BAYSHORE REGIONAL WATERSHED COUNCIL

MINUTES

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Keyport Borough Hall

7:30pm – 9:30pm

Attendance:

Lou Andreuzzi ( Union Beach )

Christine Balint (Friends of Freneau Woods/ Aberdeen )

Valerie Craig ( Middletown Township )

John Curran (HAQLA)

Bob Dieterich (Matawan)

Fran Donnelly ( Hazlet )

Katie Feeney (Brookdale Community WaterWatch)

Barbara Granda (Keyport)

Sharon Laporta (Matawan)

Mike Lane (Keyport)

Bob Ludwig (Keyport)

Joe Martin ( Middletown Township )

Kari Martin (Clean Ocean Action)

Joe Reynolds (Atlantic Highlands)

Steve Taylor ( Middletown Township )

Ann Waters ( Monmouth County Planning Board)

AGENDA

1) Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps

Kari Martin of Clean Ocean Action talked about the upcoming beach sweeps on Saturday, April 28 ^th from 9:00am to 12:30pm .

The following information provides the locations in the Bayshore region of Monmouth and Middlesex counties where a clean up will be taking place:

Atlantic Highlands - Harbor Gravel Parking Lot

Highlands -  Central Ave @ Beach next to Community Center

Keansburg - Laurel Ave & Beachway @ foot of Baywalk

Keyport - (2 sites) 1) Boat Launch @ foot of Broad Street - Site Sponsored by Keyport Business Alliance; 2) Perry Park

Middletown - (4 sites) 1) East Keansburg: Ideal Beach @ Ocean Avenue & Bayside Parkway; 2) Leonardo - Public Beach, Beach St. and Benton Ave.; 3) Port Monmouth - Monmouth Cove Marina & Bayshore Waterfront Park (Meet at parking lot at end of Old Port Monmouth Road); 4) Port Monmouth - The Dunes at Shoal Harbor Recreation Area

Raritan Bay Waterfront Park - Located in Old Bridge Township - Meet in the main parking lot near the beach on Highway 35.

Sandy Hook - Parking Lot E

Union Beach -  Florence Avenue at Front Street (by Statue)

2) Pews Creek Clean-up

On Saturday, March 24 ^th .   Joe and Kari Martin, founding members of Friends of Pews Creek in Port Monmouth coordinated a clean up between 1-3pm. Volunteers from the Friends of Pews Creek, Middletown Environmental Commission, Bayshore Regional Watershed Council, and Brookdale Community College WaterWatch gathered to clean up Pews Creek near the Bray Avenue Bridge. Well over 500 pounds of trash and debris were removed from the site.  The volunteers removed everything from shopping carts, tires, appliances, batteries, car parts, toilet bowls, beer bottles, fast food containers, cigarette butts, plastic cans, shreds of paper, plastic and foil, and shards of broken glass, bits of plastic foam; and other assorted trash. Other clean ups of the creek will take place in the future. The account of the clean up was reported in the Asbury Park Press, Red Bank-Middletown Reporter, the week of April 5 ^th .

3) Osprey Platform Grant

Joe Martin reported that there has been recent activity at the newly installed Osprey platform near Pews Creek.

Keyport is working with Hazlet 's Troop 92 to install an Osprey platform in their municipality. The troop has experience doing such an activity, as they have put up a platform within Cheesequake State Park .

Hazlet will be installing an Osprey Platform near Natco Lake .

No word yet on where Aberdeen will be installing their Osprey Platform.

4) Horseshoe Crab Education Signs

In the Bayshore region, roughly 20 signs have been posted. As of the meeting, the following locations have signs:

Atlantic Highlands Harbor : 4 signs

Aberdeen ( Cliffwood Beach ): 4 signs

Highlands (Bayfront): 4 signs

Keyport Waterfront: 3 signs

Middletown (near Pews Creek/Ideal Beach/Bayshore Waterfront Park): 4 signs

Middletown (Locust Point Rd. Kiosk): 1 sign

5) Open Space & Preservation of Eight Endangered Areas

A)     Keyport – Mike Lane presented a new development project that has the potential to degrade the environmental sensitive area of the Chingarora Creek tidal wetlands and the nearby Henry Hudson Trail, part of the Monmouth County Park System. The name of the project is: 75 Manchester LLC & Henry Hudson Trail. Mike Lane is asking for the watershed council and its members to send letters to NJDEP asking them to not approve the application for a General Permit 10A.

Letters should be sent to:

Mr. David Fanz

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Land Use Regulation Program – Monmouth Region

P.O. Box 439

501 East State Street

Trenton , New Jersey 08625-0439

Mike Lane made the following points in his letter to NJDEP:

·          Since the applicant has full access to his property and building from Maple Place (see attached aerial maps), there is no justification for disturbance of "State open waters" in order to construct a retaining wall and driveway.

·          75 Manchester LLC has submitted to Keyport Borough officials plans for a major housing development for this site and needs a high-traffic roadway through this creek area. Maser Consulting describes the 75 Manchester project on their website as the redevelopment of an existing industrial building site into a multifamily residential complex consisting of approximately 60-units with a mix of flats, duplex, and townhouses over a lower parking deck. It seems apparent that the purpose of this NJ DEP application is really to lay the foundation for the main street for this 60-unit development, see development plan.

