Loading...
HomeMy Public PortalAboutJan 2014 SAC Minutes Stormwater Advisory Committee January 16, 2014 4:00 pm @ DPW In attendance: Ernesta Kraczkiewicz, Chris Hayward, Steve Magoon, Nancy Hammett, David Stokes (guest), Anita Roy Dobbs (guest) and Mary Haley. Absent: N/A I. The December S, 2013 minutes were accepted as submitted. II. Brief Reports A. Stormwater Ordinances: Status of Town Council Review—The ordinances are ready to be reviewed by the full Town Council. Action Item: Steve Magoon will forward the ordinances to the Town Manager for submission for Town Council review, possibly in early February. B. Status of DPW Hiring—The two jobs have been posted. Once the application period has been closed, internal review will begin (scheduled to start Jan 21.) SAC members discussed concerns regarding the wording of the job posting for the Engineering position, given the need for knowledge and enforcement of Stormwater BMP's. C. Status of the Two New Appointments to SAC—There are two expressions of interest for these positions. The Town Manager will schedule interviews. Action Item: Steve will investigate which position is to be selected by the Town Council President, and which is selected by the Town Manager. D. Status of Information for MWC Inventory of SW BMP's—Chris has started a list of stormwater management practices associated with developments in Watertown. Action Item: Anita will contact MWC to determine if they still want this information and find out what they need. Chris will continue to add detail to his list. E. Implementation of SW Ordinances—Role of SAC and the Next Steps:The general subject of SAC involvement was discussed. The adequacy of funding for implementation was also discussed. DPW is responsible for implementing the ordinances, but the SAC might provide support, e.g., by providing guidance for homeowners who are subject to the ordinance. Next steps will be discussed at future meetings. F. Clean Energy Forum—Steve Magoon attended this January 9 forum. Experts in alternative energy sources talked about photovoltaic solar arrays, but no experts on stormwater presented. The need for reduction of impervious surfaces for stormwater amelioration was mentioned. III. Public Education Program— A. Website: Need to get SAC meetings posted on the Town calendar and minutes & agendas posted on the website was discussed. Need to coordinate with the IT director (Joe Mahoney) and the DPW website coordinator, and complete the process to include meetings in the "Notify Me" system. Minutes and Agendas also go to the Clerk's office;the Agenda is posted on the board. Action Item: Mary will post the monthly SAC meeting dates on the Town website and the DPW website. General content and design—Committee agreed the SAC-related pages on Town website and DPW website need updated and useful information; those pages should also link to a separate, SAC-created site, aimed at public outreach and education. Action Item: Anita will obtain a domain name (url); first choice is WatertownStormwater.org. Anita will contact Joe Mahoney to learn protocol and initiate process of securing domain name and ISP (internet service provider) for the Stormwater website. B. Posting of IDDE report with Explanation— Nancy provided a draft of a "press release" or explanation to accompany the IDDE report when it is posted. Action Items: Chris will obtain an electronic copy of the report from the town's consultants. Nancy will revise the explanation based on SAC comments and add some visuals. Comments on the draft should be sent to Steve. C. Other Priorities- Potential benefits of involving students in the outreach & education program was discussed—e.g., getting students to evaluate outreach materials (CATV programs or PSAs) or including stormwater in high school coursework or community service activities. Action Items: David and Anita will discuss ideas for involving students. Nancy will look for sources of environmental grant funding. IV. Funding A. 604(b) Grant—A candidate project for a potential 604(b) grant application was agreed on (see below). Action Items: Nancy will prepare and distribute a more detailed description of the proposed project. Comments should be sent to Steve. Someone from the town staff(Chris or Steve?) will attend the informational meeting Jan. 28th in Worcester, if possible. Nancy will schedule a meeting with DEP before the Feb. 7th expected RFR issuance date. B. Potential Projects for Grant Applications A list of potential projects for grant funding was discussed. The first project "Greening Watertown Streets" was selected for a potential 604(b)grant application. Steve suggested an additional project, related to flooding impacts of SW management. See attachment—Revised Project List. V. Review of SAC Functioning and Priorities A. Evaluation of Progress through 2013— Discussion of need for more administrative support for the SAC. However it is too late for more funding this year; department budgets were due to the Manager