AGENDA APRIL 28, 2009

** APPROVAL OF AGENDA.

1.  MINUTES of previous meeting.    

2.  PERMITS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval).

3.  CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS.

4.  CLOSED SESSION.

5.  TRICOUNTY FARMS, #08 2273, requests authorization to remove an existing timber jetty and breakwater and to construct a 100 foot long timber jetty, a 290 foot long open pile pier with an attached wave baffle, 50 linear feet of timber bulkhead and a 10 foot wide by 32 foot long floating pier. In addition, they seek authorization to initially dredge and excavate a total of 416 cubic yards of sandy subaqueous and beach material from a 50 foot by 75 foot area adjacent to the proposed bulkhead to provide maximum depths of minus three ( 3) feet at mean low water and to maintenance dredge the area on an as needed basis for a five-year period with the sandy dredged material proposed to be placed along the intertidal beach immediately down drift (southeast) of the boat launch area adjacent to the B.E.S.T. boatyard facility situated along the Rappahannock River off State Route 639 in Middlesex County. The project requires a Coastal Primary Sand Dune/Beach permit and a subaqueous permit. 

6.  VICTOR LAVIMODIERE, #09 0223, requesting after-the-fact authorization to retain a previously installed vinyl sheet bulkhead, 116 linear feet long, immediately channelward of an old wooden bulkhead along a beach area of shoreline adjacent to the applicant's restaurant facility and associated parking lot situated at 700 Jordan Point Road along the James River in Prince George County. The project requires a beaches and dunes permit.

7.  COUNTY OF WESTMORELAND, #09 0118, requests permission to construct a 4 foot wide open pile community pier extending 25 foot channelward of mean low water. Pier will be within the Court-ordered apportionment dated October 4, 2002, and adjacent to County property situated along the West Yeocomico River in Westmoreland County. The project is protested by one of the adjacent property owners. 

8.  MARY HILL, OYSTER PLANTING GROUND APPLICATION #2006 176, applicant is requesting to lease approximately 160 acres of oyster planting ground within Chuckatuck Creek on both sides of the Chuckatuck Creek, Route 17, highway bridge in the City of Suffolk and Isle of Wight County. The application is protested by a nearby oyster ground leaseholder, Mr. Robert Johnson.

9.  RAY WATSON, OYSTER PLANTING GROUND APPLICATION #2008-049, applicant is requesting to lease up to 6 acres of oyster planting ground within Urbanna Creek, in the Town of Urbanna, in Middlesex County. The project is protested by numerous town residents.

10.  PUBLIC HEARING:  Consideration of changes to the Commission's General Permit for Emergency Situations and Water Quality Improvement Projects (4VAC 20-395-10) involving activities in non-tidal waterways.

11.  PUBLIC COMMENTS.

12.  BLUE CRAB:  Results of the Maryland-Virginia Winter Dredge Survey and update on status of the stock.  Request for a public hearing.

13.  PUBLIC HEARING:  Proposed Regulation 4VAC20-1210, "Pertaining to a Blue Crab Sanctuary".  The regulation specifies open and closed seasons for the harvest of crabs from an area near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay.

14.  CONSIDERATION OF INDIVIDUAL APPEALS FOR CRAB LICENSES ON THE WAITING LIST.

15.  GROUPER/TILEFISH:  Request for public hearing.

16.  ANDREW SELF:  Proposes to place two pound nets in the Chesapeake Bay near Taylors Beach. 

17.  BLUEFISH:  Request for public hearing to establish 2009 harvest quota.

18.  REQUEST FOR ADOPTION OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE MARINE RESOURCES COMMISSION AND THE NATURE CONSERVANCY:  Regarding the Restoration, Management, and Protection of Oyster Reef Sanctuaries adjacent to or on riparian lands of the Nature Conservancy on the Seaside of the Eastern Shore, and a request for a public hearing on the incorporation of these sanctuaries in Regulation 4 VAC 20-650-10 et seq., "Establishment of Oyster Sanctuary Areas."

19.  REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF A COMMERCIAL BLACK DRUM HARVEST PERMIT FROM WILLIAM THOMAS TO GEORGE BOWDEN.

20.  REPEAT OFFENDERS

PAGE 2 ITEMS (Projects over $50,000 with no objections and with staff recommendation for approval).

2A. TOWN OF CAPE CHARLES, #08 0338, requests authorization to install four (4) 400 foot long offshore breakwaters and one 430 long offshore breakwater situated along the Chesapeake Bay, approximately 2,000 feet west of Cape Charles Harbor in the Town of Cape Charles, Northampton County, marked and lighted in accordance with Coast Guard regulations. The proposed breakwaters are to protect vessels inside Cape Charles Harbor from wave damage.

2B. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, #09 0148, requests authorization to hydraulically place approximately 20,000 cubic yards of dredged material, per dredge cycle from the maintenance of the Chincoteague Inner Channel (a section of the Chincoteague Inlet, Federal Navigation Project), on a previously used 103 acre overboard site situated northwest of Lewis Creek in Chincoteague Bay in the Town of Chincoteague, Accomack County. In keeping with the existing permit recommend that the following special conditions apply: 1) Applicant agrees to submit post dredging bathymetric and cross sectional surveys; 2) Applicant agrees that the elevation of the dredge material will not exceed two foot above mean low water; 3) Applicant agrees to submit a submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) survey before future use of the placement site, to confirm that there is a large enough area remaining, that is free of SAV.

