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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991_06_06 Conservation Advisory Commission Minutes C C APPROVED Town of Mamaroneck Conservation Advisory Commission Ar 740 West Boston Post Road Mamaroneck, N.Y. 10543 Q� PdLCti gNPs�y914-381-6133 QPa � MINUTES JUNE 6, 1991 A regular meeting of the Conversation Advisory Commission (CAC) was held on Thursday, June 6, 1991, in Conference Room A of the Town Center, 740 West Boston Post Road, Mamaroneck, New York. The meeting commenced at 8:15 P.M. Members Present: Charles Bernstein Susan Cavalieri Sandy Feldman Edward M. Hindin Martha Kaufman Michael Scheffler Others Present: Mary Farrell, Recording Secretary Mary Anne Johnson, Emeritus Bill Littauer, 6 Knollwood Drive Claudia Ng, Environmental Coordinator Kathleen O'Flinn, Town Councilwoman William O'Gorman, Larchmont Garden Association, VP Mr. & Mrs. Jean Plumez, 90 Beach Tree Drive Kevin Ryan, Village of Larchmont Trustee Gladys Sherak, former member Gene Tashoff, Larchmont Gardens Association ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Ms. O'Flinn was the Acting Chairman for this meeting because a new chairman had not yet been appointed. Approval of Minutes - The minutes of May 2, 1991 were approved with minor corrections. Membership - There is a new member ,Martha Gershon, who is from the Village of Larchmont. Unfortunately, she could not be present this evening. There are still two openings for Village of Mamaroneck residents, which they are publicizing as much as possible to try and fill these vacancies. Ms. Ng read two letters to the Commission: one from Kevin Ryan regarding his resignation and one from Mrs. Calman thanking the CAC for their support at the passing away of CAC member Herbert Calman. Next Meeting - The next meeting will be on Tuesday, July 9, 1991. CAC Minutes 6/6/91 Page 2 TASKFORCE REPORTS Conservation Areas/Work Plan - A discussion ensued in regard to getting CAC recommended projects accomplished for the Premium and other Conservation Areas. Ms. Ng spoke to Benny of Highway Department and hopefully at least the plaque can be put at the Premium in the next month or two. The CAC stated that they have not gotten very far with the Highway Department in the past 1 1/2 years so they would like the Town Council to set some priorities for them. Ms. O'Flinn said she will have a meeting with Ms. Silverstone and Ms. Ng and see what can be accomplished over the next 12 months and she will report back at CAC's next meeting. Mr. Hindin said what we need is (1) an agreement of scope of the larger projects and (2) some kind of schedule for next 12 months as to what will be done. Landscaping/Maintenance Pamphlet - The Town Newsletter just went out and an introduction to a regular CAC column was included on the back page as discussed previously. The Newsletter usally goes out quarterly with the next issue due out around September or October. Ms. O'Flinn said that the CAC should be ready for the next issue by August and they should know who will be writing it. The Taskforce includes Mr. Hindin, Mrs. Feldman and Mrs. Cavalieri. Mary Anne Johnson volunteered to help. It was also decided that the logo to be used on their section would be the same as CAC has on its stationary. The taskforce will meet at 7 p.m. on July 9th. Environmental/Education Curriculum - Mrs. Kaufman reported that she had spoken to several teachers at Chatsworth about having children write a guide to the Conservation Areas and they were very excited about the idea. This is a new project for the children which CAC would like to see implemented in the Fall. This project will help the children become involved and also will let children get to know their environment. The children will actually write the pamphlet and CAC will then organize and add in the pertinent facts. Mr. Scheffler made the suggestion to meet with CAC members and invite a few people from the Life Center to discuss this. Mrs. Kaufman will set up a meeting within the next two weeks. HILLTOP ROAD CONSERVATION AREA The CAC letter was given to the Town Board, Supervisor Caroline Silverstone approved of CAC's recommendations. Ms. O'Flinn found spots to put the plants to be removed from Hilltop. However, there was an oversight in that nobody informed Mrs. Livingston of the plans. When the Town Highway men came to remove the plants, Mrs. Livingston came out very upset and obstructed the work. Supervisor Silverstone and Town Administrator Mr. Steve Altieri went and spoke to the Livingstons. Only one shrub had been extracted and was left in the Livingston's driveway after Mr. Livingston confessed that it was theirs. Everything was put on hold until the proper notification letters were sent. The Town would then remove the plants. CAC Minutes 6/6/91 Page 3 • CONSULTANT/LIAISON REPORTS Village of Larchmont - Mr. Ryan advised the CAC that the Village of Larchmont Board is gearing up on the recycling issues and feels that if the Recycling Task Force is resurrected that the CAC should have a formal representative on it. He advised the CAC and the Town Board at this time because he said it will start to be discussed in the near future at the meetings. Water Testing - Ms. O'Flinn inquired what kind of action does the CAC intend to take, if any, in regards to Mr. Hohberg's requests about the certification of a lab. Many questions came up: (1) What is to be accomplished here? , (2) Do we need to be in the water testing business if someone else does it? Ms.Ng made several telephone inquiries to find out more about certified labs and she reports the following information: (1) According to Tom Guinon of the Larchmont Water Company there are only 3 local communities with their own certified lab (Ossining, Yonkers, and Larchmont) and they are paid by the respective water works companies in their municipalities, (2) his company cannot do testing for other muncipalities because they basically do not have the time to do additional work, (3) the Westchester County Lab is open to the public for a fee. She noted that Westchester Joint Water Works takes their samples to this County Lab which is in Valhalla. However, since they have as ® many as 100 samples per month to process, they would appreciate having a certified lab more local to go to. It also looks like it is the person that gets certified and not just lab itself. There are things that could be considered a community service for example lead testing. Mr. Scheffler suggested inviting Mr. Hohberg to the next meeting to discuss the entire matter and to give the CAC background on exactly what he is doing and what he hopes to accomplish