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HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION

SEPTEMBER 29, 2004

ATTENDANCE: Dr. John Pinto, Chairman; Henry Palau, Dick Ramsey, Jason Farrow, Tony Mobilia, Jack Callahan, Pat Clark, Tony D’Andrea (arrived at 8:45 p.m.)

OTHERS: Geoff Steadman, Consultant to the Harbor Management Commission; John Igneri, Derick DeMarche, Planning & Zoning Commission

STAFF: Michael Greene, Director of Planning & Zoning

CALL TO ORDER

The Chairman called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
He introduced and welcomed Derick DeMarche, Assistant Compliance Office in Planning and Zoning Dept, to the Harbor Commission. Mr. DeMarche will serve as the Commission’s representative from the Planning & Zoning Department.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - August 25, 2004

Corrections:
Page 1; last sentence at bottom of page should read, Mr. Callahan asked if they would start to lose money allocated for dredging.
Page 3; 4th paragraph from the top, last sentence should read, He said that they had discussed this and had considered that this was within the purview of the Planning and Zoning.
Page 5; 4th paragraph from the top, should read, Mr. Palau indicated that the Application Review Committee had discussed the Open Space plan and read the draft prepared response.
And the motion under this sentence should read;
** MR. PALAU MOVED TO APPROVE THE NORWALK HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION DRAFT RESPONSE TO THE OPEN SPACE PLAN.
Page 5; 3rd paragraph from the bottom should read, Mr. Callahan raised a point about bulkheads at Maurice Marine and he asked if this application had come before the Application Review Committee.
The secretary read the applications into the record as follows:
Page 6; 5th paragraph from the top, the second sentence should read, No extra-capped material would be needed for the work about the bridge (phase I).

** MR. CALLAHAN MOVED TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES AS CORRECTED
** MR. RAMSEY SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

a. Response letter from George Wisker of CT DEP regarding NHMC request for guidance on dredging harbor.
Dr. Pinto addressed the minimum amount of capping material calculated for the phase-2 disposal for dredge material and he noted that material closest to the Rt 136 (Stroffolino) Bridge would be disposed of first followed sequentially by dredged material from points South in the Federal Navigation project. Following completion of dredging Norwalk Harbor, dredged material is to be capped with 75,000 cu yds of material. From where the 75,000 cu yds of material is to come and whether the Army Corp will assume the estimated additional $1 million dollars cost have not been determined (See item d below).

b. Reconvening of Norwalk Harbor Dredging Team and scheduled meeting
Dr. Pinto said a meeting was called with the Norwalk Dredging Team (Pinto, Mobilia, Griffin, and Steadman) for October 14, 2004; the DEP will attend, the Army Corps, the EPA, the Mayor, Representatives from Congressman Shays and Senator Lieberman’s Office, and a member of State Dept of AquaCulture, where they will address the current status of dredging Norwalk Harbor. He noted the meeting would be held at the DEP’s office in Hartford.

c. Status of Harbor Master re-appointment
Dr. Pinto said he called Tim Geary, Governor Jodi Rell’s liaison for Appointments of State Official who indicated that he needed two more weeks before coming to a final decision on Harbor Master appointments; so Dr. Pinto will follow up with him at that time. He further updated that Mike Griffin approached him for the need to get the names of all the Harbor Masters appointed by the state for the purpose of forming a training session for newly appointed Harbor Masters. Dr. Pinto has also not heard back from the Governor’s office regarding the Commission’s letter supporting three nominees for consideration of the position of Deputy Harbor Master.

d. Letter from Army Corp to DEP regarding “capping” issue of dredged material from Norwalk Harbor
Dr. Pinto said he received a letter from the Army Corps and they disagreed with the DEP’s requirement of the 75,000 cubic yards of material (he read the memo received) stating that since they didn’t agree, they couldn’t provide any Federal funds for the material and therefore, the funds would have to be sought from the City of Norwalk. Dr. Pinto said in this case, due to the retirement of Mr. Arthur Rocque, DEP Commissioner, whoever is appointed as the new commissioner, the Harbor Commission will have to take up this matter with him/her to bring them up to par on this unresolved issue.

e. Report of meeting of Connecticut Harbor Management Association
Dr. Pinto said that he and Mike Griffin attended the meeting of the CHMA. The Association discussed increasing membership of the CT Harbor Management Association by two members. Dr. Pinto added that he and Geof Steadman composed a letter for Joel Severance, Pres of CHMA that was sent to Governor Rell’s office requesting that the search for a replacement of Arthur Rocque, retired DEP Commissioner, should be focused on an individual who is more pro-active in resolving issues than implementing regulations.

f. Connecticut Harbor Management Association 9th Annual Banquet, October 7, 2004
Dr. Pinto asked for the number of commissioners that planned on attending. He indicated that there would be (10) people from the Shellfish Commission and (8) people from the Harbor Commission so far attending.