2C. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS, #09 0142, requests authorization to hydraulically place approximately 160,000 cubic yards of dredged material, per dredge cycle from the maintenance of the Metompkin Bay Channel, which is a portion of the Coast of Virginia Federal Navigation Project (WCV) in a previously used overboard placement site situated in the surf zone off Metompkin Island in the Atlantic Ocean, Accomack County. Applicant agrees that no dredged material will be placed in the surf zone between April 1 and September 1 to avoid impacts to sensitive bird species in the area during this period. Applicant also agrees that any overboard disposal subsequent to the proposed expiration date of April 30, 2012, will require a re-evaluation of the Corps' dredge material handling plan and the need for a Federal Channel in the area.

2D. EASTERN SHORE BROADBAND AUTHORITY, #09 0142, requests authorization to install 3,478 linear feet of fiber optic cables across Mosquito Creek, Cockle Creek, Queens Sound, Wire Narrows, Black Narrows and Chincoteague Channel. The fiber optic cables will be placed within the existing Bridges' cable trays and within Verizon's permitted conduit under Chincoteague Channel. Staff recommends the assessment of a royalty in the amount of $10,434.00 for the encroachment over and under 3,478 linear feet of State owned subaqueous bottom at a rate of $3.00 per square foot.

2E. COLONNA'S SHIPYARD, #09-0073, requests authorization to install and backfill 550 linear feet of steel sheet-pile bulkhead aligned a maximum of two (2) feet channelward of an existing deteriorated bulkhead and across the face of an existing deteriorated boat ramp, to dredge 69,450 cubic yards of State-owned subaqueous material to create and maintain maximum controlling depths of -22 feet at mean low water within an approximately 380-foot wide by 460-foot long basin, and to construct two (2) commercial piers, the first 41-foot wide by 257 foot long and the second 45-foot wide by 433-foot long, to support crane and travel lift operations at their West Yard facility situated along the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River in the City of Norfolk. The proposed project also includes up to 20,000 cubic yards per cycle of future dredging on an as-needed basis to maintain the proposed depths. Staff recommends the inclusion of the standard dredging conditions and the assessment of a royalty in the amount of $31,252.50 for the dredging of 69,450 cubic yards of State-owned subaqueous material at a rate of $0.45 a cubic yard.

2F. CITY OF LYNCHBURG, #08-2207, requests authorization to replace the existing Florida Avenue bridge crossing over 19 linear feet of Fishing Creek in the City of Lynchburg. The proposed project will shift the bridge abutments and stream channel approximately 10 feet to the south due to the proximity of an existing railroad trestle on the north side of the bridge.

2G. TOWN OF BIG STONE GAP, #09 0331, requests authorization to remove the existing center pier and bridge decking of the Proctor Street Bridge and install a new clearspan bridge and a temporary clearspan crossing of the South Fork Powell River in the Town of Big Stone Gap. Recommend approval with our standard instream permit conditions.


PAGE 3 ITEMS Consent Agenda Items.

3A. BAYSHORE, LLC, #09 0091, requests after the fact authorization to retain approximately 424 linear feet of riprap installed over the top of the existing revetment, the toe of which now extends approximately 12 feet channelward of mean low water and the existing bulkhead, for shoreline protection of property in the Bay Colony subdivision, situated along Linkhorn Bay in Virginia Beach. Both the property owner and the contractor have agreed to $600.00 civil charges based on minimal environmental impact and minimal deviation. The owner has also agreed to a triple permit fee. 

3B. JTR, LLC, #02 1227,
requests an after the fact permit modification to allow the commercial facility known as "Lighthouse on the Cove," located at 800 Laskin Road and situated along Little Neck Creek in Virginia Beach, to operate as an event pavilion. The facility was originally permitted as a restaurant; however, it now operates as an event pavilion open to the public for special events such as weddings, receptions, meetings, and boat shows. The modification request also seeks after the fact approval for the facility's existing pier alignment which differs slightly from the original permit drawings. Recommend one civil charge of $600.00 for the pier footprint change and a second civil charge of $600.00 for the facility's change of use accommodation based on a minimal environmental impact and moderate deviation.

3C. ANDREW LYNN, #09 0291,
requests after the fact authorization to retain eight (8) fender piles installed channelward of an authorized steel bulkhead adjacent to his property at 311 and 313 Mill Street, situated along the Occoquan River in Prince William County. The applicant has agreed to the payment of a triple permit fee of $75.00 in lieu of further enforcement action. 




VMRC DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE AGAINST INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES; THEREFORE, IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS DUE TO A DISABILITY, PLEASE ADVISE JANE MCCROSKEY (757-247-2215) NO LATER THAN FIVE WORK DAYS PRIOR TO THE MEETING DATE AND IDENTIFY YOUR NEEDS.

FISHERY MANAGEMENT ITEMS WILL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THE HABITAT MANAGEMENT PROJECTS ON THIS AGENDA.

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