In recent weeks I have received some complaints from residents of Hartsdale and Edgemont about mail delivery. The residents who have contacted me have advised me that mail delivery is not as dependable as it once was –there are days when no mail was delivered.

  I have been in touch with our Congressional representatives and with the Postmaster. If you have experienced problems with the post office in recent weeks/months – please advise. I would like to know if this is becoming a major problem in our town.  I will take follow up action.
PAUL FEINER

Supervisor Feiner:

PLEASE SEND OUT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION TO THE E LIST, SO THAT WE CAN MEET OUR REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE MS4 – PHASE II STORMWATER EDUCATION AND OUTREACH PROGRAM. THE REPORTING PERIOD CLOSES MARCH 9, 2014.

Tools for Watershed Protection: Stream Buffers

What are stream buffers?

Stream buffers, also known as riparian buffers, conserve the areas adjacent to streams and rivers. Buffers differ greatly, as do the streams they border, ranging from floodplains to steep gorges. When functioning properly, they serve as a vegetated, protective area between a body of water and human activity.

What are the benefits of stream buffers?

A healthy vegetates buffer helps improve stream health and water quality by: filtering and slowing pollution runoff; preventing soil erosion; providing upland habitat; contributing essential nutrients to the food chain; providing woody debris for in-stream habitat, and shading the stream to keep water temperatures down. Buffers also help absorb flood waters to protect human life and property.

What’s the difference between healthy and unhealthy buffers?

A healthy buffer has many different species of native trees, shrubs and grasses with minimal encroachment and human distrubance. Varying buffer widths correspond to different purposes in support of human needs and the ecosystem, but in general, the wider the better.

Unhealthy buffers have: plants with weak root systems, such as turf grass; invasive plant species, such as Japanese knotweed; grazing animals; inadequate buffer widths; hardened shorelines, and impervious surfaces, such as pavement.

Protection options:

Property owners can protect streams and buffers by allowing native trees, shrubs and vegetation to grow, while reducing pavement, lawn areas, farm animal usage, and removing invasive plant species. Municipalities can enact local watercourse buffer ordinances (See Chapter 280 of the Greenburgh Town Code), conservation overlays, and implement buffer protections through State Environmental Quality Reviews (SEQR), while conservation groups and land trusts can purchase conservation easements to legally protect stream buffers.

(More information on these techniques is available in the NYSDEC Handbook: Conserving Natural Areas and Wildlife in Your Community: Smart Growth Strategies for Protecting the Biological Diversity of New York’s Hudson River Valley.)

Should you have any questions regarding this information, please contact Aaron Schmidt, the Town’s Environmental Planner and Wetlands Inspector, at: aschmidt@greenburghny.com

****************************************************

Visit our web site at www.greenburghny.com and view archived Supervisors Reports.

****************************************************

To unsubscribe to list send an e-mail to:

imailsrv@cit-e.net

Please put the following in the body of the e-mail:

Unsubscribe gblist