MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - Hudson Essex …



MINUTES OF THE HEP-SCD BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING

November 5th, 2015

The meeting of the Hudson Essex Passaic Soil Conservation District was held in accordance with the Open Public Meeting Act; advance notice was given to the press (Star Ledger Newspaper and The Progress Newspaper) and posted. The meeting was also advertised on HEP’s website.

Members and public present were as follows: Supervisors Matt Ward, John Sarnas, Mario Tridente, Gray Russell, and Jerry Flach (arrived 7:23 pm); Glen Van Olden, Director; staff members Matt D’Alessandro, Fran Aguirre, and Dave Malka; Dr. Amy Rowe, Environmental and Resource Management Agent for Essex and Passaic Counties; and Ferdows Ali, SSCC/NJDA.

The public meeting was called to order by Matt Ward at 7:07 p.m.

MINUTES

The minutes from the October 14, 2015 meeting were reviewed. M/M Matt Ward, M/S Mario Tridente and passed unanimously to accept the minutes, with John Sarnas abstaining.

TREASURERS REPORT

Glen reviewed HEP’s Treasurer’s Report and banking accounts for the month of October 2015. M/M Mario Tridente, M/S Gray Russell and passed unanimously to accept the Treasurer’s Report for the month of October 2015.

SOIL EROSION AND SEDIMENT CONTROL PLANS

Glen Van Olden reviewed the Soil Erosion & Sediment Control Plans certified in October 2015. M/M Gray Russell, M/S John Sarnas and passed unanimously to accept all actions taken on Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Plans certified in the month of October 2015.

CORRESPONDENCE

NJACD 2015 Annual Conservation Partnership Meeting

The supervisors discussed the 2015 NJ Conservation Meeting that was held on Tuesday, 10/27/2015, at the Rutgers Eco-Complex in Bordentown, NJ. Gray Russell commented that it was nice to see that HEP was there in force and had more attendees than other districts. Glen explained that some districts are of the opinion that only supervisors should attend and some districts can not afford to send all their supervisors and staff due to budgetary constraints. Matt Ward expressed concern that there was no specific State plan in place to identify districts that are almost insolvent, in order to effectuate a merge with another SCD, if necessary. Mr. Ward also advised that he had preemptorily advised Ray Cywinski, President of the NJ Association of Conservation Districts (NJACD), that the district would not be willing to raise the $25/per application Chapter 251 surcharge/fee. He had also sent a note to Ray and to Desiree Dunn to send out feedback forms for the attendees to evaluate the Conservation Meeting. Discussion turned to the Northeast National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) Conference to be held in August 2016. Speakers will be needed. Perhaps the Skyway project could be highlighted again. Matt Ward proceeded to thank Matt D’Alessandro for all his hard work coordinating the nomination of and ultimately the presentation of the “Outstanding Developer” Award to the Hudson County Improvement Authority (HCIA) for the Skyway Golf Course in Jersey City. Everyone in attendance agreed that Rich Belcher did a great job.

Boards of Agriculture Dinner Dance

The Passaic and Essex County Boards of Agriculture 94th Anniversary Beefsteak Dinner Dance will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, 11/13/15, in the Grand Conservatory at the Brownstone House in Paterson.

NACD 2016 Membership Dues

The district received the invoice for 2016 Membership Dues. M/M Jerry Flach, M/S Gray Russell and passed unanimously to renew the district’s Gold Level membership at a cost of $775.

CHAPTER 251

City of Paterson - Cooperation Concerns

Glen informed that concerns remain regarding Paterson’s recent lack of cooperation, presumably from recent retirements and the exodus of key staff in the city’s Division of Community Improvements and in the Construction Department. Since Glen’s letter of 9/2/15 to the NJ SSCC and the NJ DCA, representatives from Paterson have been in contact with Frank Minch, Glen, and Janet. The DCA has not responded for over four months! The Paterson staffer, to whom Frank Minch spoke, was supposed to speak to Jerry Lobozzo and get back to Frank to set up a meeting date. Matt Ward opined, and all present agreed, that the meeting with Paterson must take place before 12/31/15 and should include Ruben Gomez, the Director of Paterson’s Department of Economic Development; David Gilmore, a Contract Compliance Officer in Paterson; and Jerry Lobozzo, Paterson’s Acting Community Improvement Director.

