Plymouth Newsletter, Winter (January-March) 2007 - Issue 22

FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE:

- Urgent Requests to Watershed Landowners
permission slips
landowner intake forms
appeal from the committee
- Fund Raising for the watershed
- $10,000 matching donation from a “Cranky Old Man”
- Terminology & Concepts for streams
- DOT and Canasawacta Creek
- From the Assessor
- From the Volunteer Fire Department
- Business Directories & Contest Update
- INTERVIEW WITH A LOCAL BUSINESS
This issue – K&B Enterprises
- CALENDAR OF EVENTS
- A Flood Victim’s Story
- Plymouth has a BLOG!
- HELP!!! the Newsletter needs funding!!- From the Plymouth Post Office

URGENT REQUEST TO WATERSHED LANDOWNERS

The Town of Plymouth Watershed committee is applying for two more grants. The one due February 5 requires that we submit the landowner permission slips for accessing and assessing the creek at your location. Following is a permission slip that we need you to sign and return to us BY JANUARY 22, 2007. That will give us just enough time to collate the paperwork and send it in. (Send it in earlier if you can!) mail to: Town of Plymouth Watershed Committee, P. O. Box 30, South Plymouth, NY 13844

ANOTHER REQUEST TO WATERSHED LANDOWNERS

If you have not already mailed to us your landowner intake sheet, please fill out the following form and mail to Town of Plymouth Watershed Committee, P. O. Box 30, South Plymouth, NY 13844. We need to hear from you EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO CONCERNS.

AN APPEAL TO WATERSHED LANDOWNERS FROM THE COMMITTEE

As homeowners and/or landowners in the Town of Plymouth, we have a concern that several home/landowners who have sustained severe stream bank erosion, flood damage to their land, homes or other buildings have not returned their Intake Forms or Permission Slips. These are important and/or required documents.

The Intake Form provides the committee with an idea of the extent of damage you incurred during the floods. The Permission Slip is a form that will be used ONLY for committee members and DOT, DEC, Soil & Water, or the Army Corps of Engineers to cross your land (you will be notified first) to assess damages, and determine appropriate repair. These permission slips will NOT be used for machinery to cross your land or work in your area. You will be giving permission ONLY for assessment purposes. In addition, the committee is now working on a grant that has a deadline of February 5, 2007. The grant is a non-matching grant up to $15,000.00. Part of the application is “proof that we have landowner’s permission to cross their land.” It is imperative you return the completed Permission Slip by January 22, 2007, in order for your land to be included should we be awarded any funding.

We need to pull together as a community in order to move forward on the restoration of our creek and protection of property. We also are requesting that you consider making a tax-deductible donation (see accompanying article on Fund Raising for Canasawacta Creek). Your donation is a donation to “yourself and your community.” One grant that we have already submitted is a matching grant. Matching funds mean exactly as it implies – state, federal grants call for a 50/50 split. We pay half, they pay half. If we, as a community, cannot come up with our half, we do not collect the other half, even if the grant has been awarded.

This is your home, our home, our land, our creek. PLEASE, help us get it back to the beauty (and safety) that it once was and back to a community that we can again look at with pride.

Audrey Stone, Co-Chair for Landowner Documentation, 336-2548
Peg Kreiner, Committee Member, Grant Writer, 334-8764

FUNDS NEEDED TO REPAIR FLOOD DAMAGE

Have you heard? We have an anonymous donor who will match all donations (which are tax-deductible, receipts will be mailed for your tax records) up to $10,000!! (See accompanying article.) So if the community can give $10,000, we will have $20,000 to put toward needed watershed repairs. This $20,000 and any OTHER donations you might like to make will go towards the matching grant funds we will need. We made it past the first cut for the first grant application (for which we need $175,900 of matching funds).

Most of the grants the Town of Plymouth Watershed Committee is applying for are matching grants (grant giver provides a certain percentage, the community provides a certain percentage). The Town of Plymouth Board has set up a tax-deductible account for donations from the community. Checks, bank checks, or money orders are preferred and should be made payable to “Town of Plymouth Watershed”. Please mail your donations to: Town of Plymouth Watershed Committee, P. O. Box 30, South Plymouth, NY 13844; or give it to any committee member (list follows) or to Jerry Kreiner, Supervisor, Town of Plymouth. We are required by law to keep accurate records. If you prefer to make an anonymous donation, you will need to contact a committee member if you wish to receive a receipt for tax purposes. You will be assigned a code for the public tracking sheets so that your name will not appear.