· Dr. Pinto mentioned the other following announcements/comments:
· Save the Sound Merger; he mentioned that he would approach them regarding their perspective of the dredging issue in Long Island Sound and that he would like to garner their support.
· New York Sea Grant Symposium to be held on October 4, 2004.
· Dr. Pinto asked for a moment of silence to remember Jerry Lasley, former member of the Norwalk Harbor Management Commission who passed away last week according to the Norwalk Hour; he expressed how instrumental he was in getting the finances of the commission on “even keel”, being a forceful advocate of the Harbor, and helping the commission manage Norwalk Harbor in the public’s interest.

COMMISSION ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS

a. Harbor Management Plan revision

Mr. Steadman said that John Pinto signed the letter of submittal of the Plan to the DEP and they were all ready to mail out the revised Harbor Management Plan to the DEP. Dr. Pinto commented that the overall Plan was impressive and was truly masterfully done and thanked Mr. Steadman and the Commission for their efforts.

Mr. Steadman said they talked about going with a liaison to the Common Council to alert them of what they were proposing. Dr. Pinto said he made overtures to members of the Common Council to review the document and if they had one or two members on board, it would benefit them, he noted he would further pursue the matter.

b. Annual State of Harbor Meeting scheduled for November 4th 2004

Dr. Pinto said the meeting was scheduled for November 4, 2004 and they would invite essentially the main speakers present at last years meeting (Mayor, DEP, Shellfish Commission, Harbor Master, Marine Police, Fire Dept, WPCA, DPW). He would also like to extend an invitation to Jennifer Herring newly appointed CEO of the Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk and Jessica Kaplan, coordinator of the Norwalk River Watershed Initiative who has completed portions of their 5-year plan on improving the quality of Norwalk River. He felt it was important to hear from her, because this information relates significantly to the Norwalk Harbor.
It was noted that Mr. Ramsey would present the Report for Boating and Harbor Safety at the meeting in absence of Jason Farrow, chairman of the Committee.

Mr. Callahan said it was good everyone was involved and that the entire harbor was represented.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

a. Web Page/Newsletter – Mr. Mobilia
Mr. Mobilia commented that all the authors did a great job. He distributed copies of the Newsletter mock up.

Mr. Mobilia explained how the newsletter would be designed and he asked all to look it over and submit any comments. Dr. Pinto commented that Mr. Mobilia should include his trademark/indicia on the hand sketched drawing of the “female oyster” and claim pride of authorship.

Mr. Mobilia said he would like to go to press either this Thursday or Friday; he will then mail copies out to everyone. He thanked all for participating in getting the newsletter off the ground.

b. Finance – Mr. Ramsey
Mr. Ramsey said they were on target with expenses and revenues, in view of being in the tenth month, but he noted that the secretarial services doubled up due to an additional invoice that went to the Planning & Zoning Department, but they were still missing three (3) invoices. Mr. Greene said they usually receive the invoices and mail them out. Dr. Pinto noted that he requested Ms. Telesco to e-mail the invoices directly to him, but she just recently started doing this. He also mentioned that according to Ms. Telesco, invoices for April and May were not paid.

Mr. Ramsey updated on the following:
· They were on target for revenues for the moorings.
· There are outstanding bills for water quality.
· They took care of the $1,100.00 reimbursement to Dick Harris for the Harbor Watch/River Watch.
Overall, he said they would break even, but it was still tight on the budget; so he suggested a discussion of raising the mooring fees at a modest increase. Dr. Pinto stated they would need Common Council approvals if they planned to increase the fees. Mr. Greene said the Harbor Commission needed to hold a public hearing on the issue and then the matter would go to the Common Council for approval.