·          The fresh water creek through this property runs the length of the Henry Hudson Bayshore Heritage Trail from Broad Street to the Chingarora Creek. This natural creek environment is maintained for the enjoyment of the Trail users. A roadway in this location would be a major disturbance of this section of the linear park and reversal of 4/18/2005 Monmouth County plans for buffering the trail.

·          This creek is part of the drainage system for multiple Keyport streets that dead-end into the Trail. If the roadway were permitted, a major culvert would be required to handle worse case flooding from severe storms, see pictures of stream flow taken on 4/12/07 .

·          Lot 56 Block 130 adjacent to the proposed driveway site is presently vacant and for sale. This lot could be purchased to provide the street for the applicant's development. This would eliminate the need for this NJ DEP permit and the destruction of this "State open water" area.

The applicant’s failure to fully disclose his intentions for a 60-unit housing development, the availability of the adjacent vacant lot, and the negative impact on the Trail, all justify an immediate denial of this application.

B)     Stone Road Meadows – Class one Streams

It was recently discovered that there are at least four freshwater creeks going through the farmland area of Stone Road Meadows. It is yet to be determined if these waterways are permanent or seasonal. These waterways might be Class One or First Order streams. First - order streams can be considered headwaters streams in most cases, they are small tributaries that join together to form a larger waterways, called second-order streams. First-order streams are perennial streams that carry water throughout the year--that have no permanently flowing tributaries. This means no other streams "feed" them. First order streams are very small in size and in flow volume and, therefore, are much more vulnerable to impacts on water quality and quantity than larger streams. Since Hazlet has recently passed a stream-buffer ordinance of 100-feet, it is important now to make sure these waterways on Stone Road Meadow are properly identified locally and by the state as Class One or First-order streams.

C)     Freneau Woods – No new information was made available.

D)     Waackaack Creek Meadowlands – No new information was made available.

E)     Unique Areas Nomination to County Planning Board – Ann Water provided a brief review of the up-dated Unique Areas Plan for Monmouth County . Letters of support will still be accepted.

6) Bayshore Regional Dredge Material Mgmt. Plan

On Thursday, June 14 ^th , at 7:30pm , inside Keyport Borough Hall, the BRWC will hold a public forum on dredged material management in the Bayshore region of Monmouth County . Various speakers will present ideas from the state and local levels. In addition, there will be time for public comment. This forum will announce the official start by the BRWC and its partners (such as COA and Monmouth University ) to create a plan that will manage dredge material and create beneficial reuse activities, such as beach replenishment, fill, and wetland restoration.

7) Bayshore Regional Implementation Collaborative update

  On Wednesday, March 28 ^th , Assemblywomen Amy Handlin and her staff set up the first ever meeting of the newly formed Bayshore Regional Implementation Collaborative (BRIC). The meeting took place in Holmdel. The meeting was well received with people representing just about every municipality within the Monmouth County portion of the Bayshore region. There were good discussions about how to deal with various issues, such as waterfront & open space, economic development, transportation, and housing. Currently, the Monmouth County Planning Board is in the process of compiling the comments and ideas of the meeting. A second meeting is expected to take place in either the summer or fall.  

8) Flat Creek NJDEP Project Grant Status

Ann Waters of the Monmouth County Planning Board reported that she conducted a stream walk of Flat Creek with Bill McFarland last month. Various non-point source issues were revealed that have a negative impact to stream quality, such as runoff, litter. In addition, there is much streambank erosion by property owners along the creek. These issues bring about increased flooding activities. It is still not decided how best to use the remaining funds from the grant to improve water quality in Flat Creek. Ann Waters feels there should be some sort of education component to local property owners.

9) Bayshore Pump-out Boat

As of this meeting, Hazlet , Perth Amboy , Atlantic Highlands & Keyport have all signed on to support the project. They have committed to providing $312.50 per year for 5 years. The council is now working to try to get other municipalities on-board as well, such as Keansburg, Middletown , Matawan, and Union Beach .

10) Reports from Bayshore Communities

Middletown - In the latest edition of the municipality’s newsletter (Middletown Matters), it was reported that the municipality is in the process of providing a series of energy and cost –efficient activities, such as replacing older, less fuel-efficient vehicles and up-dating to energy-saving heating and cooling systems.

Middletown – It was also reported in the township newsletter that the township committee has hired a lobbying firm (Marlowe & Company based in Washington DC ) to help secure federal funding for a proposed flood control project in Port Monmouth and Leonardo. The project is expensive and calls for dune and beach replenishment, the construction of a levee and floodwall, various new pumping stations, and the instillation of new drainage outlets.  

Stormwater Technical Advisory Committee – Joe Reynolds reported that as of 4/5/07 , every municipality in the Bayshore region of Monmouth County has submitted a Stormwater plan to the county Planning Board except for Keyport. All other municipalities have had their plans approved with conditions and have 180 days to amend their plans to include those conditions.

Hazlet – The first-ever meeting of the township’s Open Space Committee took place during the same night as the council’s meeting.

Matawan Lake/Creek Project: Between 50-60 residents showed up to Monmouth University to be trained on how to assess the condition of the Matawan Creek watershed. If you are still interested in volunteering with this important monitoring effort, contact Vicky Allen, at    matawanlakesproject@gmail.com or Councilwoman Debbie Buragina 732-566-3898 x602.

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