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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-02-09 Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel MinutesPenjajarl Watershed Citizen Review Panel Wednesday, February 9,2011@ 12:OOpm Rangeley Hall, EMCC The Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel met at Rangeley Hall at 12:00 pm. In attendance were panel members Tom Davis, George Elliott, James Gaiety, Bob Quirk, Valerie Carter, Jim Tyler, Blame Oeschaine, and staff members Art Morgan and Wendy Warren, and consultant, ChM Bigelow (Sewall Co.). 1. Approval of Minutes The minutes from the September 15 Cap meeting were approved. 2. Stormwater Utility Feasibility Study Update—Wendy Warren The timeline for the utility was presented and discussed. The preliminary SW Utility budge was reviewed again, presenting the new column of Information and the backup information that describes what work Is already being done by Ciry staff and being paid for within the current City budget. That amount is estimated at $416. It was noted that coincidentally, the amount that the City would need to pay from the General Fund if it rmade to pay for streets and Its own properties, is about $SOOK (almost equal to the amountthe Crywould be removing from lrs budget). Members noted that we should npt discuss mese two issues together if we can help it, as it may seem planned. In providing an update on the status of the outreach plan, members suggested staff develop an Opinion Etlitorial for the Bangor Daily News or contact the Editorial Board to e about printing an ongoing article. Also a press conference was mentioned, Perhaps surrounding certain documents that are planned to be published such as the white paperon credits. These would help guide the public relations effort. It was noted that PJK was being asked t0 help setup meetings with key non -profits to meet with staff. Members noted that we should try to get the largest of the nonprofit sectors on board first, for example the largest church, largest healthcare, etc. Some mentioned United Way, EMCC, Husson University, etc. Members discussed various strategies for approaching a decision making effort for the sW Utility. It was suggested that we table the SW Utilirytill July, ash may make sense towalt till after the Arena is voted onto bring up the SW Utility for a vote. It was noted that we need to highlight that this is absolutely mandatory. The consequences of this are unknown. Committee determined that Paul should consult Sean Mahomyto gauge the risk. 3. Data Collection Update—Chet Bigelow A written report and brief overview was provided by Chet Bigelow, the project manager from Sewall who has been contracted to gather data from the sampling sites on our five impaired streams. Chet mentioned that what we are measuring are minimal efforts in terms of water quality standards. He highlighted two violations of disaolved oxygen standards for Class B streams. Chit also reviewed the recommendations that are included In the report for future monitoring. He noted that total phosphorus, nitrogen, and turbidity are some of the importantfactorsto measure. Healsonotedthatwe should be measuring twice a month to get more robust information. He added that Maaoinvertebrate sampling should also be stepped up beyond the 1 in 5 years that DEP conducts this sampling. The preliminary SW Utility budget Includes money for all of the moria recommended by Chet. The Stream Team is also doing monitoring, and has about two years of data at about eight stations. Cho would like to marry this data with the Sewall data, but it would be time consuming. It Is too earlyto tell whether or not recently installed BMPs will have a positive Impact on the stream, since they were only completed last fall. We will not have data an how we are doing for at least five years, as trends can be lost in the noise of changing condRions from year to year. 6. CRP as a City wide Group — Brad Moore Brad Moore, the superintendent of the wastewater treatment plant, described the reasoning for the CRP to become a atywide group. HeofferedthelMestdraftofthe charter for membersto review and commenton. It was noted that the survey Indicated most members would be willing to stay an if the committee changed to Citywide. This will be a City Council decision. With regard to the Charter, R was noted that the language states that a written report shall be developed annually to describe the activities and efforts of the CRP. The mmume recollected that we made a verbal report to the Infrastructure Committee, but not a written report Staff agreed to review the requirements set forth in the charter and make sure we are completing all the tasks within It. 1 Other Business The meeting concluded at approximately 2_00pm.