Mr. Griffin distributed a report outlining the gross dollars that were just shy of $23,000.00; he said they were targeting $22,300.00 for revenue, so that put them ahead $600.00. However, he said there was a disproportionate statement of people that didn’t renew in time. Dr. Pinto commented that fines are not incorporated as a line item when calculating budgetary needs.

Mr. Griffin stated they needed to consider allocating monies into the budget for the year 2005.

Discussion of increasing the mooring fees followed:
o Mr. Palau said that if they wanted to implement new fees in the year 2005, they should proceed now. Mr. Greene suggested the matter be included on the next meeting agenda.

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO SUSPEND THE RULES TO TAKE UP THE MATTER OF MOORING FEES
** MS. CLARK SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

o Mr. Ramsey questioned whether the increase would raise eyebrows among those already paying fees.
o Dr. Pinto said they would have to justify the need for the increase through holding a public hearing.
o Mr. Palau said he would vote for a reasonable fee, but he pointed out there are at least (600) people who would have to carry the increase. He further suggested that speed buoys should not be the responsibility of the Harbor Commission.
o Dr. Pinto said then basically, they were asking for (600) mooring holders to foot the bill for the entire harbor, when in fact over 3000 boaters use Norwalk Harbor.

Further open discussion of increasing the mooring fees followed:
o It was mentioned that there was an earlier attempt to try to implement an increase of revenues received in the past. Three years ago, a member of the City’s Finance committee indicated that she would look into whether portions of the entire Boating registration fees which are sent to the State and the portion based on a percentage of 1978 tax base that is sent back to the City of Norwalk ( ~ $125,000) could be used. There was further discussion among the members to justify increasing revenues.
Mr. Ramsey stated it would be necessary to develop a rationale for increasing revenue, which could be either through individual contribution or through the city. Dr. Pinto said he tried that approach in the past to no avail. He said they needed a stopgap measure for now. Ms. Clark agreed they needed to do something about the situation.

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO INCREASE THE MOORING FEE $5.00 ACROSS THE BOARD AND FOR THE MATTER TO BE ADDRESSED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL
** MR. RAMSEY SECONDED

Mr. Griffin agreed there should be an increase, but he said the only way to approach this was to address it immediately. He further thought they needed to make a detailed presentation to the state regarding Boater Registration Fees and try to acquire legislative approval. Dr. Pinto agreed efforts should be geared toward requiring portion of Boater registration fees which all go to State be used to help supplement Harbor Commissions with State approved harbor management plans

Mr. Griffin suggested discussing the matter with the Mayor first and if he agreed, they should generate a letter to CHMA to bring the subject to the forefront of politicians.

Mr. Ramsey further questioned if the $5.00 increase was enough, noting that although it may not be, he thought it was enough for now.

Mr. Griffin also mentioned they should give consideration to increasing the new application fee or he suggested increasing the registration fee to $40.00.

Mr. Callahan commented they should try to get the increase through Ordinance before the end of the year.
** MOTION PASSED WITH SEVEN VOTES IN FAVOR AND ONE ABSTENTION (MR. D’ANDREA)

Dr. Pinto stated that a public hearing would be held on October 13th, 2004, he said a proposal would be written to submit to the Ordinance Committee where the matter would then be transferred to the Common Council for their December meeting.

** MR. PALAU MOVED TO INCREASE THE INITIAL APPLICATION FEE TO $40.00
** MR. D’ANDREA SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

Dr. Pinto said they would schedule a public hearing on this issue to raise the mooring permit fees and the initial application fee on October 13, 2004. Mr. Greene said if they submitted the proposal to the City Clerk by this Friday, then it could be scheduled on that date.

c. Application Review – Ms. Clark
1. 2004-11 NRG Norwalk Harbor Operations, Manresa Island Avenue. COP application to CT DEP and ACOE. Proposal involves repair and replacement of deteriorated timber pilings and bulkhead timbers on existing finger pier. The pier was constructed in 1959 and is used to keep tugs and barges from drifting into shallow water. All proposed work would be conducted by waterborne barge and crane. New timbers will be located in kind and in place of existing structures
Ms. Clark said they had one application that was looked at concerning the NRG Norwalk Harbor Operations. The applicant went to the DEP and Army Corps of Engineers (she read the application into the record) and said that originally, the entire barge berthing area was blasted out, so there was ledge left and there was deep water where she indicated. She further explained where the barges would drift across and all the work proposed would be conducted by waterborne barge and crane and new timbers would be replaced in kind in width and length.

