Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District

Wet Weather Initiative

Meeting Minutes

January 24, 2002

Present: Tom Ryther, Chair; Cory Chadwick, HCDOES; Jim Rozelle, FMSM; Holly Utrata-Halcomb, HCSWCD; John Hunter, LWVCA&MCRP; Robert Jansen, Mill Creek Conservancy District; Gary Van Hart, HC Public Works; Sam George, City of Cincinnati SMU/MSD; Marty Umberg, MSD

The new Chair of the Wet Weather Initiative, Tom Ryther, convened the meeting and distributed the agenda.

Wet Weather Initiative Financial Report - Holly Utrata-Halcomb Funds remaining after payment of expenses for previous workshops is deposited in the Hamilton County Soil & Water District account. Current balance is $5706. Discussion consensus was that this fund should be retained for use with future workshops or other activities related to achieving the goals of the WWI.

Ohio Stormwater Task Force Annual Meeting Report - Holly Stormwater Management 101 will be presented at the Blue Ash Community Center on March 19, 2002. Information about the Conference will be distributed to the WWI mailing list. Those interested can contact Holly after February 19, 2002. OSWTF has joined the Water Management Association of Ohio. A number of committees have been formed to carry out the work of the association. Proposed legislation to streamline the administration and enforcement of stormwater regulations has been drafted and is receiving strong support from the Ohio Association of County Commissioners. Information on Association activities is available on its web page http://www.warrenswcd.com/ohiostormwatertaskforce/

Hamilton County Stormwater Study update - Sam George, Jim Rozelle Commissioner Dowlin convened a meeting of representatives of local governments to present the findings of the County Stormwater Study. 118 people from 37 of 50 local jurisdictions attended. Dowlin encouraged the group to join together as a unit and apply for a general permit to take on the task of efficiently and effectively address the Phase II requirements and timetable. If a County District were formed, the two existing Districts, Cincinnati and Forest Park would likely join. MSD is supportive. Next step is a presentation to the Stormwater Steering Committee.

The committee discussed the need for better enforcement tools for Pre-construction review, site inspection and enforcement on parcels 1 acre and larger, Post-construction monitoring, and Detection and elimination of illicit discharge. State enabling legislation is needed and is being sought.

Clean Ohio Fund/Natural Resources Advisory Council - Holly

A training session for submitting applications for grants from the Clean Ohio fund is scheduled for 1/29 at Tech Solve from 3:30 to 5:30 and Winton Centre on February 5, from 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Information can also be obtained at the following website - http://www.hamilton-co.org/engineer/nrac.htm Deadline for grant submittal is April 1, 2002.

WWI Committees Three new WWI committees are being formed to develop and implement the goals developed and adopted last fall. The Watershed Signage Committee will continue with Nancy Elwood as chair. The three new committees are: · Stormwater Management · Data Collection · Education Nominations for committee chairs were accepted and responsibility for contacting nominees assigned. Holly Utrata-Halcomb has accepted the chair of the Education Committee.

Establishment of Monthly Meeting dates It was decided to continue to meet monthly on the fourth Thursday of each month at 9:30 AM. DOES will continue to provide a conference room for the meetings at its offices at 250 Wm. Howard Taft. The next meeting will be February 28, 2002.

Please mark your calendars for the following dates as well:

March 22, 2002
April 25, 2002
May 23, 2002
June 27, 2002
July 25, 2002
August 22, 2002
September 26, 2002
October24, 2002
November28, 2002