here. Mr. Hindin stated that we should get some information from the Town to see if they want to get involved with certification. Ms. O'Flinn said that since he has approached the CAC, then the CAC should do the groundwork and present the case to the Town on whether or not the CAC thinks this should be done or not. Mr. Hindin mentioned there are certain responsibilities once you get involved with public health and liability. Mr. Ryan said he would like to know what Mr. Hohberg cost would be as compared to the Westchester County Health Department's. ENVIRONMENTAL COORDINATOR REPORTS Annual Report - Ms. O'Flinn said that the Annual Report was due. This year Ms. Ng will prepare a draft of the report and send it out for the Commission's review. However, next year the procedure will return to having each member write up their own work. Earthday Funds - $500.00 for the recycling storage shed project at Mamaroneck High School has been issued and they have broken ground. GAC Minutes 6/6/91 Page 4 Gannett Newspaper - Ms. Ng was advised by one of the reporters that they will be expanding the reporting for local news starting July 15th. They have added more reporters. There is going to be a reporter assigned full time to the School District and the Town is getting a new reporter. They also claim that any local news you send in they will print. NYS DEC - Ms Kaufman will accompany Ms. Ng to the NYS DEC meeting at the County Office Building on June 25, 1991. This is an annual meeting for CAC's and EMC's to report to the NYS officials for monetary reimbursement under the Local Environmental Assistance Program. NEW OR OTHER BUSINESS Conservation/Recreation Zoning Proposal - Ms. O'Flinn advised the CAC that the draft GEIS has been released and is available for reading. This is a study in preparation for a possible zoning changes on the golf courses. The purpose of this study is to preserve open spaces. There will be hearings held on the DGEIS in the Court Room on June 17 and 18 and July 1st if needed. The deadline for written comments to be accepted will be July 15. The purpose of these hearings is for residents to come in and give their opinion. At the hearing there will be an oral version of the Executive Summary and then they will take any questions. She said that the Town Board is very interested in CAC's opinion and that CAC should be represented at these hearings and have some written commments on this. Ms. Ng explained that you are supposed to be commenting on the completeness of the Environmental Impact Statement not on whether or not you like the idea. Your comments should be involved with making sure all the issues have been addressed, the accuracy of the study and what the impact is on the environment, specifically CAC matters. Mr. Ryan stated two things to look for when reading the DGEIS; in New York State there are 2 substantive requirements for an action to be appropriate or selected: (1) it has to be the one which meets the objectives of the proposed action with the least impact on the environment, consistent with the social and economic factors, and (2) there must be mitigation measures to minimize unavoidable environmental impacts to the maximum extent practicable, also consistent with the social and enconomic factors. In addition, he made the suggestion to invite a member from the CZMC to the meeting to compare notes. A discussion was held as to the best way to accomplish this in light of the time element and it was decided to (1) Send CAC members copies of the Executive Summary, (2) All members would send written comments to Claudia by June 26 and she will forward copies to other members for review by June 28, (3) All members should review the actual report and should contact Claudia to arrange a schedule (4) finalize all comments in a draft at the next CAC meeting. Sale of Town Lands - Ms. O'Flinn said a few meetings ago the Town Board had decided after an inventory of vacant land had been done that there were several pieces of Town property that should be put up for auction. One of the properties is at the end of Locust Ridge Road. She then introduced a couple of town residents present at the meeting this evening who had expressed some concern that this property may not be ideal property to be auctioned off because it borders the Leatherstocking Trail. The floor was then opened for comments. CAC Minutes 6/6/91 Page 5 Mrs. Plumez then said this property is approximately 2 acres that run along the Leatherstocking Trail and it is close to the New Rochelle border. Two problems with this is: (1) visual impact (new housing to be seen from Trail) and (2) wetlands problem. We have gotten together with about 20 of our neighbors and submitted a petition of residents who are outraged by this matter and who are directly impacted by this. Mr. Littauer has a similar petition from area residents who would like to preserve area as is because they feel there is so little green space left in the Town of Mamaroneck. Ms. O'Flinn added that at the Town Board meeting the previous night that the Town of Mamaroneck had decided to pull back this particular property from the auction block indefinitely so they can take a better look at it. Mr. Scheffler said this was the first time he had heard of this and was surprized that it was never put on the CAC agenda. Ms. O'Flinn suggested that a visit to the property be planned with all CAC members and residents. They can discuss their findings at the next meeting following that visit and give the Town Board their input. Several questions from the CAC members were: (1) has there been an Environmental Assessment Form on this property, (2) why wasn't CAC notified first for their input (3) does the Town have a policy on disposition of land and if they do not should a recommendation be made that certain groups should be notified so that they can be involved? Ms. O'Flinn said that the Town Board did not realize that this property was adjacent to a Conservation Area. She will also find out if these 4 are the only properties that are up for auction and if it is too late to have input and secondly whether or not the Town has a policy on this matter. Mr. Hindin made a motion to ask the Town to establish a policy and procedure for the disposition of land, which includes review by appropriate Town bodies. A second motion was to recommend that all these properties be taken off the auction block until the CAC can review them. Ms. Ng was instructed to send a copy of the list of properties up for auction along with maps to the members. A site visit to Locust Ridge will be coordinated at the next meeting. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m.