Agenda Items for the October 22, 2002 Commission meeting are listed below with the Commission's actions in bold.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - September 24, 2002. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the minutes.
2. PERMITS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval). The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the seven "page two" permits.
3. REPORT OF HARD CLAM AQUACULTURE TASK FORCE. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve an emergency regulation that would allow the importation into Virginia of northern broodstock clams from southern hatcheries provided there is a definitive paper trail and certification that the clams, indeed, are from clam broodstock north of Virginia. A full public hearing on the regulation amended will be held at the Commission's Nov. 26 meeting.
4. STEVE PALMER, #02-0689, requests authorization to retain an 11-foot long by 12-foot wide storage shed located at the channelward end of a private, non-commercial pier adjacent to his property situated along West Landing Creek in Mathews County. Two (2) residents in the vicinity protest the project. Continued from the July 23rd Commission meeting. The Commission voted, 3-2, to deny the request to retain the storage shed and required that it be removed from the pier.
5. NICHOLAS VANDERGRIFT, #02-1496. Commission review on appeal by the applicant of the September 11, 2002, decision by the Norfolk Wetlands Board to deny after-the-fact authorization to retain a brick and wrought iron fence within a coastal primary sand dune situated along the Chesapeake Bay in the City of Norfolk. The Commission opened the public hearing, but the "record" from the Norfolk Wetlands Board had not been received. Therefore, after consultation with counsel, the Commission decided to continue the case until a Nov. 1 recessed meeting to consider the full record.At the November 1, 2002 meeting of the Commission, the case was remanded to the Norfolk Wetlands Board.
6. JOHN BELL, #02-1720, requests authorization to retain 75 linear feet of riprap revetment which has been constructed channelward of an existing timber bulkhead adjacent to the applicant's property situated along the Rappahannock River in Middlesex County. The Commission voted, 5-0-1, to approve the permit with Commission Member McLeskey abstaining.
7. ANN RICHARDSON, #02-1473, requests authorization to construct a 16-foot by 36-foot enclosed, private, noncommercial boathouse at the channelward end of a 70-foot private pier adjacent to her property along Meachim Creek in Middlesex County. An adjacent property owner protests the project. The Commission voted, 4-1, to approve the permit.
8. TANGIER OIL COMPANY, #01-0588, requests authorization to retain a 12-foot by 7-foot gas shed, a 14-foot extension to the new fuel pier and to retain the old fuel pier, which was to be removed along Mail Boat Harbor in the Town of Tangier. The case was deferred to the Commission's Nov. 26th meeting.
9. U. S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, #02-0523, requests a modification to their previously issued permit to allow for a four foot (4') over dredge tolerance for the entrance channel portion of the Rudee Inlet Federal Project Channel in Virginia Beach. The Commission voted, 5-0, to approve the permit.
10. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendment to Regulation 4 VAC 20-720-80.C., "Restrictions on Oyster Harvest." The Commission voted, 4-0, to approve the regulation amendment.
11. PUBLIC HEARING: Proposed amendment to Regulation 4 VAC 20-430-20, "Marking Procedures for Drift and Anchor Gill Nets." The Commission voted, 4-0, to reject the regulation amendment.
12. STRIPED BASS: Discussion of management program for 2003 coastal fishery. Request for public hearing. The Commission voted, 4-0, to set a public hearing for Nov. 26.
13. BLACK SEA BASS: Discussion of management program for 2003. Request for Public Hearing. The Commission voted, 4-0, to set a public hearing for Nov. 26.
14. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD: 1) The Commission was requested to begin the process to re-establish the shad fishery in Virginia. The Committee voted, 4-0, to ask the Fisheries Management Advisory Committee to look at the shad fishery and report to the Commission in January. 2) At the request of a Commission member the Commission voted, 4-0, to establish a committee to discuss the weight limit on hand scrap oyster dredges. There is a limit on the dredges in the Tangier Sound area, but not elsewhere.
The Commission recessed the meeting until 10 a. m. November 1, 2002 to continue the public hearing on the permit application of Nicholas Vandergrift (#02-1496) that was begun at today's meeting.
DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MONTHLY COMMISSION MEETING: NOVEMBER 26, 2002
