11/16/16 Greenwood Lake Commission West Milford, NJ

The meeting started at 7pm. Paul Zarrillo read aloud the Open Public Meetings Law and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Paul Zarrillo opened the meeting and asked for approval of minutes and payment of bills. Other than standard utility and office rent payments, bills for the Greenwood Lake Commission include Scott Wood LLC for removal of floating islands, John Joseph for debris removal services, and B&B for dumping the materials.

Resolution: Approval of minutes from October 2016 and payment of bills up to November 16th. Motioned by: Paul Sullivan Seconded: Floyd DeAngelo Name Yes No Abstained Paul Zarrillo Co-Chair X
George Vurno Co-Chair X
Paul Sullivan X
Clint Smith X
Bill Link X
Dale VanNimwegen X
Ed Krull
Floyd DeAngelo X
Eric Hastings X
DEP X
DEC X

Commissioner Reports Recording starts with rusting brackets somewhere in the lake. Filters are ok - assume the convo is about the catch basins. Paul Zarrillo asked Floyd about the user fee laws. Floyd reported that he followed up with NY State and verified that the user fee law passed several years ago is still on the books. Eric Hastings - No Report Bill Link - Reported to the Commission what the current drawdown levels were, and passed around information found on the NJDEP website on water levels for Greenwood Lake. He also passed around drought zones for New Jersey. Paul Sullivan asked the NJDEP rep what the current reduction of water in the lake is, Josh reported that the lake has been reduced 4 feet and 8 inches. Paul Sullivan recommended based on his findings that the Commission vote to end the drawdown January 1st.
Resolution: To recommend to the NJDEP to reduce lake outflow to the minimum level on this date, November 16th 2016, and end the drawdown on January 1st, 2017. Motioned by: Paul Sullivan 2nd by: Eric Hastings Bill Link also wanted to report that the floating islands are up by Fox Island, and wanted to inform the contractor. Mike Flaherty did comment that the lake has not lowered since Nov 11th, and if we were to reduce the rate of flow the lake would start to rise. Paul Sullivan and Eric Hastings withdrew their motion based on the discussion. Paul Sullivan - Reported that he and Eric Hastings would go around the lake and collect sites that could be desilted. Dale VanNimwegen - Reported that the initial budget discussions have taken place, and that after meeting with the steering committee she feels confident that a budget will be ready to present to the Commission next meeting. George Vurno - George reported that he has a draft of a contract with him and motioned to have an executive session to discuss the terms. Floyd DeAngelo seconded. All were in favor. In consideration of the people's time, the Commission decided to wait until the end of the meeting to hold executive session. Paul Zarrillo - Reported that he attended the Highlands Coalition meeting and said they raised several concerns over the drought. He also reported that he emailed Kerry Pflugh of the NJDEP regarding the state of the drawdown and the conditions of the Ringwood State Dam. Paul reported that 19 truckloads of floating islands debris had been removed from the lake. Paul reported that he had been looking into drone companies to take aerial footage of the lake. Ballpark estimates range from $1500 to $2000. Paul recommended that we move forward to approving a contractor to take aerial drone footage of Greenwood Lake. Resolution: To pay a contractor up to $2000 for drone footage of Greenwood Lake relevant to possible water improvement projects and to mark dangerous obstructions.
Motioned by: Paul Sullivan 2nd: Eric Hastings All in favor. Paul reported the MSU will be ready soon with their water testing report Paul also reported that the next round of boating classes on Feb 26th, May 22nd, and August 13th. OLD BUSINESS Drawdown started Oct 11th, as of today the lake has been lowered 4 feet and 8 inches. Ringwood State Park staff will regularly monitor the lake conditions as the drawdown proceeds. Bill Link wanted to mention for the record that the drawdown could end as early as Jan 1st, 2017 so that people conducting work can be put on notice. Eric Hastings commented that the last time the Commission closed the book on user fees there was an agreement that if it were to be re-opened, it would be on the state level. Dale moved that the discussion be tabled. Bill Link seconded. Bill Link then motioned that the public session be opened. Paul Zarrillo seconded. Pubic session may be referred to by the recording - found below this document in a hyperlink. Time starts approx at 47 minutes. The GWLC moved to executive session. After returning, Dale moved the Commission approve the contract as annotated with the changes the Commission made during executive session. Paul Sullivan seconded. All in favor. Dale then motioned to close the meeting at 9:36pm. Paul Sullivan seconded. All in favor.