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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1977_03_24 Conservation Advisory Commission Minutes• MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF THE TOWN OF MAMARONECK • CONSERVATION ADVISORY COMMISSION A regular meeting of the Town of Mamaroneck Conservation Advisory Commission was held Thursday, March 24, 1977, at the Weaver Street Firehouse. • CALLED TO ORDER • The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL Members Present: Mr. Amlicke • Mr. DeSalvo Mr. Hohberg Mrs. Brauman Mr. Weitzner Mrs. Munzer - Emeritus Mrs. Johnson - Emeritus • Mrs. Fredston • Also Present: Mr. Leddy - Town Conservationist Mrs. Amlicke - L.I.F.E. Center • Seth Stein - Student Observer • MINUTES • 1: Annual Report The report is now ready for the printer. Our 1976 budget figures should show what projects are funded by federal revenue sharing. Tom Leddy will supply this data. Martha Munzer is to prepare an abstract of the report for the New York State DEC. • 2. Conservation Advisory Commission Membership Since Edith Silberstein resigned as representative from the Village of Mamaroneck, the name of. Jack Burke, a Biology teacher living in the village, is to be submitted to the Town Council to -1- replace her. Harold Weitzner will head a new C.A.C. division on Energy. Mr. Weitzner is to get in touch with John Perone in regard to his thoughts on Solar Energy. 3. Solid Waste Management and Recycling Mr. A. Del Bello called a meeting on March 7, 1977, of County legislators, officials and concerned environmentalists to give a status report on the County's Solid Waste Plan. Mr. Joe Vandernoot, Town Supervisor, Susan Amlicke, Chairman of L.I.F.E. Center, and Mrs. Brauman attended representing the Larchmont-Mamaroneck area. Attendance was small. Present with Mr. Del Bello, in addition to the Budget Director and County Attorney, were Mr. Frank Bohlander, Commissioner of Public Works, and representatives of Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. , engineering consultants to the County. Mr. Del Bello gave a brief history of the Solid Waste Disposal problem in Westchester and then proceeded to bring us up to date concerning recent developments. After one year of talks with Union Carbide with reference to the construction of a gas-producing disposal system at Grasslands, Mr. Del Bello broke off negotiations with that firm. He cited skyrocketing costs of the Purox process- and failure of Union Carbide to honor proper warranties as reasons for terminating negotiations. In defending his position against rising criticism of further delays and mismanagement, Mr. Del Bello said that the County has learned a great deal from the negotiations with Union Carbide and that only one part of the Plan has been delayed. : The second part , -2- work on the site in Yonkers, has been accelerated. R.F.P. 's (Requests for Proposals) from other companies are out now for the Yonkers site and are due by April 1 with a County commitment to put a proposal on the line this summer. New R.F.P. 's for Grasslands are due June 1. Ann Donaldson, FCWC, asked whether the County thought Malcolm - Pirnie is giving the proper environmental information to those companies who would give proposals or whether the Environmental • Impact Statement is written to justify the choice after the proposal • is accepted. She was assured that environmental assessments were ready for proposers at both Yonkers and Grasslands. It seems Mrs. .Donaldson and Richard Lewis, Environmental Consultant, were to meet with Mr. Bohiander and Malcolm Pirnie reps on March 10 to clear up some of her questions. As for the future, Mr. Del Bello expects a firm committtent•_ from each community for all waste collected and delivered to the County system. He is asking for legislation to •this effect and asked for support of the legislators on this major policy proposal. Questions arose as to whether a tonnage commitment would discourage recycling. Susan Amlicke cited our success with recycling and Mr. Vandernoot asked whether we would be allowed to continue selling our paper and glass. He was assured that we would. • Mr. Del Bello said the cost of any new disposal system would be on an ad valorem basis to each community. ?slat they were seeking was control over all waste in the County. Legislator Audrey Fochberg, D-Scarsdale, asked support of bottle legislation in Albany encouraging allcitizens to write their re- -3- • presentatives in support of the Smith/Cooperman beverage container bills. She also supported the idea of newsprint separation. The meeting closed with officials seemingly resigned to still further periods of controversy before Westchester's solid waste problems can be solved. 