HEMPSTEAD HARBOR PROTECTION COMMITTEE
FINAL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting of January 14, 2004
Sea Cliff Village Hall – 7:30 pm
NOTE: Items Requiring Action are Underlined in Bold
Present: Eric Swenson (Director), Tom Ryan (Oyster Bay), Aldona Lawson (Oyster Bay), Kevin Braun (N. Hempstead), Len Shaw (Roslyn), Dan Maddock (Sea Cliff), Ken Arnold (Nassau County DPW), Pasqua Dziadul (Sands Point), Carol DiPaolo (Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor)
Discussion:
I Call to Order at 7:35 pm.
II Approval of Minutes of November 12, 2003 meeting – Approved with no corrections or
additions. Motion by Dan Maddock, Seconded by Len Shaw. Approved unanimously.
III Municipal Reports –
North Hempstead – Kevin reported that the Town is undergoing some reorganization in conjunction with the new administration. Bill, Eric and Kevin will meet with new Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman on January 20th at 10:00 am. The Town has also solicited proposals for its Townwide trail and is currently reviewing the responses. The Town is also considering whether or not to develop a steep slope ordinance. If so, Eric will speak to Dave Wasserman about joining forces with the Committee on this since the development of a model ordinance on steep slopes and sediment and erosion control is one of the goals of the Committee. Kevin also mentioned that the soil erosion problems at the residential construction site on Scudder’s Lane in Glenwood Landing have been resolved. The developer has properly installed 70 hay bales and silt fencing and is tearing down and rebuilding its retaining wall. In addition, they have cleaned out the storm drains along the road and the road has been swept several times.
Oyster Bay – Eric reported that the Town had adjourned its hearing on the Pisciotta property until January 20th in order to give time to the Nassau County Planning Commission to make its decision on the subdivision approval. The Town also recently held its hearing on the Glenwood Landing rezoning proposal. The Town Board reserved its decision (which is typical in such cases).
Roslyn – Len reported that the Village has approved the modifications to the Forest City Daly housing project and that the developer’s traffic consultant has made some recommendations for traffic changes at the Northern Blvd / Bryant Avenue intersection and surrounding area. Discussion ensued as to whether or not to invite the developer to a future meeting. Eric will discuss the matter with Bill.
Sands Point – Pasqua reported that their Village Clerk (Linda Mitchell) has left and that someone has been hired to replace her.
Nassau County – Ken noted that the County is revising its onsite stormwater retention requirements. All subdivisions including senior housing complexes will be required to retain an 8 inch storm on site. Ken also obtained and distributed copies of a form developed by the DEC for municipalities to report their compliance with the Phase II regulations. Ken will e-mail an electronic version to Eric who will then distribute it to all Committee Members. The County will shortly be contacting municipalities to advise them of what efforts the County has undertaken under its Phase II Stormwater Notice of Intent. One of the items to be included is the water sampling that the County has undertaken in a number of streams in the County. Finally, the County has issued an RFP for its Adopt a Waterway signage program.
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January 14, 2004
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Sea Cliff – Dan mentioned that the Village lost part of its bulkhead to erosion south of the small County park near the Village Beach. This bulkhead, which will support a portion of the proposed boardwalk, will be replaced. The Village has requested Expressions of Interest for its $ 2M Waterfront Revitalization Program (funded with NYSDOT TEA-21 funds). This will include re-doing the walkways from Cliff Way to The Boulevard. On the Hin Fin developer’s request for Village permission to run a sewer line along Shore Road / Prospect Avenue, the Village had an Engineer look at the issue and the Village is awaiting the receipt of the DEIS before taking any action. Dan also mentioned that the Village of Roslyn Harbor is considering instituting an Article 78 Proceeding to challenge the Village of Roslyn’s approval of the Forest City Daly modifications.
IV Civic Group Updates –
Coalition to Save Hempstead Harbor –The LISS’s hearings on its Stewardship System have been scheduled. One will be held on March 16th in Huntington. Others will be held at Alley Pond Park on March 2nd and SUNY Stony Brook on March 3rd. All meetings are at 7:00 pm. Details can be found at: http://www.longislandsoundstudy.net/events/stewardship_04.htm
The Coalition (as well as HHPC) has sent a letter to Nassau County DPW Commissioner Gerbasi regarding the problems with a county storm drain on Shore Road by the picnic area at Tappen Beach. The County responded that it is having its engineers look into the matter.
The Coalition has also sent comments to the EPA on the Draft EIS for the designation of long term dredge disposal sites in Long Island Sound. The group feels that ultimately, other options should be explored rather than relying solely on disposal in Long Island Sound.
