In accordance with notice to members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council a meeting was held on Tuesday, November 23 2004 at 6:00 PM at the Narraganset Bay Commission Boardroom – One Service Road, Providence, RI.

MEMBERS

Mike Tikoian, Chair
Paul Lemont, Vice Chair
Jerry Sahagian
Ray Coia
Jerry Zarrella
Larry Ehrhardt
Neill Gray
Joe Shekarchi
Fred Vincent
Joe Paolino
Dave Abedon

STAFF PRESENT

Grover Fugate, CRMC Executive Director
Dave Reis, CRMC Environmental Scientist
Brian Goldman, Legal Counsel

1. Chair Tikoian called the meeting to order at 6:15 PM.

Chair Tikoian made a brief statement of clarification on the council’s permitting process.

Mr. Coia, seconded by Mr. Shekarchi and Mr. Zarrella moved approval of the November 9, 2004 minutes. The motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.

2. STAFF REPORTS

Mr. Fugate reminded council members of the upcoming joint workshop meeting with council members and staff on December 9th at Alton Jones at 2:00 p.m. Vice Chair Lemont asked what time the morning session begins. Mr. Fugate responded 9:00 a.m. Mr. Fugate stated that the workshop would be to discuss the red book policy.

Chair Tikoian asked Mr. Fugate to give council members an update on the November symposium on Nutrients Improvements which was co-sponsored by CRMC, DEM and the URI Sea Grant program. Mr. Fugate explained that this was a two-day symposium to principally discuss nutrient inputs and find out what they know and don’t know. He said there was agreement by the scientist to collaborate more on what they don’t know about what the impacts and effects of nutrients are. Mr. Fugate said a lot more information needs to be gathered and a lot of work needs to be done.

Chair Tikoian asked Mr. Vincent to give council members an update on the Cooperative Teams meeting that was held this week. Mr. Vincent explained that the meeting was to discuss how they were going to develop a system level plan for Narragansett Bay and restoration protection for Narragansett Bay. Mr. Vincent stated that they are going to submit an outline in January as to who would be responsible for what.

Mr. Fugate passed out a copy of the “Saltwater Angler” newsletter which featured an article announcing that Kevin Cute of CRMC staff had received an award from RISAA.

Mr. Goulet gave council members an update on dredging in Narragansett Bay. He said the survey work had begun and would be concluded in mid-December. Chair Tikoian asked when the bay would be open to two way traffic. Mr. Goulet said they would get the survey to the Coast Guard by mid-December and two-way traffic would be open after that. Mr. Goulet stated that the funds had been received for the Pawtuxet Cove dredge project and they were looking to start dredging in October 2005.

Mr. Goulet gave a brief status on the CAD cells. He said they are still pursing this and have some agreements with Fish & Wildlife and DEM. He said they would be meeting in December to finalize the state’s end of this.

Vice Chair Lemont stated that he had read that they had received $1 million to dredge Bullets Cove. Mr. Goulet said this was correct. He said that Bullets Cove and the Pawtuxet Cove dredging would begin simultaneously. He also said the contractor to dredge Ninigret was still in New York and should be arriving in Rhode Island the middle of next week.

3. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

Vice Chair Lemont reported that the Champlin’s subcommittee meetings would resume on December 7th from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Narragansett Town Hall.

Vice Chair Lemont announced there would be a workshop held on the Middletown right-of-ways on December 15th in Middletown at 6:00 p.m.

Vice Chair Lemont reported out the rights-of-way subcommittee’s recommendation that East Transit Street be dedicated as a right-of-way. Chair Tikoian requested that this be put out to public notice and placed on the council’s agenda.

4. Chair Tikoian read through the agenda to see which applicants/attorneys were present.

5. CONTINUANCES:

1995-06-040 NORMAN COOK -- construct modification to an existing residential boating facility to consist of: adding a 4’ x 15’ fixed pier section and two (2) 4’ x 24’ fingers (192 square feet) for small boat dockage. The terminus of the dock will extend to 73-feet beyond mean low water (MLW). A 42 square foot float and a 23-foot length variance are required. Located in Wickford Harbor, plat 91, lot 131, 132; 171 Steamboat Avenue, North Kingstown, RI.

The applicant was not present. Chair Tikoian stated that they had received a request for a continuance by the Town of North Kingstown. Chair Tikoian granted the request for a continuance.