The committee will also sponsor fund raisers with the hope that the community will support your watershed while having fun. Our first fund raiser is scheduled for Saturday, February 24, 2007 (specific details will be advertised in the Pennysaver, posters, etc.). Some of what is planned: A PANCAKE BREAKFAST in the morning, LIGHT LUNCH in the afternoon, and a POKER RUN for snowmobile enthusiasts (with some outstanding prizes!!!). We will also offer a 50/50 raffle (need not be in attendance to win). In addition, our first “NAME AS MANY BUSINESSES IN 30 SECONDS” on this day (see accompanying article in this newsletter) will be held for those that wish to participate. Rothwell’s Used Auto Sales (memorize that name!) has graciously offered a free oil change for the winner of the 30 Second contest. Thank you, Jim.
Help is needed the day of the fund raiser. Please contact one of the committee members or come to our meetings (Mondays, 6:30 p.m., Plymouth Firehouse) and let us know how you would like to help. We had hoped to have more details for this newsletter, but alas, you know how that goes. We will be calling on the community to donate needed supplies for this event. We know we will need eggs, pancake mixes, coffee, milk, hot chocolate, syrups, other condiments, ground meat, hot dogs, buns, relishes, or money to purchase items, etc. etc. Again, please contact a committee member listed below or attend one of the Monday night meetings to inform us what you are willing to donate.

Baker, Rob - 607-334-4960 - robandzoe@roadrunner.com
Pierce, Sandy Bonell - 607-334-3481 - lambsqfarm@frontiernet.net
Campbell, Sean - 607-334-4409 - sean1campbell@frontiernet.net
Rogers, Walt & Martha - 607-334-2788 - waltrogers@adelphia.net
Kreiner, Peg - 607-334-8764 - skreiner@roadrunner.com
Schuster, Tammie - 607-336-5024 -
Manley, Jr., Ken - 607-334-9582 - kjmanley@roadrunner.com
Stone, Audrey - 607-336-2548 - wstone48897@roadrunner.com
Marvin, Dolly - 607-334-6456 -
Kreiner, Jerry Supervisor - 607-336-5984 - jlkreiner@citlink.net

MATCHING DONATION OFFER UP TO $10,000.00!!!

A nice gentleman (affectionately known as the “Cranky Old Man”) who owns property in the Town of Plymouth has graciously offered to match all donations made to the “Town of Plymouth Watershed” up to $10,000.00!! All donations are deposited in a special account and will be used for restoration and maintenance of our watershed. In his younger days he used to fish for trout in the Canasawacta Creek. He would like to see our children and grandchildren have that pleasure. Unless we take steps to repair and protect our watershed, our descendants won’t find any fish. To date we have collected $565.00 from concerned citizens. He has matched that dollar-for-dollar and we have $1,130.00 in our account. Are there any other fishermen or environmentalists out there who would like to set up a matching donation fund? Our “Cranky Old Man” says he’d like to start a trend.

This is our community and we need to get back to neighbor helping neighbor. It has been made clear that the majority of the restoration is our responsibility. The watershed has applied for a grant. The total estimated cost for 66 rock weirs alone is $351,800. This is a matching grant which means IF awarded we (the community) need to come up with half - $175,900. This is only a start. ALL money donated, even if the grant is not awarded, will be put toward restoring he creek. PLEASE! Help. This is your community, no one elses. Contact any committee member or the Supervisor (listed in previous article) to make a donation or mail your check/money order made payable to “Town of Plymouth Watershed” to Town of Plymouth Watershed Committee, P. O. Box 30, South Plymouth, NY 13844.

Sandy Bonell Pierce, Watershed Committee, 334-3481, mailto:lambsqfarm@frontier
Peg Kreiner, Watershed Committee, 334-8764, skreiner@roadrunner.com

TERMINOLOGY & CONCEPTS FOR RIVER AND STREAM SYSTEMS

Watershed or Drainage Basin – the area of land upstream and uphill from a point in a channel that sheds water and sediment into the channel at that point.

Any rain (or snowmelt) falling anywhere, that does not evaporate or get taken up by plants, either flows over the surface of the land (runoff) or seeps through the ground (groundwater) until it reaches a larger body of water. Locally, this may be a stream or river, or a pond or lake which is drained by one. Ultimately, it will end up in the ocean.

