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FALL
QUARTERLY MEETING
- THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2003 - 10:30 A.M.
PLACE:
The United Church of Spring Valley - Mendum Room
East
Church Street at Centre, Spring Valley, New York
Parking behind church in Memorial Park
Please
use front door of church.
10:30 A.M. Business
Meeting and Reports on Environmental Issues
11:15 A.M. Program:
 HIGH
PERFORMANCE LANDMARKS.
Walter Sedovic,
AIA
Principal and
CEO of Walter Sedovic Architects, Irvington, New York Specialists
in Historic Preservation and Contextual Design
Lunch
will be provided by the Board of Directors.
The
Answers
Those
who would look for simple answers to the big questions should go for
a country walk on a November afternoon, out where leaves scuffle,
squirrels scurry, jays cry havoc, and the fundamental shape of the
hills is now revealed.
-
From Hal Borland's "Twelve Moons of the Year"
Recap
of the ReCharge Energy Expo & Conference
On September 12-13th, the Pace Energy Project sponsored the
ReCharge Energy Expo & Conference at Bear Mountain, which was hosted by the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission. RCCA
was a supporting organization of the event.
The conference had over 350 registered attendees and an estimated
1500-2000 visited the exhibit area.
Exhibitors came from as far as California to present the latest
in energy efficient and renewable energy technology.
The blackout of August 14th heightened the dependency that
we all have on electricity. Many
came seeking information about back-up power sources. There was great interest in learning what can
be done to diversify our energy sources and become less dependent
on foreign oil and polluting fossil fuel power sources.
Industry leaders and professionals gave presentations on the
various energy efficient and renewable technologies available for
commercial and residential use.
It was encouraging to see such widespread applications in clean energy
solutions. The technology is
available and becoming evermore practical and affordable.
A key sponsor of the event was the Sharp Corporation, which has its headquarters
in Mahwah, NJ. Sharp has been
producing
solar panels in Japan since 1959.
Their Solar Systems Division entered the US market about eighteen
months ago and is already developing a manufacturing plant in the
states. Frank Marella, Sharp's Manager of Environmental Affairs
spoke on Global Environmental Leadership: Showing the Way to a Sustainable
Energy Future through Corporate Policies and Products. It was heartening to learn that the corporation
has an ongoing program to reduce carbon emissions and an active computer
recycling strategy. Many of
their products meet Energy Star standards that require less energy
to operate.
There were over 50 exhibitors displaying products and services ranging
from flashlights to fuel cells. The
Rockland County Solid Waste Authority provided an outstanding array
of activities for families to become more aware of simple practical
solutions for a more sustainable community.
Kids learned the importance of reuse and recycling through
crafts and music.
The rain on Saturday did not deter interest. Workshops were ongoing throughout the day, in
some
cases with standing room only. Paul
Miller Toyota was there with the hybrid Prius featuring 52mpg of gas,
which captured the attention of many.
Bear Mountain was a great attribute to the success of the event. The park is a great testament to the struggle and importance
of conserving our natural resources.
Moving toward a more sustainable energy future should not be optional but, a
must.
Dorice
Madronero
2nd vice-president
Rockland County Conservation Association
HAVERSTRAW
BAY COUNTY PARK
Since County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef first took office in 1994,
protecting Rockland's environment has been at the forefront of his
administration. In 1999,
County Executive Vanderhoef announced the County's first Open Space
Acquisition Program. This
successful program has created five new parks, preserved two farms and added 315 acres of parkland to our
system.
Haverstraw
Bay County Park
In 1998, as
Rockland was planning to celebrate its bicentennial, Scott Vanderhoef
announced that as a bicentennial gift to our residents, the County
would acquire property along the Hudson River and develop our first
waterfront park. The search
for suitable property was undertaken in 1999, considering all available
vacant properties along the Hudson River.
After evaluating several parcels, a 27-acre parcel was selected along the Hudson River in the Town of Haverstraw.
The chosen property has long played a dominant role in the industrial
development of our County. Dating
back to the early 1700's through the early 1900's, the property
was used for manufacturing brick.
