Hutchinson River Restoration Project Meeting Minutes
2010
Minutes
Meeting of April 7, 2010
Present: Eleanor Rae, Giles Rae, Inge Otto, Violet Smith, Jack Ullman.
1. Minutes: The minutes of the last meeting were accepted.
II. Treasurer’s report: Inge Otto reports that Giles Rae has submitted bills for $307.97 for maintenance of our website, to keep the domain name for five years and the website for three.
III. Reports:
A. Article for Bronx Times: The situation is unchanged since last month: the article has been submitted but has not appeared.
B. Grants:
1. Citizens’ Committee Grant, due March 14. Giles has completed and submitted this proposal. We should hear about its success early in May.
2. NYC Environmental Fund. Giles and Eleanor are working on this. There is only a limited number of proposals and we have been invited to submit one. Amount is $3000-5000. It is due April 16.
3. HEP grant. They want two projects. We will let this one pass.
4. Long Island Sound Futures Fund. Inge and Jack will work on this one. It is due May 7.
C. Brochure in Publisher. We have not gotten it from Dotti. Giles has scanned the present one in. We will have to look it over and decide what changes to make. Besides general editing, we agree that the list of items and costs of them should go.
D. Report from Sen. Klein’s office on cleanup of Con Edison site on Hutchinson River. Eleanor Rae reports that sediment probing was done in October-November; they were analyzed in February, but the final report is not due until next October! Eleanor expressed some dismay at this long delay, but Jack Ullman was not surprised that coming to a conclusion and writing a report might take that long.
E. Bronx Week, May 15-23. Will we participate? The deadline for applying is past.
F. Bronx River Alliance request. They asked if we wanted to be a part of their flotilla on May 1, but they want $500 from us to do so! This does not seem to be for us.
IV. Action Items:
A. Bronx Park Speak Up, April 10: To be held at Lehman College. Violet, Inge and Jack expect to attend. We will hand out brochures,
B. EarthFest in Pelham Bay Park, Sunday, April 18: There will be a shoreline cleanup in the morning, and we will have a table.
C. Spring test in preparation for Fall 2010 cleanup: Jack expects to inspect the shore of the wildlife refuge in a canoe with Dave Kuntsler, the Park’s wildlife expert, early in May.
D. Clean up of floatables in Thomas Pell Wildlife refuge, September 26, 2010: We hope planning in detail can take place at our next meeting.
V. Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday May 5, at 7 PM , 7 Leeward Lane, at the East end of Carroll St. on City Island.
Meeting of March 10, 2010
Present: Eleanor Rae, Giles Rae, Inge Otto, Helen Friedman, Toby Liederman, Jack Ullman.
1. The minutes of the preceding meeting were approved, with two minor additions from Toby Liederman.
II. Treasurer’s Report: Inge Otto reports that our checking account balance is still $1939.59. Violet smith has paid for the reproduction of our brochure with her own money, as a $60 donation to the Project. Dorothea Poggi has not yet provided invoices for reimbursement of her own expenses in producing the brochure.
III. Reports:
A. Article for Bronx Times: The article by Helen Friedman and Violet Smith was submitted long ago and has not yet appeared. Violet will call and inquire as to whether it will be published.
B. Grants.
1. Citizens’ Committee Grant. Giles has written a proposal. It is due March 14. Jack has agreed to edit it.
2. Long Island Sound Future Fund grant. Inge Otto will look into this.
C. Bronx Parks Speak-Up. This was supposed to take place on 2/27 but was cancelled because of snow. It has been rescheduled for April 10 and several of us hope to go.
D. Revision of the brochure. Dotti was supposed to send us the version she has in Publisher, but this has not happened. Giles says he can scan it in and work on it that way, to add Toby’s revisions.
