WATERSHED ACTION PLAN TO BE APPROVED FEBRUARY 13th!!! For more information, contact Jenny Pereira at 455-8880, jpereira@providenceplan.org Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council Minutes of December 5, 2000 Meeting Attendance: Members: Moe Bourget, North Smithfield Land Trust; Don Driscoll, Glocester; Christopher Hawkins, Smithfield Town Planner; Bruce Hooke, Providence; Jean Lynch, Johnston; Eugenia Marks, Audubon Society; Jane Sherman, Chair; Jenny Pereira, Project Coordinator. Guests: Alan Haberstack, Kleinschmidt Associates; Charlie Hawkins, Office of Senator Chafee; Johanna Hunter, River Navigator; Scott Millar, RI DEM; Fred Presley, Watershed Coordinator; Melanie Rawlins, Brown University. The minutes from the November meeting were approved as written. Introductions and Announcements: Jenny Pereira was introduced as the Council's new Project Coordinator. The Council was awarded a $30,000 "Watershed Assistance Grant" (WAG)! Jane Sherman announced the exciting news that the Council was one of the select few watershed organizations to receive a grant from EPA's national Watershed Assistance Grant program, administered by the non profit organization, River Network. The money will be used to help fund the coordinator position. Updates Riparian Restoration and Monitoring project pre-proposal: Fred Presley reported that the money has been awarded, but funds won't be available until after the receipt of the award letter which is expected in January. Scott Millar emphasized that the money has been awarded, it's just a matter of paperwork until RFPs can go out. Urban Rivers Meeting: Jenny Pereira reported that attendees at the 12/5/00 Urban Rivers Meeting reviewed superfund comments submitted by Jane Sherman, Eugenia Marks, and RI DEM. Eagle Square was also discussed. The majority of the meeting was devoted to discussing the draft Watershed Action Plan. Fred asked for comments by January 9. The next Urban Rivers meeting will focus solely on the Plan and is scheduled for Tuesday, February 13 at 5:00pm at RIDEM offices. Superfund comments: Jane handed out copies of her comments that were submitted to the EPA on Dec.4 Eagle Square Development: Jane, Johanna, Fred, and representatives from the Providence Parks Dept. will meet on 12/6 to discuss the bike path and riverbank width and plantings. Charlie Hawkins voiced concerns over the lack of sufficient pedestrian/public transportation access to the proposed development as 43% of area residents do not have cars. Eugenia suggested that creating picnic areas would entice businesses to the development and might therefore motivate the developer to consider design alterations. She also asked how we could address liability concerns. Jane said that there is no objection to a fence, that would protect the public and the river, but to the type of fencing being proposed (chain link). An informational meeting is scheduled for December 19th. A public hearing will be held at some later date. Bylaw Review: Don Driscoll reported that he and Jane will continue to review Bylaws. Jane is seeking clarification on a eligibility requirement for TAG (Technical Assistance Grants) regarding Council membership. Portland Oregon Meeting: Johanna met with representatives from the other American Heritage Rivers at a conference in Portland, Oregon from November 15-17 to review progress and develop strategies for the future. Johanna reported that it was a productive meeting and in break-out sessions, attendees worked to figure out how to make the program sustainable and less vulnerable to political changes. Johanna suggested the Council write a letter to the EPA recognizing the important contributions of the River Navigator. Bureau of Land Management workshop: Jane handed out letters and application forms for the "Grant Writing for Conservation" workshop which will be held Tuesday May 15 through Thursday May 17. Jane wants to offer the opportunity to watershed communities first. Invitations will be extended outside of the watershed after January 3, space permitting. RI Habitat Restoration meeting: Jenny handed out information on grants available through the Wetland Reserve Program, administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Through this program, landowners may receive payments for restoring and protecting agriculturally degraded wetlands on their property. The agricultural connection is loosely defined and includes any historic association. There is a push to fund projects in the New England region. Jenny got mixed messages regarding the availability of funding for the WHIP (Wildlife Habitat Improvement Plan) grants. DOT enhancement grants were brought up at this meeting also. Jenny talked to Tom Queenan who said grants may be available in a year and to check back with him in about 8 months. Charlie Hawkins is a good source of information for these grants. Newsletter: Everyone agreed the new format looks great. Good job Dani Simons! A question was raised about the mailing list and if town administrators are receiving the newsletters. Jenny will follow up on this. Web Page: The Council web site is up and running! Melanie Rawlins put the web pages up on a screen for viewing and asked the Council for their impressions, including whether or not the site meets the Council's information needs, and what information we want the web-surfing public to see when they visit the site. General comments regarding format are also requested. Don Driscoll questioned the vocabulary level used and said we should consider that 25% of Internet users read below the sixth grade level. There was also discussion over the target audience for the site and whether, in addition to providing the Council with information, it should also serve as a resource for general information about the Woonasquatucket watershed. The issue of registering the site with search engines and associated fees was raised. The web site address is http://envstudies.brown.edu/woon. Forward all comments to Melanie at 831-5233, Melanie_Rawlins@brown.edu. Watershed Action Plan Fred is looking for feedback on the latest draft of the Action Plan. Fred attached the comments submitted by the Office of Water Resources, to serve as a guide. These comments include a project "wish list." Fred emphasized that this is a community plan and comments from the Council are critical to developing a document that reflects the needs of the watershed communities. Jenny will meet with planners for their input. Jane encouraged people to think broadly. Comments and/or suggestions are due into Fred Presley (fpresley@dem.state.ri.us, 222-3434 ext. 4417) no later than January 9. The Watershed Council will review, amend if necessary, and approve the Action Plan at our regularly scheduled meeting on February 6th. The updated draft plan will be distributed to Council members at least one week prior to the meeting. Riparian Forest Buffer Development Project Alan Haberstack reported that he and Rob Klosowski (Kleinschmidt consultants) are continuing site assessments and are keeping up with site nominations received. They would still like to see more possible restoration areas and will continue to accept nominations. If anyone has additional sites, please contact Alan (Alan.Haberstock@KleinschmidtUSA.com) or Jenny immediately. They were planning to conduct field work in Providence and Smithfield the following day and are anticipating another round of field work soon. Land Use Planning Johanna reported that Alison Walsh (EPA) is eager to bring information about Grow Smart to our watershed communities. She will see if Alison can come to the next Council meeting to provide a brief overview of her presentation. The Council agreed to hold two informational sessions. The first will be a general, public meeting in February. A more advanced presentation geared towards town planners and managers will be conducted in March to discuss specific tools available for carrying out smart growth initiatives. Scott Millar said they will use the example of how the methodology has been applied in South County. Chris Hawkins and Jenny will work on reserving a space at Smithfield High School. Other Business - Jane brought up the topic of marketing and publicizing the land use planning workshops and other events. She proposed holding a separate brainstorm meeting on ways to better market Council activities. - Jane reminded the Council about the availability of community grants. There is $1,500 available to each community to support a visible activity or event in the watershed. Currently, this money is only available to a nonprofit organization in the community but Jane will speak to the RI Foundation to see if there is flexibility on this issue. - Bruce Hooke will hold a meeting on the Asset Map on Tues. December 12 at 5:30 at DEM, Rm 340C. - RI RIVERS DAY IS JUNE 16th! Please think about events you want to plan in your community! Hope you'll join us at the next Watershed Council meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 10 at 5:30 p.m. at the USGS offices, 275 Promenade Street, Providence.