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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1992_11_05 Conservation Advisory Commission Minutes C C ® Town of Mamaroneck RECEIVED Conservation Advisory Commission DEC 19 1992 PATRICIA A.DiCIOCCIO TOWN CLERK MAMAdOR+ECK 740 West Boston Post Road N.Y Mamaroneck, N.Y. 10543 914-381-6133 APPROVED MINUTES NOVEMBER 5, 1992 A regular meeting of the Conservation Advisory Commission (CAC) was held on Thursday, November 5, 1992 in Conference Roan A of the Town Center, 740 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, New York. The meeting canmenced at 8:12 p.m. Members Present: Louise Perez, Chairwoman Martha Kaufman Lynn Reichgott Others Present: Robert P. Hohberg, Water Monitoring Consultant Mary Anne Johnson, Emeritus Martin Laskin Virginia Neumeister, Village of Mamaroneck Trustee Alan Steinhorn, Village of Mamaroneck Richard Ward, CZMC Liaison Claudia Ng, Environmental Coordinator Ellen Morse, Recorder ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Minutes - Approval of the minutes of October 8, 1992 were tabled until next month because of a lack of a quorum. Next Meeting - December 3, 1992. Chairman Reports - Chairwoman Perez reported that she attended a State meeting for CAC Chairs called the Local Environmental Assistance Program (LEAP) which reimburses the CAC's for sane of their expenses. She felt it was a valuable exchange of information and ideas. She noted that this Town's CAC has a higher budget than most of the other CAC's who reported; and that although we are in a smaller area than sane up-County CAC's, they have fewer people concerned about protecting their land. OLD BUSINESS Long Island Sound Water Monitoring - In Mr. Bernstein's absence, Ms. Ng reported that he had no further update. Hilltop Road Entrance to Trails - Chairwanan Perez and Lynn Reichgott visited this entranceway into the Sheldrake Trails. They explained to some © new attendees the situation and showed a map of the area. As the once undeveloped lot was used as an access way into the trails, it is now developed and only the other side would be available now. This side, which is Town-owned property, has not been used in about 25 years as an access way. The owner, Mr. Flood, does not want a sign put up and Chairwoman Perez CAC Minutes November 5, 1992 Page 2 suggested bordering the Town property with telephone poles as was done at the Premium Marsh and with wood chips running from the stakes down to the stream. This would designate it as a path and keep it attractive looking. Mr. Luskin stated that from a legal point of view, since this has now became a known and recognized disputed area of "open and notorious uses' on Mr. Flood's part, adverse to the Town's interest, it is not known what the time frame is on the statute. He suggests that if CAC decides to do nothing, they should send the property owner a letter consenting for him to use that property which negates any adverse contention. Chairwoman Perez concluded that CAC should decide whether action should be taken by first, asking the Town Administrator to get a professional survey in order to do work on the trails, and second, sending a letter to Mr. Flood before a surveyor goes out to let him know CAC's intentions and point out that the usage will not change and also, they should contact the neighbor on the other side. Chairwoman Perez noted that Councilwrman O'Flinn said she would go with a CAC member and talk to Mr. Flood about the situation. Chairwoman Perez will write the memo to the Town Administrator. Dedication of Conservation Areas - Update - Ms. Ng reported that in February she sent a memo to Councilwoman O'Flinn with a list of blocks and lots of parcels of land considered conservation areas, including the Sheldrake River and Leatherstocking Trails, the Premium Conservation Area, and the Hammocks Conservation Area. Nothing has happened since. Ms. Ng was told by Mr. Altieri that this list would be considered when the Town reviewed its excess surplus Town lands. In viewing this list, Ms. Ng found it to be incomplete. She will speak again to Mr. Altieri and Councilwanan O'Flinn and reassert the complete list CAC wants dedicated. Sane technical expertise will be needed as sane properties are on the map but not on the assessment rolls or property cards making identification of sane properties very difficult. In the 1960,s, a law was put on the books called "Conservation Areas" describing what you could do and could not do. Ms. Ng was never able to find the list stating which were the conservation areas. They remain on a "park-like" status. Sane pieces of property have been merged and one piece of property by Hammocks use to be a dump and was never considered a piece of property. It might be necessary to check with the County Lands Record Office for the deeds of sane of the properties. Sane surveys will also be needed. CORRESPONDENCES Incoming: 1. 10/10/92 letter frac George Latimer re: Greenway Trail re: followup meeting. Chairwoman Perez has not heard any results from Ron Tocci's meeting with the N.Y. Thruway Authority. Virginia Neumeister will contact George Latimer for this information. CAC Minutes November 5, 1992 Page 3 2. 10/16/92 - Kevin Denton, Assistant Building Inspector, Village of Larchmont re: existing laws regulating dry cleaning establishments. Outgoing: None Copies: 1. 10/20/92 - Councilwoman O'Flinn's letter of thanks to Susan Cavalieri for her service on CAC. CONSULTANT/LIAISON REPORTS Recycling - In Councilwoman O'Flinn's absence, Chairwoman Perez reported on the results of the Town Board meeting and Mr. Altieri's report on recycling. Since the start of recycling on September 23, 1992, 218 tons have been collected which equals 435,000 pounds of recyclable material which comes out to about 36 tons per week. This is far in excess of what they estimated (27 tons per week) . This excluded same of the apartment complexes which started recycling later. Martha Kaufman stated that Lynn Crowley is working on a video on recycling to be televised on LMC/TV to help explain to the community what should be done and how to do recycling. Point Source Pollution - Virginia Netineister reported that the Village of Mamaroneck has served CACis point source polluter, Jantile Company, with a Notice of Violation on October 20, 1992. There will be a second notice sent on or about November 10, 1992. They will have a certain amount of time to correct the violation and if they do not, they will go to court and a stiff penalty will be imposed. Cemeteries - Virginia Neuuneister reported that the Village of Mamaroneck has some volunteers, some from the Historical Society, who are willing