HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-17 Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Minutes
Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Minutes
Councilors Attending: Gerry Palmer, Patricia Blanchette, Richard Bronson, David Nealley, Peter
D’Errico, Susan Hawes, Harold Wheeler, Geoffrey Gratwick
Staff Attending: Ed Barrett, Jim Ring, Rebecca Hupp, Paul Nicklas
Others Attending:
Committee convened at 5:00 p.m.
1. Continued Discussion: Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel – Draft Charter
Councilor Blanchette said that currently they were in the process of setting up a
workshop where this would be the only topic on the agenda. She also commented that
this would affect Bangor for years to come. Paul Nicklas stated the workshop would
include the watershed/stormwater in general. The Committee wanted to do something
with the CRP, which was one aspect of the watershed plan, or would they prefer to have
a discussion and delay until after the workshop meeting. Councilor Blanchette was
concerned about how the City would be best represented- not include just people from
the Penjajawoc watershed area. She also noted there would be other watersheds
including Birch Stream and Artic Brook. Councilor Wheeler recalled Tim Woodcook’s
statement regarding pursuing one to two members of the public to be appointed and
was supportive. Councilor Bronson noted a number of alarming items in the charter and
asked if at the workshop they would go over the charter. Councilor Nealley opinion was
that the Council should be directly involved, especially in a multi-million dollar
watershed. He was concerned the City was not involved from the ground level
regarding the report that went to DEP. The Watershed Management Plan should go
back to Council for approval. Councilor Gratwick thought a workshop would be
appropriate. He turned to Staff and asked if one larger group should deal with all the
watersheds or deal with them individually and stated he was biased that these issues
were best done by a sub-committee. Ed stated the City was required by DEP to have a
stakeholder process. He noted to put the watershed plan together and have a group
that the City is keeping up to date and dealing with. The stakeholders would change
over time and they currently were in the process of doing this in five different
watersheds. He informed the Committee there would be a Birch Stream meeting on
Thursday at 5:30. He was in hopes of pulling them together as a single process. Much
of the work required to be done, was not on public property, but on private. The
process was very time consuming and placed a huge demand on the Staff to work with
all these groups and individuals. Jim Ring pointed out to keep in mind why they were
doing a Watershed Management Plan and the potential implications if not done. And
advised they would not be “off the hook” to bring the streams into a Class B standard.
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The CRP was proposed because the Penjajawoc was further along in the process than
the other impaired watersheds. Councilor Nealley suggested hiring a consultant or
attorney with national credentials to review what’s been done thus far to assure
consistency for all stakeholders as well as for the City. He pointed out the Feds and
State would try to bring the City into liability and would try to increase the standards.
Councilor Blanchette suggested that changes or questions for Paul, Jim, or Ed should be
presented to them before the workshop. Ed stated the Penjajawoc watershed plan was
a plan to do a plan, written very generally and there would be lots of other decisions
that would have to be made. This was just the first set of hurdles. All information is
provided on the City’s website and urged the Committee to review. He stated the City
was working with CH2Stormhill, which is a national firm, who is reviewing all the work
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done to date. There would be a meeting on February 27. They were also working
with Sewall who has someone on staff that was a well recognized expert on Watershed
Management Plans and was working on Birch Stream. Councilor Blanchette inquired as
to the date of the workshop and invited the public to provide their names to the City
Manager and City Engineer to be included in the email distribution list for that date. She
also suggested holding a double meeting for those who were not able to attend at night.
At 5:37:37 Councilor Gratwick moved and it was seconded to go into Executive Session
on item #2, consultation with City Solicitor regarding agreement for FAA 1 M.R.S.A.
§405 (E).
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