HomeMy Public PortalAboutMarch 2014 SAC MinutesStormwater Advisory Committee minutes
March 20, 2014 4:00 pm @ DPW
In attendance: Ernesta Kraczkiewicz, Chris Hayward, Steve Magoon, David Stokes, and Anita
Roy Dobbs (guest).
Absent: Nancy Hammett, Mary Haley
I. The February 20, 2014 minutes were accepted as submitted.
II. Brief Reports
A. Stormwater Ordinances, Status of Town Council Review: The submission of the
ordinances to the full Town Council will be delayed until a Town Engineer has been
selected.
B. Status of DPW Hiring: Applicants for the Administration and Finance position are
being interviewed, and interviews for the Town Engineer position will be scheduled
shortly.
Status of SAC appointments: The Town Public Works Subcommittee has not yet
scheduled interviews for Anita Roy Dobbs (for the vacant position) and Nancy
Hammett (for re -appointment).
C. Ethics Commission Mandatory Education: The Committee members were notified of
the requirement to complete the online training program and to forward the
Acknowledgement of Receipt and Certificate of Completion to the Town Clerk's
Office.
D. Status of Information for MWC Inventory of SW BMP's: Chris Hayward has started a
list of stormwater management practices associated with developments in
Watertown.
Anita has had no response from MWC on whether they still want this information
and what they need. Action Item Chris will continue to add detail to his list.
E. 604(b) Grant Application: It was agreed that it is important to apply for this grant
program in the current round, as competition is likely to increase greatly when the
new EPA Permit comes out. The draft application was discussed and the proposed
scope of work supported by the Committee.
F. NEWEA conference — Nancy Hammett attended this conference and distributed
notes to the SAC members. This will be discussed at the next meeting.
G. MyRWA/MAPC: Anita Roy Dobbs and Ernesta Kraczkiewicz attended this program
which presented "Case Studies of Stormwater Retrofits in Metro Boston Area." It
was very educational, showing many examples of green infrastructure both at the
neighborhood scale and in larger projects. Citizens involvement was critical to
educate the community about options and benefits, and to garner support and help
in maintaining the infrastructure. Benefits of these projects included reduced
flooding and heat island effects, improved water quality and aesthetics, and public
support for green infrastructure. Continuing challenges included coordination
among silo'd agencies, construction supervision and oversight, post construction
monitoring, scaling up from demo projects, and funding.
III. Public Education Program —
A. Website - Anita Roy Dobbs presented her work to date, and led a discussion of the
purpose, protocol and content for the WatertownStormwater.org website. For the
protocol, it was agreed that all material to go on the site must be vetted and
approved by the Committee. To purchase the domain name and hosting service at
BlueHost.com, Steve Magoon suggested that she ask Joe Mahoney for a Purchase
Order rather than paying the $164 and being reimbursed. Ernesta Kraczkiewicz
noted that this month the SAC meeting was not posted on the Town Calendar, and
no Notify Me notices were sent, although these had been done the previous month.
Action Item: Anita Roy Dobbs will continue discussions with Joe Mahoney. Chris
Hayward will look into how the posting on the Town Calendar and the Notify Me
notices are done.
B. Student Involvement in Public Education and Outreach: David Stokes and Anita Roy
Dobbs presented some preliminary ideas for involving Watertown High School
students next fall in critically assessing stormwater outreach materials from
programs around the country, particularly focusing on a Science Assessment Pilot
Project and a Media Literacy Pilot Project. They have met with the Grade 6-12
Science Coordinator who was enthusiastic; they will next meet with biology teachers
and the Media Literacy teacher. The Committee was very supportive of these
proposals, and suggested that a similar program would be beneficial also in the
grade school level.
C. Other priorities: A proposal (outlined in an earlier memo by Nancy Hammett) to
meet with neighboring towns to discuss common stormwater interests was
endorsed, and it was agreed that it should be presented to the Town Council Public
Works Subcommittee.
Meeting adjourned at 6:OOpm.