CONNECTICUT RIVER GATEWAY COMMISSION
REGULAR MEETING MINUTES
July 23, 2009
Deep River: Amy Petrone, Nancy Fischbach
East Haddam: Harvey Thomas, Robert Boulware
Essex: Ellen Whaley, Fred Vollono
Fenwick: Ethel Davies, Borough Warden
Haddam: Susan Bement, Vacancy
Lyme: Kevin Mazer, J. Melvin
Woody
Old Lyme:
Vacancy, Ted Crosby
Old Saybrook:
Madge Fish, Vacancy
CRERPA: Steve Williams
Midstate RPA:
Raul De Brigard, Stacia DeMichele
DEP:
David Blatt
Staff:
J.H. Torrance Downes
Tidewater:
Judy
Preston
Guests: Marcy Balint, DEP/OLISP
Call to Order
Chairman Melvin Woody
called the regular meeting of the Gateway Commission to order at 7:35 pm in the
CRERPA meeting room.
Approval of Minutes
Nancy Fischbach moved to accept the minutes from June
25, 2009. Peggy Wilson seconded. Approved unanimously with
correction to the typed May 25, 2009 date.
Correspondence Report
·
Haddam
BOS - Letter accepting Scott Thompson’s resignation.
·
Check
for $1200.00 from Washington Trust Company – from the 1999 Fuller Charitable
Lead Trust
·
Land
Trust Alliance RE: Insurance. JHTD
scanned and distributed post-meeting.
·
Alliant
insurance solicitation (disguised as renewal)
·
Rockfall
Symposium reminder, October 9, 2009.
Staff
Report
·
Stasia
DeMichelle/JHTD
provide summary of visit to Haddam P&Z.
JHTD provided summary letter which was distributed at time of meeting on
7/20/09.
·
JHTD
reported that Mellon easement support letter had been prepared and sent
·
JHTD
reported on Special Exception application for property bisected by the
Chester/Haddam town line – the “Alva Greenberg” house. Questions of variances for structure because
it exists in two municipalities and the probability that a Special Exception
would be required in each town, even though each portion of the house in the
two towns was less than 4,000sf. Each
town to review the structure as if it were
4000sf.
Treasurer’s Report
Peggy
reported that the Commission came in $10,000 under budget due to a reduction in
payments to Tidewater Institute and a savings in investment fees.
Upon a motion
by Susan Bement,
seconded by Martha Wallace, the GW approved
the paying of the present bills in the amount of $1503.00 (CRERPA) and $1120
(Tidewater, last payment under contract). Approved
unanimously.
Question raised with respect to Land Trust Alliance insurance. Are properties specifically cited in policy?
If so, the Ballek property has been transferred and
shouldn’t appear as an asset upon which insurance fees are based. JHTD to check.
Tidewater
– Riparian Buffer Grant
Report
for EPA on Riparian Buffer Grant almost complete.
Judy Preston indicated that she’d like to present the report at the
Commission’s August meeting. Endorsement letter for report requested by Commission (completed
and delivered to Preston on Friday, July 24, 2009). Preston thanked the Commission for their
support and indicated that a significant body of research had been accumulated
and is available .
Referrals
Old Lyme. Proposal to amend
height regulation consistent with Gateway Commission request regarding height
measured from a new excavated grade. Proposed language is identical to that
suggested by staff. Regulation proposal
approved with motion by Nancy Fischbach
and second by Susan Bement. Approved unanimously.
Referrals
Reviewed by Staff
Essex. Three applications for variance were found by
staff to be approvable without significant impact to the “natural and traditional riverway scene”.
·
Stephen Craig, 20 Meadow Woods Road. Off Book Hill Road over a mile away from
river in a densely treed area. Proposal
to construct deck and three season porch.
·
Park & Rec Commission, 11 Saybrook
Road. Proposal to build a basketball court with
fences in the area of the Essex Fire House at the corner of Route 154 and West
Avenue. Area is not seen from the
Connecticut River.
·
Richard Langdon, 4 Cross Street. Cross-street between Main Street and Pratt
Street in Essex Village. Second story on
an existing one story garage. Site
surrounded by 2 ½ story residential structures and far enough removed from the
river and cove so as not to be seen in any significant way.
Regional
Land Trust Effort
Meeting on
September 16th is scheduled for the Chester Meetinghouse. JHTD related discussion held between Linda
Krause, Margot Burns and JHTD regarding a potential next step after the
September 16th meeting.
Discussion included who may be willing to be a coordinator: Gateway,
CRERPA or other entity. It was agreed
that it was reasonable to see what the needs of the participants are before any
commitment is made to coordinate the effort.