4. Environmental Quality Review Act Mr. DeSalvo attended a CEAC Briefing on March 3. The Purpose of the meeting was to instruct local governments on how to get legislation ready for SEQR. Mr. DeSalvo had a conversation with Town Attorney, Mr. Johnston, on the preparationof the draft legislation. He also briefed Mr. Johnston on the March 3 meeting and met with him on March 11. Mr. Johnston attended a Seminar on March. 8, at Pace. Mr. DeSalvo received the prepared draft legislation by March 23. Re commented that the draft needed input on Type I and II actions. In Section 10 B and D he questions whether the Town should get involved with the set-up of EIS. He requested further input from the Commission as soon as possible. The legislation will go on the books by April 1, however, no penalty will be effective until June 1, 1977. 5. Wetlands and Watercourses Mrs. Fredston attended a public hearing March 2 in New Rochelle conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers to designate an open water disposal site for dredged materials in Western Long Island Sound. Yacht Clubs, marinas and private property owners requested a resumption of dumping in Long Island Sound.at Eaton's Neck to maintain channels they claimed would and to protect property values. Lack of dredging, be a hardship. Federal agencies (EPA, NOAH) state agencies) private home owners (Paul Hoffman, Harvey Picker)) the Village of Mamaroneck -4- Harbor Commission and others testified to the immediate need of a dumping site. It seems that there is no reason to object to the interim use of Eaton's Neck as long as case by case projects are reviewed. This is not a blanket approval. It is a reasonable short term solution but we should urge that other solutions be probed, that a long- term management plan be formulated and that there is a continuous . OVERVIEW of the materials being dumped to be sure that they are "clean". New York and Connecticut are working on a bi-state management plan and will hold a workshop soon. Congressman Ottinger's Drafts Regarding Long Island Sound - Mrs. Fredston reviewed the Long Island Sound Compact, the Long Island Sound• Heritage Bill and other Coastal .Zone options. The compact joins Connecticut and New York with concurrent legislation by Congress to manage and control water and related resources of Long Island Sound into a comprehensive, multipurpose plan. It seems to Mgrs=_Fredston that the compact_is .a mish-mash and is not well thought out. There is no mention of Coastal Zone Management and the plan doesn't cover the whole area of the Sound (interstate transportation is not included). It is not directed towards existing • conditions of flood projects, of coastal zone problems or of state • programs such as tidal wetlands. It also fails to coordinate existing activities of New York and Connecticut while adding another layer to government. • The Long Island Heritage Plan hasn't got much to do with Coastal Zone Management. It authorizes the Secretary of Interim to acquire land when sufficient land has been acquired or donated, to provide an efficiently administrable unit, to establish the Long Island Heritage. Within the -two years of the enactment of the Heritage plan a -.5•- comphrensive plan for the protection, development and administration of Long Island Sound must be formulated with on-site hearings. The existing Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 with the 1976 amendments would be the best vehicle to protect Long Island Sound as well as the Hudson River. The State must come up with a plan and is being pushed to do so by the federal EPA. There is a letter • dated March 9 that if the state doesn't get going, fundsswill-not' continue. The letter further requires New York State to have a full time project coordinator for CZM within four months. Mrs. Fredston recommends that the C.A.C. or Town of Mamaroneck write to Congressman Ottinger commending his work but stating .that the compact is not what we need and would be very diffucult to get passed. Coastal Zone Management is the best approach and he should be urged to push for this. 6. Water Monitoring • 1. Weather permitting, each Wednesday is set aside for field work for both Chemical Science classes (12:40 p.m. to 2:40 p.m.). 