BlackstoneRiver Watershed Council
Minutes of the meeting of March 15, 2006
Present: Karen Mateleska, Robert Charpentier, John Marsland, Bonnie Frechette,
Keith Hainley, Frank Geary, Arthur Plitt, Dave Coutu, Ron Belliveau, Sandra Belliveau, Judy Hadley, Dave Newton, Paul Roselli, Frank Matta (presiding), Linda Jzyk,
Alice Clemente and guests: Don Martin, Peter Coffin, and Eric ?
Minutes of the Frebruary meeting were not available.
Treasurer’s report: BRWC has a balance of $11,073.63. $1000 has just been received from the state to cover a grant that Judy Hadley wrote for Rule 2 maps. FOB has a balance of $3911.27; they also received a $1000 check from the state and $30 from Starbucks.
$495 has been spent on Rule 2 maps so far. There will be an 18 x 24 map of the BlackstoneRiver watershed in RI and maps for each of the communities in the watershed. It is BRWC’s responsibility to provide these maps to the communities. The maps can be accessed on the web.
Notices have been filed with North Smithfield and DEM; others will follow. It was suggested that a brochure be sent along with a request for a contribution to BRWC.
Don Martin reported on the plans of his scout troop for an Earth Day camping and cleanup project. He stated that, historically, 50 to 60 scouts and 20 adults have participated; at this time, there are over 300 scouts and 100 adults interested. Since they will no longer be allowed to camp in the usual site, they plan to schedule a camporee at Diamond Hill and not do the Earth Day project.
Frank Matta willsee if anything can be done to remedy this situation with the help of BRWC/FOBto enable the scouts to remain involved in the Earth Day project.
RI Rivers Council: Paul Roselli, Arthur Plitt and Frank Matta met with the Rivers Council re the 2006 grant. $3000 was approved mostly for water quality monitoring ($2000 for equipment and the coordinator’s stipend). $500 will be used for Rule 2 and $500 for other functions promoting the Watershed Council’s mission.
The Rivers Council is strictly enforcing accountability. Each of the Watershed Councils must give evidence of fulfilling the conditions of the grant and meet the semi-annual and annual report requirements.
Board members were asked to hand in their hours in June to facilitate reporting.
Scholarship Committee: Karen Mateleska reported that the scholarship forms had been finalized and that Linda Jzyk had distributed them electronically in the past week. The Scholarship Committee will review requests and develop any necessary criteria for the awards.
BRC: Karen Mateleska has resigned from the directorship of the Coalition; Peter Coffin is now acting in that capacity. The next meeting will be at Holy Cross on April 13, 7:00 p.m. The Coalition will probably incorporate in RI and be registered in MA. Then it will apply for 501c3 status. Eventually two part time people could be hired to replace Karen.
BRWC/FOB will be represented on the search committee.
The Coalition will focus on storm water for the time being. Follow up workshops to the Storm Water Conference have been scheduled in Grafton and in Cumberland (Cumberland Public Library, April 4, 4:30-6:30).
Fish ladders: Frank Geary reviewed the history of the project to construct fish ladders on the Blackstone, a project that he is now actively pursuing. A meeting to discuss the potential for fish ladders in the vicinity of the first four dams has been scheduled for March 30, 2006. A status report will be provided at BRWC’s next meeting.
Frank Matta acknowledged BRWC/FOB as a working Council.
Clean Water Fest: Bonnie Frechette and Bob Charpentier reported that they were favorably impressed with the festival and noted especially the good representation from North Attleboro. High School students worked hard on their projects. The student John H. Chafee Award winner had a separate booth.
Land/Water Summit: BRWC was well represented. Peter Coffin, Karen Mateleska and Tammy Gilpatrick did a fine presentation that included a history of the organization. BRWC/FOB should get their power point presentation.
RIDEM wants to see monitoring results. There are now 3 years of data that provide information on trends. BRWC needs to be able to report this, especially in view of the grant reporting requirements.
Flood Mitigation Forum: Peter Coffin reported on this meeting organized by BVTC and the Chamber of Commerce. The issues addressed were: what can we do to mitigate future floods and who is responsible for planning? The question for the Watershed Council and the Coalition is what part we want to play in this. Dave Newton pointed to the necessity of being “surge smart”.
Ron Belliveau noted that at the Martin St. Bridge site the canal backs up in high water. The Council needs to find out what the natural elevation is. The canal is also affected by the Town of Lincoln’s manipulations in the area. Dave Newton has contacted officials at EPA and DEM who are already working on this problem. Sandra recommended that letters go out on BRWC/FOB letterhead with pictures when issues such as this one arise.
River Fest: Keith Hainley and others are working on this. A press release will be put out in the next week.
Earth Day: Keith noted that there are many events scheduled. CVS is a statewide sponsor for this RIDEM backed event. The Valley Breeze is sponsoring a separate cleanup on April 1 with representation from BRWC/FOB.
Rivers Day: Linda Jzyk reported that the Rivers Day celebration at the Central Falls Landing will be primarily ceremonial because there is no dock. Food will no longer be permitted there because of a vendor on site.
Bob Billington suggests that other activities be held in conjunction with River Sing in Pawtucket. A subcommittee has been set up to deal with this. BRWC/FOB will give its own award as it did last year; the J.H. Chafee award is BVTC’s award. Arthur Plitt, Linda Jzyk and Frank Matta will serve as a subcommittee for this event that will be held on June 17.
Franklin Farm: A $200 donation was approved. The Heritage Corridor contributed $5000 to help with the management plan.
The By-laws need to be revised and the Nominating Committee needs to prepare a slate of officers and Board members. Both need to be approved at the April Board meeting and immediately submitted to the members for a final vote at the Annual Meeting in May.
Membership Committee: a brochure and a membership mailing need to be sent out soon.
Board members (and others) were encouraged to submit items for the monthly agenda.
Keith Hainley announced a fundraiser to be held at Papagino’s at Lincoln Mall. 20% of the profits from all sales made in conjunction with an official coupon will be given to BRWC/FOB.
A motion was made to buy PFD’s with the FOB grant that was solicited for that purpose. FOB already owns 26 canoes, a kayak and other equipment. The equipment will be cleaned and moved on April 2.
The name of the combined organizations was addressed. Frank Matta began the discussion by pointing out that BRWC has legal status in RI. and that FOB has a long history. He felt that an “amalgamation” would destroy that image.
A motion was made that a vote be taken on the name: Blackstone River Watershed Council/Friends of the Blackstone. That name was voted in unanimously.
There will be no press on this issue for the moment.
The next meeting was scheduled for April 19.