Pick a point along a stream, say at its mouth. The water flowing past that point all started out as rain or snow, falling on the ground. The watershed of the stream is that area of ground from which the precipitation winds up flowing past that point. The network of branching stream channels and tributaries makes up only about 1 to 5% of the total watershed.

The channel is the area that carries most of the flow of a stream. In fact in normal circumstances all of the flow is within the channel. It is bounded by the banks. During high water or flood events, the water goes over the banks into the overbank area. The area of overbank that is under water for a flood of some given magnitude is the floodplain.

The discharge (or flow) of a stream is the quantity of water that passes a point in a given time. Typically, this is measured in cubic feet per second (cfs) or cubic meters per second (cms). For comparison, a cubic foot is about 7.5 gallons; a cubic meter about 264 gallons.

The velocity of the stream is the speed of the flow, in feet per second or meters per second. The average velocity is the overall velocity past a point. Because of friction with the bottom (bed) and banks and with the air at the surface, the velocity is actually higher in the middle of the deep channel than at the bottom, the top, the edges or in the overbank. Also, the need to squeeze water through a constriction or around an obstacle can result in local velocities higher or lower than the average.

Sediment – the rock-derived material moved or carried by water.

Rock is broken down by chemical action (including dissolving) and by mechanical action (grinding and breaking). What results from this is soil.

There are three classes of material that make up the sediment load carried by a stream. First is the dissolved load, consisting of material dissolved out of the rock and soil of the watershed. Next is the suspended load, which is made up of very fine particles (clay and fine silt) so small that they do not settle out of the flow, and visible as muddy or cloudy water. Last is the bedload, coarser particles (sand, gravel and larger stones) that roll or bound along the bottom of the stream. Generally, dissolved load makes up about 45% of the sediment load of a stream, suspended load about 50% and bedload about 5%, but this is highly variable. Fast-moving streams that drain sparsely-vegetated watersheds, or have large fluctuations in discharge have higher proportions of bedload and suspended load. Streams draining heavily forested watersheds or having lakes and ponds that act as settling basins have higher proportions of dissolved load. The relative proportion of bedload and suspended load depend on the available sediment size and stream velocity.

The size and amount of sediment that a stream can move mainly depend on the velocity of the flow, plus the depth and shape of the channel, and the size and amount of sediment available and exposed to the flow. Following rainstorms and during floods, all three of these increase, so the stream picks up more and larger sediment. As the velocity slows because of a flatter slope, or as the flood recedes, the stream can no longer carry as much or as large material. The sediment drops out, forming bars and building up the bed. Banks that are being cut back by the flow are said to be eroding. If the stream bed is being eroded and lowered, it is termed degrading, while a bed that is being built up and rising is aggrading.

Flood Frequency is a misleading term. For years the custom has been to describe flood magnitude by a recurrence interval – the “100-year flood,” the “10-year flood,” etc. This gives the false impression that a “100-year” flood will only occur once in 100 years. Actually, the so-called recurrence interval is the inverse of a probability – a “100-year” flood is one that has a 1/100 (1%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in any one year. Similarly, a “25-year” flood has a 1/25 (4%) chance of being equaled or exceeded in a single year. When you’re flipping a coin, having just thrown heads is no guarantee that you won’t throw heads on your next toss. So with exceedence probability – if you just had a “100-year” flood, there is a 1% change you’ll have another within a year, and a 9.5% chance you’ll see another within 10 years. In fact, there’s a 50-50 chance you’ll have at least one more, that big or bigger, within 69 years.

George H. Long, P.E.
NYS Department of Transportation Hydraulic Engineering Unit

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NYS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION and CANASAWACTA CREEK

Let's start off with a brief history of transportation agencies in New York State leading up to today's DOT. From colonial Dutch and English beginnings, the Office of Surveyor-General was organized right after the Revolutionary War in 1777. That office was updated in 1846 and re-named the Office of State Engineer and Surveyor. It was not until 1978 that the Department of Public works was formed. These early departments were concerned primarily with surveying land and managing the state canal system. In the early 1900s the Public Service Commission assumed responsibility for economic and safety regulation of privately operated transportation, railroads and buses, and Congress passed the Highway Act that created the New York State Department of Highways. In 1923 a new and unified Department of Public Works consolidated many of these functions and assumed responsibility for highways, canals and public buildings. The current New York State Department of Transportation was established in 1967. (For additional interesting information, please visit the NYS DOT homepage at http://www.nysdot.gov/portal/page/portal and click on about us and look for history.)

