The Eightmile River
Wild & Scenic Study Committee
Meeting Minutes – March 24, 2003, East Haddam Grange Hall
Present - Study Committee Members: Eric Belt, Anthony Irving, Peter Sielman, David Bingham, Jon Morris, Nathan Frohling, Sue Merrow, Sally Snyder, Walter Smith, David Tiffany, William Koch, Maureen VanDerStad. NPS Staff: Jamie Fosburgh, Kevin Case
Absent - Study Group Members: Charlie Fredette, Linda Krause
1.) Meeting Called to Order at 5:35 PM.
2.) The Committee agreed to modify the agenda and discuss the status of GIS support first. Case reported a number of avenues have been explored to obtain GIS support. Proposals from private consulting firms, individual contractors, academia, and the local nonprofit conservation district were solicited and considered. The Committee felt it was important the funding committed to GIS support should not only provide needed GIS analysis but also build the capacity of a local partner to be a GIS resource beyond the study period. Frohling made a motion that “The Study Committee approve up to $35,000 to be allocated to the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District to provide GIS support as described in their proposal dated March 21, 2003.” Seilman second. In discussion it was made clear the Committee funds cannot buy hardware and software for other agencies, whatever is purchased becomes property of the National Park Service. As such the Committee agreed the identified hardware and software needs would be purchased and loaned to the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District for the duration of the project. Motion passed unanimously. Irving and Case will work out a contract with the district.
In a related discussion a request was made to formalize the funding disbursement procedures of the Committee. Fosburgh noted he will share the Taunton River Study policy with the Committee as a possible model.
3.) Approval of February 24, 2003 meeting minutes – Seilman 1st, Bingham 2nd, unanimous
4.) Due to some members time constraints the issue of the Committee’s position on the gravel pit application along Beaver Brook in Lyme was agreed to be moved up on the agenda. A draft letter from the Committee to the Lyme Inland Wetlands Commission was distributed for review. Discussion followed regarding whether the letter was strong enough. The Committee recognized its main purpose is not to respond to every development that occurs in the watershed during the Study, and as such providing detailed comments on an application may set an unwanted precedent. It was also recognized some proposals are going to be at such a scale that their activities could affect the character of the watershed system that is being studied for protection, and as such the Committee may need to react. Morris suggested the Committee should offer some type of technical assistance to the town in reviewing the application.
Discussion also ensued regarding the role of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act in requiring an Army Corps Category II permit review. Because the Study Committee agreed the scope of this study is watershed based, including the tributary systems, it means that the role of the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act during the Study will apply to activities where Armey Corps has jurisdiction, such as in instances where dredging or filling of federally defined waterways or wetlands occurs. Snyder noted that once a category II permit is required U.S. Fish & Wildlife and EPA will have to sign off on it, and a state 401 Water Quality Certification will be required. The National Park Service, as the lead agency on the Study is also required to sign off on the permit.
The final consensus of the Committee was that due to Beaver Brook being a tributary component of the Wild & Scenic Study Area, the Study Committee requests the National Park Service review the gravel permit application in Lyme due to its potential significant impact o the Eightmile River Watershed system. The Study Committee recognizes this potentially will involve the National Park Service asking the Army Corps to review this project. Note committee members who had left the meeting early and were absent at the time this consensus was reached include Sielman, Merrow, Koch, and Tiffany.
5a.) Outreach & Education Subcommittee Report – Smith reported on progress of organizing three community meetings to introduce the Wild & Scenic Study to each community and solicit input on the issues and interests the public has in the Eightmile River Watershed. It was suggested the Committee look to the land trusts, conservation commissions and Boards of Selectman for co-sponsorship. The first and second week in June are target times to hold the meetings. Smith noted the subcommittee has a number of upcoming expenditures needs including brochure, website, meeting publicity and materials and as such it requests $18,000 be set aside for its use to implement such tasks. Bingham made motion “To allocate up to $18,000 for use by the Outreach & Education Subcommittee”, Frohing second – Unanimous. It was again recognized the Committee needs to adopt funding policies, in this case to address what level of expenditure can be spent without explicit authorization from the Study Committee. Although the Outreach & Education Subcommittee has certain of funds set aside for its use – it still will need to come back to the full Committee to receive authorization to spend over certain amounts. Fosburgh noted the Taunton River Study has a threshold of $250.
5b.) Cultural/Historic/recreation Subcommittee – VanDerStaad reported the subcommittee met briefly a few weeks back and is continuing on its first tasks to identify cultural and historic sites. She noted that while the subcommittee did not identify any specific costs it asks that $3,000 be set aside as a contingency, if small costs arise during their work. Committee approved the $3,000 set aside by consensus.
5c.) Natural Resources Subcommittee – Bingham reported for Belt. The subcommittee met and had discussion on issues of defining terms such as habitat functionality and biodiversity. Also discussed challenges of categorizing and mapping habitats. Frohling reported that he, Irving, and Case met with Ken Metzler, Hank Gruner and Kip Kolisisnkas (sp?) to discuss options and methods for performing habitat mapping. They will continue to work on refining the approach to be taken and will develop a short one-page summary of the proposed approach for the Committee to review. Case reported the potential vernal pool mapping will be completed by weeks end and a training session will be set up with CT River Coastal Conservation District within the next month to begin process of reviewing potential pools. Also a meeting has been scheduled with USGS to discuss options for modeling the hydrology of the watershed.
6.) New Business – Snyder reported Charlie Fredette will likely be retiring in the near future and the Study Committee will need to put a request into the DEP to ask for a replacement to fill his seat.
7.) Next Meeting – April 28, 2003, Salem Town Hall
Meeting adjourned 7:45 PM.
Submitted K. Case