The Coalition also intends on sending comments to EPA on the proposal of “blending” heavy flows of stormwater with treated sewage effluent at municipal treatment plants. Under the proposal, stormwater would undergo primary treatment (which would remove floatables, etc.) and some chlorination but would bypass secondary treatment. While, this would tend to decrease the quality of the effluent somewhat, the EPA nevertheless feels that affected plants would be able to meet their SPDES effluent requirements. Since Nassau and Suffolk Counties do not have combined sewer overflow (CSO) systems, this proposal does not affect Long Island sewage treatment plants. However, the presence of CSOs in New York City and elsewhere in the Long Island Sound watershed does mean that this proposal will have some impact on the estuary. The Coalition would prefer a goal of adequate on-site retention.
Finally, Carol reported that it appears that the State will be switching to an enterococcus standard rather than a coliform standard for determining beach closures. It is anticipated that the new, supposedly more protective standard, will result in more beach closures than in the past with the result being a public perception of deteriorating water quality when in reality, the quality has been improving. Eric will attempt to have John Jacobs from the County Health Department speak at the next meeting.
V Subcommittee Reports
Outreach & Public Education – Aldona and Eric emphasized the need for additional members for the outreach subcommittee. Decisions need to be made on the Coastal Signage designs; a public meeting needs to be arranged and advertised on the Draft Harbor Management Plan; a public education campaign needs to be designed on pet waste management; public education components in our Phase II NOI and in various grants need to be addressed, among others.
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In light of the above, an Outreach Subcommittee meeting will be held on January 21st at 9:30 am at the Town of Oyster Bay Department of Environmental Resources conference room in Syosset. All are encouraged (urged) to attend.
VI Announcements, Updates & Upcoming Events
Bill and Eric and Jennifer Wilson-Pines from the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee met last week with Peter Scully, the new DEC Regional Director. Both Committees brought Mr. Scully up to date on their history and activities and discussion ensued on some of the current issues. Mr. Scully offered his support of our efforts and expressed interest in spending a good part of a day with us to tour the harbors by boat and by land in the spring.
The Manhasset Bay Protection Committee is losing its part time Director (Jen Thalhauser – who is leaving to accept a position with the Army Corps of Engineers) effective January 15th. An announcement was released advertising the vacant position. Anyone interested in the MBPC Director position should contact the Manhasset Bay Protection Committee.
VII Funding Update
Nassau County funding contract – The County Legislature is expected to approve the contract on January 26th. It will then go to the Deputy County Executive for signature.
2003 Dues – with Oyster Bay’s recent payment, all members have now paid with the exception of The City of Glen Cove and Nassau County.
VIII KeySpan Update
KeySpan has reportedly prepared a response to our October, 2003 letter. It was not received in
time for this meeting.
IX Harbor Management Plan
The Committee and the consultant (Cashin Associates) have established a revised schedule. The revised, final draft plan will be completed in time for our next Full Committee meeting (February 11th). The Committee will then review it and a public meeting will be held in early March with the final plan completed by March 31st. Simultaneously, each municipality will initiate the SEQR process so that their determinations can be finalized prior to March 31st. Eric will forward a sample resolution and instructions to each municipality as soon as possible. [NOTE: It has since been determined that this should be classified as a Type I SEQR review and one member municipality should assume lead agency status. The Town of North Hempstead has agreed to seek lead agency status].
The Committee had discussed the possibility of meeting with Port Jefferson officials to discuss implementation strategy. The Committee felt that this would be best done after the document is completed.
The written boundary description submitted by Sands Point appears to be a metes and bounds description of its zoning map, rather than the actual village boundary. Pasqua will check to see if there is a metes and bounds or written description of the water-side boundaries of the village and advise Eric as soon as possible.
X Coastal Interpretive Signage Program
Our consultant, Paul Singer Design, has prepared the draft plan for the five sign categories that
we selected. Hard copies were distributed at the meeting and Eric had distributed electronic
versions. The review team will review this and provide comments to Eric by January 21st.
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January 14, 2004
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XI My Pet Protects Hempstead Harbor Program
The LISS sent out a press release announcing its small grants, including the Committee’s for pet waste education (“My Pet Protects Hempstead Harbor”). The Associated Press called Eric on this and the Committee’s project was mentioned in AP stories that appeared in a number of Connecticut daily papers as well as Newsday.
XII Phase II Measurable Goals Progress
[see Nassau County announcements above]
The Committee will meet with Nassau County on January 21st following the Outreach Subcommittee meeting to discuss coordination of Phase II goals.
XIII Next Meeting Date: February 11, 2004 at 7:30 pm at Roslyn Village Hall
The meeting adjourned at approximately 9:30 pm