| RAB MEETING MINUTES NAVAL STATION NEWPORT
In attendance were John Vitkevich, Kathy Abbass, Thomas McGrath, Edward Moitoza, Susan Hester, Howard Porter, Mary Blake, Emmet Turley, James Myers, Manuel Marques, Thurston Gray, Thomas Reardon, Elizabeth Dees, Nathayn Jolin, Claudette Weissinger, David D. Dorocz (NAVSTA), Melissa Griffin (NAVSTA), Kathy Marley (NAVSTA), Theresa Ryan (NAVSTA), LT Kurt Phoel (NAVSTA), Gregg Kolhweiss (NAVSTA), Franco LaGreca (EFANE), Stephen Parker (Tetra Tech), James Shafer (EFANE), Paul Kulpa (RIDEM), Kymberlee Keckler (USEPA) David Dorocz opened the meeting and welcomed the group. He announced that Dr. David Brown would not be in attendance for the meeting. David Dorocz then briefed the Restoration Advisory Board on the evening's agenda. Copies of the RIDEM letter dated October 8, 2002; Subject Tank Farms 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were provided to the RAB and are included as enclosure (1). The November 6, 2002, EPA letter addressing the Tank Farms 1 through 5 was also provided and is included as enclosure (2). Jim Shafer of the Naval Facilities Engineering Command Installation Restoration Program stated the Navy will be responding to the correspondence.
The following changes are made to the October minutes, as requested in recent correspondence. The changes requested are as follows: On page 2, paragraphs 2 and 3, the notes talk about the temporary parking lot being adjacent to OFFTA. In response to this, David Dorocz clarified for the group that the parking lot is located on a portion of OFFTA and a schematic was provided to the group to help in the clarification (enclosure (3)). On pages 2 and 3, under the Public Information Committee report three additional items were discussed that were not reflected in the meeting minutes. The items are as follows: 1.) As discussed, interested members were to provide Melissa Griffin with constructive suggestions about the Presentation Style of the draft Proposed Plan for OFFTA prior to or during the November RAB. 2.) As addressed during the meeting the possibility of an interactive link within the RAB web site will not be possible. The link was considered for those citizens who are not able to be present at public meetings. 3.) A discussion regarding the possibility of video taping public meetings and making copies available in the public libraries is something to be considered in the future. John Vitkevich asked for a motion to accept the previous
meeting minutes for October with the above changes. The
minutes were approved and then seconded by the group. INSTALLATION RESTORATION FISCAL YEAR 03 BUDGET - Jim Shafer Mr. Jim Shafer gave a presentation on the present and upcoming Navy budget. Enclosure (4) is the Navy Execution Plan for Fiscal Year FY 03. The enclosure also shows the projects that were paid for with unused (unspent) FY02 funds before the funding expired on September 30, 2002. Jim Shafer introduced two of his coworkers from Engineering Field Activities North East that were present at the RAB meeting. Franco LaGreca and David Barcliff from the EFA North East. Dr. Kathy Abbass addressed the past cost savings for the McAllister Offshore project. She asked if the new additional funding reflected on the budget came from those cost savings. Jim Shafer stated that the cost savings were utilized for another major cleanup project within the Navy's Region I. Kathy Abbass also asked Mr. Shafer if he has plans for retirement in the near future. Jim Shafer replied that he hopes to retire possibly in March of 2003 but plans to attend the upcoming January and February RAB meetings. Jim then announced Thurston Gray and David Brown forwarded their input on the OFFTA Proposed Remedial Action Plan (PRAP) presentation style and format. Mr. Shafer thanked them for their responses, and plans to formally address their comments and suggestions.
Steve Parker began with review of the OFFTA cleanup project with discussion on the Predesign Investigations. The final Feasibility Study (FS) for OFFTA has been submitted and a formal response to comment letters from RIDEM and the EPA is currently being prepared. A copy of the OFFTA brief and slide presentation is
provided as enclosure (5). The first page of the enclosure
shows a schematic of the OFFTA during the cleanup process. The
draft Proposed Plan has been submitted and the dashed line
represents possible changes to the 2003 remediation process.
The Navy's preferred remedial action plan is designed to
monitor the sediment at the OFFTA and to further evaluate and
determine any changes to the remedy selection for this
site. COMMITTEE REPORTS
No report by Committee Chair. Planning Committee - Thomas McGrath and Ed Moitoza The committee members expressed the thought of having a planning session in January, to discuss the RAB schedule in calendar year 2003. Public Information Committee - David Brown Dr. David Brown forwarded his input for inclusion in the evening's Public Information Committee Report as he was unable to attend the meeting. Dr. Brown urged the RAB members to provide the Navy IR Program Manager, Melissa Griffin, with constructive suggestions on the draft Proposed Plan for OFFTA. John Vitkevich spoke on Dave Brown's behalf. He supports the idea of having a planning session to define how to make the RAB more efficient next year. John Vitkevich said the members would like to have the planning session as part of the next RAB meeting in January. The committee members discussed an open house public hearing. Jim Shafer suggested having the hearing for the OFFTA in early winter to discuss the ROD and PRAP. Membership Committee - Thurston Gray Mr. Gray stated there was a total of 14 community members present at the meeting with 1 community member excused from the meeting. There are presently a total of 20 RAB community members, with the addition of Mr. Reardon and Mr. Fowler. Mr. Gray welcomed the two new members. Kymberlee Keckler inquired about the balance of community members from each community. John Vitkevich suggested new members be recruited to increase to the number from Newport. David Dorocz provided the Committee Chairs with two articles, previously published in local community newspapers. The purpose of the past newspaper articles was to recruit new RAB members. The articles may be used as an example to develop a new ad. Project Committee - Emmet Turley Mr. Turley discussed what is on the citizens' minds in Jamestown. Areas around the Jamestown shoreline are becoming quite shallow, but funding for a dredging project is a problem. A dredging project is usually performed in coordination with the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE). A second problem is finding a place to dispose of the dredge material. Mr. Turley provided the RAB with enclosure (10), a memorandum and ACOE article titled "The Providence River Dredging Plan". David Dorocz stated that the State of Rhode Island recently created a Task Force to review dredged material disposal areas.
Melissa Griffin announced there will be no meeting in the month of December 2002. Additionally, the Officers' Club will be undergoing renovations during the months of December, January and February 2003. The RAB meeting will be temporarily held at the Newport Hyatt on Goat Island. As a reminder to all members a special notice will be sent out the first week in January 2003, regarding this temporary change.
The next meeting of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) will be on January 15, 2003, at 7:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Newport. As requested by the RAB Committees, the meeting will include a planning session to discuss the schedule for calendar year 2003. The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Enclosures: |