Upon the mention of whether or not Margot Burns was willing to act as staff
to this regional effort, some members indicated that they thought she was
offering her services while others didn’t feel that she was. Burns indicated in discussion with Krause and
Downes that depending upon what the duties were, how much it would take away
from her existing priorities and if CRERPA would authorize her to do this work,
that she may or may not be interested in staffing at some level. It was brought up that perhaps the
Commission’s “Land” committee should deal with the details of this issue as
time goes on and the effort unfolds. From perspective of Gateway Commission
expenditure, discussion of cost of moving forward was discussed. Motion by Raul
Debrigard, seconded by Peggy Wilson for Gateway to expend no more than $500 on time spent
moving beyond the initial September 16, 2009 land trust meeting. Approved unanimously.
Committee
Structure
Upon a motion
by Peggy Wilson, seconded by Martha Wallace, a committee structure
consisting of three new committees was added to the existing Finance Committee.
Motion passes unanimously. The three new
committees are the Land (stewardship acquisition), Outreach (PR, education,
outreach), and Rules & Standards committees. “Membership” issues would fall under Rules
& Standards committee. Finance committee
is pre-existing committee. Using the first name of committee members, the
member with the “earliest” alphabet letter name is to initiate contact with
committee members to establish a timeline for meeting and protocol. Contact to be initiated by
August meeting date with report of plan for first meeting to be delivered at
the meeting. If committee isn’t
able to meet by the August meeting date, a report of the date the committee will meet will be provided. Members of each committee would discuss what
the long term responsibilities and
objectives of said committees will be.
Status of
2004 Standards
Ellen Whaley
reported that she is still informally inquiring about the adoption of
standards. She reported that she will
attempt to contact Fred Vollono to determine what his plans are for Commission
involvement. Whaley prefers to talk with
various selectmen prior to talking to Vollono.
Status of
Gateway Owned Properties
No change.
Other
Business
Motion by David Blatt, seconded by Ellen Whaley to convene the August 27th
Gateway meeting only if JHTD notifies Commission that there is a requirement to
meet, such as the need to deal with a time-sensitive matter like variances. Approved unanimously.
JHTD handed
out the requested list of staff tasks and duties. Tasks will be reviewed by the Rules &
Standards committee to see if there are any tasks that could be handled by
the committee and not JHTD.
JHTD provides
a list of JHTD tasks requested by Commission.
Nancy Fischbach comments that perhaps the staff task list should be
discussed by Commission or by committee.
Peggy Wilson comments that Commission must be careful that staff is
asked to do too much and perhaps rules committee can take some of the burden
away from staff in terms of hours. JHTD
points out that a list of what’s on the Gateway Commission’s “plate” in terms
of projects and direction have been included on the
bottom of the agenda.
(1) Vetoed Haddam Land Swap
Discussing
the Town of Haddam, it was noted for the record that Susan Bement
was officially appointed as the representative for the Town. Discussion then centered on
the vetoed legislation regarding the swapping of land in Haddam by Steven
Rocco, the DEP and Goodspeed Opera House. Motion by Ellen Whaley, seconded by Martha Wallace, to have staff prepare a
letter based upon notes previously presented by Fischbach and Debrigard, to be reviewed by Nancy Fischbach and Raul Debrigard.
The letter is to have a combined distribution to Representative Jamie Spallone, Senator Eileen Daily and Acting DEP Commissioner Amey Marrella and copied to
Governor Rell, the Haddam BOS, Haddam P&Z, East
Haddam BOS, East Haddam P&Z, the Hartford Courant and the Haddam Bulletin. Letter to be prepared,
reviewed and sent by close of business on Friday. Motion carried unanimously with David Blatt abstaining.
A
second letter is then to be prepared and sent to Governor Rell,
thanking her for vetoing the legislation, even though the veto occurred for
other reasons. Letter is to be copied to
Tom Tyler.
Subsequently,
an additional letter should be sent to Spallone and
Daily proposing legislation that requires the DEP to consult with the Gateway
Commission on any potential disposition of state land within the Gateway
Conservation Zone and offer the Gateway Commission the first right-of-refusal
to the Gateway. Copy
of letter to be sent to Marrella and Tom Tyler by
August 1st. Motion to
approve made by Ellen Whaley,
seconded by Nancy Fischbach. Approved unanimously with David
Blatt again abstaining from vote.
In
conjunction with this discussion, Ellen
Whaley asked if a mapped inventory of state land is available for
review. JHTD to
inquire of Margot Burns for such a map.