to work with the Town in refurbishing some of the cemeteries. Ms. Ng stated that the Town has a contract for cemetery care. Chairwoman Perez suggested that these volunteers write a memo to CAC explaining their ideas and plans to see what they want done. Martha Kaufman mentioned the service club at Hammocks School who do community service work under the direction of Cal Chang. Chairwoman Perez asked Martha Kauffman to talk with Mr. Chang to see if his group would be interested in helping with this as well as the storm drain stenciling in the Town of Mamaroneck and the Village of Larchmont. Water Monitoring Update - Robert Hohberg distributed his "Summer 1992 - Industrial Reaches of the Sheldrake River" report. He reported that he is the co-director at the research center at Mamaroneck High School. There are O now 46 students involved in this program. Last simmer in the Sheldrake the students went behind the industrial area and found coliform counts over 16,000. He found two very suspect areas in his research. The first is the coliform count at station S10 at Concord Avenue which reaches a count of 16,000. This is downstream from the conservation area on Rockland Avenue. Upstream of this in close proximity to the conservation area are two huge CAC Minutes November 5, 1992 Page 4 sewer lines which Mr. Hohberg suspects are the County's. He suggests that this line be checked out very carefully by the County. The second suspect area is the high fecal count also at station 810. A third suspect area is downstream near station Sla where the total coliform count is high. There's a huge drain pipe that enters the Sheldrake at Columbus Park. He suggests that this area also be checked out. Chairwoman Perez said she would write a letter to the County Health Department with a copy to Virginia Neumeister. Mr. Hohberg also reported that large debris should be removed from the riverbed between stations S10 and Sla. Virginia Neumeister said she may have something to report back to CAC regarding having the Village riverbeds cleaned up. Mr. Hohberg also reported that his research students are now doing acid rain studies during the school year. They are getting readings of around 4.6 in the Village of Larchmont which is very acidic. He will report back to CAC when they have something more substantial to report. TASK FORCE REPORTS Landscaping/Maintenance Articles - Ms. Ng reported that the Town Newsletter has no issue date as yet. At this rate, the next article may need to focus on what to do in the Spring. Golf Course Rezoning Study - In Councilwoman O'Flinn's absence, Chairwoman Perez reported that copies of the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) are available from the Larchmont and Mamaroneck libraries on a 3 day loan. Two members, Ed Hindin and Martha Gershun, are reading the SEIS for CAC. By the next meeting sane concrete ideas should be voted on as the public hearing is on December 9 and written comments are due December 21. Community Recycling Awards - Martha Kaufman drafted an outline which she distributed on the program for awarding businesses who conduct at least a part of their business in an environmentally sound manner in terms of recycling and to encourage the public to be more aware of their choices in shopping at the local stores. As a baseline, the business must already be following the recycling guidelines and be doing something above and beyond the normal recycling laws. For example, the Manor Deli still uses cardboard containers. Also, the Chatsworth PTA for the last 3 years has used metal flatware for their affairs which is also a cost savings. It was discussed having the newspapers run a press release informing the public about this award policy and having than contact CAC with potential business award recipients. It was also discussed what type of award to use - a framed certificate or plaque (which could be costly) and how to inform the public of the award recipients - maybe a local newspaper article, LMC/TV, and through the LIFE Center's news letters. Ms. Ng suggested that if a press release is done to send a copy also to the Chamber of Commerce. This award could be an on-going process, not necessarily given just once a year. Possibly the awards could be given out at a Board Meeting. It was agreed to work on the points made this evening. CAC Minutes November 5, 1992 Page 5 ENVIRONMENTAL COORDINATOR REPORTS Jason Lane Town Property - Town Administrator Stephen Altieri has asked the CAC to review a piece of "excess Town-awned land" on Jason Lane off Rockland Avenue. Ms. Ng distributed the mama and map. At the time of subdivision this land was given to the Town which they used as a playground. Because of persistent vandalise the Town has found it difficult to maintain and is considering selling it as a building lot. Chairwoman Perez requested that the members visit the site to determine the environmental impact any future development might present and give their recommendations to Ms. Ng before the end of the month. If there are many negative comments or problems, CAC will have to reconvene. Premum Marsh - tabled until next month. Westchester County Planning Project - The Town of Mamaroneck and the Village of Tarc1m nt along with Ms. Ng met with representatives of this department on November 4, 1992 to view new maps revised frau old urban-form maps which are now being called the "patterns map". They are trying to identify density and degree of use of areas, as well as, pin-pointing central business district areas. They are also doing an environmental features map and have asked the Town and Village to review the maps for accuracy as well as their draft on the goals and objectives of this project. In turn, the Town and Village would like CAC's comments. Federated Conservationists of Westchester County - Ms. Ng asked if CAC was interested in the one year membership renewal for $50. It was agreed to renew. NEW OR OTHER BUSINESS Wetlands Restoration - Mary Anne Johnson mentioned the Estuary Act that was introduced in April 1992 and another regarding sewage treatment and pollution control called the Edwards Wetlands Restoration Bill, both of which she feels should be supported. Both of these would help create jobs. Mamaroneck Village Trustee Neumeister has information which Mrs. Johnson could use to submit to the Town Board to obtain its support. Westchester County Planning Newsletter - Chairwoman Perez announced that the Board of Legislators authorized the purchase of three additional properties totalling 300 acres: Bald Mountain, Jay Estate, and Pocantico Lakes. The first two properties CAC had discussed in their letter to the County. The meeting adjourned at 10:45 p.m.