6. APPLICATIONS WHICH HAVE BEEN OUT TO NOTICE AND ARE BEFORE THE FULL COUNCIL FOR DECISION:

2004-07-041 COSMO & VIRGINIA RUZZO – Alter Freshwater Wetlands in the Vicinity of the Coast for the purposes of: Construct as single family residential dwelling (2 bedroom), a DEM approved individual sewage disposal system (ISDS) and a permeable driveway. Proposed alterations to freshwater wetlands in the vicinity of the coast include: Jurisdictional wetlands in the vicinity of the coast. The project, as proposed, will result in the alteration and/or disturbance of at least (3,955) square feet (0.091) of jurisdictional area within 50-feet of wetlands. Project located at plat M, lot 177-15; Anglers Court, Narragansett, RI.

Cosmo and Virginia Ruzzo, the applicants were present. Margaret Lawrence, the applicants’ attorney and Craig Paragen,the applicants’ engineer were also present on behalf of the applicants. Mr. Reis gave council members a brief summary on the application. Mr. Reis stated that the application was to construct a single family two-bedroom dwelling with and individual sewer system. Mr. Reis said this was a small lot and they would be 50’ from the wetland. He said the setback is 17’ to the dwelling and 10’ to the deck. Mr. Reis said staff reviewed the application and recommended approval of the application. Mr. Ehrhardt noted the new ISDS approval from DEM and a special use permit from the Town of Narragansett. Mr. Sahagian, seconded by Mr. Zarrella moved approval of the application with all staff stipulations. The motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.

2004-08-108 RIEDC/SENESCO – To perform improvement dredging to include dredging 43,660 cy from any area 220’ x 300’ to allow barge launching. Project located at plat 185, lot 2; 10 MacNaught Street, Quonset Point, North Kingstown, RI.

Kirsten Sherman and Richard Carpenter, attorneys for the applicant were present on behalf of the applicant. Scott Rabideau, the applicant’s wetland biologist and Rick St. Jean, the applicant’s engineer were also present. Mr. Goulet gave council members a brief summary on the application. Mr. Goulet stated that they would be dredging a 220’ x 300’ square foot area and excavating 43,660 coy. of dredging material. He said this would be a floating dry dock utilized for barge landing. Mr. Goulet said staff recommended approval of the application. Ms. Sherman explained that they needed to dredge the area to get deeper water. He said this was type 6 industrial water and they would be dredging a 3.4 acre footprint. Ms. Sherman stated that the application met the red book regulations and staff recommended approval of the application. Ms. Sherman said the Army Corps approval was pending CRM’s decision. Ms. Sherman stated that they received the water quality certification. Ms. Sherman noted that the fee to dispose the dredge material in the CAD cell was $8,000 and they wanted to have the fee waived or have payment of the fee deferred. Ms. Sherman said there was a question on funding from EDC and funding for this may be available next year. She noted that they may also need the Corps approval for this. Chair Tikoian stated that this may be the wrong body for this request. Mr. Fugate explained that the money for the dredge disposal is for CRMC to pay the Army Corps up front for the CAD cell. Mr. Fugate said the fee was not due until the disposal of the dredge materials. He said the fee was not paid until that time. Mr. Fugate said CRMC could help with the timing of the fee due but not the amount of the fee. Mr. Carpenter and the director of SENESCO wanted the dredge window to be from November 30th to January 15th. Mr. Vincent explained that November 1st through January 31st was the only dredge period. Ms. Sherman noted that if this was not done by December 31, 2004 that penalties would incur. Mr. Goulet explained that the CAD cell is closed February 1st through April 30th and they need a disposal cell designated before they can dredge. Mr. Goulet said they maybe able to change the date to May 1st. Mr. Goulet said they would need to go through the DEM permitting process to change this. Mr. Carpenter said they need the 9’ depth for the barges. Mr. Goulet said bio-testing at the disposal site 69 B was required and it takes 9 months for the testing to be done. He also said the cost was about $8,000 to $10,000 to do the testing. Mr. Fugate stated that at the open water site there was no cost to dispose but there was an operational cost to bring it out to the site. Ms. Sherman wanted to dredge in July and get a permit from DEM to do this. Chair Tikoian stated that they could use a temporary upland disposal site until they could dispose of the dredge materials. Ms. Sherman said they did look at this but there was a cost involved and more testing would be required. Chair Tikoian asked why the high cost for testing and the long time period for the testing. Mr. Goulet explained that they had to do animal testing and test for various kinds of fish and clams, etc. in this area. Mr. Goulet said this was a new dredging project and that some upland testing hnd been done and was found relatively clean. Mr. Goulet said 43,000 c.y. was a large volume of dredge materials to manipulate on land and deal with. Chair Tikoian asked if they had any discussions with the Army Corps on this. Ms. Sherman replied no. Chair Tikoian suggested the council vote on this as presented and if they need to modify the application they can do that. Vice Chair Lemont, seconded by Mr. Coia moved approval of the application with all staff stipulations. Mr. Abedon said the issue of the fee seems to be a surprise to the applicant. Mr. Goulet said this is the first applicant surprised by the dredging disposal fee. He said others have paid larger fees than this. Mr. Fugate explained that this fee was part of the federal law. Mr. Zarrella asked if the federal government offered any type of financing for this. Chair Tikoian replied no not that he was aware of. Chair Tikoian said the applicant would have to look into this. The motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.

