HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFE minutes 031411
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FROM: Commission for the Environment
SUBJECT: Monthly Meeting
DATE: March 14, 2011
LOCATION: Environment and Agricultural Center (Hillsborough)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
MEMBERS PRESENT: Bill Kaiser (Chair), Renee Price (Vice Chair), Chris Adams, Lucy
Adams, Lynnette Batt, May Becker, Peter Cada, Michelle Drostin, Loren Hintz, Tom O’Dwyer,
David Neal
MEMBERS ABSENT: Clay Hudson, Michael Hughes, Gary Saunders, David Welch
STAFF PRESENT: Rich Shaw and Tom Davis
GUESTS: Bonnie Hauser (Orange County Voice / Clean Water Coalition)
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
I. Call to Order: Kaiser called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm
II. Additions or Changes to Agenda – May Becker requested time to update CFE members
about her recent experience of being questioned/challenged about her residency and
continued eligibility to serve on the Planning Board. She said the matter appears to be
resolved although she remains highly disappointed with how the situation was handled.
III. Approval of Minutes – The meeting summary for February 14, 2011 was approved with
minor technical edits requested by Kaiser. Motion by L. Adams, second by Hintz;
approved unanimously.
[Note: The order of business was rearranged to accommodate the guest (Hauser)]
VI. OWASA Forest Management Plan – Shaw provided an overview of the materials
provided in the agenda packet: a) comments on the OWASA draft forest management
plan from the NC Clean Water Management Trust Fund, b) comments from the NC
Natural Heritage Program, c) map showing a significant natural heritage area (SNHA)
and the OWASA-owned properties around Cane Creek Reservoir, d) a description of the
Cane Creek Reservoir SNHA (now called, “Cane Creek/Crawford Mountain”), and e)
CFE issues/findings thus far (dated December 2010).
CFE members resumed their discussion of the draft forest management plan and the
information presented by Pat Davis and Bonnie Hauser at the February meeting,
portions of which were included in the meeting summary.
Issues that were discussed included who makes the final decision whether to proceed
with forest management activities (OWASA Board of Directors), which agencies
recommended that OWASA manage its forests (NC Division of Forest Resources and
NC Wildlife Resources Commission), what are OWASA’s objectives (included in
February CFE meeting summary as presented by Pat Davis), how effective are riparian
buffers in guarding the receiving waters (different widths are recommended depending
on slope, species composition, and other factors), and who determines which streams
will be buffered (OWASA and its forest consultant? Orange County erosion control?).
CFE members asked themselves the following questions: what would be the benefits of
managing the forest as prescribed in the draft plan?; how would this plan meet the stated
objectives?; and how would implementing the plan benefit water quality? It was
recommended that these questions and others be asked of OWASA.
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O’Dwyer asked if OWASA could provide a map showing the areas of the forest to be
managed juxtaposed with the boundaries of the significant natural heritage area (Cane
Creek/Crawford Mountain SNHA) described by the NC Natural Heritage Program.
Hintz asked if the locations of all streams (perennial, intermittent and ephemeral) would
be determined up front, and who would make those determinations. Shaw offered to
contact the County erosion control staff to see if they would be enlisted to make that
determination as they did for OWASA’s Buckhorn Mitigation Tract.
CFE members considered whether the anticipated receipts from harvesting a portion of
the trees would be required to pay for forest management activities needed to reduce the
risk of fire (using controlled burns), to reduce invasive exotic species, and to reduce the
potential damage to the forest from disease or pests such as the pine bark beetle.
Kaiser asked Bonnie Hauser for her view on why OWASA felt it needed to carry out this
forest management plan. Hauser thanked CFE members for having this discussion.
She said she did not feel the plan as currently drafted would help to meet OWASA’s
stated objectives. She noted that the forest stewardship plans prepared for each site do
not identify the specific problems that would be addressed by implementing the plan.
Kaiser asked Shaw to revise the summary of CFE issues/findings thus far (Attachment 8)
and asked CFE members to email any further comments and questions to Shaw so that
he could provide a revised summary for consideration at the April meeting.
IV. 2011 Work Plan and Committee Breakout – Kaiser introduced the draft list of 2011 tasks
that he prepared with input from the four committees. He asked each committee to meet
to discuss each topic and to identify their top three work tasks for 2011.
The four committees met for about 30 minutes and reported back to the full CFE.
Representatives summarized the discussion from their respective committees. Kaiser
asked committee representatives to provide their committees’ top three tasks via email.
V. Capital Trees Program – Shaw reminded CFE members that the BOCC had asked the
CFE to consider whether Orange County should establish a program to recognize
special trees in its jurisdiction. Price and Hintz reported on the discussion by Biological
Resources Committee. They said it could be a worthwhile education program, but may
be better suited for the Master Gardeners or another volunteer organization. Neal and
O’Dwyer agreed that it would benefit the community, but it is not a high priority for the
CFE or DEAPR at this time. Hintz said he would be willing to serve on a committee, but
that another organization would need to administer the program. The consensus was
that a program to recognize special trees or an area of special/noteworthy stand of trees
could provide community benefits, but it is not something that the CFE or DEAPR should
work on to establish in the near future due to there being many other higher priorities.
VII. Updates and Information Items – CFE members received updates and information on the
following issues: Dogwood Alliance (O’Dwyer) and the Unified Development Ordinance
(Becker and Shaw).
Meeting adjourned at approximately: 9:45 p.m.
Minutes by Rich Shaw, DEAPR Staff