(2) CY Conservation
Project (CYCP)
Following discussion including a telephone call between
Gateway staff and CYCP Staff Melissa Spears regarding how to proceed in the EOI
process, the Commission authorized JHTD to inform Vita Nuova
of the following:
(a) The Gateway
Commission defers their decision making in the process to those involved with
the CYCP who will represent the Commission’s interests until stated otherwise,
(b) The Commission will
not “drop out” of the process, remaining in the event that any progress made
through the CYCP slows or ends.
Motion made by David
Blatt, seconded by Peggy Wilson. Unanimously approved with Nancy Fischbach and Raul Debrigard
abstaining.
Adjournment
There being
no further business, Peggy Wilson
moved to adjourn
the meeting at approximately 9:45pm, seconded by Madge
Fish.
The next regular meeting of the
Gateway Commission is
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Gateway Items of Interest
July 23, 2009
Correspondence
·
Thompson Resignation, Haddam. Letter indicating official acceptance of Scott Thompson
resignation from Haddam P&Z. Letter
reports that Susan Bement is “still willing to serve”
and will be reappointed at the next BOS meeting. First Selectman indicates that he is in the
process of writing letters to send to Town Committees requesting suggestions
for a second Gateway representative.
·
Fuller Family Trust, Washington Trust Wealth Management.
The Gateway Commission is in receipt of a check for $1200 from the
referenced family trust. The Fullers
lived in the Essex area in years past.
·
Haddam Bulletin.
“Backroom Deal”, and Spallone
Letter to the Editor. Other various
documents and newspaper articles including 7/23/09 Courant editorial.
·
Land Trust Alliance. Conservation Defense Insurance Commitment to Participate.
·
Alliant Insurance Renewal Notice (addressed to Nancy Fischbach). Conserv-A-Nation
Program.
·
Rockfall, Save the Date, 10/09/09. 23rd Annual Rockfall Symposium.
“Greenlight for Our Economy”.
Staff Report
·
Gateway/P&Z Coordination. JHTD and Gateway Rep Stasia
DeMichelle visited with the Haddam Planning &
Zoning Commission on Monday, July 20th, 2009. The interaction of the Gateway Commission and
the Town through the P&Z was discussed.
Copies of a summary letter were provided (copy provided). A meeting between Gateway staff and Member(s)
and the Haddam ZBA is tentatively scheduled for October 29, 2009 to specifically
discuss how the ZBA and Gateway Commission function together. The presented document will be used as a
template for the other member P&Zs as well.
·
Mellon Easement/DEP Land Acquisition. Prepared letter requesting reconsideration of
support for Mellon/Goodspeed Airport scenic easement.
·
Chester/Haddam.
Town line renovation of Alva Greenberg house.
Exceeds 4,000 sf. Review
conducted and submitted to Haddam P&Z.
Chester land use office, however, was unaware of the project, some of
which occurs in Chester. Gateway staff facilitated connection of the Chester
and Haddam land use offices and will likely send the same Special Exception
review letter to the Chester P&Z with the salutation changed for
Chester. Even though the portion of the
structure existing and proposed in each municipality does not exceed 4000sf,
the overall size does and both towns will be reviewing their own Special
Exception. A variance will be required
in Chester which will come before the Gateway Commission.
Variance Referrals with Impacts Reported
by Staff to be Insignificant
·
Essex – 20 Meadow Woods Road. Off Book Hill Road
in a significantly wooded area. Application to construct a deck and
three-season porch at an existing residence located approximately 1 mile from
the river. Construction project is
insignificant in size compared to the existing structure and, because of trees
(leafed or bare), cannot be seen from the river.
·
Essex – 11 Saybrook Road. In the parking lot
area of the Essex Firehouse/CL&P facility at the corner of Saybrook Road
and West Avenue near Exit 3 off Route 9.
Location cannot be seen from the CT River.
·
Essex – 4 Cross Street. Within the Village,
construction of a second story and cupola atop an existing one-story
outbuilding “nestled” in amongst numerous 2½ story residential dwellings. The proposed height will not to exceed 35
feet. Existing structure is a garage and
“in-law” apartment and will is proposed to be a second story accessory
apartment and first floor garage.
Variance
Referrals/Regulation Proposals/Special Exception Reviews for Commission Review
Old Lyme. Revision to Gateway Standards to include corrective language
resulting from Lyme excavation project.
New language in definition of height:
“... or which is visible from a
new, excavated grade, whichever creates the greater height dimension..”.
Status of Standards
No report at this time.
Transfer of Gateway Property/Inventory
Project
Discussion
of progress to occur under Transfer of Property agenda item.