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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994_05_05 Conservation Advisory Commission Minutes C/ .0 c — — — 5 Town of Mamaroneck Conservation Advisory Commission 740 West Boston Post Road Mamaroneck, N.Y. 10543 914-381-7845 MINUTES May 5, 1994 A regular meeting of the Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC) was held on Thursday, April 7, 1994 in Conference Room A of the Town Center, 740 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, New York. The meeting commenced at 8: 10 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: Louise Perez Martha Kaufman OTHERS PRESENT: Steve Scarangello, Resident- Village of Mamaroneck Eve Silver, Resident-Unincorp Town of Mamaroneck Kathleen Tracy O'Flinn, Town Liaison Charles Bernstein, LIS Task Force Mary Anne Johnson, Emeritus Eve Nudelman, Environmental Coordinator I. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS A. No quorum. B. Next meeting: June 7 , 1994. In lieu of June meeting, there will be a storm drain stenciling training session. II. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Storm Drain Stenciling Protect Update E. Silver stated that she and L. Perez are keeping list of people signing up. Additionally, on LMC-TV they will do an informational interview program with Mayor Cheryl Lewy to educate local residents on non-point pollution. E. Silver has a meeting with Mr. Keane and the three science teachers in Hommocks school. She told the Commissions members that if they get people to commit to this project, it is urgent that IPS Village of Larchmont • Unincorporated area of the Town of Mamaroneck • Village of Mamaroneck �� g Printed on Recycled Paper CAC MINUTES May 5, 1994 Page 2 they get to the June 7, 1994 meeting because at that meeting is where the paint, the stencil material, the information packets and the maps will be distributed. A discussion of alternative locations for the stencil placement around the storm drains will also be discussed. M. Kaufman recommended saving the cut-out center of the poster board to include in the packets as it will come in handy for blocking out words around the drains. B. Summer Conservation Corps Work Program Approval Eve Nudelman told the Commission that she assembled a work plan for the Summer Conservation Corps from the comments gathered by the CAC members when they walked their trail sections. Eve Nudelman stated that some of the items on the work plan would require Highway Dept. personnel to oversee some carpentry work and cutting of specific plant species. Members critiqued work plan. E. Nudelman to work with K. O'Flinn to finalize. III. PRESENTATION A. Charles Bernstein - Long Island Sound Monitoring Update - Mr. Bernstein explained that the purpose of doing this work with the Long Island Sound is to combine his observations and those of the Long Island Sound Task Force with what the CAC is doing with B. Hohberg. This is because most of the harbor is affected greatly by the streams that terminate in the harbor. Description of Mamaraneck Harbor - At low tide, the east and west basin are about 103 acres. At high tide, it's 117 acres. The watershed from the Sheldrake and Mamaroneck Rivers and Beaver Brook Swamp and, to a certain extent, the Otter Creek, drain an area of 27 .5 square miles. In addition to that, there are storm sewers emptying into the harbor. Two years ago they started the project. The new treatment plant was not in operation at that time. The harbor was polluted. The Village was/is interested in swimming and the color of the water and the fecal coliform count in the water as it is dangerous and spreads disease. According to B. Hohberg's observations along the boom in front of the beach, at various periods, especially after a dry spell, followed by a rain, the fecal coliform count increases. If the level of fecal coliform exceeds 2,400 parts/100 liters, swimming is not allowed. The Long Island Sound Task Force members are taking observations in different harbors of which Mamaraneck is one. The purpose is to link up their observations with those of Professor Barbara Dexter and the Health Department's to see if they could come up with a correlation of stream to harbor pollution. Most of the pollution CAC MINUTES May 5, 1994 Page 3 is caused by nitrates getting into the harbor mainly from coliform and plant fertilizers. There is a problem during the summer months because there is a limited interchange of the water layers. Gradually the oxygen is depleted in the bottom of the harbor and the plants and animal life start to suffer. The plants die and when they die, they oxidize and use enormous quantities of oxygen and you wind up with a condition known as hypoxia, lack of oxygen. Last summer Mamaraneck had a day or two of hypoxia, which was not significant. There are two wings of the harbor and they both come together in a narrow channel, the result being, that there is only about a 40%-60% exchange of water. The old water stays in the harbor, starts to go out with the tide and because the effect of this outflow is restricted, by the time about half of it gets out, the tide starts to come in and pushes it all back. He commented that the distribution of fertilizer and the amounts recommended by the manufacturers is way over the necessary amounts. They drench the ground with the fertilizer and every bit of it goes into the harbor. The general results in the last two years has been not too bad. In 1992, they closed the beach quite a bit after short heavy rains. 