Notes from first all Community Meeting for Wilmington Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP)

January 31, 2006 , Wilmington Town Hall

Purpose

The meeting was held to collect community views on the waterfront and to introduce the LWRP process to the community.  Please see previous minutes or contact Town Supervisor or project consultant for background.  A printout of the PowerPoint presentation shown at the meeting is available at the Town Clerk’s office. 

There were approximately 70 people in attendance at the meeting, which began at 6pm and ended at 8pm . 

Welcome

Town Supervisor Jeanne Ashworth welcomed residents to the meeting and introduced visiting officials (including Michael McMurray , DEC; Mike Fayette, DOT; Andy LaBruzzo, DOS; and Garrett Dague, EC Planning), the Citizens’ Committee members, and the consultant team. 

Citizens’ Committee Members include:
nHolly Aquino, Visitor’s Bureau, motel owner, resident
n Jeanne Ashworth , Supervisor, Town of Wilmington , resident
nAnne Barlow / John Lafferty, AuSable River Association, resident
nMarcel Bruce / William Skufca, Town Highway Department, resident
nJim Camletano, resort owner, resident
n Virginia Crispell / Judi Gould, planning board, resident
nGarrett Dague, Essex Cty. Planning Office
n Rachel Finn , fishing guide, resident
nGary Follos, property owner, resident
nBrian Grisi, APA
n Tom Hinman, zoning board, motel owner, resident
n Andrew Labruzzo , NYS Department of State
n Bruce McCulley , Whiteface Mtn.
nMichael McMurry, NYS DEC
n Kara Page , Adirondack Sustainable Communities, resident
nKevin Prickett, property owner, resident
n Jane Sibalski , resident, library board
nGuy Stephenson, Jr., Historical Society and Fish & Game Club, resident
n Dawn Stevens , Town Board, resident
n Michael Vilegi , business owner, resident  

A list of partner institutions was shown, including:

nLocal Partners

q AuSable River Association

q Whiteface Mtn. Visitors’ Bureau

q Wilmington Historical Society

q Essex County Planning and DOT

nState Partners

qNYS Department of State Division of Coastal Resources

qWhiteface/ORDA

qAdirondack Park Agency

qNYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Ashworth also oriented the participants to the building, refreshments, and sign-up sheets.   

Jeanne’s review included the application process made by the Town of Wilmington to the New York Department of State for a grant of $25,000 to conduct the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP). Upon receiving word that the grant had been awarded, the Town sent out Requests for Proposals (RFP) to several consulting firms to conduct the work.  Jeanne Ashworth , Andy LaBruzzo (NY Department of State), Garrett Dague (Essex County), and local volunteer Judi Gould reviewed the RFPs and Adirondack Sustainable Communities, Inc. ( ASCI ), of Wilmington, was selected for the work.

The consultants ( ASCI ) were introduced by Jeanne Ashworth to the participants:   Kara Page (lead consultant), Lisa Nagle (planner), Kathy Regan (ecologist), and Andy Keal (GIS expert). Jeanne also explained that Essex Country was contributing a great deal to the project through the work of Garrett Dague and that each member of the Citizens Advisory Committee was also contributing to the project. The hours contributed by each of these individuals counts as a match towards the total grant.

LWRP Overveiw

Andy LaBruzzo and Lisa Nagle described what a Local Waterfront REvitalizaiton Program (LWRP) is and how it works, what the steps are, how long it takes, and how a community can benefit from it.  They covered the following questions:

What is a Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP)?

nA program of the NYS Department of State Division of Coastal Resources

nA year to plan, then study problems and implement projects

nPurpose is to:

qPreserve, protect, develop and enhance waterfront resources

qAchieve a balance between economic development and preservation

qEncourage the development and use of coastal/ waterfront resources

qExpand access to the waterfront for recreational uses

Parts of an LWRP?

nPublic Participation Plan

nInventory and Analysis

nCommunity Vision

nProposed Uses and Projects

nImplementation Strategy

How is the LWRP done?

nCreates a structure to implement existing Waterfront Initiatives

nFuses land use planning, economics, consensus building, design and environmental sciences

nCelebration of the AuSable River and Lake Everest

nPreservation-oriented, building on local success and existing community plans

nDetailed implementation strategy

What are the Benefits to Wilmington - short term?

