Approved Meeting Minutes
Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)
Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters
Wellfleet, MA
September 13, 2012
9:30 am-5:00 pm
Members Present: Tim Smith, Eric Derleth, Hunt Durey, Steve Spear, Steve Block, Hillary Greenberg-Lemos
Others Present: Margo Fenn, Don Palladino, Nils Wiberg and Dean Audet of Fuss and O’Neill and Kirk Bosma of the Woods Hole Group
Administration/Coordination:
Communication/Coordination with Friends of Herring River (FHR): Don Palladino reported that the FHR’s Annual Meeting was a success. The video about the Herring River was shown and there was a presentation on the history of the estuary. The video has also been used in the town’s beach permitting office and will be displayed during the Oyster Festival. FHR is interested in coordinating with the HRRC on two upcoming grant opportunities-The Massachusetts Bays Program (MBP) and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET)
Approval of Minutes: The Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the August 15, 2012 meeting.
Schedule of HRRC Meetings: The Committee agreed to the following meeting schedule:
Thursday, October 11, 2012 (regular meeting)
Thursday, November 8, 2012 (regular meeting)
The Committee noted that the Technical Working Group (TWG) was tentatively scheduled to meet on October 17, 2012. It is not clear yet whether that meeting will be needed. The group discussed possible dates for the public hearing on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/EIR), but deferred this decision to later in the meeting. Margo Fenn agreed to notify TWG members about whether the meeting will be cancelled.
Informational Updates:
Project Coordination Funding/Contracting: Margo Fenn noted that the existing funding for project coordination would run out at the end of September 2012. At the last HRRC meeting, Hunt Durey reported that he had been working with the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) and the NOAA-Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) Partnership to seek funds for this purpose. He proposed to seek $25,000 in NOAA/RAE funds to be matched by $25,000 in Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER) funds for this purpose. The goal would be to provide grants to the FHR similar to what had been proposed under the MET scope of work.
A proposed scope of work was drafted for the project coordination grants. The draft scope of work is under review by other HRRC members now. Steve Block noted concerns about federal funds being used to develop a fundraising strategy for the project that might include recommendations for seeking funding through the Congress, so the scope of work and budget should reflect this. The DER funds would have to be expended by June 30, 2013 and the RAE-NOAA funds have to be used by September 30, 2013.
There is approximately $12,000 remaining in the contract with the Cape Cod Conservation District (CCCD). Steve Spear reported that he had spoken with Rick Devergileo at the CCCD about using the remaining funds as transition funding until the new grant funds could be obtained. This is possible but would require an extension on the timeframe of the existing contract with APCC.
The Committee briefly discussed the scope of work and grant deliverables for the DER and RAE-NOAA funding, noting that development of a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MOU III) will require coordination and negotiation with a number of parties outside the Committee. Hunt Durey stressed that the scope of work needs to accurately allocate time among the tasks.
Steve Spear agreed to work with the CCCD and APCC to arrange for an extension of the current APCC Project Coordination contract. Hunt Durey, Margo Fenn, Don Palladino and Tim Smith agreed to review the latest version of the draft scope of work and circulate comments/edits to the group.
Upcoming Grant Opportunities: The Committee discussed two upcoming grant opportunities. Both the Mass Bays Program (MBP) and the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) have application deadlines in early October. There are numerous engineering and modeling needs for the Restoration Project that might be eligible for these sources of funds. The MBP funds would have to be expended between January and June 2013; the maximum grant amount would be $20,000. The MET funds would not be available until August 2013; the maximum grant amount would be $50,000. The Friends of Herring River is interested in serving as the grantee.
The Committee discussed several possible uses for these grants and discussed how the timing and sequencing of design and engineering work could work best. The firm of Fuss and O’Neill is currently under contract to do preliminary design work for the Chequessett Neck Road (CNR) dike and tide gates (see discussion below). The Committee agreed that it would make sense to modify the Fuss and O’Neill scope of work to include some preliminary design work for a Mill Creek dike, and then work with FHR to seek MET funds to prepare the 20% design plans for the CNR dike (approximately $50,000). The Committee also agreed to work with the FHR to seek MBP funds (approximately $20,000) to prepare hydrodynamic modeling of the selected tide control infrastructure.
Tim Smith agreed to prepare a rough draft of the MBP grant application and work with Don Palladino to refine the proposal. Don Palladino offered to prepare a rough draft of the MET Letter of Inquiry, using the template from last year’s application and information from the Fuss and O’Neill proposal regarding 20% engineering design for the CNR dike. Both grant applications must be completed prior to October 4, 2012.