The first recorded highway plans associated with the Canasawcta Creek watershed in the DOT's possession date back to 1910. These plans describe a road from “Stewarts Corners westerly to the Hamlet of Kirk, a distance of 4.9 miles, in the town of Plymouth, Chenango County.” This appears to be what is now part of Route 23 and includes the area of concern to the current watershed group. The current bridge at Moon Hill Road was constructed in 1931. At that time the “dirt road to Preston” was where Moon Hill Road is located today. Further upstream the 1931 plans indicate that Canasawacta Creek was re-channelized where Chan Aldrich Road is today. Further downstream from Moon Hill Road, in a 1936 project, part of Canasawacta Creek was moved from the north to the south side of the highway. The deck of the bridge by Moon Hill Road was rebuilt in the 1980's and the bridge by Chan Aldrich Road was rebuilt in the 1990's.

The mission of New York State Department of Transportation is “to ensure our customers - those who live, work and travel in New York State - have a safe, efficient, balanced and environmentally sound transportation system.” To achieve those goals maintenance forces are continually looking for more effective and efficient ways to protect roads and bridges while at the same time promoting healthy streams and safe watersheds.

In 2004 maintenance forces stabilized the bank of Canasawacta Creek at Ashcraft Road. This area of the stream has changed significantly as a result of the June 2006 flooding. Maintenance would like to increase the size of the culvert that goes from north to south under Route 23 to prevent flooding of the road in that area. There is also some concern about erosion of the south side of Route 23 in this area. Intervention plans are being reviewed. It is important to understand both the upstream and downstream effects associated with any intervention.

Further upstream, Maintenance would like to remove some of the cobble and stone that was washed down during the June 2006 flooding. This is probably in the vicinity where the creek was moved in the 1930's. Maintenance forces will continue to monitor and fix damage to the rock vanes and the cross vane that were installed in late summer 2006. Typically these types of structures need to be adjusted during the first year after they are installed, and periodically after that as the stream changes. Maintenance is committed to learning effective, cost-efficient techniques that will ensure the safety of the traveling public as well as those who live close to our roads and bridges, and to working in cooperation with other stakeholders that share the watershed with NYSDOT infrastructure.

Mary O'Reilly, DOT Maintenance, December 2006

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FROM THE ASSESSOR

Trust everyone is having a great fall-winter so far with temperatures in the high 50's - 60's. As of yet have not mailed out the 2007 exemptions but they will be in the mail after the Christmas rush. They are due back to me by March 1st, 2007. If anyone has problems with them, please contact me. Remember on the Senior Star and Aged exemptions, need copies (no originals please). Also if you don't file a State Tax, please wait for the year-end social security statement to be mailed to you. It usually comes out the second-third week of January. State tax copies should be for 2005. If anyone doesn't get a copy and they believe they should, kindly contact me so I can send one to you. Some have the verification program and do not have to sign up every year. Also please keep in mind, the agriculture exemptions is granted to you if you make $10,000 or more on the land. I do need a copy of the taxes that you send in to the Government for proof.I will be attending a seminar in Syracuse January 8th, 2007 (funded by the State) on Time Management. It should prove to be a rewarding subject. Best part is that it gives me six credits for next year. (must have 24 credits each year).I notified the Town Board that my P.O. Box 913 has been canceled and the new address is: 130 Beale Street, Norwich, New York 13815. Kindly make a note of this in your records.We have not had our County meeting as of yet with Don MacIntosh and Judy Montgomery. They have been revamping their department at the County so they have new personnel on the job.I would hope by now all that should be entitled to the Rebate Star got their money. Had to make a few corrections because the check was made out to the deceased spouse. That required sending in an application with the voided check to the State for processing. That was well appreciated! As usual if there are any concerns, please feel free to call. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!Assessor, Mary Manley, 336-4600

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FROM THE PLYMOUTH VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

The Plymouth Fire Department had it's elections of officers for 2007 and the following members were elected: Chief: Mathew Bates, 1st Chief Greg Miller, 2nd Chief Robert Barnes, 1st Captain Leroy Burlingame lll, 2nd Captain Leroy Burlingame ll, Squad Captain Jeff Wathen. The Fire Department is still looking for more members to join the department and also members to join the Ladies Aux. Any residents interested in joining may contact Chief Bates any Wednesday night at the Plymouth firehouse by stopping in or calling 334-6805.
The departments members are at the firehouse every Wednesday night if you would like to stop in and look around the firehouse. If anyone is interested in joining the ladies aux., their meeting is the last Monday of the month at the Plymouth Fire House at 6:30 pm. Mathew Bates, Chief-Plymouth Fire Dept.

