CRMC to hold Ocean SAMP meeting on Block Island

September 15, 2009, WAKEFIELD – The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) will be holding a special informational meeting on the Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) on Block Island on Monday, Sept. 21.

The Ocean SAMP Subcommittee, created by the CRMC Council to serve as an oversight body to the development and adoption of the Ocean SAMP, will hold the meeting at 11 a.m. in the council chambers of the Block Island Town Hall. The purpose of this meeting is to provide Block Island residents and other interested persons with an overview of the Ocean SAMP and an update on its development. Attendees will also have an opportunity to ask any questions they might have about the Ocean SAMP and its development.

“I requested this meeting on Block Island because it is important for the residents of Block Island to be involved in the process as much as those who live on the ‘mainland,’ as they are also stakeholders with an interest in this SAMP,” said CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian. “Block Island is a coastal community that has the opportunity to be quite involved in the SAMP, as waters off the island’s coast are being considered for a potential testing site for a small wind farm as a renewable energy pilot project.”

The CRMC and University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center/R.I. Sea Grant have held a series of monthly stakeholder meetings since work began on the SAMP last August. The stakeholder process is one of the most important functions of SAMP development.

Attendees are encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch. For more information on the informational Ocean SAMP meeting, go to the CRMC web site http://www.crmc.ri.gov or contact Laura Ricketson-Dwyer at CRMC. For more information on the Ocean SAMP, go to the official Ocean SAMP web site at http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/oceansamp/index.html.

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