this day. B. Priorities for 2014 A draft list of priorities for the SAC's work in 2014 was discussed. Priorities identified include: • Obtain grant funding for at least one of the SW project ideas • Upgrade the stormwater website • Conduct education on stormwater issues and Watertown's program for Town Boards and staff(once the ordinances are passed) • Provide support for DPW implementation of the new ordinances • Sponsor at least one public education project or event. The idea of organizing meetings with neighboring towns to compare information about stormwater activities was discussed. The meetings might include representatives from the SAC, the DPW, and the Public Works Subcommittee, meeting with Waltham, Arlington, Belmont and perhaps others. Specific topics might include outreach & education efforts, plans for SW retrofits, and potential areas for collaboration. Nancy& Ernesta will prepare a description of such meetings for discussion with the DPW and the Public Works Subcommittee. Next Meeting: February 20, 2014 4:00 PM—The public is welcome to attend. Nancy Hammett 20 Feb 2014 Notes on Education Grants EPA: Website for EPA's environmental education grants program. Next funding round opens Fall 2014. http://www2.ePa.Pov/education/environmental-education-ee-Rrants We would have to determine whether the Watertown schools would qualify as a "local education agency"— I assume so. I think they would have to be the applicant. This is EPA New England's environmental education grants webpage. Doesn't look like they've given out grants since FY2010, but maybe they just haven't updated the list. I assume these are funded by EPA's overall grant program (above). It's interesting to browse through the descriptions of programs that were funded before then. httr)://www.ei)a.Rov/reRioni/ra/ed/index.html National Environmental Education Foundation: http://www.neefusa.orR/grants/index.htm Partners with corporations, governments and other foundations. Has its own programs (e.g. Classroom Earth) with resources, and also gives grant funding for various purposes (I didn't see any that focused on stormwater, but I didn't review carefully.) Note EE Week 2014 coming up April 13-19—focused on K-12. (Might be worth registering for.) North American Association for Environmental Education and their EELinked Network httr)://eelinked.naaee.net/ A searchable catalog of internet links about environmental education, and a global community of environmental educators. Includes a list of grant sources at httr)://eelink.net/pages/Grants+-+EE+Specific+Resources Another useful list of education grants is available at htta://www.conservationerants.com/education.htm Other possibilities (I haven't verified these descriptions): Association of American Educators Classroom Grants AAE's Classroom grants (average amount of$500) can be used for a variety of projects and materials, including but not limited to books, software, calculators, math manipulatives, art supplies, audiovisual equipment and lab materials. Classroom grants are available to all educators. Annual application deadlines are October 1 and March 1. For more information, visit http://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/member-benefits/scholarships-and-grants. Frances R. Dewina Foundation Grants The Frances R. Dewing Foundation gives grants only to programs that deal directly with early childhood education. Within that context, support is given for preschool, elementary, and other education; conservation and environmental protection; the fine and performing arts and other cultural programs; and social services. Programs must serve children younger than age 12. Giving is limited to the United States, with emphasis on the New England states in the Northeast. Annual application deadlines are October 1 and April 1. The average grant amount is$15,000. For more information, visit http://www.frd-foundation.org/apply05.html. PLT GreenWorks!Grant Proaram Do you have an idea for a school/community native plant garden, a forest improvement project, a streamside restoration plan, a recycling program, or energy conservation project for your students? Need funds to implement it?Apply for a $1,000 Project Learning Tree (PLT) GreenWorks!grant. GreenWorks!is the service-learning, community action program of PLT that partners, PLT educators, students, and communities in environmental neighborhood improvement projects. Applicants must have attended, or be registered for, a PLT educator workshop by the deadline. Visit http://www.plt.org/applyforagrant for more information. School Garden Grants Proaram/Whole Kids Foundation.