20020820 Ver 1_More Info Received_20090127

Morrisville Park Site Meeting Notes
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Subject: Morrisville Park Site Meeting Notes
From: "David Cooper" <[e-mail]>
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 11:57:27 -0500
To: <,james.f.shemoa usace.army. mil>, <[e-mail]>, <[e-mail]>, "Patrick Smith"
<[e-mail]>
Attached is a letter detailing the site meeting at the Morrisville Park Stream and Buffer Restoration site that took
place on January 21, 2009.
-David Cooper
David G. Cooper
Staff Biologist
Soil and Environmental Consultants, PA
[phone] Mobile
[phone] Direct Telephone
[phone] Telephone
[phone] Fax
[e-mail]
Content-Description: SiteMeetingNotes_1-21-2009_emailed_ I-27-2009.pdf
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JAN 2 7 2009
DENR - WATER. QUALITY
WET1A14DE AND STORMWATER BRANCH
I of 1 1/28/2009 8:30 AM
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Environmental Consultants, PA
Road 9 Raleigh, North Carolina 27614 • Phone: [phone] • Fax: [phone]
www.SandEC.com
January 27, 2009
S&EC Project No. 6798.D10
Mr. Jamie Shern Mr. Eric Kulz
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers NCDENR - Division of Water Quality
Raleigh Regulatory Field Office 401 Wetlands Unit
6508 Falls of Neuse Road, Suite 120 1650 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27615 Raleigh, NC 27699
Re: Morrisville Community Park
Stream and Riparian Buffer Restoration Project
Site Meeting Notes- January 21, 2009
Dear Sirs:
The following is a summary of the discussions that took place during a site meeting at the
Morrisville Community Park Stream and Buffer Restoration site on January 21, 2009. Meeting
attendees were: Eric Kulz (NCDWQ), Steve Dickinson (Town of Morrisville), Chris Newsome
(Town of Morrisville), Patrick Smith (S&EC), and David Cooper (S&EC).
Discussion topics included; 1) the assessment of a wooded fifty (50) foot buffer from the top of
bank of the restored stream, 2) the control of beavers within the restoration site, 3) the
revegetation of certain areas of the site, 4) supplemental site monitoring (beyond Year 5) with
potential changes in yearly monitoring activities at the site, and 5) the timetable for action items.
L Riparian Buffers
Riparian buffers on mitigation/restoration sites are generally required to be fifty feet in width,
from the top of bank of the restored stream. Unless otherwise stated in the mitigation plan, the
entirety of this fifty foot buffer should be wooded, and no mowing should take place in the area.
With regard to the Morrisville Park site, Mr. Kulz recommended looking back at the approved
mitigation plan to check for any deviation from these specifications of buffer width and buffer
vegetation type. Mr. Kulz also mentioned that he is not as concerned about areas where the
greenway trail is located within the buffer or the areas where the greenway trail crosses the
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Morrisville Community Park January 27, 2009
Soil & Environmental Consultants, PA Project No. 6798.D10
stream, but did recommend planting woody stems to within approximately 5 feet of the paved
trail. Mr. Kulz suggested reviewing the mitigation credits used/needed in order to assess whether
the entirety of the Morrisville Park site needs to have a fifty foot wooded buffer in order to meet
mitigation credit requirements. If excess credits are available and not needed for mitigation, Mr.
Kulz suggested that portions of the site could receive fewer credits with a thirty foot wooded
buffer. Mr. Kulz also stated that the square footage of the paved greenway trail itself would need
to be subtracted from the mitigation credit calculations because it is impervious. In order to
prevent future impacts to buffers, consideration may be given to the installation of some type of
physical barrier. Possible barriers include T-posts with PVC sleeves, and wooden posts with rope
strung between them.
Areas within fifty feet from the top of bank of the restored stream on the site should be assessed
and placed into one of the following categories:
1- Areas that meet the wooded fifty foot buffer requirement;
2- Areas that do not currently meet the wooded fifty foot buffer requirement, but could be
planted to meet the requirement;
3- Areas that do not currently meet the wooded fifty foot buffer requirement, and which
cannot be planted to meet the requirement, but are wooded to within thirty feet from the
top of bank.
