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Kulz, Eric
From: Shern, James F SAW [[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:40 AM
To: Kulz, Eric
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
I concur with your opinion that the credit should be reduced by one quarter.
Melissa had said they would drop the Dorothy portion if not full credit so I agree we should
let them know ASAP. I just wanted to make sure that we were on the same page in regards to
urban streams. So if they are proposing Enhancement 2 that would usually yield 2.5:1, are we
saying that based on the narrower -35 ft buffer that the Dorothy Park project would yield one
credit for every 3.33 linear feet of stream at the park? Or if full restoration but with a
-35 ft buffer one credit for every 1.33 ft? Talk to you soon, Jamie
971-3609
-----Original Message-----
From: Kulz, Eric [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Monday, June 15, 2009 2:46 PM
To: Shern, James F SAW
Subject: FW: Maynard Road Restoration
Jamie;
We should give the Town of Cary and Stantec folks an answer regarding credit for the Dorothy
Park reach. You and I looked at this several years ago.
this was the linear park in Cary with no current buffer. They want 1:1 credit, but please
note my concerns below.
One possble solution involves the attached Urban Stream policy (Draft) which was written by
John D. and I in January, and is in IRT review and will be included in the next version of
the interagency Stream Mitigation Guidelines.
Using the matrix included, sites with buffers greater than 30 feet but less than 50 feet and
that do not include stormwater BMPs would get a one-quarter credit reduction (1.333:1 credit
ratio).
I feel some reduction is warranted since they are not getting full 50-foot wooded buffers,
which we do give 1:1 credit for. There is the possibility that credits from this site may be
used to offset the loss of streams somewhere with the full buffer.
What do you think?
Eric
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From: Ruiz, Melissa [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2009 2:13 PM
To: Kulz, Eric
Cc: Fairley, Brad; Chapman, Amy; ][e-mail]
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
Eric,
Thank you for your response. I understand your concern about homeowners - that is always a
concern, I have even heard complaints at rural sites.
As for the Dorothy Park restoration - it will actually be a priority 2 restoration where we
will be cutting a new floodplain bench, changing the pattern, profile, and cross section,
adding structures (and working with the large rock outcrop that exists in one part of the
channel), and restoring native vegetation.
The stream restoration takes full advantage of restoring function and habitat to the urban
park; the park itself varies in width from 50 to 80 feet. The restoration design was created
to save as many existing canopy trees as possible. The majority of the park will be
naturalized with restoration of the understory and additional canopy trees to create a
completely natural buffer on each side of the stream.
We have included a 6-foot pervious surface path and grass strips for the adjacent homeowners
and at the request of the parks and rec department. We feel these items will increase
acceptance of the project (and prevent them from using their weedeaters!). In response to
your comment regarding potential new stream mitigation guidance of a minimum 15-foot buffer,
we have placed the greenway and grass strips outside of this 15-foot buffer (with the
exception of two small areas that are unavoidable due to the location of the stream and width
of the park). For the majority of the park, the restored buffers are actually 20-30 feet wide
on each side of the stream. The grass strips are limited to less than 13% of the park and are
only located between the street and greenway for the length of the park. Mature canopy trees
are located throughout the grass strips and will remain after construction. As such, the
grass strips and path together form a shaded park area that acts as a boundary to the
naturalized area so that the public can still use the park without impacting the stream
restoration.
As you noted, credit is awarded upon successful completion of monitoring. We believe the open
communication between the town and the public will lead to a successful project. Of course
the Town of Cary can make frequent visits to the park and continue to educate the nearby
property owners as to the benefits of the restoration.
Before construction we want to make sure the project is something DWQ and the Corps would
give credit for. We would like to see 1:1 credit since this project is a full restoration
that optimizes naturalized buffers in the narrow space allotted in this urban landscape.