Township of Wayne – Cooperation Concerns

In 1978 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed for HEP to review SESC applications and for Wayne to inspect privately held projects. HEP would inspect public projects. The Wayne Planning Board signed the MOU but designated the Wayne Department of Engineering to perform and uphold the duties of the MOU. Due to internal conflicts in Wayne, some of these duties are not being performed. After communication with Fernando Zapata, the Wayne Township Engineer, Glen spoke to Heather Vitz-Del Rio, the Director of Public Works for Wayne Township. Ms. Vitz-Del Rio is the Supervisor of both Fernando Zapata and Joe Albanese, Wayne’s Construction Official. There is a meeting scheduled for 11/23/15 in Wayne. Attendees will include Glen, Frank Minch, Ms. Vitz-DelRio, Fernando Zapata, and Joe Albanese.

GENERAL BUSINESS

80 Orchard Street, Bloomfield – Status

Glen gave an update on the status of the new building. The driveway and parking lot was paved. The parking lot will be striped tomorrow. A handicapped parking sign will also be installed. Then the DCA will be back to inspect.

NJ Farm Bureau (NJFB) – Canada Geese Information Request

Brian Wong, the Superintendent of the Preakness Valley Golf Course in Wayne, wrote a letter to Ryck Suydam of the NJFB outlining the Canada Geese problems they have been experiencing for years. The Lincoln Park West Wetland Restoration project in Hudson County has also experienced significant damage to wetland plants which has resulted in sediment loss and significant changes to the surface elevation. The Lincoln Park West Wetland Restoration Project cost $13.6 million to construct. The wetlands damages are unofficially estimated one to three million dollars.

EXTENSION – Dr. Amy Rowe, Environmental & Resource Management Agent

10/3/15: New Brunswick, NJ–Rutgers Master Gardeners State Conference and Awards

10/7/15: Morristown, NJ–Organic land care talk for Whippany River Watershed Action Committee

10/14/15: Westfield, NJ–Rutgers VETS talk at Union County Board of Agriculture

10/14/15: Roseland, NJ–Water conservation talk for Essex Master Gardeners

10/15/15: Newark, NJ–Rutgers VETS facility tour for Lower Passaic River Citizens Advisory Group

10/22/15: Newark, NJ–Rutgers VETS facility tour for Essex County College Environmental Club

10/23/15: Newark, NJ–Rutgers VETS facility tour for Port of Portland, OR, group

Rutgers VETS program has been funded for 2016.

Passaic County tentatively approved the RCE budget. Hopefully the search for the Program Associate will be able to start soon.

There was a short discussion regarding deer control in Essex County.

On 11/23/15 there is a NJ Urban Extension Forum scheduled from 9 am to 1:30 pm at Rutgers in New Brunswick.

USDA/NRCS – Dan Mull, District Conservationist

Absent – No report

SSCC/NJDA – Ferdows Ali

The evaluation forms for the Annual Conservation Conference will be sent.

The Northeast National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) will be held in August 2016. The exact dates need to be determined.

The work committees formed as a result of the white paper are still working.

The HEP district audit for fiscal year ending 6/30/15 will be performed on 11/9/2015.

Before adjourning, Matt Ward suggested checking Hudson County locations for next year’s Northern Region’s Supervisors Meeting, unless the Bergen SCD wants to have the meeting in their district. The dates have yet to be determined.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, M/M Gray Russell, M/S John Sarnas and passed unanimously to adjourn the meeting at 8:38 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

John Sarnas

Secretary/Treasurer

MEETING NOTICE

The next meeting will be held on Thursday,

December 3rd, 2015 at 7:00 p.m.

at

The HEP-SCD District Office

80 Orchard St.

Bloomfield, NJ 07003

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