EDITOR’S NOTE: This is an issue with great relevance for many New Rochelle residents. We would like to publish a report on what takes place at this event. If you have some knowledge or expertise in this area and would like to cover this event for Talk of the Sound as a credentialed contributor please contact Robert Cox.
WHITE PLAINS, NY — A workshop titled “Watershed Assessment and Low Impact Development for Local and Regional Stormwater Management” will be held on Friday, Sept. 21, at the Westchester County Center in White Plains. The workshop runs from 8 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.
It is open to the public, but is geared towards professional planners and members of planning and zoning boards. Registration is required by Sept. 17. The $50 cost includes all supplies, a continental breakfast and lunch.
Hosted by Westchester County’s Department of Planning and Soil and Water Conservation District, it will focus on the use of computer-based data to evaluate local and regional stormwater drainage basins and the development of “green infrastructure” and “low impact development” practices to improve water quality and reduce the risk of flooding by controlling stormwater runoff.
Featured speakers with professional expertise in stormwater management will include:
Franco Montalto, Ph.D., and Eric Rothstein of eDesign Dynamics, an environmental engineering firm specializing in low-impact development, habitat restoration and water resources planning that use the computer-based geographic information system (GIS)
Chester Arnold, associate director of the University of Connecticut Center for Land Use Education and Research, a specialist in watershed analysis and assessment
Shandor Szalay, technical director of AKRF, Inc., an environmental, planning and engineering consulting firm, who manages the firm’s Stream Restoration and Watershed Group
William Brady, associate planner, and Tracey Corbitt, principal planner, from the Department of Planning, who assist municipalities with natural resources and land use information.
There will also be a panel discussion dealing with local and state implementation of low-impact development practices in land use and site planning. The participants will be Patrick Ferracane, environmental specialist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation; Lee Ellman, planner with the City of Yonkers; and Barbara Kendall, a certified professional in erosion and sediment control and municipal stormwater systems and member of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance.
The program is approved for 5.5 certification maintenance (CM) credits for planners through the American Institute of Certified Planners and qualifies for the four-hour annual training required of municipal planning and zoning board members.
For additional information about the workshop contact Environmental Planner Lisa Vasilakos at (914) 995-4407 or by Sept. 17, or download the registration form at http://tinyurl.com/stormwater-workshop. The Westchester County Center is located at 198 Central Avenue in White Plains.