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NAME PLYMOUTH BUSINESSES IN 30 SECONDS CONTEST

The contest rules have been decided. You must name the businesses from memory with the exact name as it appears in the Business Directories in bold and underlined. Any abbreviated name will be discounted. We have had very few businesses respond. The first contest will include all the businesses listed in both directories above, “Taxpayer-owned businesses IN the Town of Plymouth” and “Taxpayer-owned businesses outside the Town of Plymouth”. We have it on good authority that there are 54 businesses in the Town of Plymouth. As these businesses become part of the directory, future contests will need to exclude the “out of town” businesses due to time constraints. So practice hard and come to the Plymouth Firehouse on Saturday, February 24, 2007, for the first contest. The Watershed Committee is holding a funding raiser that day (pancake breakfast and other activities) and you can compete anytime during the all-day event (see fund raiser article in this newsletter for more details). Rothwell’s Used Auto Sales has graciously offered the prize for this first contest – free oil change. Other rules:
1. from memory (any order)
2. must use exact name of business as it appears in bold type and underlined
3. only Plymouth taxpayers may participate (on my list, or bring tax receipt as ID)
4. winner will have fastest time naming ALL businesses appearing in directories in this issue

Good luck. If you are having any kind of public event, and would like to hold this contest as part of the event, contact me, Sandy Bonell Pierce, 334-3481, lambsqfarm@frontiernet.net.

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AN INTERVIEW WITH A TOWN OF PLYMOUTH BUSINESS – K&B ENTERPRISES

Names of Owners: Kevin Kreiner and Tracy DeLee
Business Address: 467 Doing Road, Norwich, NY 13815
Phone: 607-334-5986
How long have you done business in the town? We started our business in January 2006 so we have just completed our first year.
What is the major product/service you provide? The repair and maintenance of Agricultural and Industrial equipment, i.e., farm tractors, heavy equipment such as dozers, backhoes, etc. In addition, we are an Interstate Battery Dealership and Agricultural and Industrial Parts Dealer.
What are your hours and days of operation? We are open Monday – Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Sunday is by appointment. We try to meet our customer’s needs so that if for some reason they cannot get to us during regular hours we try to accommodate their schedules. Some times, however, we may not be able to. We do provide free estimates and should the customer want us to complete the work, we do request ½ down with the balance due at the time they pick up their equipment. We stand by our work.
Why did you choose this location for your business? We were both born and raised in the area. I (Kevin) was raised right in Plymouth. Since our families and friends are here we wanted to stay in the area and we both have worked farms so are very familiar with the equipment used and how important it can be to make sure it is working.
Do you have any future plans for the business, i.e., expansion? Nothing planned for the near future since we are just getting started. But who knows what the future could bring.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Monday - January 8, 2007, 7:00 p.m. - Town Board Meeting in Firehouse; public is invited and encouraged to attend board meetings

Monday - January 29, 6:30 p.m. - Ladies aux of fire department meeting

Monday - February 12, 7:00 p.m. - Town Board Meeting in Firehouse; public is invited and encouraged to attend board meetings

Saturday - February 24, all day - Pancake breakfast, light lunch, poker-run, and other activities, fundraiser for watershed at firehouse

Monday - February 26, 6:30 p.m. - Ladies aux of fire department meeting

Sunday - March 11, 2007 - Daylight savings time begins; could this be true? I found it on my new 2007 calendar

Monday - March 12, 2007, 7:00 p.m. - Town Board Meeting in Firehouse; public is invited and encouraged to attend board meetings

Monday - March 19, 2007, 9:00 p.m. - Deadline to get April thru June dates to be listed in this CALENDAR OF EVENTS, call 334-3481

Monday - March 26, 2007, 6:30 p.m. - Ladies aux of fire department meeting

Every Monday; except for town board meeting nights, 6:30 p.m. - Watershed committee meetings

Every Wednesday - evenings - volunteer firemen at firehouse