See minutes
Jon Bauer, Jonathan Martin, Walt Daniels, Ed Goodell, Ron Rosen, Jim Haggett, Gene Giordano, Gail Neffinger (and part time, by phone, Karen Lutz)
Initial Minutes of the NYNJTC ATCC Meeting, Wednesday, February 13, 2013
NYNJTC Office
Meeting started around 9:38 AM
Attending: Jon Bauer, Jonathan Martin, Walt Daniels, Ed Goodell, Ron Rosen, Jim Haggett, Gene Giordano, Gail Neffinger (and part time, by phone, Karen Lutz)
[Comment: minutes of the meeting were being recorded by Jon Bauer, who was terminated from NYNJTC employment shortly after this meeting; his notes have not yet been located. The following notes, appended to a copy of the agenda, are supplied by Ron Rosen. ]
1. Review of the minutes of the last meeting, 10/3/2012: No issues
2. Status of NY MOU, other documents: We should push ATC to move forward on the NY MOU. Ron will contact Bob Proudman to encourage ATC to act. Jonathan is working on the NJ MOU, and has an OK of the current draft from NJ DEP. One addition that should be made is to incorporate the Wallkill NWR in the document as a party.
3. MARPC Meeting (Kirkridge Retreat Center, Bangor, PA 3/2-3/13) :
a. Proposals and/or specific agenda items (awaiting info from MARPC, hope to have more info before our meeting): have only one-page draft agenda . Need to ask Karen what “Project Compliance Report” on the agenda means. Jim Haggett should make the Pawling/Dover presentation, not Ron Rosen. Also, the MARPC nominating committee should recommend the TTEC Advisory Council MAR Rep person.
b. 1-minute summary for each NY-NJ AT Committee – got paper copy from Gene; others will bring to the meeting.
c. Attendance plans (who's going, when, and how?) Expected to attend: Ron Rosen, Walt Daniels, Jim Haggett, Gail Neffinger (Saturday only), MaryAnne Massey (Saturday only) [ORATMC], Jonathan Martin [Saturday only], Jon Bauer [full weekend]. Ron, Walt, and Jim will likely travel together
4. Mid-Atlantic Management-Related Items
a. Bear Mountain project update: Ama has been hired as a combination Educator/Builder, to start in May. She will work with volunteers as the core crew, plus Americorps and Intern crews. ATC Mid-Atlantic crews will participate two weeks in June and one month in the fall.
b. Wallkill Bridge proposal status: notes unclear.
c. Trail to Every Classroom: Gene's concerns about Warwick/Greenwood Lake participation; MARPC TTEC coordinator position suggestions. Gene heavily talked up TTEC during the meetings of the Warwick Community planning group, and is concerned that ATC expects to provide only two slots this year.
d. Monitoring Reports Summaries are due to ATC 2/15: This deadline is THIS WEEK!
e. Old [2010-2012] LL Bean Grants status and ongoing activities
f. 2013 LL Bean Grants to Clubs (deadline upcoming March 11! Have grants been prepared? Prioritize our application(s)): Priority: Wiley Shelter Floor and Pump – Jim will coordinate grant submission.
g. Pre-Planning for 2014 LL Bean Grants
h. Pawling-Dover AT Community application status (Jim, Ron): The committee has done a tremendous job. There are already myriad letters of support, and more are still coming in. Jim Haggett will prepare a short summary to present at the MARPC meeting. The NYNJTC board approved the proposal on January 29. Ron and Jim made a presentation at the Dover Town Board meeting on January 30th, and the Town endorsed the project at that meeting. Ron and Jim likewise made a presentation last Wednesday (February 6) to the Pawling Town Board, but the Town Board delayed voting on the endorsement of the proposal until more information has been supplied; the Board is expected to complete the endorsement. Ron and Jim are scheduled to make a presentation to the Pawling Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday, February 19th.
i. MARPC Stewardship Council nominations open—Gail Neffinger expressed interest in the position, noting he has more time on his hands than in the past. Since Ron heads the MARPC nominating committee, he will forward Gail’s bio to the Nominating Committee (once Gail supplies info to him).
j. LNT Poster List (Ron): Each AT Committee plans to put one poster in each shelter. Jim will investigate seeing if we can obtain copies of the poster on paper (as opposed to thick plastic) so it can be used under glass in the bulletin boards.
K: Ron mentioned that he will be running a monitor training session (with help from Jim and Fred Stern) at RPH on Saturday, April 13th, starting around 8:30 or 9:00 AM. Jonathan will make sure the event is on the NYNJTC web site.
5. Funding issues:
a. 5-year plan submissions: Walt noted that the process in essentially broken.
b. Current projects on the 5-year plans: notes unclear.
6. Current problems, projects, & issues: Jon Bauer is developing a list of project and training needs, as well as specific plans. Suggestions should be sent to him at [email protected] or at TC x16.
7. Any other items? We did have a short conference call with Karen Lutz. She indicated that ATC and NPS are working on the Wallkill crossing. We reviewed the MARPC agenda with Karen, and asked her to explain what Bob Sickley’s presentation on the “Project Compliance Report” would entail. We asked who is likely to show at the MARPC meeting from NPS, and possibly David Reus and Rita Hennessey may attend. We asked her to have the agenda show that Jim Haggett should present the Pawling/Dover AT Community proposal. Ed Goodell discussed with her the Powerline crossing in NJ, and recommended that ATC/NPS expand the consideration of the valley viewshed as part of the crossing mitigation. We discussed the possible addition of the Wind Rose parcels (Towns of Pawling and Dover) for ATC involvement in potential acquisition. The question arose as to whether the area is within the Highlands Act zone. If the answer turns out to be yes, it is likely OSI could be involved in an acquisition there. We asked Karen about having the nominating committee work on the TTEC Advisory Council rep issue, and she asked us to send her an email so this can be considered in advance of the MARPC meeting. Karen also confirmed that breakfast Saturday 3/2 would be around 8:00 to 9:00.
The minutes of the 10/3/2012 can be found on the NYNJTC web site (Walt, please confirm!). Walt will make sure they are posted.
The meeting was adjourned around 12:15 PM.
Draft prepared 9/30/13 by Ron Rosen from sketchy notes!