Location:  CWC Headquarters (Arkville, NY)

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Present:  Ric Coombe, Scott Grey, David Kukle, Steve Walker, Bud Gladstone, Will Outsen, Bill Federice, David Edinger, Peter DiSclafani

Others:  Jeff Baker (via ZOOM), Tim Cox, Jessica Fiedler, Nick Carbone, Bruce Dolph, Michelle Yost, Elizabeth DeFalco, Cher Woehl

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1.  Call to Order:  Ric called the meeting to order at 6:16 pm.

2.  June 17, 2024 Meeting Minutes Approval:  Motion to approve the minutes made by Bud Gladstone and seconded by Steve Walker. Motion carried.   

3.  Election of CWT Officers:  Steve Walker nominated Ric Coombe for Chair; David Kukle for Vice-Chair and Bud Gladstone for Treasurer.  Steve then recommended a unanimous ballot vote.  All attending executive board members voted in favor of the recommendation thereby confirming election of Ric, David and Bud to the respective offices.  

4 & 5.  LAP/SAP Negotiations/Status of Amended City CE to State Updates:  Jeff reported that negotiations are going well and there has been significant progress on all issues to develop and implement the CSAP (stewardship) program.   Moving on to the status of the Amended City CE to State discussions, Jeff indicated that there is a minor issue on the language regarding purposes clause.   He also shared that there are issues still being addressed concerning the City’s ability to use their land for solar projects.  The environmental groups are requesting more stringent requirements be established  for the City to follow when clearing lands for solar use.  Jeff shared another key area still in discussion deals with the core LAP program’s continuation with fee acquisitions in areas 3 and 4.   CWT stands firm in its position to end further acquisitions for areas 3 and 4.   Jeff reported that the next negotiation meeting will occur in early September where these items will be discussed.

Ric shared that Shiloh Williams has been appointed to the City Source Water Protection Program.  Ric has been in communication with Ms. Williams and looks forward to CWT collaborating with her.

Jeff proceeded to provide an update on the proposed State’s Wetlands draft regulations.  The draft came out in early July for review, with comments due back by September 19^th.  Jeff stated that nothing in the draft regulations puts the watershed in a position that is any worse for others in the State.   The bigger issue, as Jeff shared, deals with the identification of the wetlands.  Of primary concern is the proposal to establish vernal pool complexes, which are a clustering of individual vernal pools each with wetlands vegetation and within approximately 50 feet of each other.   Vernal pool complexes create issues with the protected adjacent land areas.  The wetlands protected adjacent land area is 100 feet.   Protected adjacent land areas for vernal pool complexes are 800 feet.  Another point of concern Jeff raised deals with who will have jurisdiction for identifying wetlands and how the determination will be made that an area is a wetland.  DEP is proposing to limit their jurisdiction to the wetlands mapped out by end of 2024.   DEC however, will not have any wetlands mapped after the end of 2024.  This could pose issues on who gets jurisdiction over what is considered a wetland and how it will be mapped after 2024.  These determinations could take a significant amount of time to make, thereby causing delays in final decisions.  

One final issue Jeff shared on the draft wetlands regulations is a provision that allows for the DEC Commissioner to designate a wetland of importance if the wetland is important for protecting state water quality.   The issue lies with the lack of a process on how this will be implemented, who will be allowed to review the proposed designation, and how will the final decision be made.  Currently, there is no indication in the State’s proposal that this is intended for application in the watershed.    

In closing his update on the Wetland Regulations proposal, Jeff indicated that it would be beneficial for CWT to provide our comments on concerns regarding impacts to the watershed.  He asked for the Board Members approval to prepare a draft of these concerns for review before the September meeting.  Board Members unanimously approved Jeff’s request. 

6. CWC Report:  Tim Cox, CWC Attorney, provided the following CWC report in Jason Merwin’s absence:

• Ongoing discussions are occurring in efforts to resolve the Shokan WWTP funding issue
• The Stream Debris Removal Program has opened to assist towns/villages with removing debris caused by flooding which occurred during the storms from hurricane Debbie.    The program will be open September 3^rd for requests for assistance.  The amount awarded per request will be up to $10,000.   Tim emphasized that this award is only for removal of debris caused by hurricane Debbie and is not for any damage repairs. 

7. Warrants and Treasurer’s Report:  Bud reported that as of August 1, 2024, the checking account had $3,189.94, the savings account had $86,289.95 and the CD had $50,000.  Will Outsen made the motion to accept the Treasurer’s report, seconded by Steve Walker.  Report accepted.  
Bud presented warrant #109 in the amount of $8,208.58 for payment of June-July legal fees and June-July Administrative Support fees.  Bill Federice  made the motion to pay warrant #109, seconded by Steve Walker.  Motion carried.   

8. Other:  Ric opened a discussion on the county/town/village membership dues.  Questions have arisen about how the individual dues are calculated.  The dues were originally determined based on a land mass/population formula.  Ric opened the floor to suggestions on ways to equalize the membership dues, citing that the CWT issues are same regardless of the size of the county/town/village.   One proposal may be to establish a flat rate for everyone, with the ability to reassess the dues amount if its determined more dues should be paid.  Bruce Dolph, a former CWT Chair, commented that a flat rate could pose a burden on smaller towns/villages whose dues would increase, while being a benefit to the larger towns/villages whose dues would decrease.  Ric commented that this does support the use of a formula but asked if its reasonable for one town/village to pay more than another when dealing with the same issue.   Several points were made by Board Members, including the need to provide more education on the benefits of CWT and what CWT has provided, and continues to provide, to the county/town/village.   It was agreed by all that this discussion needs to continue.  Ric emphasized that while we are open to change, change does not need to be made for “changes sake” and whatever is decided needs to be enforced.   Ric also asked the members to consider options for the next discussion, and to consider if a committee needs to be established to oversee this issue. 

9.  Adjourn:  Motion to adjourn was made by Will Outsen,  seconded by David Edinger.  Motion carried.  The meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm.