Regular Monthly Meeting , December 3, 2009

Members Present:    

Lina Vlavianos, Chair
Sally Hornor, Vice Chair
Charlotte Lubbert
Kurt Riegel
Jeff Schomig
Bob Whitcomb
Veronica Jagoe for AACo.Councilman Benoit (Ex officio)
Virginia P. Clagett, MD House Delegates (Ex officio)                                   

Guests and Staff:

Albert Johnston, Greater Severna Park Council
Marianne E. Dise, Office of Attorney General/CAC
Kerrie Gallo, Critical Area Commission
Patricia Lynch, SRA Board & Broadneck Council Board
Margaret McHale, Chair Critical Area Commission
Ren Serey, Critical Area Commission
Brenda Weeks, AACo. DPW/WERS

Members Absent:

Dan Haas
Joe Rubino
Debra Smith
Scott Hymes, MD DNR (Ex officio)
Sam Shropshire, City Council (Ex officio)

CALL TO ORDER

Chair Vlavianos called the regular monthly meeting of the Severn River Commission (SRC) to order at 4:07 p.m. in the Severn Room, 2664 Riva Road.  A quorum was declared present.  Schomig, at the Chair’s request, presided over the meeting.

GUEST SPEAKERS

Members of the State Critical Area Commission (CAC):  Ms. Margaret McHale, Chair; Ms. Marianne E. Dise, Counsel Office of Attorney General; Mr. Ren Serey, Executive

Director; and Ms. Kerrie Gallo, Regional Program Chief were introduced and welcomed. They had been invited to discuss Critical Area regulations with the Commission.

Ms. McHale opened the presentation by categorizing for discussion the questions SRC had submitted to her prior to the meeting.  During the lengthy discussion, the following issues were addressed: legal issues, buffer management, coordination between CAC and MDE, lot cover, statement of goals or plan of action, deadlines for local jurisdictions, lack of jurisdiction outside the CA, and hardening shorelines.

Staff of the Critical Area Commission will conduct a public hearing for the purpose of hearing public comments on new provisions and amendments to COMR 27.01.09 Habitat Protection Areas in the Critical Area (Title 27).  The purpose of this action is to establish comprehensive standards and procedures for the treatment of the Critical Area buffer.  The hearing will be held on December 10, 2009, at 6:00 p.m. at Annapolis Senior High School.  All interested persons are invited to attend the hearing and offer their views.

Schomig will forward to Ms. McHale a copy of SRC’s letter to Anne Arundel County expressing concerns about vegetative management practices in the buffer, and the County’s response.

SRC members thanked Ms. McHale and the CAC staff for their extremely informative and helpful presentation.  The Critical Area Commission’s presentation was recorded.  It is available for reference.

MINUTES

The Minutes for the November 5, 2009, regular monthly SRC meeting was presented for approval.  The following corrections were made:  On page 3, paragraph 3, add “be” in the first sentence to read “. . .  the stormwater bill will be back with the present economic climate . . . .”;  paragraph 5, sentence 2, change “shores lines” to “shorelines”; and page 4 under agenda item “Articles 16/17 Revisions,” sentence one, change “Executive” to “staff.”

MOTION:  A MOTION, TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE NOVEMBER 5, 2009, REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING OF THE SEVERN RIVER COMMISSION

AS CORRECTED ABOVE, WAS MADE BY LUBBERT AND SECONDED BY WHITCOMB.  THE MOTION WAS PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE AND THE MINUTES WERE ADOPTED WITH CORRECTIONS.

Due to the length of the Critical Area Commission’s presentation, discussion on regular agenda items was postponed until the next meeting.

Critical Area Legislation (CA)

Following a brief discussion regarding the CAC’s public hearing scheduled for December 10, 2009 for public input on new provisions and amendments to proposed buffer regulations (Title 27), Vlavianos will attend the public hearing and speak on behalf of the Commission in favor of Title 27.

MOTION:  A MOTION, THAT VLAVIANOS WOULD SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE COMMISSION IN FAVOR OF TITLE 27 (PROPOSED BUFFER REGULATIONS) AT THE PUBLIC HEARING TO BE HELD ON DECEMBER 10, 2009, AT 6:00 P.M. AT ANNAPOLIS SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, WAS MADE BY LUBBERT AND SECONDED BY WHITCOMB.  THE MOTION WAS PASSED BY UNANIMOUS VOTE.

Schomig will write a thank you letter to Margaret McHale and the Critical Area Commission staff for their most informative question/answer presentation.

Reigel will check to see if cutting of trees in the Critical Areas is properly addressed in Articles 16/17.

The SRC website had 1,121 hits in the month of November.  The most popular topics this month were minutes, history and pollution.

NEW BUSINESS – There was no new business.PUBLIC INPUT - There was no public input.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 6:47 p.m.  The next SRC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, January 7, 2010, 4:00 p.m., in the Severn Room (4^th Floor), 2664 Riva Road, Annapolis, MD.