| RAB MEETING MINUTES NAVAL STATION NEWPORT On Wednesday, March 17, 2004, the NAVSTA Newport Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) gathered at the Officers' Club for their monthly meeting. The meeting began at 7:00 p.m. and ended at 8:00 p.m. In attendance were John Vitkevich, David Brown, Manuel Marques, James Myers, Claudette Weissinger, Kathy Abbass, Emmet Turley, David Dorocz (NAVSTA), Gregg Kohlweiss (NAVSTA), Amanda Cerise (NAVSTA), Crystal Farnsworth (NAVSTA) Mr. John Vitkevich opened the meeting and welcomed the group. There were no changes to the minutes of January 2004. John Vitkevich asked for a motion to accept the minutes, which was seconded and then carried. COMMUNITY CO-CHAIR ELECTION There were seven community members present at the meeting. The Community Co-chair election was held in accordance with section 2.7 of the RAB Mission Statement and Operating Procedures. Mr. Manuel Marques was nominated from the floor as a candidate for Community Co-chair. No other community members came forth to be a candidate and there were no other nominees for the chair. A motion to elect Mr. Manuel Marques was made, seconded, and carried by all. Manuel Marques will serve as the Community Co-Chair for the upcoming calendar year. COMMITTEE CHAIR ELECTION Mr. John Vitkevich requested that the RAB members come forth and present their nominations for the Committee Chair election.
The following Community Members were nominated as candidates:
The Committee Chair(s) election was postponed by the RAB until the next meeting on April 21, 2004. COMMUNITY CO-CHAIR PRESENTATION BY- John Vitkevich Mr. John Vitkevich stated he had previously requested that the monthly RAB meeting be held on a different weekday. He further stated that this was suggested since the Portsmouth Town Meeting's are also held on the third Wednesday of each month. Mr. Vitkevich suggested changing the location of the RAB meetings. He suggested moving the RAB meeting to a location off the Navy base. He stated a new location would provide the local communities better access to the meetings. Mr. Manuel Marques stated that changing the RAB meeting location may help to increase the membership. Mr. Marques further stated he may support the idea to hold the RAB meeting on a different weekday, since the Newport City Council Meeting's are also on Wednesday. The present consensus of the group was to not change the date of the meeting. Mr. Vitkevich stated the next RAB meeting in April will be held at the Naval Station Newport Officers' Club. All RAB members will be notified of any change in location of the meeting. Mr. Vitkevich asked for an update on the present RAB funding status. Ms. Amanda Cerise stated that the FY04 RAB Support Funding is presently 50% spent. Ms. Amanda Cerise stated that RAB support funding is used for site field trips, for the room rental, for document printing costs, as well as to advertise for the RAB meetings. Ms. Cerise further stated that the Navy has a contract in place to advertise for the RAB meetings and approximately $1,000 a month is spent on advertising. Mr. John Vitkevich reviewed the Planning Schedule for the upcoming meetings with the RAB members. He suggested that the RAB site tour in June be removed from the Planning Schedule. He further suggested not having a July RAB meeting, and move the July events to the month of June. Ms. Amanda Cerise told the RAB that the previously scheduled Tank Farm's Clean up Status presentations have been rescheduled for the RAB meeting in May. Enclosure (1) is the IR Program Planning Schedule. The enclosure has been updated and includes changes by the Engineering Field Activity Northeast. COMMITTEE REPORTS Project Committee - Emmet Turley Mr. Emmet Turley discussed a new technique of dewatering dredged sediment. This method of dewatering was used at the Quonset/Davisville, R.I. site. Enclosure (2) is a detailed description of this method of dewatering. Education Committee - Kathy Abbass Dr. Kathy Abbass stated that the RAB Training Manual is currently in production and will be available for the RAB to review. Dr. Abbass further stated the RAB Training Manual will be updated on a regular basis. Membership Committee - Thurston Gray No committee report. Committee Chair was not present. Planning Committee - Thomas Reardon No committee report. Committee Chair was not present. Information Committee No committee report. NEW BUSINESS The 19th Annual R.I. Statewide Historic Preservation Conference will be held on April 24, 2004. The Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project (RIMAP) publication titled '2004 Educational Offerings' is now available. NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the RAB will be on April 21, 2004, at 7:00 p.m., at the Officers Club. Enclosures: |