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Since we are under time constraints and not able to wait to meet with you when you are
available at the end of June, I have attached a copy of the plan sheet for Dorothy Park. The
naturalized area is shown in white with the existing trees in green, the grass strips are
shown as green hatch, the path in light blue, and the new stream alignment in dark blue. We
appreciate your comments.
Melissa Ruiz
Scientist
Stantec
801 Jones Franklin Road Suite 300
Raleigh NC 27606
Ph: [phone]
Fx: [phone]
[e-mail]
stantec.com <http://www.stantec.com/>
The content of this email is the confidential property of Stantec and should not be copied,
modified, retransmitted, or used for any purpose except with Stantec's written authorization.
If you are not the intended recipient, please delete all copies and notify us immediately.
u Please consider the environment before printing this email.
From: Kulz, Eric [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2009 8:04 AM
To: Ruiz, Melissa
Cc: Fairley, Brad; Chapman, Amy; [e-mail]
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
Melissa:
The amount of credit to be awarded for this site will need to be determined by USACE and us.
I am sure you know that the interagency Stream Mitigation Guidelines require a 50-foot
wooded, undisturbed (i.e. with natural understory and ground cover) buffers. This is an
urban system, and we have given some leeway in the past for narrower buffers. However, what
you are proposing sounds pretty narrow. The Interagency Review Team is in the process of
revising the Stream Mitigation Guidelines, and are looking at an absolute minimum wooded
(undisturbed and unmanaged) buffer width of 15 feet to receive any credit. The science shows
that buffer narrower than 15 feet have minimal water quality value.
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I am assuming we are talking about Enhancement 2 of this stream. If we were to give credit,
it may be at a less favorable ratio than the standard 2.5:1 given for E2 projects. I suggest
you get Jamie Shern in the loop on this and that we all site down to discuss. We would need
to see plans describing exactly what is proposed.
I would also point out that in the year+ since we did the site visit, I have seen a number of
situation similar to the Dorothy Park scenario, i.e. linear park between two roads with
houses along the roads. I have as yet to see a project that looks like the plans indicated.
Every house owns a weedeater, and folks tend to take things into their own hands. Snakes,
scofflaws and
the likefrequent such brushy places I am told. So ultimately, your credit
yield would be dependant on what the site actually ends up looking like, and not what you
propose. Also, long-term maintenance of natural conditions are a concern. On many of these
type of sites, they tend to revert to their
previous condition after the monitoring is complete. It would be bad if
after eight years, the property ended up looking like it does now, after time and money
spent. And the impacts that the credits would be used to offset are certainly permanent.
From: Ruiz, Melissa [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 1:53 PM
To: Kulz, Eric
Cc: Fairley, Brad
Subject: Maynard Road Restoration
Eric,
We are hoping to have submitted the permit well before your next available meeting dates.
Instead of meeting, I have described our question/concern below. Hopefully that will be
sufficient information for you to give us a response. Please feel free to call Brad Fairley
865-7381 or cell 637-2806 with any questions. You can also email either of us.
Our question/concern involves the planting plan for the stream restoration in Dorothy Park.
You may recall that Dorothy Park is a narrow parcel bounded by roads on all sides. The plan
had been to fully naturalize this area to maximize the amount of buffer restoration. Some
concerns were raised with this plan by the homeowners living around the park and the Director
of Parks and Recreation for the Town. They would both like to see some turf in the park as
well as a trail. We have proposed a 6' mulched trail which we discussed with Amy Chapman in
the meeting this past Monday. As for turf, we propose narrow islands of turf understory
adjacent to the roads. No turf would be planted in the understory along the stream. It should
be noted that the turf areas will still have a woody canopy. Most of the turf areas will be
located around the existing large trees located along the street. These changes are necessary
to keep everyone on board with the stream restoration.
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As you know, these are some of the constraints that arise when restoring a stream in such an
urban area. The Town would like to keep everyone on board as they are planning on starting a
third phase that will include another 2,000 feet of stream restoration.