In the early 1950's, the property was again the focus of
a project that would forever change our County, the construction
of the Tappan Zee Bridge. A perfectly level site next to the Hudson River,
the property was used to assemble sections of the bridge then loaded
onto barges located on two man-made inlets and floated down to Nyack. After construction of the bridge the property
remained vacant and became a dumping ground for old cars and white
goods. This was all about to change when the County
Executive selected the site to become the County's first waterfront
park.
The County Executive envisioned a waterfront park that would blend in
with the natural resources found on the property, provide water-based
recreational opportunities and be accessible to all County residents.
Over the next 2 years his vision became a reality in what some have described
as "the jewel" of the County Park System. The park includes a large open-air pavilion,
playground, walking trails, picnic facilities, park office and restroom and
the largest doublewide trailered boat launch in the County. Other innovative features include a pedestrian
footbridge over the man-made inlet and three fishing piers in the
fresh water pond all made of recycled plastic.
On July 21, 2003 County Executive Vanderhoef and several hundred residents
officially opened the park to the public.
A more somber ceremony occurred on September 7* as the County Executive
along with former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Legislative Chairman Salvatore
Corallo, family members and 1,200 people unveiled the Rockland County September
11th Memorial at Haverstraw Bay.
County Executive Vanderhoef said that the memorial at the Hudson River's
widest point was a fitting location, "a place of serenity to
remember forever the horrific day two years ago that we were attacked
and so many of our community members perished".
The Memorial was created to honor the 15 victims from
Rockland and the person killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Prepared by,
R. Allan Beers, Coordinator
Rockland County Division of Environmental Resources
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Tuxedo Reserve
Tuxedo Reserve, a proposed approximately
1,195 unit development project just over the county line in Tuxedo,
Orange
County, is nearing the completion of its Final Environmental Impact
Statement. At an average of 2.3 people per household,
we would have 2,748.5 residents plus proposed commercial development. This would be adding nearly an equal sized community
wedged between Sloatsburg and Tuxedo (both with populations of about
3,000). All the runoff from the development would be
into the watershed of the Ramapo River via two mostly pristine streams.
A minimum of only 50-foot buffers along
the streams are to be maintained.
This falls far short of an adequate protective riparian buffer. Nor is a 100-foot buffer around New York State
classified wetlands actually enough to preserve the surrounding
ecosystem in the drainage basins of the wetlands.
Even then, over three acres of the inadequate
wetlands buffer would be disturbed according to the only materials
now available for review
on the Tuxedo Reserve project. Smaller
wetlands, which are not classified, appear to have no minimum buffer maintained. Water quality will certainly be negatively affected
by this level of development. Remember,
the Ramapo River is the main source of recharge for the Ramapo Valley
Well Field of United Water and the Village of Suffern Public Water
Supply wells.
The stream from the southern tract of the
proposed Tuxedo Reserve leads to the New York State designated Recreational River segment of the Ramapo River.
It is our view that this project will cause negative environmental
impacts on water quality and recreational use of the Ramapo River.
We are not assured by the standard boilerplate
language of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement: "Soil
erosion and sediment
control plans will be prepared and implemented to prevent heavy
siltation loadings to wetlands and streams. This is standard
construction practice and required by applicable regulations.” As we can see from the current horrible condition at
the construction site for Sterling Mine Estates, in Tuxedo, that
has polluted a beautiful riparian
wetland and Nakoma Brook, which flows into Sloatsburg, these standard
methods are not enough, and enforcement in Tuxedo at this site by
the Town and the DEC has been inadequate or nonexistent.
There are many other concerns about this project
such as traffic impacts on an already stressed Route 17. We urge residents of Rockland County to attend a public
informational meeting regarding Tuxedo Reserve on Monday, October 20 at 7:30 P.M.
at the Tuxedo Elementary School.
Please attend.
Geoff Welch, Ramapo Director
Rockland County Conservation Association
845-536-4145
Water - The League of Women Voters
of Rockland County will hold a symposium on water issues on November
19 from 7 to 9 P.M. at the Finklestein Library, Spring Valley, New
York. Speakers to be announced. Cosponsors of the meeting are the Rockland County
Environmental Management Council, the Rockland County Water Quality
Committee and the Rockland County Conservation Association.
For further information,
you may call Hermine Levine at 845-352-4273.
RCCA Newsletter - Betty Hedges
e-mail - bhbettyhedges@aol.com
Distribution: Faith Leigh
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