E. Westchester Land Trust meeting, March 4. This was attended by Jack Ullman and Violet Smith. This was an open meeting on a comprehensive plan to develop Mount Vernon. It was of interest to us because one thing discussed was a plan to make a greenway along the Hutchinson River down to the Bronx line extending a path that exists north of Mount Vernon. Violet and Jack have walked along this stretch of river and found remains of an old path, now strewn with garbage. David de Lucia of the Westchester County Parks Department was interested in this and gave us his email address, DJD2@westchestergov.com. The state apparently owns the right of way along the Hutchison River Parkway but the county has been responsible for maintaining it.
F. American Rivers Organization and Army Corps of Engineers: The American Rivers Organization has expressed concern about some activities of the Corps of Engineers and asked us to write to President Obama about this. Toby has written a letter.
G. South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp: Eleanor received a call from Shira Giddings of that organization, inviting her to join their Board of Directors. They also wanted a letter from us in support of a proposal for an EPA grant.
H. EarthFest in Pelham Bay Park, Sunday, April 18: Marianne Anderson of Pelham Bay Park has asked us to take part, with a table, brochures, and so on.
I. Federal Tax Statement, due Feb. 15: Eleanor reports that she and Giles have submitted it.
IV. Action Items:
A. Spring test program in Thomas Pell wildlife Sanctuary in preparation for Fall cleanup: Jack Ullman expects to accompany Dave Kunstler, the Pelham Bay Park wildlife person, on a canoe to be launched across the river from the Sanctuary, for an exploratory visit, to check the condition of the bank, the bottom, the vegetation and the amount and type of debris present, and to test various means of picking it up. We will take pictures. This will help us in planning the actual cleanup. Date for this exploration is now set at Friday, April 16.
B. Cleanup of floatables in Thomas Pell Wildlife Refuge, Fall 2010: Dave Kunstler has consulted with the Park Rangers and finds Sept. 19 is not a good date for the cleanup. He suggested Sept. 12, but this is the date of the City Island Fair. So we picked Sept 26 as a tentative date. He will make sure this is OK with the rangers.
V. Date and time of next meeting: Wednesday, April 7, 7PM at the Raes, 7 Leeward Lane at the East end of Carrol St. on City Island.
Meeting of Feb. 10, 2010
PRESENT: Eleanor Rae, Giles Rae, Inge Otto, Toby Liederman, Violet Smith, Jack Ullman.
I. Minutes of preceding meeting. These were approved with two minor corrections.
II. Treasurer’s Report: Inge Otto reports that we still have $1939.59 in our account. There were some questions as to the records of past expenses, which will have to be looked into.
III. Reports:
A. Article for Bronx Times. Helen Friedman wrote it, and Violet Smith submitted it to both the Bronx Times and the Island Current. It has not yet appeared.
B. Grants:
1. Citizens’ Committee Grant. Giles Rae is working on this. It is due March 14.
2. Possible grant applications. Inge Otto is looking into submitting a proposal to the NYC Environmental Fund. Looking at the website description of State Farm Company grants, they do not seem applicable to us.
3. Long Island Future Fund Grant: Eleanor reports they are interested in receiving proposals. They are concerned with clean water and safe boating. Contact is Heather Young of the New York State DEC. Jack will look into this.
C. Bronx Park Speak Up, Feb. 27 at Lehman College: Violet, Inge and Toby will attend this.
D. The brochure. There are only a few left. For the planned revision, Eleanor asked Dotti to send it to us in Publisher so Toby could put in her revisions. If this does not work out, Giles can scan it into the Rae’s computer. We would like to have this done before the Bronx Park Speak Up but if that’s impossible we will run off a few more of the old ones. Violet agreed to make 200 copies, including insert Giles will give her.
E. Westchester Land Trust meeting. This has to do with proposed improvements along the Mount Vernon shore of the Hutchinson River. This was brought to our attention by Hernan Guerrero, who met Jack at a meeting on a Bronx brownfield proposal. Jack will attend this meeting, in early March.
F. Resignation of vice-president Dotti Poggi. Dotti sent us a letter of resignation as vice-president, but it is not certain that she is resigning as a member. It was suggested that Helen Friedman would be a good candidate as a replacement. Eleanor said she’d contact Helen. Also, Eleanor replied regrets to Dotti, as did Violet and Toby. We appreciated that Dotti donated her work on the flier, and requested payment only for supplies. We await her receipt for payment.
