Governing Board Action: November 8, 2002

At today's NOACA Governing Board meeting, the NOACA Governing Board adopted the Fiscal Year 2002 Overall Work Program Completion Report. This report identifies products and activities completed during Fiscal Year (FY) 2002 (July 1, 2001 – June 30, 2002). NOACA staff also produced two companion pieces to the technical report – a newsletter summarizing the year’s accomplishments and a compact disk containing the majority of work products completed in FY 2002.

NOACA’s environmental staff presented a draft model implementation plan for local communities addressing the management of storm water runoff. Most NOACA-region communities will be required to submit a plan for controlling storm water runoff to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (Ohio EPA) by March 10, 2003. In these plans, communities must address six issues: construction site runoff, post-construction runoff, illicit sewer discharges, good housekeeping, public education and public involvement. The model implementation plan, developed by NOACA’s Regional Storm Water Task Force, provides clear guidance for meeting minimum requirements in these six areas.

Staff also presented findings from the Ozone Action Day Program public awareness survey conducted this summer. Working with a consultant, NOACA polled a cross section of citizens in NOACA’s five-county region and Summit and Portage Counties to assess the public’s awareness of and participation in the Ozone Action Day Program. The program focuses on alerting the public when the potential for ozone creation is high, and on voluntary actions individuals, businesses and local governments can take to reduce ozone levels.

The NOACA Board also viewed a presentation by Assistant Chief Tim O’Toole from the Cleveland Fire Department on the Downtown Cleveland Evacuation Plan.