2. Mr. Hohberg and his students are setting up more sophisticated sampling sites on our five rivers and two beaches. This includes setting up a baseline from which transects and samplings stations are positioned. A map which diagrams the forementioned is roughly drawn from each site. Included with this report are two sample maps, . one of Premium Mill Pond and Premium River and Oak Avenue. 3. Premium Mill Pond Water samples test out at QUO mg/1 free chlorine; 0.00mg/1 detergent and 3.8 ppm of. California crude oil. 4. Premium River and Oak Avenue water samples test out at 0.00 mg/1 free chlorine; 0.00 mg/1 detergent and 4.8 ppm (parts per million) California crude oil. -6- 5. These current tests confirm previous observations which show that as we proceed up the river (Premium and Pinebrook Rivers) the oil concentrations steadily increase. 6. Premium Marsh testing sites have not been decided on but initial field observations have provoked many questions. : a) What really is the source of the Premium River?r h) Are the pipes which lead into the Premium Marsh- call out pipes? c) Whatis causing"_the high level of hydrogen tulfide odor at the apparent source of the Premium River. d) Who is responsible for the dumping on the Premium Marsh Conservation Area? e) What mechanisms account for the filtering of oil by the Premium Marsh? 7. The recent heavy rain storm has caused the roof leaks over Mr. Hohberg's laboratory to widen. The,-result has been a ceiling collapse and were it not for buckets being placed, Town scientific equipment would have been damaged. Y r • 7. Miscellaneous 1. L.I.F.E. Center - CAC members are to receive copies of the LWV's report on returnable bottle legislation. The topic will then be discussed at the next C.A.C. meeting. Mrs. Amlicke complained about the situation at Village Ford and mentioned the need for trucks at Beautification Day. 2. The question of the postage Meter was tabled until the next meeting. 3. Nancy Hartford, of L.I.F.E. Center, will be asked to help stuffing envelopes for our fliers' insertion with the Town tax bill. 4. The appearance of the Recycling Station is still distressing. The.:C:A.C. will recommend to Mr. Kellogg that the young man who does the Saturday clean-up job be replaced. 5. Composting at Flint Park raises some questions as well as some thoughts about danger to the marsh due to improper drainage. Tom Leddy is to consult with Larry Lowy in regard to drainage. • It is also suggested that a plan be submitted to show how the fill will finally look. Elinor Fredston will follow up on this matter. 6. Mr. Amlicke has named Mr. DeSalvo, Mrs. Fredston and Mr. Gunsalus to the County Environmental Advisory Council. 7. Mr. Amlicke would like to investigate ,a:>match*ngr.;tc?1i grant program that helps fund local C.A.C.'s compiling of a Natural Resource Inventory. As we will be updating and revising our own inventory in the future, such a grant program would be most helpful in defraying some of the costs. Next meeting scheduled for April 28. . . C car-`ik ‘3;\ i t `-'V") ° C\''N 'CI \\Ati f ` P1!U Cts `t M. 'i C! t .` i i v" f i t � i 11 .1.( ) $ i I t � J1.�' 11 .tea } tj ..4 `�7,�'j� ..- t ji..1 ",,,--N1/4, I -,..., ‘ y (,71, : 1 o•it li t\- \ . 1 i 1 tr ( it( V' ''. 11 . .:G.:.rzsz.....Q=2Ja �..:zati[.:w.a2Ci=a:. •s!.,,•.n ,�r,iv..,:.:ii::.'...-..,._ .. .;.Ld:.::L7i,..^.iY.i^ii"u:+'3.==.717.r,:.::a_^a:a....,. 6,. 1s r•:e: :, -..r. __•i ti .,...+ �.�' 5 ..10 .r'•.l� _... ti ,.ice+ ��k 1 ��',)e...c.‘- (( 4'\1+�a.-- Jo`6 �a.e.) ‘ 0c6',Jc 7 11 0 A h‘k..)cf) e. -0a 0 lr.. i •3 /.4e 0