1993 was a good year. Changes in the water quality that have occurred over the last 2 years as a result of the new treatment plant should be able to be observed this summer. This is, at the very least, a three year project and will probably go on for a long time. There are approximately 8-10 people who belong to L.I.S.T. going out twice weekly at 6:00 a.m. and 4: 00 p.m. . He mentioned that Helen Rosselli and Lara Laughlin were a tremendous help. He continued that no one has ever taken the observations with the harbors of Norwalk, Mamaroneck, Rye, Milton Harbor before. This is all new material, the value of which isn't known yet because they are still collecting base data. IV. OTHER BUSINESS A. A visitor to the meeting, Steve Scarengella, questioned whether the seven historic cemeteries in Mamaroneck are Town properties and Town maintained. He asked this because the Delancey cemetery is in need of some real maintenance. The trees, three yellow poplar of approximately 3 feet in diameter, are all rotting and need to come down. R. O'Flinn said she would ask the Town Tree Crew to take down the 3 rotting trees. Mr. Scarengella explained that when the Town crews come through the cemeteries, they cut CAC MINUTES May 5, 1994 Page 4 everything back to ground level and rip out whatever is there. They come in with very heavy machinery and squash down the land. Its more like a scar than a clean-up. L. Perez mentioned that approximately 1 1/2 years ago someone from Mamaroneck historical society was very concerned about the cemeteries. She suggested, at that time, that the Historical Society write what they want to do the cemeteries and then present it to the CAC. But she'd never heard from them. B. M. Kaufman spoke with Ed Hindin about the Conservation Area entrance at Bonnie Way and said that it would be very nice to have a foot bridge at that location. C. M. Kaufman told Commission that she's been getting lots of calls regarding pesticide use. She handed out material on pesticides to Commission members including an article in National Wildlife, 6 & 7/91, entitled, "Getting at the Root of a National Obsession". This article deals with the obsession of having a green lawn. K. O'Flinn recommended calling Noreen at the Daily Times and tell her that there has been a volume of calls regarding pesticides and non-toxic alternatives. D. K. 0/Flinn read a memo dated 5/2/94 from E. Price to CAC and CZMC regarding a sign at the Brook and Duck Pond. Residents have expressed a desire for a sign at the Brook and Duck Pond prohibiting activities such as "No Parking" & "No Feeding the Geese" & several other prohibitions. She continued that the neighborhood association discussed having one generic sign, artfully crafted to the effect "This is your environment. Please pick up and clean up." E. Price wondered if CAC together with CZMC could design a sign that while prohibitive in nature would carry the positive environmental concerns that is the predicate for most of our "Do Note signs. CAC to let E. Price know if they will undertake this project. V ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE A. K. O'Flinn announced that the CAC has a new member named Beth Colleary, from the Unincorporated area of the Town. Beth is an associate professor at the College of New Rochelle. The Town conducted a Tree Inventory two years ago. In the report, it was recommended that the Town plant over 100 trees each year. The price of planting that many trees is unaffordable for the town. The Town needs to find ways to generate the revenue so we can begin to replace the trees that we see dying. Since trees fall under the umbrella of the CAC, the Town asked Beth Colleary to get involved with this. She said yes. CAC MINUTES May 5, 1994 Page 5 For example, if someone wanted to remember someone's birthday or a special occasion, they could remember them by planting a tree in front of their house or in a park; they would donate the funds and the Town could buy the trees wholesale and plant them. M. Kaufman recommended that she contact the sixth grade teachers in the elementary schools about donating funds. B. K. O'Flinn said that the Arbor Day Committee will be planting a tree soon. There is no date set yet but they would like to schedule a date for Arbor Day and have a small tree planting ceremony. She asked if any of the members knows of a class that could participate. The tree planting will be in the center of town near Central or Murray Ave. Mary Anne Johnson stated that once the L.I.F.E. Center had a nursery at Central School. There was also a tree nursery at Mamaroneck Ave. School. C. Mary Anne Johnson explained the progress that was being made on the Local Watersheds and Native Plantings Guide Booklet she is working on with Phyllis Wittner and Nancy Sterbenz. Bedford, Bronxville, Eastchester, Harrison, Larchmont, Lewisboro, Mamaroneck Town, Mamaroneck Village, Mt. Vernon, New Castle, New Rochelle, North Castle, Pelham, Pelham Manor, Portchester, Pound Ridge, Rye Brook, Rye City; Scarsdale, Tuckahoe, and White Plains are considered part of the watershed for this portion of the Long Island Sound. Mary Anne Johnson stated that this is because of the Hutchinson River. K. O'Flinn asked Mary Anne Johnson to send copies of the Final Draft to CAC members. Mary Anne Johnson continued that the booklet will have a bibliography, tree lists, plant lists, recommendations about native planting, charts and maps, and what is desirable to do for your home, business and the community at large. Mail to CAC: - Village of Mamaroneck - 131 Sheldrake Place - 5/5/94 - Shirleyann Price - letter -5/4/94 - New York State Parks Dept - News Release - Camping 1994 - Patricia DiCioccio - To: Elizabeth Colleary - Re: CAC Appointment 5/1/94 - Cornell Center for the Environment - Re: Environmental Update - Spring 1994. - National Wildlife Federation - Re: Advertisement for Educational Materials - Westchester County Planning Dept. - Re: EMC Quarterly Minutes, Flyers, List of Publications Available CAC MINUTES May 5, 1994 Page 6 - Stephen Scarangella - Resume 5/26 - DEC - Wild in New York newsletter - Arbor Age Publication 2/94 - Dept. Parks & Recreation & Conservation - Westchester Beaufication Award Program - GATT - Fair Trade Campaign 5/19/94 - Hudson Valley Green - Contribution letter The meeting adjourned at 9:35 p.m.