1Stormwater Committee Meeting
June 7, 2007

Attending:
Ed Murtagh (Chair), Alison Gillespie, Kathy Michels, Ann Hoffnar

Raingarden Tour
Alison and Ed discussed the upcoming raingarden tour. This is a pilot tour—a learn as you go project. The letter of invitation will go out in a day or two. We are aiming for July 8 for the tour. Definite plans will depend on the response to the letter of invitation

  1. Ed hopes to target American Elm Park, the Dennis Ave. Recreation Center, Northwood High School, and perhaps others.
  2. Brady may have a van for us—Alison will check.
  3. Pam Rowe might have givaways—Ed will check.

Raingarden Projects (Jenny could not make it to the meeting, but gave us these updates)

  1. Cleveland Ave. in Takoma Park: The city is paying for a raingarden, which is practically finished (all but the planting left to do). Jenny is the landscaper on the project.
  2. Spring Park in Takoma Park: The project is a “go.” The city is doing the excavation. Ann is to call Jenny about needs for mulch and soil. We have $1,000 from the Takoma Foundation which is be used for this project and the money could be spent on mulch and soil if necessary. No word yet on the Chesapeake Bay Trust grant proposal.
  3. Washington Waldorf School raingarden project is complete. It was a great success. The children are all for LID now. This project was not in the Sligo watershed. Ed says this was a “missionary effort” in the Little Falls watershed.
  4. Ed, Kathy, and Jenny attended a landscape meeting at Blair last month to present the proposed raingarden to the Blair Landscaping Committee.

Updates from Ed:

  1. The residential showcase raingarden that was being discussed for Sally Benjamin and David Bellock’s yard is not going to happen this spring, we are now focusing on helping build a raingarden in Jim Fary’s yard. The right-of-way may be a problem. If not, the County DEP has promised soil and plants for the garden. According to Diane Cameron, the new president of the Sierra Club Montgomery Group, David Hauck, is very interested in raingardens. Ed would like to use Jim’s raingarden as a pilot for community outreach. Diane Cameron and Ed will talk to Hauck. Many members of the Sierra Club live in the Sligo watershed.
  2. The Silver Spring International Middle School is interested in working on a raingarden project. Emily Sudbrink is a key person here. Kathy will work with Emily to get the ball rolling.

Stormwater Partners Coalition Updates:

  1. The coalition just got a $5,000 grant to hold an inter-watershed conference. All the area watershed groups plus individuals who are thinking of starting a group would be invited to attend.
  2. The coalition, meanwhile, continues to work toward getting authorities to develop a stronger stormwater permit.

Minutes prepared by Ed Murtagh and Ann Hoffnar