Northeast Ohio Watershed Council June Meeting

This report on the meeting of the Northeast Ohio Watershed Council was provided by Kathleen Bradley. One day she may post to the blog directly.

The main portion of the NEOWC program on Thursday night was a presentation by the Cleveland Port Authority on their planned move. I will see if they have a power point program that can we sent to you. They are starting the implementation phase of moving the port from the lake front at the Cuyahoga River to the lakefront at E. 55th St. They are pledged to improve access to the lake at the old site which will be leased to developers of some kind. There will be opportunities for restoration at the river mouth and on the Cuyahoga River. They will have public hearings at each step along the way. I'll try to get those notices to you. The presentation was very long, so we did not get a lot else done. The Dike 14 Committee wants to present a rebuttal at the next meeting of NEOWC. I would suggest that Kristy also invite the Dike 14 Environmental Education committee, which is a separate group. Unfortunately I did not get Pam Davis' contact information at the Port Authority. I am sure you can google their website.

Kristy reviewed the high and mostly low points of the new Ohio budget proposal, Substitute HB 1, as passed by the Ohio house. It's now in the Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee. Some really bad news- oil and gas drilling are back for public lands, including Ohio Parks. The house removed state solid waste fees on construction and demolition and mixed solid waste proposed in the Governor's Executive Budget while stripping to the bone ODNR and EPA. The Senate plan rejects the the Coal Extraction Fee approved by the House. The Senate wants to DE-fund the Scenic Rivers Program. I have asked Kristy for the full information in e-mail format so we can share with our members.

We also had a great presentation by Gary Whidden on the history of the falls and cascades of the Cuyahoga Valley and what it could look like if the dams were removed and the area restored. I have asked Elaine Marsh to let us know when he will be presenting again. Well worth seeing.

I picked up material on the Adopt-A Beach program, part of Alliance for the Great Lakes. They are looking for groups to do once-a-week beach clean-ups- one group would only have to do it ONCE. In other words, a different group would do it each week. If someone wants to set up a FOWL or RRWC beach clean up (maybe one near a coastal wetland) I would be glad to help. Maybe this could be in the Mentor Marsh area, too. Alliance for the Great Lakes now has an Ohio office. Contact: April Mather, Ohio Outreach Coordinator. P.O. Box 30247, Cleveland, 44130. She actually lives in Berea. Telephone: 216-630-8140 amather@greatlakes.org. The website is www.greatlakes.org.

NEOWC is sending a letter to ODNR requesting the names of the Great Lakes Compact Advisory Committee members be made public with their contact information on the ODNR website.

The NEORSD grant for watershed coordinators was discussed. Contact me if you want more information. The deadline has been extended into sometime in July.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, August 25. Location TBA.

NEOWC is also desperately looking for a secretary.