2. Beaver Control
Beaver control is needed at the Morrisville Park site. Beavers have recently constructed several
dams on the site along the restoration reach, and are actively damaging the stream banks and the
woody vegetation within the buffer. Beaver removal is the first step that needs to be taken in
order to reduce the damage to vegetation within the riparian buffer. Mr. Dickinson noted that a
beaver removal specialist has already been contacted and will be removing the beavers and their
dams from the Morrisville Community Park. Mr. Kulz did not stipulate that the continued
removal of beavers after the monitoring period is a condition of stewardship; however, it was
agreed that beaver management at this particular site would be beneficial to the Park.
3. Revegetation of Damaged Buffers
Mr. Kulz noted several areas of the site that currently appear to have few woody stems. Reasons
that some areas are relatively bare include poor soil, recent grading/stream repairs, and direct
removal of plants by beavers. Mr. Kulz stipulated that, in order to meet the mitigation
requirements, certain areas need to be planted with woody stems. Species to be planted may
include but are not limited to Red Maple (Ater rubrum), Sycamore (Platanus occidentali.s), and
River Birch (Betula nigra). Areas to be revegetated depend on the mitigation credit calculations,
but are likely to include currently mowed areas adjacent to ball fields, currently mowed areas to
within approximately five feet of the paved greenway trail, recently graded areas and areas
where the track hoe drove during the summer 2008 stream repairs, and otherwise bare areas
within the fifty foot riparian buffer from the top of bank of the restored stream. Vegetation
density was discussed, and it was agreed that a planting density of 320 stems per acre is
acceptable if larger, containerized plants are used in the initial planting. To minimize beaver
damage to the newly planted trees, the use of tree tubes should be considered. Mr. Kulz noted
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Morrisville Community Park January 27, 2009
Soil & Environmental Consultants, PA Project No. 6798.1) 10
that planting should be conducted before the upcoming growing season in order to let the roots
get established before the summer, and to observe growth during two full monitoring years. Mr.
Dickinson indicated that it the Town of Morrisville will investigate opportunities for obtaining
plant material and volunteers to perform planting within the Park in the near future. Mr. Smith
noted that all newly planted stems need to be clearly marked to facilitate monitoring.
4. Supplemental Site Monitoring and Changes in Yearly Monitoring
Mr. Smith requested that the current monitoring activities be reevaluated with regard to the
recent changes to the Morrisville Park site. Mr. Kulz agreed that quantitative monitoring is not as
important at this point as sound qualitative monitoring. To that end, it was suggested that
monitoring activities should consist continue for two additional years and of (at least) quarterly
visits to document general stream stability, beaver activity, and buffer vegetation. Photo points
will be established to represent any changes in the stream and riparian buffer. Vegetation
monitoring plots will be placed in areas that are revegetated. Current monitoring practices such
as surveys of cross sections and stream longitudinal profiles will be discontinued, and assessment
of the currently established vegetation monitoring plots will not be required during the two
additional years of monitoring.
5. Action Items Timetable:
• Assessment of credits/buffer types- ASAP (S&EC, Town of Morrisville)
Beaver and dam removal- winter 2009 (Town of Morrisville)
• Year 5 quantitative monitoring will continue, as agreed upon in the contract, through
June 30, 2009. Field work will be conducted following beaver dam removal. (S&EC)
• Planting- late winter to early spring 2009 (Town of Morrisville)
• Installation of barriers to prevent buffer impacts- following planting operations (Town of
Morrisville)
* Quarterly, qualitative monitoring for an additional 2-year monitoring period July 1, 2009
- June 30, 2011 (S&EC, pending contract with Town of Morrisville)
Please review the preceding meeting summary and keep this for your records. If any information
is not consistent with the discussions that took place during this meeting or if additional
information needs to be added to this summary, please let us know.
Sincerely,
,SOC>C'&-ENVIROMENTAL CONSUL'T'ANTS, PA
, P.E.
/SQi'Pi'
Design Project Manager
Cc: Mr. Blake Mills, Town of Morrisville
Mr. Steve Dickinson, Town of Morrisville
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