Louise Harrison, executive director of Friends of the Bay, gave a slide lecture to members of the Oyster Bay Civic Association at their Feb. 20 meeting. It was an informal educational experience as listeners asked questions and made comments. She showed the course of water in its stages: as ice frozen on tree branches after a storm dripping down; as snow melting into a stream; to water standing in a catch basin and slowly filtering down into the groundwater - all the time demonstrating that the longer it takes for water to filter down the watershed and slide into the harbor, the cleaner the water will be.

She defined a watershed area as: the total geographic area that captures precipitation, filters and stores water, and drains water to a shared destination or common outlet.

Ms. Harrison ended by saying the federal and state government has acknowledged that stormwater runoff is a major source of pollution in our fresh and marine waters; therefore, all municipalities in New York State have to submit a Notice of Intent (NOI) that outlines how they will adopt appropriate measures to address stormwater within their storm sewer systems, and send it into the DEC by March 5. They are being asked to look at innovative ways to do so, in small increments. They realize that New York is an old state and has old water and drainage systems, she added.

"But," suggested Ms. Harrison, "villages like Cove Neck and Centre Island can say, 'We've got a culvert that is pouring water into the harbor. We can put in barriers to slow the water down and can create a drainage retention pond.' Maybe they can ask homeowners to use permeable driveway material instead of asphalt." She said they will have to file their NOI as a step toward getting their new SPDES (State Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit for their non-point discharge elimination systems. Once a year the municipalities will have to issue an annual report on how they are doing with their stormwater control plans in order to keep their permit current.

Besides Ms. Harrison's presentation, the board heard reports from the OBCA directors. President Marie Knight said the Long Island Rail Road will complete the transfer of the station house to the town by the end of the month. The repair of the roof is taking time because the Town of Oyster Bay attorney wants more liability paperwork before the contractor recommended by Architectural Historian John Collins can begin his work.

Ms. Knight said she received calls from merchants about snow removal and she contacted the town's people in charge and on Wednesday night, Feb. 12, she saw three or four trucks hauling snow south, out of town. Handicap traffic signs have been put up outside the Oyster Bay Post Office. There are also three no Parking signs along Summit Street, that reach down to South Street. "They are not being enforced," she lamented.

The civic group stopped the town from stripping parking lines in Townsend Square. The civic association, the Oyster Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Main Street Association had a parking proposal created by RMS for Townsend Square that gave five extra parking spaces and provided landscaping and lighting. The groups are talking with the town to implement their plans. "The Firemen's Field lot has a drainage problem that is holding back that part of the work," she said.

Ms. Knight suggested that all hamlet residents check their town calendars for garbage and SORT collection problems with the dates. "Residents put garbage out Sunday night that was not picked up because of the storm." She said there is a number to call at town hall to find out how those collections are being re-scheduled: it is 624-6350.

Charles Doering has been working on a project to restore Theodore Roosevelt Park to the way it was originally planned. Over the years several areas have deteriorated and he has asked residents to give him pictures of the way it looked in the past. Someone gave him a photograph of the original pedestal that supported the flag near the seawall. The original pole was knocked down in a storm and replaced with an aluminum pole. With the photo as research, he has drawn a sketch of what a new flagpole base should look like and will try to get the town to restore the area to its former look.

The seawall appears lower today than it was because over the years the area has been filled in with asphalt raising the floor of that section of the walkway.

The next meeting of the OBCA will be on March 20.