APPROVED
Meeting Minutes
Herring River Restoration Committee
CCNS Headquarters
8 April 2010
Members present: Hunt Durey, Tim Smith, Gary Joseph, Steve Spear, Steve Block, Hillary Greenberg-Lemos, Mark Adams
Others Present: Margo Fenn, Don Palladino
Administration / Coordination
Communications/ Coordination with Friends of Herring River
Don Palladino provided a written update on Friends activities (See attached document titled “Herring River Restoration Project, Friends of Herring River Status Report April 8, 2010”) On 14 April, the Boston TV Newsmagazine “Chronicle” might be coming to Cape Cod to film a program on the Outer Cape. The communications committee met in late March and agreed to pursue preparation of an educational video about the history of the Herring River.
Approval of Draft Meeting Minutes: 18 March 2010
Unanimous Approval
Schedule Next Meetings:
May 13, 2010
June 17, 2010
July 15, 2010 (NOTE: The July meeting date will be changed to July 8, 2010 in order to allow preparation time for the next TWG meeting on July 14, 2010.)
Information Updates:
April TWG Meeting Cancelled: Meeting was cancelled because too many items were in progress and not ready for discussion. Next TWG meeting will be on July 14, 2010.
Cultural Resources Study
Three proposals to prepare a Phase 1A Study were reviewed by NPS staff and a final conference call will be held next week. A selection is yet to be made.
NRCS Watershed Plan Funding
Items discussed at the meeting on 18 March 2010 are still on the list of projects to potentially receive funding. There may be a shift in the amounts allocated for planning/engineering vs. construction. More will be known within the next few months.
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Follow-up on Meeting with Mark Forest
-Cost C Cost Estimate for Chequessett Neck Dike Reconstruction
The Louis Berger Group (LBG) submitted a proposal of $29,000.00 to prepare a detailed cost estimate for dike reconstruction. HRRC thought this was too much money to spend at this time. In order to provide Mark Forest with a rough cost estimate, Tim Smith used the NPS methodology to prepare a conceptual (“Cost C”) estimate totaling $12.3 million. The estimate was based on the preliminary bridge design in the Conceptual Restoration Plan.
-Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) Listing Process: Margo Fenn met with Cape Cod Commission staff to discuss the process for listing the dike reconstruction on the TIP. Town officials will be meeting on Tuesday, April 13 at 1:00 pm to discuss this. The first step would be to file Project Need Form and get it listed as a preliminary project. This project may be able to qualify as an enhancement project.
Discussion Items:
Project Alternatives / Impact Matrix
Tim Smith’s latest matrix was reviewed. It includes the No Action alternative; Alternative A: single point of control at Chequessett Neck Road; Alternative B: full tide flow at Chequessett Neck Road; and Alternative C: multiple points of tide control. The impacts associated with each alternative are briefly described in the matrix. It does not appear that the committee needs more much data to complete this chapter of the EIS/EIR. Smith also created three new graphics to illustrate the alternatives listed above. This matrix will serve as an outline for Chapter 4 of the EIS/EIR. Smith will vet the matrix with EQD. The Committee agreed that further work on this would require additional hydrodynamic modeling.
Future Work Plan: EQD Consultant/ Contract Management
HRRC has approximately $180,000 remaining through Cooperative Agreements with the Coastal America Foundation (CAF) for work related to EIS/EIR preparation. The Environmental Quality Division (EQD) of the National Park Service (NPS) has allocated another $300,000 +/- in FY2010 for the DEIS/EIR. EQD and CACO are discussing how to handle future consultant contracting for the DEIS/EIR. Tim Smith and Margo Fenn will consult with EQD to explore how this process would work.
Low Lying Properties
-Legal Analysis
Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) Superintendent George Price will submit a request for assistance to the DOI Regional Solicitors office. There may be a need for other legal advice regarding private properties outside the boundary of CCNS, but the Committee agreed to start the legal consultation process with federal solicitors.
-Golf Course Routing Plan
A draft routing plan prepared by LBG and Howard Mauer was reviewed. The golf course subcommittee met earlier with CYCC officials to review the draft routing plan. The subcommittee and CYCC proposed a number of modifications to the plan and requested that the consultants prepare a new plan showing those changes.
-Next Steps: Mark Adams combed through the Woods Hole Group (WHG) draft modeling report and compared the data with the low-lying properties report. There do not appear to be any additional low-lying structures beyond what the Slade report identified several years back. Mark Adams will conduct a visual survey of these properties to field-check his results.
-Cost-Sharing Concepts: The Committee discussed how to approach the cost-sharing question with CYCC, but noted that it will be difficult to reach consensus about this until there is an estimate of actual costs. It was agreed that for the time being, we should not try to define a specific formula but rather articulate a general acknowledgement that design and construction costs will be shared between the restoration project and CYCC.
-Mill Creek Impact Analysis: Proposal from LBG/WHG: The Committee discussed the possibility of combining the scopes of work for two related studies in the Mill Creek basin: The Mill Creek Impact Analysis (including modeling the No Action Alternative and evaluating the feasibility of diking Mill Creek) and the development of a grading plan for the CYCC golf course. There was considerable debate about whether HRRC should use public funds to design portions of the golf course that are unaffected by the restoration project. While construction of these project elements would very likely be the responsibility of CYCC, a full design for the golf course may be needed in order to accurately apportion the costs of construction.
The Committee recommended that the scopes of work not be combined but instead to proceed with the Mill Creek analysis, while the golf course routing plan is being revised and reviewed with NHESP.
A question arose regarding the ownership of land in the vicinity of the potential Mill Creek dike. Mark Adams offered to consult NPS staff to get a ground survey determination of the CCNS boundary in this area.
Hydrodynamic Modeling: Next Steps: The Committee discussed next steps for hydro-dynamic modeling, noting that much of the project impact analysis will depend on this information. The modeling subcommittee had a conference call with the Woods Hole Group (WHG) and requested a proposal for both sediment analysis and modeling the impacts of the Alternatives. This will include finalizing the 2009 report and standardizing the outputs so they are consistently presented. Steve Spear stressed that we need to know where the highest level of water will go, under maximum water conditions with no restrictions. This may be very important for evaluating property impacts. The modeling subcommittee will reconvene to review the proposed scope of work and cost proposal when it is submitted by WHG.
Other Business
Loose Ends: Steve Block asked about the process for public review of the draft Alternatives. Tim Smith reported that Federal Register notice is not required to produce and mail a newsletter. HRRC will develop a newsletter outlining the draft Alternatives and distribute it to interested parties in the summer, with a goal of having an informal discussion of the Alternatives at the Annual Meeting of the Friends of Herring River in August.
Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Greenberg-Lemos
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