nImprove public access to the AuSable River , Lake Everest , and tributaries

nProtect and restore natural and historic waterfront resources

nIncrease tourism opportunities

n Main street revitalization

Benefits to Wilmington – long term

nCommunity vision guides future development and work projects in boundary area

nProtecting community character / quality of life

nComprehensive land and water plan

nA tool to raise funds for projects and investments

nPartnerships with state and Federal agencies

nNYSDOS as an advocate for the plan and the community

Visioning

Kara Page , Tom Hinman, and Dawn Stevens led a discussion of what Wilmington would like to see, keep, and change on its waterfront.  People discussed what they like about the area as it is now, what problems they have, what potential ideas the LWRP might help address, and more broadly, what they’d like to see over time, whether the LWRP can address it or not.  What follows is a categorization of the comments documented both on easel paper and three note-takers’ pads during and after the discussion (some comments were provided after the meeting ended).

X         What we like about the waterfront / what to keep

o        Quiet, scenic vistas, birdwatching

o        Paddling and fishing access in many spots up and down stream

o        Beach area (e.g. swimming and play area for children, concerts, nature trail?)

o        Not as commercial / busy as Lake Placid or Lake George

o        Restrictions on motor use on water (currently 5 miles/hour within 100 feet of shore)

X         What we’d like to change – priority items

o        Depth and channel width of lake and river

o        Improvements in beach area (e.g. signage; bathroom and pavilion facilities; control of abuses such as vehicle access to peninsula, drag racing, drinking, and vandalism; handicap access)

o        Maintenance of environmental integrity, if dredging is agreed to, for example

o        Improvement of environmental integrity, through reduction of salt, silt, and septic pollution, plus litter control in public areas

o        Enhanced local and visitor access to, and understanding of, river (history, cultural use, natural information, perhaps through fishing access maps, interpretive signs, riverwalk trail, pollution advisories – e.g. “did you know - road runoff goes into our river”)

o        No changes! 

X         What we could change if we had the chance – thinking broadly

o        Expanded sidewalks, foot access in general (e.g. foot bridge over river), bike paths, and canoe trail

o        Power lines over bridge and elsewhere put underground to enhance views

o        User-friendly aspects:  posted signs not friendly, maps for public access (especially fishing and walking) needed / more widely available, docks/rafts, trail maps (informal and formal)

o        Aesthetic coordination to reflect Adirondack heritage

o        Winter festival idea

X         Thoughts about the LWRP process in general / what we may need more information about

o        Impacts of dredging, permitting process, studies needed

o        Sedimentation / source control upstream and in Town (e.g. in zoning and building permits, storm water management plan)

o        Any downsides for Wilmington in doing this process/thinking about these issues?   

o        Determining the boundary of the waterfront

o        Use of the Flume swimming hole (safety, maintenance by DEC, liability)

o        Need to balance maintenance of current quiet atmosphere with improvements that might, besides benefiting locals, attract more tourists

o        Costs of changes (avoiding overburdening local taxpayers)

o        Good turnout at this meeting; good to get people talking about issues; good opportunities so far to get people’s input

o        Results of survey so far:

·    46 respondents so far

·    What valued most about AuSable River (top 3):  Fishing (21), Swimming/beach (16), Views (11)

·    Dredging needed if possible: Yes (22), Undecided (10), No (4)

·    Silting a problem?  Should it be allowed to continue?:  Yes a problem (29), not a problem (8), Not continue (14), undecided (4)

·    Other issues:  Make beach attractive / maintained (11), Keep it same (10), Improve kids’ area (4), Keep clean (3)

·    Year-round residents (41), bus. owners (2)

Next Steps and Wrap-up

Garrett Dague and Kara Page concluded the meeting with a quick list of next steps that the Town, committee and consultant are working on and asked the community members present to stay involved:

nFeedback on meeting and surveys will be publicized

nWeb site in development – ASCI will alert e-mail list when available. 

nFocused workshops February – March; please sign up to hear more

nInventory and analysis complete in April/May  2006; findings to be shared at next meeting

nNext community meeting May/June

nOngoing grant applications

nSurveys – ongoing

nPolicy / implementation work

nSign up for e-mail updates and / or volunteer to help

For more information on the Wilmington LWRP, please contact:

Jeanne Ashworth , Town Supervisor (946 7179) or Kara Page , ASCI (946 7557)