The Eightmile River
Wild & Scenic Study Committee
Meeting Minutes – July 28, 2003, Lyme Town Hall
Present - Study Committee Members: Anthony Irving, Peter Sielman, Nathan Frohling, Sue Merrow, Sally Snyder, David Tiffany, William Koch, Eric Belt, Linda Krause. NPS Staff: Jamie Fosburgh, Kevin Case.
Absent - Study Group Members: David Bingham, Maureen VanDerStad, Jon Morris, Walter Smith
1.) Meeting Called to Order at 4:40 PM.
2.) Minutes of May 19, 2003 and June 23, 2003 Meetings – Motion to approve both, 1st Sielman, 2nd Tiffany. Unanimous.
3a.) Outreach & Education Sub-Committee Report – Case reported for Smith who was out of town. The Outreach Subcommittee met on July 7 to review outcomes of Community Meetings. Notes from the Community Meetings were distributed. It was reported 80 people signed in at the three meetings, with 37 showing interest in volunteering for the Study. The new brochure was distributed, a few additional comments were provided by the Committee, changes to be made. The new website design was also shown and has been emailed to the Study Committee. Comments should be back to Case no later than August 1st. The Subcommittee is also having Case visit each of the land use commissions over the next few months to provide a brief presentation on the Study and ways the commissions may get involved. A schedule of when he is attending those land use meetings was announced and emailed to the full committee.
3b.) Cultural/Historic Subcommittee – Subcommittee still has not met. Case has communicated with VanDerStad that he will be setting up a meeting soon. Proposed dates will be emailed to the subcommittee in the next day. It was noted the subcommittee is lacking a representative from Salem. A representative from Lyme, Carolyn Bacdayan, has been secured.
3c.) Natural Resources Subcommittee – Frohling reported the subcommittee continues to work on finalizing and refining its workplan/timeline. Developing the ecology/biodiversity component of the plan is the most challenging. The Subcommittee has spent two meetings considering methods for addressing instream flow issues. Focus has specifically been on a method called mesohabsim. Case provided a brief summary of what it involves and provides. The need for instream flow modeling is primarily to develop the science necessary to protect and manage flow in the Eightmile over time. Fosburgh noted if instream is pursued as an outstanding resource value, there needs to be a strategy to protect that value. Such modeling is expensive and discussion ensued regarding how such work could be funded. Tiffany noted its helpful to know what other needs the Study Committee has before knowing what level of funding the Study Committee could afford in the context of its available funds. A brief review of the budget showed the Study Committee has obligated most of the available funds through 2004. Sielman made a motion “To support the instream flow study work if it can be funded through funding sources outside the existing money available to the Study Committee”, 2nd Tiffany. Unanimous.
Case also provided an update on the work of botanist Bill Moorhead. He has identified 14 new occurrences of state listed plants, increasing the list of known state listed plant occurrences in the Eightmile Watershed by 50%.
3d.) Management – Frohling reported the need for a meeting to be set up. It was agreed 3:00pm on August 25 just prior to the regularly scheduled Study Committee meeting in Salem. He will resend agenda to all members (see item 5 for change in time). There was a discussion of how the regulation review process will work. Krause is helping to lead. Krause also suggested looking at the new proposed Gateway Commission regulations as a potential model for certain watershed management issues.
4a.) Old Business – Beaver Brook Gravel Pit – Application denied by Lyme IWC. Applicant has until August 5th to appeal the decision. They may alternatively reapply. Tiffany will get interested members a copy of the IWC decision.
4b.) Old Business – Study Timeline – Case reported we are still focusing on having a draft eligibility report in the fall. It was noted it is a good time to have meetings with Congressman Simmons and Senator Dodd to provide them with an update on the study. Frohling will look into setting up meeting with Simmons.
Other Old Business – It was noted we still need to communicate with Colchester and East Lyme regarding the Study and invite them to be involved if they are interested. Merrow offered to call the Colchester First Selectwoman and Koch will call the First Selectman in Krause noted the planners for each town should be the primary conduit for the detailed information regarding the Study. Merrow and Koch will let Irving and Case know when selectman have been contacted and then follow-up will be made to the planner in each town.
5.) New Business – Irving asked everyone to attend and be on time for meetings. Some discussion ensued regarding changing the meeting time of the Study Committee to improve attendance and participation, no decision was finalized on the issue. It was agreed the Management Sub-Committee meeting time start should be at 4:00 pm on 8/25/03 rather than 3:00 as earlier decided, to be followed at 5:00 pm by the regular Study Committee meeting.
6.) Next Study Committee Meeting August 25, 5:00 pm, Salem Town Hall