
informative role with the Coalition. He and Carol learned more about
the Saw Mill River together in a tubing escapade from Chappaqua to
Pleasantville last year. Justin is leaving Riverkeeper to help start up
Urban Green in Brooklyn, an organization that will focus on
environmental issues that affect New York City. A big thanks to Joanne
and Justin, and welcome Victor Tafur, who will be our new liaison at
Riverkeeper. Stormwater monitoring: Interns from Saunders Trades and
Technical School and Manhattan College, under the supervision of
Professor Rich Carbonaro, conducted baseline and storm water quality
sampling this past summer at sites in Yonkers, through a grant to the
Coalition from the EPA. After gathering samples in dry and wet weather
conditions, with the help of automated equipment, the interns analyzed
the data at the Manhattan College labs. Saunders Environmental Tech
teacher Harry Hall and his students will carry on the project this
semester. Some of the initial findings: Ammonia and total coliform
levels increased over the course of the storm; orthophosphates and
conductivity decreased. Additional testing and a more complete analysis
are still to be done. For a further description of the project, see the
web site the interns produced,
http://home.manhattan.edu/~richard.carbonaro/sawmill.html Funding
prospects: The Coalition is waiting to hear back on several proposals,
including two HREP grants (intermunicipal work and restoration), the
Westchester Community Foundation (biodiversity restoration), the City
of Yonkers (stormwater outreach assistance), and an Environmental
Benefit Fund possibility through the County DA’s office and Riverkeeper
(monitoring/coalition building).
Outreach:
• Carol completed the PowerPoint presentation,
“The Saw Mill River: Challenges and Champions of an Urban Stream,”
and presented it at the DEC Hudson River Watershed
Roundtable meeting on urban streams
• Our logo has been finalized, with
the help of Joanne Dittersdorf and the National Parks Service
• Continued to meet with municipalities and organizations about the
river; outreach to DOT Groundwork USA National Conference: Groundwork
Yonkers will host this year’s event. Groundwork programs from around
the United States and other countries, as well as representatives from
the EPA and the National Parks Service will convene in Yonkers next
month. The session on Thursday, October 21, is open to the public.
Morning discussions will focus on building healthy communities, and the
afternoon session will be site visits to Groundwork Yonkers projects,
including the Saw Mill River. The meeting is free of charge and begins
at 9:30 a.m. at the Yonkers Downtown Riverfront Library.
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