The Montgomery Town Board heard from members of its Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) and the general public last week which sought to protect two critical watersheds within its boundaries.
Gretchen Stevens, Biologist for Hudson, Ltd. told the Montgomery Town last week that she has been working with volunteers for the past 10 months to identify areas that the group believed were deserving of environmental protection. It was decided to focus on two major aquifers as delineated by the Orange County Water Authority- the Tin Brook Valley Aquifer and the Beaverdam Brook Aquifer- which feed the wellfields of municipal and public school wells and include other important resources of meadows, forests, wetlands, streams and floodplains. The group, which first appeared before the town board in January, is proposing that both areas be designated as Critical Environmental Areas (CEA). The town board held a public hearing on the proposal last Monday
The Tin Brook Aquifer includes wells that feed Walden water supply and several unnamed tributaries of the Wallkill River. The Beaver Dam Aquifer includes wells that supply Valley Central High School and Middle School.
A Critical Environmental Area is a geographic area with unique or exceptional characteristics. Local governments are authorized to designate CEAS under State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) regulations. Among the regions CEAs include a 9-mile stretch of Greenwood Lake and the Chadwick Lake Reservoir environs of the Town of Newburgh, both in Orange County, and the Shawangunk Ridge and the Wallkill Public Water Supply water Shed and Aquifer in Ulster County. Stevens said the CEA designation can be applied to any area that provides exceptional benefit or is under any sort of threat. It could be a historic site, an “exceptional natural setting,” or an area of “inherent sensitivity.”
Sometimes, she said, CEAs are hazardous sites like a closed landfill or they could be a flood zone. They could also be rare species habitats, historical locations, scenic areas. The group also looked at the town’s comprehensive plan which also recommends establishing CEAs.
Stevens, said the designation carries no land use restrictions, but is simply a way to educate people into thinking about land use.
The CEA designation alerts landowners, developers, and regulatory agencies to important or to consider how proposed projects might affect the qualities of the CEA, among other potential features are not overlooked, and that potentially harmful impacts to them are evaluated.
The public hearing draw plenty of public support.
Kathy Pitts of Windfall Farm said her property, though located just south of the town line in the Town of Hamptonburgh, is located in the Beaver Dam Brook. She cautioned the Town of Montgomery officials that any action taken will have a direct impact on her farm.
“My wife and I are going to be the next generation of farmers at Windfall Farms,” said Michael Nelson of Windfall Farms, another supporter of the CEA.
Town of Newburgh resident Sandra Kissam also supports the CEA.
What happens in the Town of Montgomery affects and is very important to what happens in the Town of Newburgh,” said Kissam, a funder and President of the Stewart Park and Reserve Coalition (SARC) that fought to protect the buffer zone that extends beyond the boundaries of New York Stewart International Airport. Kissam said she is also involved in efforts to oppose the proposed new Danskammer Power Plant along the Hudson River.
Joan Buck Smith, whose property is within the Beaver Dam aquifer, believes the legislation doesn’t go far enough.
“You’ve proposed the highest density in this whole town to be within this aquifer,” she told the town board. “The proposal says simply ‘to raise awareness.’ You need to go beyond that.”
Morse Pitts of Windfall Farms summed up the argument of the supporters.
“Please understand the most valuable thing you can pass on to future generations,” he said, “is fresh, clean water.”
Though town board members made no comments, they agreed to hold the public hearing open until their scheduled May 19 hearing. Public comment will be accepted up until then.