Approved Meeting Minutes
Herring River Restoration Committee (HRRC)
Cape Cod National Seashore Headquarters
Wellfleet, MA
June 19, 2013
9:30 am-5:00 pm
Members Present: Tim Smith, Hunt Durey, Eric Derleth, Steve Spear, Steve Block, Charleen Greenhalgh
Others Present: Margo Fenn, Don Palladino, John Portnoy
Administration/Coordination:
Discussion with low-lying property owner: The Committee met with Laura Runkel and Tom O’Connell, who own property adjacent to the estuary in the Upper Pole Dike Creek basin. Ms. Runkel and Mr. O’Connell provided some photographs of their property to illustrate existing water levels in the area. They expressed concerns about the impacts of tidal restoration in this basin. The Committee discussed a number of issues related to the Restoration Project with them, including water surface elevations, salinity levels, vegetation change and management, low-tide drainage, and water quality. HRRC members suggested that there could be engineering solutions (for example, a flood berm) to protect their house and the character of their land, and asked if they would be willing to work with the Committee to
explore some of those options. Ms. Runkel indicated that they would consider this idea and get back to the HRRC about it. Tom O’Connell said he would be interested in seeing some examples of how flood berms have been used in other restoration projects.
Charleen Greenhalgh provided some basic information about the recently released FEMA preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). She offered to forward more detailed information to Ms. Runkel and to HRRC members on this.
Steve Block asked if the HRRC or the Friends of Herring River (FHR) could prepare a short paper describing the differences between the FEMA flood model and the hydrodynamic model prepared for the Restoration Project by the Woods Hole Group (WHG). Tim Smith offered to prepare some draft text to address this question and consult with WHG and others about it.
Communications/Coordination with the Friends of Herring River (FHR): Don Palladino reported on FHR activities. He noted that FHR had received a $50,000 grant from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust (MET) to develop the 25% design plans for the new Chequessett Neck Road bridge. He said that the start date for the grant would be in early August. MET will provide 50% of the funds at start-up, 25% after a mid-point report and 25% upon completion of all deliverables. FHR also just submitted an interim report on modeling work being done by the Woods Hole Group (WHG) under another grant from the Massachusetts Bays Program (MBP).
NOAA Grant Scope of Work: FHR has applied for a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) grant. This is a three-year grant. Based on preliminary feedback from NOAA stating that limited funds may be available for the first year of the proposed funding, the Committee discussed how to revise the proposed scope of work for the first year of the grant. After discussion, the group agreed on the following proposed set of tasks:
$60,000 Continuation of Chequessett Neck Road (CNR) bridge design, including consultation with the MA Department of Transportation (DOT)
$50,000 Roadwork design, with a focus on raising Pole Dike Road and evaluating designs for a tide gate in this location
$60,000 Data collection and engineering design for flood-proofing low- lying private properties
$20,000 Development of a permitting work plan and legal assistance in preparing a Development of Regional Impact (DRI) application
$40,000 Phase 1B Cultural (Historic and Archaeological) Resource investigations in key construction areas
$70,000 Project management funding
$300,000
Based on this discussion, John Riehl and Don Palladino agreed to prepare a revised scope of work, circulate it to HRRC members for comments, and then submit it to NOAA. Key milestones for grant performance would include completion of the 25% design plans for the CNR bridge, development of at least three plans for low-lying property flood-proofing and hiring a project manager. HRRC members noted that it is very important to develop a detailed job description for the project manager position. NOAA grant awards are expected to be announced at the end of July 2013, with funding to begin in October.
Project Coordination: The Committee also discussed the Project Coordination grant provided by Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) and NOAA through the Conservation Law Foundation and matched by the Massachusetts Division of Ecological Restoration (DER). The DER funds must be expended by June 30, 2013.
Approval of Minutes: The Committee voted to approve with one correction, the minutes of the May 9, 2013 meeting.
Meeting Schedule: The Committee discussed the schedule of upcoming meetings, as follows:
June 20, 2013: MOU Working Group meeting
July 11, 2013: HRRC regular meeting
July 17, 2013: TWG meeting (tentative)
July 18, 2013: MOU Working Group meeting
August 15, 2013: HRRC regular meeting (proposed)
August 21, 2013: MOU Working Group meeting
The group agreed that the Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting should be postponed but that smaller meetings with key state agencies are needed to follow up on permitting questions. Margo Fenn suggested compiling a list of project elements to review with state agency staff and legal counsel in order to figure out the procedural requirements for permitting.
Tim Smith and Hunt Durey agreed to follow up with the Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) and the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to arrange these consultations. Margo Fenn agreed to notify the TWG members about cancellation of the July meeting.
