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CITY OF NORWALK
HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING
MARCH 26, 2008

ATTENDANCE: Tony Mobilia, Chair; Tony D’Andrea; Henry Palau;
Jack Callahan; Dr. John Pinto; Pat Clark; Michael Harden

OTHERS: Lindsay McCurran, Planning and Zoning; Adam Carson,
Planning and Zoning; Harbor Master Griffin; Geoffrey Steadman;
Tom Rutherford, resident

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Mobilia called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m. He introduced Michael Harden, who is a new commissioner.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Mr. Mobilia thanked everyone who had attended Police Officer Matthew Morelli’s wake this evening, and that the loss of Officer Morelli will be especially felt in the Marine Division.

He said that he and the new treasurer attended the BET meeting, and it appears that they will be receiving the same grants as last year.

He added a fourth item to the correspondence list, for Charles Eaton, of 20 Point Road, for the retention and maintenance of a seawall, and installation of a fixed pier. The letter has been sent out to the DEP.

Mr. Mobilia said that they will discuss the committee assignments at next month’s meeting.
REPORTS

a) Application Review Committee – Clark

Mr. Mobilia said that at the time of the agenda printing, there were no items for the Application Review Committee. He asked that they suspend the rules to add the following items to the agenda for the Application Review Committee.
** MS. CLARK MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ITEMS TO THE AGENDA UNDER APPLICATION REVIEW COMMITTEE.

** DR. PINTO SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Palau reviewed the first item which was regarding the Ava Roosevelt dock and a float that is over shellfish beds. They had taken action on this in January.

The next item was regarding a permit for the Norwalk Yacht Club that relates back to a file in May of 2005. The permit is for maintenance dredging and plain dredging.

The last item is for the Norwalk Boat Club, to retain and/or replace several floating docks and finger floats. They had approved the finding and requested they be provided with an as-built survey.

** MS. CLARK MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD THE FOLLOWING ITEM TO THE AGENDA UNDER APPLICATION REVIEW COMMITTEE.

** DR. PINTO SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Mobilia explained that they discussed 90 Water Street two months ago and sent their comments to the DEP. Ms. Clark clarified that two months ago they had reviewed the CAM application submitted by the City for the land use, and in February they looked at the shoreline remediation and the bulkhead, which went to DEP also. Mr. Mobilia said he understands that there is a third portion of the project, which is the dock portion. Mr. Steadman said he called the DEP about this today, and was told that they wouldn’t take action on it within the next month. It was decided they can discuss this at their next commission meeting. The third application has not been received yet. Mr. Mobilia asked the staff to call the DEP to send a copy. Mr. Griffin confirmed that he had not received a copy yet.

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO ADD THE APPLICATION FOR THE CITY OF NORWALK DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS TO REPLACE A 20-INCH CULVERT UNDER CALF PASTURE BEACH ROAD.

** MS. CLARK SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

Mr. Palau explained that this connects the Taylor Farm Pond to the harbor at Cove Marina. There are cracks in the culvert that have caused the road to settle and caused frequent flooding at high tides. The city plans to replace the culvert, manholes, and catchbasins.

Mr. D’Andrea asked if they could put in their standard language, and best possible management practice. Mr. Steadman said that he had called the DEP and while they had not received the application yet, he said they had discussed this with the DPW. Some discussion followed regarding oil and grid separators, catch basins, stormwater, and run-off.

** MR. PALAU MOVED THAT THE NORWALK HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION FINDS THE APPLICATION BY THE CITY OF NORWALK, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS FOR WORK AT CALF PASTURE BEACH ROAD, INVOLVING REPLACEMENT OF A 24-INCH CULVERT UNDER CALF PASTURE BEACH ROAD THAT CONNECTS TAYLOR FARM POND TO THE NORWALK HARBOR AT COVE MARINA IS CONSISTENT WITH THE HARBOR MANAGEMENT PLAN. THE NORWALK HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION RECOMMENDS FAVORABLE ACTION WITH THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS:
THE DPW SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO EMPLOY SUITABLE BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO APPROPRIATE FILTRATION SYSTEMS TO REDUCE THE POTENTIAL FOR NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION TO ENTER NORWALK HARBOR THROUGH THE REPLACED STORM DRAINS.

** MS. CLARK SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

b) Finance - Cebrian

Mr. Cebrian was not able to attend the meeting, but Mr. Mobilia mentioned to the commission members that it is important that they submit bills monthly.

c) Web Page/Newsletter - Mobilia

Mr. Mobilia said that he has not received any articles for the newsletter yet, but he hopes to have them soon in order to publish a summer newsletter.

d) Boating and Harbor Safety - Palau

e) Water Quality Committee – D’Andrea

Mr. D’Andrea thanked Mr. Alvord and the WPCA for moving forward with the study on the sewage treatment plant.

