| RAB MEETING MINUTES NAVAL STATION NEWPORT CALL TO ORDER The NAVSTA Newport Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) gathered at the Officers’ Club for their monthly meeting on Wednesday, January 19, 2005. The meeting started at 7:00 p.m. and finished at 9:00 p.m. See enclosure (1) for the attendance list. Ms. Mueller opened the meeting and welcomed the group. APPROVAL OF PREVIOUS MINUTES The minutes from the November meeting were approved. PRESENTATIONS Status of the Cleanup at the Old Fire Fighting Training Area Mr. Curtis Frye of the Navy’s Engineering Field Activity Northeast presented the status of the Old Fire Fighting Training Area (OFFTA). The Navy expects to complete the mound removal excavations by the end of January. The central mound and mound 2 have been removed. No hazardous waste has been encountered. Regulators and Navy are currently discussing work plan for below grade soil removal. If consensus on the scope of the effort is reached, the Navy will plan to mobilize for this effort by late summer of this year. This presentation is provided as enclosure (2). In addition, the updated fact sheet for OFFTA was provided at the meeting (see (enclosure (3)). Community members expressed concern that Navy progress with this site is slow; suggestion was made that Navy confine efforts to one or two sites, if this would result in making additional progress at a site. The RAB on the WWW The RAB viewed the web site, provided as enclosure (4), at www.rabnewportri.org. The RAB requested several changes: update and obtain signatures on the mission statement page, update the restoration site page, and delete outdated text from website at www.nsnpt.navy.mil/Environmental/ir_index.htm and replace with a link to www.rabnewportri.org. COMMITTEE REPORTS Education Committee The Committee Chair had no new information to report. Membership Committee The Committee Chair had no new information to report. Nominating Committee There is no Committee Chair; there was no report. Planning Committee The Committee Chair was not present; there was no report. Project Committee The Committee Chair was not present but provided a handout on dredging processes. This information is provided as enclosure (5). Public Information Committee There is no Committee Chair; there was no report. Rules Committee The Committee Chair had no new information to report. NEW BUSINESS Format for Navy Updates – The RAB requested quarterly updates similar to update provided at the September 2002 meeting. RAB Budget for FY05 (Oct 2004 through Sep 2005) – Budget for FY05 is $8K. Schedule and Plan Four Meetings for Mar 2005 through Sep 2005 – Scheduling was postponed until more members are present. Nominations and Elections for Next Meeting – Dr. Abbass nominated Mr. Marques, Jr. for the Community Co-Chair position. Other – Notes from the Co-Chair Workshop and the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) Update for Rhode Island are provided as enclosure (6) and enclosure (7), respectively. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the RAB will be on February 16, 2005, at 7:00 p.m. The group will meet at the Officers’ Club. Enclosures: |