Informational Updates:
MOU III Development: Margo Fenn updated the Committee on the activities of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) Working Group. She noted that the Friends of Herring River had contracted with Catherine Barner of the Golden Gate Conservancy to research models for managing the restoration project. Ms. Barner participated in the May Working Group meeting by phone and will participate in the June meeting in person. She has analyzed six organizations that have been involved in public/private partnerships to manage restoration projects, and evaluated the pros and cons of these models for the Herring River Project. She will meet with the Working Group on June 20, 2013 and prepare a final report, making recommendations about the management structure and needed next steps. Her final
report is due by June 30, 2013.
Public Outreach Activities: Don Palladino noted that FHR would prepare a press release to announce any upcoming grant awards. Margo Fenn suggested that the HRRC organize a site visit and presentation for the federal and state legislative delegations in late summer or early fall. This could be coordinated through State Senator Dan Wolf’s and State Representative Sarah Peake’s offices.
Discussion:
DEIS/EIR Response to Comments: Margo Fenn and Tim Smith reported that they had been working with Mark Husbands of the National Park Service (NPS) Environmental Quality Division (EQD) and the Louis Berger Group (LBG) to develop responses to the public comments submitted on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Report (DEIS/EIR). The Final EIS/EIR will include an appendix to address the public and agency comments. Some concerns can be addressed directly but others require further consultation and analysis. Tim Smith noted that many comments relate to the Adaptive Management Plan and to the permitting process. He is preparing a more detailed description of the Adaptive Management approach.
Project Work Plan/Loose Ends: Margo Fenn developed a draft Gantt Chart that incorporates the material from the ongoing list of loose ends and upcoming work tasks. This draft spreadsheet incorporates the list of tasks that Hunt Durey prepared in May. Fenn cautioned that the document is very dense with detail-and there are many uncertainties about timing. However, it does put everything in one place, and may be helpful in thinking through the sequencing of upcoming activities. The Committee discussed the draft work plan and noted that it would be more useful to put it into a software program that could analyze the interdependencies of the tasks and timing. The group agreed that it should be edited and consolidated. Tim Smith offered to edit and reorganize the work plan/loose ends spreadsheet and reformat it
using Microsoft Project.
Other LLP Communications: Don Palladino and Margo Fenn also reported that they had met with Gerald and Hila Feil, who own property in the Lower Herring River basin to explore potential flood protection options for their house and ancillary structures. Don Palladino agreed to follow up on this meeting and consult town officials and others about permitting constraints and other options for this property.
Steve Spear reported that he and several other HRRC members had done a site visit with Martin Nieski, who owns property in the Mill Creek basin. The group discussed options for flood-proofing the house and portions of the yard with Mr. Nieski. Further engineering and/or landscape architectural work will be needed to design a flood-proofing solution for the property. If the FHR NOAA grant application is approved, it would provide funding for this purpose.
The Committee discussed if the HRRC could provide financial assistance to landowners for engineering and legal work conducted on their behalf related to flood-proofing. Hunt Durey noted that the HRRC needs to develop a model legal agreement to use with structurally affected landowners. Eric Derleth noted that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has a template that it uses for such agreements; something like this would need to be tailored to fit the Project needs. Steve Spear noted that the NRCS Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP) and Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) have model easements as well.
Hydrodynamic Modeling: The Committee had a brief discussion about hydrodynamic modeling. Steve Spear noted that even though the highest tide ever recorded in Wellfleet Harbor (during the blizzard of 1978) reached only 9.3 feet NAVD, the new FEMA FIRM maps are based on their calculated synthetic storm tide elevation of 15 feet in Wellfleet Harbor. He advocated for having WHG run two new model scenarios, one with a Harbor boundary forcing of 11.9 feet (one-tenth of a foot lower that his projected height of the new Chequessett Neck Road dike) and one for FEMA’s synthetic storm tide of 15 feet. He thinks that these two model runs would be useful for addressing FEMA issues in the FEIS/EIR, CNR structure design, permitting, and the final O&M plan for gate management. Tim Smith
pointed out that the new bridge and tide gates in all locations will be designed to control water levels in the river. Additional model runs of hypothetical tide levels would have limited value because the Herring River project isn’t doing anything that would increase the likelihood of the dike being overtopped resulting in this extreme condition. In addition, the current contract with the WHG does not include funding for these proposed model runs and it’s unclear how this new information would be incorporated into the FEIS/R or on-going discussions with affected landowners. HRRC members discussed this and suggested that the Committee consult WHG about the utility of such an analysis. Eric Derleth offered to consult with Tim Smith and Kirk Bosma to explore this question.
Documents referred to in the meeting:
-Minutes of the May 9, 2013 HRRC Meeting
-Work Plan Gantt Chart, June 6, 2013
Respectfully submitted,
Hillary Greenberg-Lemos
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