G. Quorum. Violet and Inge brought up the question of establishing some sort of quorum requirement for any actions taken at one of our meetings. However, it was pointed out that we have no bylaws establishing just what constitutes membership in our organization. It was agreed that this would have to be decided before we decided what constitutes a quorum of the membership.
H. American Rivers Organization. Giles sent them an announcement of our proposed cleanup;
I. Annual federal tax statement. It is due February 15. Eleanor will take care of it.
IV. Action items:
A. Spring test program in Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary in preparation for Fall 2010 cleanup. This is now scheduled for the first week in April, just after Easter weekend, on the advice of Dave Kunstler, the wildlife expert at Pelham Bay Park. Jack will contact Marianne Anderson about arrangements for doing this.
B. Cleanup of floatables in Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary, Fall 2010. Giles has suggested Sunday, Sept. 19, one week after the City Island Fair, as the date for this. That will allow us to publicize it and perhaps get volunteers to help. The date will have to be cleared with Marianne Anderson of Pelham Bay Park. Giles give us each detailed copies of the proposed action plan.
C. Con Ed issue. Eleanor reported that John Doyle will send her a copy of the FRC report as soon as available. It was originally scheduled to be released in October 2009 but the date for release has been changed to March/April.
Date of next meeting: Wednesday March 10, at the Raes, 7 Leeward Lane.
MEETING OF JANUARY 10, 2010
Present: Eleanor Rae, Giles Rae, Inge Otto, Dorothea Poggi, Violet Smith, Jack Ullman
Following Eleanor Rae’s agenda:
I. Minutes. The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted.
II. Treasurer’s Report. Inge Otto reports that we have $1939.59 in our bank account. Some of this is owed to Dotti Poggi for her work on the brochure, and will be paid to her upon receipt of necessary documentation of expenses. Dotti will work with Toby Liederman on a revised version of the brochure.
III. Reports:
A. Article for Bronx Times: Helen Friedman has written it, and Toby and Inge will edit it. It will be submitted to both Bronx Times and the Island Current.
B. Report from John Doyle re state of the Hutchinson River: Eleanor Rae reports John Doyle has requested a copy of the DEC report on the Con Edison cleanup that was brought to our attention recently by a City Island resident. The report was due due by October.
C. Citizens’ Committee Grant Proposal: Eleanor reports that we did not receive the grant. Apparently we wanted to use only one agency (Sanitation) and they required more than one. But they will have more money available for a second try in March.
D. Possible grant applications. Inge Otto has found two new sources, the New York City Environmental Fund and a State Farm Insurance Company grant program. Inge will pursue this further.
E. Friends of Pelham Bay Park. Violet Smith has joined this organization. At a meeting they discussed such issues as a dog run and a garden club. It would be good for us to work with them. Violet also reports that there is to be a Park Speak-Up (a meeting to which the public is invited to discuss concerns about he parks) at Lehman College on Feb. 27. Violet, Inge and Dotti Poggi plan to attend.
F. City Island Fair dates. Fairs are scheduled for June 5 and 6, and September 11 and 12. We must prepare for these. We should have a map of the river to display and cleanup plans to show.
IV. Action Items:
A. Spring test program in Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary in preparation for Fall 2010 cleanup: Giles Rae has obtained information on river cleanup procedures from the Appalachian Mountain Club and they recommend scouting the riverbank you wish to clean up beforehand to plan cleanup methods realistically. Jack Ullman agreed to contact Marianne Anderson of Pelham Bay Park to set up dates for an exploratory trip, as early in Spring as possible, to give us time to get additional funding and purchase equipment.
B. Cleanup of floatables in the Thomas Pell Wildlife Sanctuary in the Fall of 2010: there was some discussion of methods to be used, but no final decision is to be made until more information is obtained.
V. Date and time of next meeting: Feb. 10, 2010, at the Rae’s, 7 Leeward Lane at the East end of Caroll St. on City Island.
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