The question is, will the addition of turf areas to our planting plan be acceptable? Will the
Town still recieve full credit for the restoration in the park? If not we will not be
including Dorothy Park in the project.
once again, pleae feel free to contact us at your convenience.
Melissa
Melissa Ruiz
Scientist
Stantec
801 Jones Franklin Road Suite 300
Raleigh NC 27606
Ph: [phone]
Fx: [phone]
[e-mail]
stantec.com <http://www.stantec.com/>
The content of this email is the confidential property of Stantec and should not be copied,
modified, retransmitted, or used for any purpose except with Stantec's written authorization.
If you are not the intended recipient, please delete all copies and notify us immediately.
u Please consider the environment before printing this email.
From: Kulz, Eric [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 10:26 AM
To: Ruiz, Melissa
Cc: Chapman, Amy
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
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Melissa;
My next available date is monday 6/22.
7/2.
Eric
Other available dates are Friday 6/26 and Thursday
From: Ruiz, Melissa [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 9:30 AM
To: Kulz, Eric
Cc: Fairley, Brad
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
Eric,
I hope you are feeling better. Brad and I were hoping to set up a new meeting with you as
soon as possible to discuss the project, specifically the restoration in Dorothy Park. Please
let us know if you are available next week on Tues, Wed, Thurs or Fri.
Thanks,
Melissa
Melissa Ruiz
Scientist
Stantec
801 Jones Franklin Road Suite 300
Raleigh NC 27606
Ph: [phone]
Fx: [phone]
[e-mail]
stantec.com <http://www.stantec.com/>
The content of this email is the confidential property of Stantec and should not be copied,
modified, retransmitted, or used for any purpose except with Stantec's written authorization.
If you are not the intended recipient, please delete all copies and notify us immediately.
u Please consider the environment before printing this email.
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From: Kulz, Eric [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 7:24 AM
To: Ruiz, Melissa; Chapman, Amy
Cc: Fairley, Brad
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
I have another meeting at 2:00, so if we are not done I will have to leave.
Eric
From: Ruiz, Melissa [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Monday, May 11, 2009 9:56 AM
To: Chapman, Amy
Cc: Fairley, Brad; Kulz, Eric
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
Amy,
May 18th at fpm works for us - see you then.
Thanks,
Melissa
Melissa Ruiz
Scientist
Stantec
801 ]ones Franklin Road Suite 300
Raleigh NC 27606
Ph: [phone]
Fx: [phone]
[e-mail]
stantec.com <http://www.stantec.com/>
The content of this email is the confidential property of Stantec and should not be copied,
modified, retransmitted, or used for any purpose except with Stantec's written authorization.
If you are not the intended recipient, please delete all copies and notify us immediately.
u Please consider the environment before printing this email.
7
From: Chapman, Amy [mailto:[e-mail]]
Sent: Friday, May 08, 2009 1:14 PM
To: Ruiz, Melissa
Cc: Fairley, Brad; Kulz, Eric
Subject: RE: Maynard Road Restoration
Melissa,
How about May 18th at fpm or May 19th at fpm? Thanks.
-Amy
From: Ruiz, Melissa [[e-mail]]
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 1:49 PM
To: Chapman, Amy
Cc: Fairley, Brad
Subject: Maynard Road Restoration
Amy,
Thanks for responding to my call. I would like to request a meeting to discuss the second
phase of the Maynard Road stream restoration and expansion of Higgins Greenway that we are
designing for the Town of Cary. The greenway will be about 10 feet wide and will be within
the riparian buffer. We wanted to discuss these impacts with you before finalizing designs
and submitting the permit. I believe Eric Kluz has been to the phase 1 portion of the
restoration.
We are available tomorrow and then anytime the week of May 18 (preferably Mon 18th or Wed the
20th).
You can reach me best by email [e-mail] You can also reach me at 865-7529.
Thank you,
Melissa Ruiz
Stantec Consulting
Email correspondence to and from this sender is subject to the N.C. Public Records Law and
may be disclosed to third parties.
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