Steve Block and Tim Smith agreed to prepare an amendment of the Fuss and O’Neill contract to include design work for the Mill Creek dike, and review that proposed change with Peter Shelley at the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF).
Cultural Resources: At the August HRRC meeting Jim Harmon from NPS suggested that the HRRC contact the Public Archaeology Lab (PAL) to request assistance with refining the proposed Programmatic Agreement with the Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC). There is some remaining funding at the Coastal America Foundation (CAF) that could be used for this purpose. HRRC will contact PAL soon.
Tim Smith also reported that the Regional NPS Office had raised some issues about the DEIS/EIR Cultural Resources analysis. The document may not be sufficient to fulfill the Section 106 requirements under the National Historic Preservation Act, as had been intended. A conference call is planned to discuss this. The Section 106 process needs to be complete before the Record of Decision (ROD) can be filed.
Tim Smith offered to check with Bill Hubbard of the Coastal America Foundation about hiring PAL. It would be helpful if Holly Herbster could attend the October HRRC meeting. Tim Smith, Bill Burke and Mark Husbands agreed to participate in a conference call with Regional NPS officials to discuss the DEIS and Section 106 requirements.
Woods Hole Group Final Modeling Report-Executive Summary: The Woods Hole Group will submit the Executive Summary of the Final Modeling Report by September 14, 2012 for inclusion in the Appendix of the DEIS/EIR. The full Final Report is due by the beginning of October to coincide with the public release of the DEIS.
Steve Spear offered to have NRCS staff provide a peer review of the report. The Committee discussed this idea and also the idea of asking the Army Corps of Engineers to provide peer review of the document. Tim Smith will discuss this with Bill Hubbard.
Adaptive Management Update: Tim Smith and Eric Derleth have been working with Charlie Roman of NPS/URI to plan a workshop with modeling experts, as discussed by the HRRC in June. The Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies (CCS) will host the workshop with funding from the NPS ($30,000) and the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership ($20,000). Tim Smith agreed to write up a scope of work and outline for the workshop. The CCS will seek proposals to conduct the workshop and prepare a follow up report.
Discussion:
RAE-NOAA Grant: Workshop with Fuss and O’Neill: Nils Wiberg and Dean Audet of Fuss and O’Neill and Kirk Bosma of the Woods Hole Group (WHG) joined the meeting to discuss their work to date under a grant to the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF). Nils Wiberg provided an overview of the project, noting that the topographic survey has been completed. Fuss and O’Neill proposes to have a series of workshop meetings with the HRRC and others to develop alternatives for tide control structures at the CNR dike. He proposed that in October, the Committee review the universe of alternatives and select three options for further analysis. Fuss and O’Neill would then apply a series of criteria to evaluate these three alternatives, including:
-Natural resources and water quality criteria (e.g. minimizing impacts to vegetation, shellfish, migratory fish and wildlife)
-Construction phase criteria (e.g. minimizing construction costs and duration)
-Long-term operation and maintenance criteria, (e.g. maximizing operational flexibility, reliability and design life span, capability to meet FEMA and ACOE criteria for flood protection, adaptability to sea level rise conditions), and
-Public use and enjoyment criteria (e.g. canoe/kayak passage and safety, safe access for fishing/viewing, aesthetics of design, accommodation for parking)
Then, in November the HRRC would meet again to define the relative advantages and disadvantages of each alternative and select a recommended alternative to use for further engineering design. The Committee discussed this proposed process and noted that Wellfleet town officials need to be included in this process. Key participants would include the Board of Selectmen, the Town Manager, the Department of Public Works (DPW) Director, the Police Chief and perhaps the Harbormaster. The Committee discussed possible meeting dates. The draft alternatives analysis could take place as part of the regular October 11, 2012 HRRC meeting. A special meeting will likely be needed to refine the alternatives to one recommended option-perhaps in late November or early December. The Committee considered November 29, 2012 as
a possible date for this workshop, but this needs to be confirmed later. Town officials should be invited to both meetings, but specially urged to attend the November session wherein the preferred option will be selected. The Committee agreed that it would make sense to have a morning meeting of the HRRC to review the options and invite the town officials to participate in an afternoon session that would select the recommended alternative.
Nils Wiberg provided the HRRC with4 copies of the draft Existing Conditions Plan for Chequessett Neck Road dike. Tim Smith noted that, among other issues, the plan datum needs to be converted from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88. Tim Smith agreed to review the draft Existing Conditions Plan and get comments to Fuss and O’Neill.
