The Eightmile River

Wild & Scenic Study Committee

Minutes - January 7, 2003, East Haddam Grange Hall

Present - Study Group Members: Charlie Fredette, Eric Belt, Anthony Irving, Peter Sielman, David Bingham, Jon Morris, Nathan Frohling Sue Merrow, Sally Snyder, David Tiffany, Linda Krause.  NPS Staff: Jamie Fosburgh, Kevin Case.

Absent - Study Group Members: William Koch, Maureen VanDerStad, Walter Smith

1.) Meeting Called to Order at 5:45 PM.

2.) Approval of November meeting Minutes – 1^st S. Merrow, 2^nd N. Frohling – Approved unanimous

3) Introduce Vision, Goals, Workplan – Irving discussed function of subcommittees and asked the Committee’s willingness to have two meetings per month one as the full Committee and one within a subcommittee.  Fosburgh noted the importance of the full committee continuing to meet on a regular basis.  Consensus was that both meetings can be done and it will be up to the subcommittees to schedule when and how often they meet.  Sielman noted the importance of each subcommittee operating under a clear direction and purpose. 

Discussion ensued as to the lack of members on the Cultural/Historic/Recreational/Scenic Subcommittee Both Jon Morris and Sue Merrow offered to serve on this subcommittee.  Morris will be removed from the Natural resources subcommittee roster.  Also it was noted that there was a need to ensure local representation from each town on the Management Subcommittee.  Sielman offered to serve on Management. 

Case distributed a number of documents including a draft Study Committee Workplan, A draft outline of what the final Study Committee Report may look like, and a suggested list of questions each subcommittee can start with to establish their scope of work.  All materials were reviewed and Case asked Committee members to get comments back to him the week preceding the next meeting.    Fosburgh noted the suitability component of the study should be kept simple asking two basic questions: Is there a credible plan to protect the resources?; and Do the local communities embrace the plan and designation?.

Also distributed was an NPS white paper on the meaning of eligibility. (insert tile and authors)

It was suggested to modify the name of the Management Plan subcommittee to the Management Protection Plan subcommittee.   Stielman noted it will be important to well document the work of the Outreach and Education subcommittee and it should clearly reflected in the final study report.  All agreed this was important to include.  Krause noted the appendices can be used to provide the detail of some of the Study Committee’s work.

Case and Fosburgh noted $70,000 in funds are available currently to assist the Committee in its work.  The Lyme Land Trust is acting as the fiscal agent for the funds through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.  It was suggested that the subcommittees should identify needs and their costs to complete their work successfully and come back to the full committee for approval of expenditures. 

A discussion ensued regarding GIS needs.  Case, Frohling and others are looking into what existing data is available and options for performing new GIS activities.  Case will report back at the next meeting regarding GIS data available and options for retaining support for new GIS work.  Subcommittees should be identifying potential GIS as early as possible.

Fosburgh suggested a possible timeline for completion of the study, this includes:

Complete Draft Eligibility Report – Fall 2003

Solicit Public Input On Draft Report and Finalize – end of 2003.

Complete Draft Management Plan – Fall 2004

Solicit Public Input On Draft Plan and Finalize – end of 2004

Develop Final Report and Pursue Community Votes of Support – Spring 2005

4) Review of Subcommittee Questions Document – This document was distributed and briefly discussed.  It will be used at the next meeting as a starting point for subcommittees to establish their workplans.

5) Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act – Fosburgh provided background on the only regulatory component of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act – Section 7.  This section requires a review of all federally funded or permitted projects that may have an adverse impact on the outstanding values of the river in question.  Most instances where Section 7 is applied is in reviewing Army Corp dredge and fill permits.  A memo Fosburgh wrote to the Army Corp regarding the Dolbia Hill bridge project was distributed as an example of a Section 7 review on the Eightmile River.   Questions followed regarding how far from the river this review can be undertaken.  It was noted the acts language states any action that has an adverse impact on the river’s outstanding values and needs federal funds or permit can be reviewed. 

Discussion again ensued regarding the geographical extent to which the Committee wanted to potentially include for designation such as tributaries and Hamburg Cove.  This should be resolved soon as subcommittees begin their work. 

6) Other Old Business – Spielman asked about the State Geologist Ralph Lewis coming to brief the Committee.  Irving noted he spoke with Mr. Lewis and he is willing to speak with us.  We will look to set a date for that after the subcommittees have met at the next meeting. 

7) New Business – Krause noted she is in the process of assisting the Town of Lyme in pursuing a scenic road designation for Rt. 156.   She sees it as a parallel process to the Wild & Scenic study as it provides scenic protection for the road corridor much of which runs near the river.  Frohling offered a motion to have “The Study Committee send a letter of support for scenic road designation to the appropriate agency” Tiffany second, unanimous approval.

8) Next Meeting

Monday, January 27, 2003, Salem Town Hall, 5:30 PM 

Major action will be subcommittee meetings to discuss their individual workplans and set up meeting schedules.

Meeting Adjourned 7:45 PM.

Submitted K. Case