Last Chance to Volunteer on Hastings' Waterfront Infrastructure Committee
Hastings Mayor Peter Swiderski sent the following note about volunteering on the Hastings Waterfront Infrastructure committee this weekend—if you are interested in being considered, submit your resume in an email to volunteer@hastingsgov.org by February 17:
Fellow Residents:
A couple of weeks ago, we asked for potential volunteers to staff a committee we are setting up for critical planning for our waterfront.
To recap, after years of tests and feasibility studies, the long-awaited clean-up of the 28-acre former Anaconda property at the north two-thirds of our waterfront is within sight. BP will begin designing the clean-up plan, likely starting this summer. The Village and BP have determined that it is best if we install as much site infrastructure (electric conduits, sewers, etc) as possible under the five-foot cap of soil during the clean-up process so that future disturbances (and costs) are minimized. In addition, BP is obligated under the a legal agreement signed in 2003 to set aside at least 6.25 acres of open space (parks and esplanade), which will also be at least partly constructed during the clean-up process.
BP has asked the Village to provide its engineers with our plans regarding the location of the infrastructure, parks and roads so that they can be included in the remedial design for the site. To do so, we, as a Village, need to come to some decisions over the next year as to where these will all go.
To make these decisions, the Board of Trustees is setting up a Waterfront Infrastructure Committee that will be responsible for working with a consultant (to be hired), the Board and the public to create a site plan that includes streets, parks, an esplanade, and the locations where the public will access the water, as well as infrastructure.
The Board will work to ensure that this first very practical step in planning the waterfront proceeds with as much public input as possible.
If you are interested in being considered, please submit your resume in an email to volunteer@hastingsgov.org by February 17. The Board of Trustees will announce its selection by early March. The Committee will begin to meet in later March and it is expected to complete the planning process and provide its recommendations to BP’s engineers by the end of 2012.
The team will have the help of consulting engineers and the time devoted will be manageable and focused. This is an extraordinarily important moment for the village. We need your help. Please consider.
Peter Swiderski, Mayor