[I think this is funded by Whole Foods.] Awards of$2,000 are available to select applicants. Nonprofit organizations and nonprofit K-12 schools are eligible to apply. For more information, visit http://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/gardengrants.php. Taraet Field Trip Grant Here's a great opportunity for you to offer your students a valuable field trip at little or no cost to you or your school. Target Corporation will award thousands of Field Trip Grants for up to$700 each. For more information, visit https://corporate.target.com/corporate-responsibility/grants/field-trip-grants. Proposal: Meetings with Neighboring Towns to Discuss Common Stormwater Interests Watertown and its neighbors in the Metro Boston area share similar challenges in managing their stormwater programs. They have similar densely-developed urban land uses and face similar extensive requirements under EPA MS4 stormwater permits. Watertown's Stormwater Advisory Committee (SAC) is proposing a series of conversations with officials in several neighboring towns, to share insights and explore potential areas for collaboration. Specifically, the SAC suggests meetings with adjacent towns to discuss such topics as: • Public outreach and education programs—to share information about available resources and experiences with what approaches have been effective. • Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Retrofit Projects—to discuss approaches used to identify promising locations for projects, potential sources of funding, constraints, and results to date. • Potential for collaboration—for example, on speakers' series and films; briefings for specific types of businesses; a multi-town tour of Stormwater best management practices (BMPs);joint meetings with regulatory officials to discuss forthcoming permit requirements; and other activities. These informal meetings would include a group representing Watertown's DPW and Community Planning and Development offices,the Public Works Subcommittee, and the Stormwater Advisory Committee. We would hope to meet with the responsible town officials and other groups that are active in stormwater programs, such as the Belmont Stormwater Working Group (a joint effort of Belmont Citizens Forum, Sustainable Belmont and the Mystic River Watershed Association.) As a start,the SAC suggests meeting with the following neighboring towns: Waltham, Arlington, Belmont, Newton, and Medford. Nancy Hammett 18 Feb 2014 NEWEA(New England Water Environment Association) 2014 Annual Conference: Notes on Stormwater Resources and Contacts Outreach and Education: Good contact: Meg Tabacsko of MWRA (on the NEWEA Public Education Committee) has done presentations in several Watertown schools—get names of interested teachers from her. NEWEA is developing education materials for schools on various water topics—currently, only topic available is wastewater—stormwater topic to be developed (for now, use MWRA Dwayne the Storm Drain .) Kits can be used by anyone—includes materials and scripts, targeted to different age levels K-5, 6-8, 9-12. Goal is to encourage every member of NEWEA to talk to a group of school age children. NEWEA is also encouraging their members to be involved in outreach to adult audiences— e.g. • materials for new residents packages—distributed through town offices • presenting to civic and social groups—e.g. book clubs or PTA • presenting to local chambers of commerce • writing op ed pieces and articles for local papers • collaborating with other organizations' efforts Resources: NEWEA website www.newea.org -Student and Educator tab WEF website www.wef.org—see Public Information (bill stuffers, brochures, coloring books, etc.) and http://www.wef.ora/AWK/pages cs.aspx?id=6392 (toolkits and links to other resources) World Water Monitoring Day http://www.worldwatermonitoringday.org/default.aspx Possible speaker for education for town depts and officials: Patricia Passariello, Weston & Sampson —good presentation on "Integrating the Latest Industry Trends into "Old-Style" Projects" —encourages incorporating BMPs, LID, Complete Streets, holistic approachs to infrastructure asset management into regular programs -- a general but useful perspective, makes the point that integrated programs are more cost- effective. Described Chelsea program —using an integrated geographic management approach to water, sewer, stormdrains, roadways, curbs &sidewalks. She is willing to give the same presentation to a Watertown group—maybe invite DPW, Planning, Public Works Subcommittee, Planning Bd, SAC? And we could invite Andy DeSantis—Chelsea engineer— to speak as well. Maybe invite neighboring towns' staff/officials and make it a larger event. Greening Watertown Streets draft 1/22/2014 Background: Watertown is a densely-developed inner suburb in the Boston metro region. It abuts the Charles River, and has a number of small streams and ponds that flow into the Charles. Like many older cities, Watertown has limited open space, and its roads and water infrastructure are old and in need of significant investments. Watertown is also currently experiencing significant new development and redevelopment activity. Nonpoint source pollution from land uses contributes to impairments of the Charles River and other local waters, in particular due to bacteria and nutrient pollution. As Watertown invests in