2000-08-031 PATRICK & GAIL CONLEY – Modification – Install an electrically-operated boat lift at the terminal end of a previously-authorized residential boating facility. The proposed boat lift will result in a facility that extends 81 feet +/- seaward of the cited MLW mark. Located at Plat 167, Lot 7; 1 Bristol Point Road, Bristol, RI.

Patrick Conley, the applicant was present. Mr. Reis gave council members a brief summary on the application. Mr. Reis said the application was to construct a boat lift on a previous assented dock. He said that three variances were required – a 6’ length variance to bring the dock to 81’ beyond MLW, a height variance for the boat lift and a variance for the steel pins to anchor to the ledge. Mr. Reis stated that staff reviewed the application and did not object to the application but deferred the application to the full council because of the number of variances requested. Chair Tikoian asked Mr. Reis to explained Section 300.4 variance. Mr. Reis explained that this was a two-layer deck and there was a question on which deck height to compare the boat lift to and they decided to use the upper deck. Mr. Reis said a variance of 1’ to 2’ above the deck of the facility was needed and this raised the issue of the scenic value. Chair Tikoian asked him to explain Section 300.4.E.3 regarding the steel pins. Mr. Reis explained that the steel pins were becoming more and more common. He said the council decided that a variance was needed because of the steel pins remaining if there is a storm and a stipulation would be required to remove the steel pins within 90 days to prevent a hazard. Mr. Vincent said if there is a aesthetic issue was there any letter of objections from the town or abutters on this. Mr. Reis replied that the application went out to public notice and no objections had been received. Mr. Reis said this was a large vessel and the applicant needed a high height for the lift. Vice Chair Lemont asked if there were any other lifts with a similar situation in the state. Mr. Reis replied no not that he can recall. Mr. Conley replied that as far as the aesthetic issue that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and he was not concerned with this and felt that it would not affect his property or the area. Mr. Conley felt that this was not a large boat it was only a 29’ boat with a 10’ beam but it was difficult to dock here. Mr. Zarrella said there was only a 6” difference. Mr. Conley replied that there is a 5” to 2’ difference from the top deck to the lift height. Mr. Paolino, seconded by Mr. Coia and Mr. Zarrella moved approval of the application with all staff stipulations and the three variances. Mr. Gray wanted the policy and planning subcommittee to look at and address boat lifts and the maximum size of a boat that should be handled by these lifts. Mr. Gray wanted to make sure the stipulation that the steel pins be removed within 90 days if the dock was destroyed was part of the stipulations. Chair Tikoian stated that this was part of the stipulations that the pins be removed. Mr. Paolino noted that this was a large investment in the water by the applicant and was sure the applicant would take care of this. Chair Tikoian replied that the council’s decision is not based on the investment in the water but policy. The motion was carried on a unanimous voice vote.

7. Enforcement Report – October, 2004

There were none held.

8. Category “A” List

There were none held.

Chair Tikoian announced that the first meeting in January will be held on Wednesday, January 12th instead of January 11th. There being no further business before the council the meeting, the council adjourned at 7:04 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Grover Fugate
Executive Director CRMC

Reported by Lori A. Field

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