Nils Wiberg reviewed the existing geotechnical information for the CNR dike and noted that there is no peat or clay down to 25 ft below the surface. Fuss and O’Neill will need to do further borings to meet FEMA standards for designing a new structure in this location. Nils Wiberg will provide a cost estimate for doing these borings.
The Committee discussed what effect projected sea level rise might have on the dike design. Kirk Bosma noted that a new dike could be designed so as to allow increases in dike height in the future. The group discussed other considerations, such as ease of tide gate management, maintenance costs, low-tide drainage and fish passage. Nils Wiberg agreed to synthesize the issues discussed and distribute that information to the HRRC before the October meeting.
The Committee proposed that the existing Fuss and O’Neill contract be modified so as to include a new task-further conceptual design for a Mill Creek dike. This work needs to include a property survey to confirm the location of the Cape Cod National Seashore (CCNS) boundaries, and an evaluation of the cost and feasibility of building a new dike in two different locations, both on and off CCNS land. The analysis should include construction access and methods and resource impacts for the two alternative locations.
Fuss and O’Neill agreed to prepare a cost proposal to do the Mill Creek dike task. HRRC members will work with CLF to prepare a contract amendment to cover this task.
DEIS/EIR Schedule and Next Steps: Tim Smith reported that the review of version 3 of the DEIS/EIR was almost complete. Mark Husbands, Margo Fenn and Tim Smith had reviewed the document and provided comments to LBG. The goal was to deliver all comments on the DEIS/EIR chapters, Executive Summary and Appendices to LBG by September 18, 2012. LBG will prepare the final Draft EIS/EIR in camera-ready form within a week of receiving all the comments. The Environmental Quality Division of the NPS would then print and mail the document and it will be filed with MEPA by October 15, 2012. The Project would appear in the Massachusetts Environmental Monitor on October 22, 2012. A public hearing could then be scheduled for early to mid November. The Committee discussed potential
dates for the hearing and agreed to check with the Cape Cod Commission and others about procedural requirements. There are numerous issues to be determined, including:
-How to prepare/certify an abutters list for the CCC
-Whether or not a site visit will be required
-Whether there will be costs associated with the public hearing notice/ and if so, who is responsible for those costs
-Where and when to hold the public hearing
-Whether a stenographer will be needed to record public comments at the hearing
-Getting a cover letter from the town(s) requesting an extension of the MEPA timeframe to 60 days to coincide with the NEPA review period
-How the public hearing will be structured (Who will attend, chair the hearing, who will make presentations, who will record public testimony)
-What the ground rules will be for public comment under NEPA and MEPA-e.g. must all comments be submitted in writing? Can the summary of the public hearing testimony prepared by CCC staff be included in the NEPA/MEPA record?
Margo Fenn and Tim Smith agreed to consult with MEPA and the CCC about procedural requirements for filing the DEIS/EIR and conducting the public hearing. A cover letter will be drafted for the DEIS/EIR to MEPA, requesting an extension of the MEPA timeframe to 60 days to coincide with the NEPA timeframe. Hillary Greenberg will provide the letter to the Wellfleet Town Manager/Board of Selectmen for their signature(s).
Outreach Strategy with Low-lying Property (LLP) Owners: Margo Fenn summarized the proposed changes in the letter to LLP owners. The current plan to send a letter to all potentially affected owners prior to the release of the DEIS/EIR and provide an email/mailing address for them to contact the HRRC with questions. Ms. Fenn would serve as the coordinator of the process and assign HRRC members to respond to individual requests for information, either by phone or in person. All contacts with property owners need to be documented in writing. Steve Block asked if the property owners’ questions need to be documented as part of the NEPA record.
Margo Fenn offered to develop a standard form for HRRC members to use to document meetings and communications with LLP owners. Mark Husbands agreed to check about whether records of LLP contacts need to be included in the NEPA record.
The Committee agreed to hold a special meeting to prepare for the LLP outreach on Tuesday, September 25, 2012 from Noon to 4:00 pm at the Wellfleet DPW Building.
Tim Smith agreed to prepare an outline of talking points for meetings with LLP owners and send it out the HRRC for review prior to the 9/25/12 meeting. Don Palladino will invite some interested LLP owners to participate in the latter part of that meeting.
Documents Referred to in the Meeting:
-Minutes of the August 15, 2012 HRRC Meeting
Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Greenberg-Lemos
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