f) Watershed Initiative Advisory Committee – D’Andrea - No report

g) Plans and Recommendations - Callahan

Mr. Callahan distributed copies of his written report. He explained that they had a meeting on February 28th, and every commission member was asked to either attend or submit an item to discuss. The monthly business meeting should not be longer than 1 ½ hours. Regarding the budget, Mr. Callahan said that they would hold off for a year until they find what money is needed for certain areas. Travel expenses were then discussed, along with the suggestion to approve the minutes of the meeting. It was decided that the commission members would review the minutes and approve them at next month’s meeting. Mr. Griffin mentioned that under Long Range Planning, under Harbor Safety, they are in dire need of speed and wake markers. He was hoping that they would be available this season. They would cost about $1500. Some discussion followed regarding the budget, harbor safety, and short term and long range planning.

h) Dredging – Pinto

Dr. Pinto then reviewed the dredging situation. He said that he, Mr. Mobilia, Mr. Griffin and Mr. Steadman had attended the Connecticut National Maritime Meeting. He said they are committed to seeing this dredging project completed. They have $5.609M of federal money, but will still fall short of the project. The dredging committee has mapped out designated areas that would address areas that were in more dire need. He explained that there are two options:

To go ahead with the project as is with the amount of money they have available; or wait until next year to get enough funding to do the entire project. If they wait until next year, they will lose the window of opportunity to use the North Cove project as cap. Norwalk Harbor will be capped, partly with its own material, and 75,000 cubic yards from the North Cove/Old Saybrook area. The EPA has required that the material to be used for cap must be biologically tested and referenced to a material in central Long Island Sound. In order to go ahead with the project, they have to have the North Cove project tested, or have biological testing done, which requires 10 day samples for live/dead specimens.

He said he had just received the Statement of Work Modification. The Army Corps of Engineers won’t enter into a contract without the testing information, so the City would have to do it themselves, at a cost of at least $40,000. The scope of work is extensive.

There were some potential sources of funding that were mentioned by Dr. Pinto, but after some discussion, it appeared that the project would still fall short of the total budget number. One of the sources of funding would require an MOA, or Memorandum of Agreement, that the City could apply for through the Urban Renewal Act. While that amount of money, approximately $5M, has been approved, it has not yet been put on the budget by Governor Rell, who sets the rules and regulations for the agenda.

Dr. Pinto said that they could have two MOA’s set up to do the partial project; and have another one in place to do the entire project.

It was agreed that the most important thing to do is have the tests done, whether or not the project is full or partial. It was further agreed that time is of the essence, so the commission planned to set up a meeting with the Mayor. It was mentioned that if the project is kept on further hold, the costs could go up by as much as 25%. Some discussion followed regarding all the aspects of this dredging project.

i) Waterfront Facility Advisory

Harbor Master Griffin mentioned some items from his written report, saying that contractors from DOT will remain in Veterans Park occupying space for vehicle parking, office trailers and boat docking; and they will remain on location for 18 months during the Rt. 136 Washington Street bridge work. Durocher Marine will continue to occupy Veterans Park for the 2007/2008 off-season for vehicle parking and vessel docking. Fees of $14,000.00 were paid for this use. The north dock at the Boating Center will be used by the firm that is doing the cable work. Weather permitting, weekend staffing will begin on Friday, April 4, 2008 and continue until Thursday, May 22, 2008 for Friday, Saturday and Sunday only. Harbor Master Griffin said he is in receipt of a signed contract from the DEP for the Marine Sewage disposal facility located at the David S. Dunavan Boating Center.

STAFF REPORTS

a) Harbor Master/Harbor Manager - Griffin

The Harbor Master’s report said that there are about three more days of burying cable to be done in the Village Creek area.

The Harbor Manager’s report said that there is a letter included in the packet from the Department of Transportation about Hartland, the contractor, looking to extend the existing channel restrictions through April 30.

Harbor Master Griffin said it was important to recognize that with one leaf open on the bridge, the fairway is greater than the fairway at the Metro North bridge.

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO ACCEPT THE HARBOR MASTER/HARBOR MANAGER’S REPORT.

** MR. CALLAHAN SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

b) Consultant - Steadman

Mr. Steadman mentioned that the displays that were prepared of the harbor with the
navigational charts are being displayed in the Dunavan Boating Center.

c) Planning and Zoning – McCurran.

Mr. Carson said that in the handouts they gave the Commission members, there were
some notices of DEP violations. There is no action required on these notices.

APPROVAL OF THE FEBRUARY 27, 2008 MINUTES

The following changes were noted:

Page 1, under Chairman’s Report, change “Mr. Mobilia said that he and Dr. Pinto” to “Mr. Mobilia said that he, Geoff Steadman, Mike Griffin and Dr. Pinto”.

On page 1, under Chairman’s Report, 3rd line, remove “earlier in the day”.

On page 1, under Chairman’s Report, 4th line, replace “as” with “for”.

** MR. CALLAHAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 27, 2008 MEETING AS CORRECTED.

** MS. CLARK SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

NEW BUSINESS

There was no new business to discuss at this time.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business to discuss at this time.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO ADJOURN.

** MR. D’ANDREA SECONDED.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

The meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services

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