The Housatonic River Commission meets on the second Tuesday of every month (except August) in the library of the Cornwall Consolidated School located at 5 Cream Hill Rd, West Cornwall, CT 06796. Please refer to the meeting schedule and the latest agenda below for the meeting time. If you would like to attend a meeting or are interested in more information please contact the
Northwest Hills Council of Governments at 860-491-9884. |
For an application form for projects in the River Corridor, please click here.
For information about invasive plant control, please click here. |
Meeting AgendasJanuary 9, 2024 - CANCELED
No Meeting
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Meeting Minutes
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Housatonic River Commission Annual Report 2022-2023
The Housatonic River Commission (HRC) held 11 regularly scheduled monthly meetings the past year. Meetings took place at 7:30 on the second Tuesday of each month. Most meetings were held virtually over Zoom, but also in person at Cornwall Consolidated School. Adjusting our operations slightly in response to the River’s Wild and Scenic Designation, the Commission continued work with non-voting representatives from HVA, the CT DEEP, National Park Service (NPS), FirstLight and Northwest Hills Council of Governments. The voting members continued to be our town commissioners and alternates from Canaan, Cornwall, Kent, New Milford, North Canaan, Salisbury, and Sharon.
The HRC continues to have a primary responsibility for monitoring and advising these seven towns on issues that involve the Housatonic River and working to maintain a healthy and scenic river corridor. The annual dues requested from each town are $400 per year. Much of the time at our meetings this year focused on building the framework around our participation in the Wild and Scenic River Partnership Program and funding from NPS , including establishing guidelines for our expanded operations and approval of future grants from HRC to support River projects and management. These efforts are structured to maintain local control for these projects within the framework of HRC. We are grateful for the tremendous guidance from NPS in this transition, especially Liz Lacy and Jackie Dias.
Our monthly meetings continued to provide space for updates from each of our supporting partners on their work addressing issues including HVA’s successful River Information and Outreach (RIO) program, fishing management (CT DEEP), and river access. HRC’s mission includes maintaining public access, and the proposed Ruggles Landing is being partnered with the state and town of North Canaan to allow for safe river usage. In addition HRC continues to monitor the PCB cleanup and remediation proposals for the rest of the Housatonic River.
As always, land use issues within the Housatonic River Corridor remain a significant concern. We continue to support efforts to address invasive plant species along the waterway, with several members working to monitor and in some cases control troublesome, aggressive invasives in the inner river corridor. Monitoring the work of the Housatonic Railroad, including their track repair, herbicide use, and derailment risk also continue. The River Commission provided comments and suggestions on many proposed projects as development along the River continues to increase significantly. All towns are reminded to please be sure that the HRC is notified of any proposed project within the River Corridor.
We welcome all citizens to come to our meetings and get involved in discussions about the River. We are also grateful for the support we have received from the member towns, local zoning officials, and the Northwest Hills Council of Governments.
The HRC continues to have a primary responsibility for monitoring and advising these seven towns on issues that involve the Housatonic River and working to maintain a healthy and scenic river corridor. The annual dues requested from each town are $400 per year. Much of the time at our meetings this year focused on building the framework around our participation in the Wild and Scenic River Partnership Program and funding from NPS , including establishing guidelines for our expanded operations and approval of future grants from HRC to support River projects and management. These efforts are structured to maintain local control for these projects within the framework of HRC. We are grateful for the tremendous guidance from NPS in this transition, especially Liz Lacy and Jackie Dias.
Our monthly meetings continued to provide space for updates from each of our supporting partners on their work addressing issues including HVA’s successful River Information and Outreach (RIO) program, fishing management (CT DEEP), and river access. HRC’s mission includes maintaining public access, and the proposed Ruggles Landing is being partnered with the state and town of North Canaan to allow for safe river usage. In addition HRC continues to monitor the PCB cleanup and remediation proposals for the rest of the Housatonic River.
As always, land use issues within the Housatonic River Corridor remain a significant concern. We continue to support efforts to address invasive plant species along the waterway, with several members working to monitor and in some cases control troublesome, aggressive invasives in the inner river corridor. Monitoring the work of the Housatonic Railroad, including their track repair, herbicide use, and derailment risk also continue. The River Commission provided comments and suggestions on many proposed projects as development along the River continues to increase significantly. All towns are reminded to please be sure that the HRC is notified of any proposed project within the River Corridor.
We welcome all citizens to come to our meetings and get involved in discussions about the River. We are also grateful for the support we have received from the member towns, local zoning officials, and the Northwest Hills Council of Governments.