** MS. CLARK MOVED THAT THE NORWALK HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION FINDS THE APPLICATION 2004-11 NRG NORWALK HARBOR OPERATIONS, MANRESA ISLAND AVENUE COP APPLICATION TO THE CT DEP AND THE ACOE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE HARBOR MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THEY RECOMMEND FAVORABLE ACTION
** MR. PALAU SECONDED

Mr. Steadman said he was advised by the DEP that the application was not complete and he was also told that generally, this type of structure is not allowed on residential structures, so there might be a problem with getting approval.

Dr. Pinto said there was a concern of any amount of contamination going into the location. He questioned the use of Creosote soaked timbers particular in that location. He further noted then they couldn’t support the document as it was written.

Mr. Griffin said the application was consistent with the Harbor Management Commission, so he suggested they pass along the statements regarding the creosote issue.

Mr. Steadman suggested they don’t make any comments at this time, due to the application still being under investigation.

Ms. Clark said the pier repair was one issue and the materials used was a separate one. She suggested amending the motion to stipulate that all materials used in the repair and replacement be consistent with good environmental practices.

Mr. Steadman reiterated that he thought they should wait until they had all the information from the DEP.

Mr. Palau said there was a safety factor involved also and if the DEP subsequently decided the application was sufficiently complete, then it would be good to submit the Harbor Commission’s comments.

** MS. CLARK WITHDREW HER MOTION THAT THE NORWALK HARBOR MANAGEMENT COMMISSION FINDS THE APPLICATION 2004-11 NRG NORWALK HARBOR OPERATIONS, MANRESA ISLAND AVENUE COP APPLICATION TO THE CT DEP AND THE ACOE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE HARBOR MANAGEMENT PLAN AND THEY RECOMMEND FAVORABLE ACTION
and

** MS. CLARK MOVED TO RECOMMEND FAVORABLE ACTION THAT THE PROJECT WAS CONSISTENT WITH THE HARBOR MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
1. ALL THE MATERIALS USED IN REBUILDING SHOULD MEET CURENT ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS PARTICULARLY WITH REGARD TO THE USE OF CREOSOTE. AND SHOULD ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE APPLICATION BE FORTHCOMING, THE HARBOR COMMISSION REQUESTS THE RIGHT TO REVIEW THAT INFORMATION
** MR. PALAU SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

d. Boating & Harbor Safety – Mr. Farrow
Mr. Farrow said they haven’t have a meeting since July, but there is a meeting scheduled in November and he will update the commission at that time.

e. Dredging – Dr. Pinto and dredging committee (Mr. Mobilia, Mr. Griffin, Mr. Steadman)

Dr. Pinto said there is plan to address this matter at the planned meeting on October 14, to see what alternatives there are for the environmental impact statement, noting if there is no disposal site, then there is no dredge project, but he said they will look to the DEP to come up with their criteria and the need for capping. And as far as discussing what Norwalk Harbor's contaminated material is; they need to get the specifics on this, and also, how to acquire the 75,000 cubic yards and coordinate with the dredging project. He further stated that if the Housatonic River is to be dredged, there is a question whether the monies from Congress will be extended. These issues mandate immediate answers.

Mr. Griffin commented if there was a concern of the DEP, there is a concern of the time for the materials to be disposed and capped; noting it’s an impossible timing task to meet.

Mr. Igneri further commented that they didn’t have the results of the contaminated area, but he said if they had those results, he thought they would find the contaminated area was contained to a very small area. Dr. Pinto agreed with the reality of that statement however, he relayed according to the DEP and earlier discussions with them that the statement made was that the entire Norwalk Harbor was contaminated. He further relayed that he has a serious concern of what is considered contaminants according to the DEP because they do not corroborate with what the Army Corp and EPA consider contaminants.

Mr. Steadman said they needed to clarify what the DEP bases their information on and to get the specifics on the level of capping that would be imposed.

