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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-28 Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel Minutes Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel Wednesday, May 28, 2010 @ 12:00pm Rangeley HaII, EMCC Minutes The Penjajawoc Watershed Citizen Review Panel met at Rangeley Hall at 12:00 pm. In attendance were panel members George Elliott,Tom Davis,James Gerety,Vice-Chair Joyce Hedlund, Chair John Cashwell, Benita Deschaine, Lucy Quimby,Trish Hayes, and Bob Quirk, and staff members Jim Ring and Paul Nicklas. 1. Focus Group The CRP participated in a focus group led by Packard Judd Kaye, consultants for the City regarding the stormwater utility district feasibility study. 2. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the April 7, 2010 meeting were approved with changes. 3. Membership Replacement The CRP recommended Dan Belyea, Facilities Manager at EMCC, as a replacement for Joyce Hedlund when she steps down in June. EMCC is a large part of the Penjajawoc watershed, and the City has worked with Dan in the past on stormwater-related matters. He also has Joyce's recommendation. The Panel elected to hold off on recommending a replacement for Vice-Chair. 4. Expanding the CRP Citywide Staff has proposed expanding the CRP to cover the entire City, not just the Penjajawoc Watershed. When the CRP was originally proposed, making it Citywide was considered, but the decision was made to concentrate on the Penjajawoc, as that was the watershed of greatest concern at the time. Even then,though,there was talk of eventually expanding the CRP to deal with the rest of the City as well. Several recent developments make the proposed expansion timely: the Penjajawoc Watershed Management Plan was finally formally passed by the City Council; the stormwater utility district feasibility study is underway; and other streams are gaining in prominence, notably Birch Stream,for which a draft watershed management plan was recently introduced to stakeholders. It was suggested that a citywide CRP should have representatives for Arctic Brook, Birch Stream,the downtown, and an additional nonprofit representative. It was then noted that John Cashwell already lives in the Arctic Brook watershed and Bob Quirk has property in the Birch Stream watershed. Reverend Bob Carlson was mentioned as a potential nonprofit representative. The mission and purpose statements in the charter may need to be changed,given the new focus of the Panel. If the group will be in existence for an extended period of time, staggering terms may also be wise. The number of commercial property owners could be raised to accommodate the new territory. When the charter was originally drafted,though,there was a balance sought between the number of commercial property owners and the number of environmental organization members, and adding to both would quickly result in an unwieldy group. A couple of references to the Penjajawoc in the charter were marked for deletion. 5. Other Business Expansion of the CRP will go to the Infrastructure Committee at its next meeting. The Birch Stream Watershed Management Plan, CRP minutes and agendas, and a three-hole punch will be brought to the next CRP meeting so members can add them to their binders. The next meeting of the CRP will be scheduled via an online poll.