repairing and remodeling its streets and roads, and as it reviews proposals for new development and redevelopment, there are a number of opportunities to address NPS pollution at the same time. Overview of Project: This project will develop and test a strategy for incorporating NPS pollution reduction into Watertown's street and road repair work. The town has already inventoried and characterized the condition of its streets, and has identified priorities for future work. The proposed project will identify resources and strategies for including Green Infrastructure approaches into street design and repair, to reduce levels of NPS pollution. The project will also include a pilot test of the approach in two major upcoming projects, and revise the strategy based on the results of those pilot applications. Tasks: Task 1: Review best practices for incorporating Green Infrastructure and NPS pollution reduction into street rebuilding and repair There are a number of good resources and models for street and public right-of-way design that significantly reduce NPS pollution —including, for example,the Charles River Watershed Association's Blue Cities projects, Boston's Complete Street Guidelines, the New York City Green Infrastructure Plan pilot tests, and many others. This task will identify BMPs and design features that are most relevant to dense urban streets, and compile information on pros and cons of using different approaches in different situations. The review will consider the impacts of existing street condition and design, as well as other goals and constraints such as Complete Streets principles, ADA compliance, emergency vehicle operation,traffic calming, road capacity, vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle safety, and other factors. Task 2: Create conceptual plans for incorporating GI and NPS pollution reduction in Watertown's future street rebuilding and repair Information gathered in Task 1 will be used to develop a conceptual plan for incorporating GI and NPS reduction in Watertown's future street projects. We will investigate opportunities for improved design in a number of typical street scenarios (defined by current street and sidewalk design, road and sidewalk condition, nature of local land uses, and extent of planned work). This will result in a series of templates for different street types, linked to Watertown's existing street inventory and plans for repairs/rebuilds. The goal is to have sets of best practice designs that can be incorporated at an early stage in the planning of Watertown's future street projects. It is not expected that the ideal designs can be used in every case. Location of utilities, the nature of local land uses, requirements for parking, school crossings, or bus transit, and other site-specific conditions may make it impossible to incorporate the ideal design. However, having such conceptual designs available in the early stages of project design will ensure that GI and NPS goals are considered at the outset, and opportunities for improved design are not missed. In addition, consideration ahead of time of ways to integrate competing goals (Complete Streets, ADA compliance, etc.) will help improve Watertown's ability to meet multiple objectives in its street investments. Task 3: Pilot application of templates This task will apply the conceptual plans developed in Task 2 in three pilot tests, and will revise the conceptual plans based on the results. Three likely opportunities for testing the approaches are: • Mt. Auburn Street: This is a major artery through Watertown, which is currently being considered for a major roadway redesign. We would select a section of the street that presents a number of likely challenges from competing uses (e.g. need for business parking and bus traffic),to test the applicability of the conceptual designs. • Arsenal Street:This is another major artery. It is not being considered for major redesign, but is the locus of a substantial number of new redevelopment proposals. Thinking through how the GI and BMPs could be incorporated in the street design will help the town evaluate development proposals and seek private investment in street improvements in conjunction with the developments. • Typical Residential Street: We would select a typical residential street that is being considered for a major reconstruction, and apply the templates to the specific conditions of that street. This would involve working with the Town's consultants all the way to final project design, so as to test all the constraints and factors involved in street design. Based on the lessons learned from these pilot tests, we will revise the templates as appropriate. We will also provide reports on each pilot test, describing the results, lessons learned, and any unresolved issues or need for future investigation. The final project report will also discuss the potential for wider use of this approach to incorporating GI and NPS reduction in street and road investments.