Location:  ZOOM

Present:  Ric Coombe, Greg Vurckio, Bud Gladstone, Bill Federice, Larry Reilly, Scott Grey, Steve Walker,

Others:   Jeff Baker, Tim Cox, Bruce Dolph, Nick Carbone, Jason Merwin, Cher Woehl

1.  Call to Order:  Ric Coombe called the meeting to order at 6:17 pm.

2.  October 18, 2021, Meeting Minutes Approval:  Motion to approve minutes made by Greg Vurckio, seconded by Bill Federice.  Motion carried.

3.  Membership Dues:  Cher provided update on 2021 membership dues still outstanding for Town of Middletown ($1500), Green Co. ($2250), Town of Halcott ($750) and Village of Hunter ($750).  She also reported that payment of Wawarsing was received last week in the amount of $1500 and that Town of Stamford paid $1000 of their $1500 balance due.

Ric said that as we move forward we need to provide the membership dues letter earlier in the year, with CWT sending reminders as required through out the year.  He emphasized that CWT needs to communicate its value and continue to pursue participation of all the counties, towns and villages.  Ric, Jeff and Cher will work on the 2022 Membership Letter with the goal of releasing it in March.

4.  Elections:  Now that Towns have had their 2021 elections,  CWT elections need to occur.  Letters need to be sent to the municipalities by week of January 24th.  Jeff reiterated the “process and time-frames” as follows and indicated that he will work with Ric and Cher on this:

• 1^st round of letters asks for candidate nominations and is due in 30 days
• 2^nd round is the voting ballots which must be returned within 30 days
• 3^rd round is the announcement of new CWT board members which should occur in April.

5.  Delaware County Land Acquisition Resolution:  Nick provided a summary of the proposed resolution, explaining its purpose and providing background on Delaware County actions that this resolution supports.  Nick further explained that the Delaware County proposal has been submitted and adopted by every town and majority of the villages in Delaware.  It has also been adopted in Schoharie, Ulster and Green Counties.   Steve Walker made a motion to introduce the resolution, seconded by Bud Gladstone.   Ric opened the discussion of the resolution by members.   A lengthy discussion occurred with points made by several members including the following:

• Bud stated that while SAP will control minimum amount of property, it would have major impact to owners who own the land, which could be a silent way of acquiring a little land with control of all the land.
• Jeff responded to Bud’s concern by stating that if SAP was properly designed it would address the issue Bud raised and not create land-locks or buffers.   Jeff also said that CWT needs to exercise it ability top get a better design of SAP to make it work as originally intended.
• Steve had a concern that this would result in one’s inability to repair an infrastructure without going through several ‘hoops’.

 After additional discussion on these concerns occurred Ric called for the members roll call vote as follows:

CWT Chair Ric Coombe                                                              voting                  AYE  

CWT Board Member Wayland (Bud) Gladstone                  voting                  AYE

CWT Board Member Greg Vurckio                                          voting                  AYE

CWT Board Member William Federice                                   voting                  AYE

CWT Alternate Member Larry Reilly                                       voting                  AYE

CWT Alternate Member Steve Walker                                   voting                  AYE

The resolution was thereupon declared duly adopted as CWT RESOLUTION NO 1 OF 2022, dated January 17, 2022.  

After the vote of the resolution it was an opportune time for Nick to brief everyone on the Alternative to SAP in Delaware County proposal.  This proposal mirrors the Federal Conservation Reserve Enhanced Program (CREP) and is a natural progression to expand a program that is already in place, allowing landowners to be included in the program while allowing them to keep their land.  As this proposal was provided to board members the day of the board meeting, Ric asked that it be deferred to the February meeting.  This will enable members to thoroughly review the information and be better prepared to discuss.   Members agreed with the deferral.   Ric requested that Nick develop examples and models for the February discussion.   Ric also suggested that it may be beneficial if Delaware County was able to provide the NYC DEP a real land swap proposal, to help facilitate the discussion with NYC DEP, and other stakeholders going forward.  

6.  Reports:

               a.  FAD Deliverables – nothing to report

               b.  Streamside Acquisition – nothing to report, in addition to the discussion

               c.  Flood Commissions Reports – nothing to report

               d.  CWC Report – Jason reported that there has been a very positive outcome on the septic program meetings with NYC.  Discussions and negotiations have reached an agreement that is acceptable to NYC and CWC which will allow for the septic program to operate at full capacity.  Jason reported that these were constructive  negotiations which resulted in mutually agreeable solutions and positive outcomes.    Jason also reported that CWC is in their election process and anticipates new board members by April 2022.

               e.  Below the Reservoirs – Ric shared his recent experience with observing the replacement of the valves at the reservoir.  He indicated it was extremely fascinating and that this system is incredible.  

7.  Warrant(s) and Treasurer’s Report:  Bud reported that as of December 31, 2021,
the checking account has $2,825.15 and
the savings account has $133,233.53. 
Motion was made by Steve Walker to accept the Treasurer’s report, seconded by Bill Federice.  Report accepted.  
Ric and Cher explained the warrant for payment to the Town of Neversink for administrative support from September 2021 thru December 2021.  The total amount to be paid is $1,507.10, of which $1,400.00 is total gross wage (based on $350 per month) and $107.10 is for the employer share of Social Security and Medicare.   The “warrant” was provided in a letter from the Town of Neversink.  Ric asked members if they would accept the letter this time, with the caveat that in the future CWT will receive an Invoice for Payment and the warrant as in normal procedure.   All agreed the letter was acceptable as the invoice.  Greg Vurckio moved to pay the warrant of $1,507.10 for administrative support.  Steve Walker seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

8. Other:  Ric suggested considering the season and temperamental weather that our February meeting be a ZOOM meeting.  All agreed.

9.  Adjourn:   Motion to adjourn made by Greg Vurckio, seconded by Bill Federice.  Motion carried and meeting was adjourned at 7:09 pm.