Mr. Griffin said in response to where the testing took place, is that the DEP feels they have enough history from other locations in Norwalk where contaminants were found and they have arbitrarily determined that the entire harbor was contaminated. He further noted they should devise a letter to the Governor regarding the matter. Dr. Pinto stated the Mayor had a copy of the Army Corps letter as well as George Wisker’s letter. If the Mayor’s office cannot help resolve this issue, then the commission along with the Mayor’s Office should go the route of the Governor’s Office.

f. Mayor’s Water Quality – Mr. D’Andrea

Mr. D’Andrea updated that the interns were back at school and the final report was out for print, so he will e-mail to the commission Chairman, noting it might be distributed electronically. He further highlighted the water is getting worse (he read a portion of the report from the interns) and stated there were problems with bacteria becoming more insidious, thus depleting “good” water quality, i.e., aquatic life changes have occurred due to medications being disposed through the sewer system. Dr. Pinto said medications should not be tossed down the toilet and they need to educate the public on eliminating this practice.

Mr. D’Andrea said he looked up and down the river and found it was cleared to the riverbank in terms of growth. Mr. Greene clarified that area he was speaking of, was cleared due to building a waterfront access.

It was further noted that the information regarding the hazards of drugs and medications disposal came from the State of the Harbor Intern Report. Mr. Greene stressed there was no scientific data though to back up the statements. Dr. Pinto agreed they needed clarification on this.

Mr. Ramsey said he received a call from someone who said they were awakened by a strong diesel odor this week. Mr. Griffin said he received an incident report that the odor came from the north of Old Oyster Bay in Greyrock. Dr. Pinto pointed out that diesel fuel is not considered a major bio-hazardous problem.

Mr. D’Andrea further mentioned that the bacteria counts were going up. Dr. Pinto asked about nitrogen contents. Mr. D’Andrea said there was also a concern of that.

Mr. D’Andrea said they were in the process of devising a system to track exactly household and where the medications are coming from.

There was some open discussion regarding cable installation and the potential effects on the harbor.
Mr. Steadman reminded them that the Harbor Commission hasn’t commented on this matter yet, so they still had room for input.

g. Plans & Recommendations – Mr. Callahan
Mr. Callahan said there was no report. He said there was a meeting scheduled on October 6, 2004 and they would cover bulkheads and unauthorized structures.

h. Waterfront Facilities Advisory – Mr. Griffin

· He met with Norman Bloom who said the $2,500.00 check would be forthcoming.
· The boat center would be closed on Sunday night’s and on October 11, 2004.
· The banners are complete and the brackets are on order and the end markers were completed.
· There are (8) moorings out to bid
· The dingy access was completed today

Mr. Mobilia asked when the signage would come down. Mr. Griffin said by October 11, 2004.

Dr. Pinto asked about expenses and Mr. Ramsey said they had $400.00 currently available, so Dr. Pinto asked Mr. D’Andrea to submit his out-of-pocket expenses for reimbursement.

NEW BUSINESS

a. Plans to develop an “Archives Committee” for data storage and information retrieval of Commission business

Dr. Pinto said at the Application Review Committee meeting, they discussed the need to archive files, by means of setting up data retrieval system. He asked for other ideas from the commissioner’s, noting they have limited space in the P&Z office.
Mr. D’Andrea suggested they solicit assistance from people doing community service that could possibly set up and maintain the archives.
Mr. Farrow suggested the Norwalk Seaport Association be approached; they have unutilized space and senior citizen volunteers who could assist.

Dr. Pinto said they would discuss at the next meeting, setting up a separate committee to devise the system that would allow accessibility to the commission members.

STAFF REPORTS

a. Planning and Zoning – Mr. Greene / Mr. DeMarche

· Mr. DeMarche reviewed the assignment for filing in the agenda for meeting dates in the year 2005. Dr. Pinto said the would get the information to him. He noted they had the Community Room available for the November 4, 2004 meeting.

b. Harbormaster’s Report – Mr. Griffin
· He had a contact from the Norwalk Fire Department. He said they planned to drag out the oil burner equipment to evaluate it to see if it needs updating, the equipment would be available to the Fire Department and the Police Department.
· He noted the incident report was submitted.

** MR. CALLAHAN MOVED TO APPROVE THE HARBOR MASTER’S REPORT
** MS. CLARK SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

c. Consultant – Mr. Steadman
· Nothing to report.

OTHER COMMENTS
-None-

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. PALAU MADE A MOTION TO ADJOURN
** MR. CALLAHAN SECONDED
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY

The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 p.m.

Respectfully submitted by,

Diane Graham
Telesco Secretarial Services

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