Mission Statement:

The Baker Creek Watershed Association mission is to promote the restoration and conservation of the Baker Creek Watershed by assisting, developing, sponsoring activities pertaining to safety, waterflow, envrionmental, and aesthetic issues.

Baker Creek Description:

Baker Creek originates on the glacial ridge of the Lake Erie watershed and flows north through the Borough of North East. The first third of the flow is mostly pastoral, becoming “domesticated” as it defines back property borders in residential neighborhoods. A small portion of the creek flows alongside the municipal parking lot, under buildings, and under roadways. The creek exits the Borough as it flows into 16-Mile Creek, which empties into Lake Erie.

Phase I

The Baker Creek Watershed Association was organized in 2000 with a Pennsylvania Growing Greener grant. With this grant, and some in-kind funds, we advertised and held public meetings, some with speakers. We visited school classrooms, set up a traveling display around the community, developed a brochure, stenciled stormdrains, and generally “recruited” people for our cause.
Internally, we held an organizational meeting, established a steering committee, set an agenda, wrote a mission statement, adopted bylaws, compiled a history of the creek, and sent a representative to a statewide conference.

On site, we photographed the length of the project area of Baker Creek, inventoried the plant varieties, held a Clean-Up Day, and began site preparations for a Demonstration Project.

Phase II

We were fortunate enough to receive a second Pennsylvania Growing Greener grant for an engineering assessment of Baker Creek. Following field research on November 1, 2001, the engineering assessment was completed and presented to the Steering Committee on November 28, 2001. The information from the assessment was significant enough to begin planning for a community Demonstration Project in the public municipal parking lot, a source of considerable non-point source pollution.

As a result of the increased attention that the group was receiving, three independent riparian projects were completed along the creek, at the property owner?s expense.

Phase III

Again, with the assistance of a Pennsylvania Growing Greener grant, we were able to hire a professional Urban Environmental Landscape Architect to draw up plans for improvements to the Municipal Parking Lot. This plan will address management of considerable stormwater, urban runoff from the impervious surface of the parking lot, a riparian buffer on both sides of the creek, catch basins, and permeable areas throughout the lot. This design is currently underway, and several drafts having already been shown at public input meetings. Partners in this projected construction are the North East Area Chamber of Commerce, the North East Borough, the North East Shade Tree Commission, the North East Cultural Center, Boy Scout Troop 57, and the North East High School Ecology Club.

NOTE: We are not a 501(c)(3); therefore we partner with either the Borough (in the case of a municipality being eligible) or one of our affiliated environmental groups, in which we maintain memberships, to apply for grant funds.

Officers:

• John Hallenburg, Chairman
• Jody Timer, Vice-Chair
• Diana Hatfield, Secretary
• Tom Mack, Treasurer

Membership:

• Average attendance at meetings: 12
• Monthly mailing list: 30
• Products: Brochure and Display Board
• Resources: Library of materials

Contact Information:

• c/o 21 S. Lake Street
• North East PA 16428
• Phone: 814-725-4262
• FAX: 814-725-3994
• e-mail:nechamber at lakeside dot net

Financed through a 2001 Growing Greener grant, the Baker Creek Watershed Association (BCWA) was chartered in February, 2001. The impetus to form a group arose from the growing concern in the community about the deteriorating condition of Baker Creek, especially as it flows through the Borough of North East, PA in Erie County. Baker Creek originates in the ridge south of the borough, flows through North East Township, through the borough, joins with Sixteenmile Creek at the western border of the borough, and empties into Lake Erie.

Sections of the creek are part of municipal property, and this encouraged the group to be able to apply for financing, working cooperatively with the Borough officials. The 2001 grant was used to publicize the effort, to hold organizational meetings, to sponsor a Creek Clean-Up Day, and to print informational brochures for distribution throughout the community. A storm drain stenciling project will be complete in Summer 2002.

The response has been gratifying. As the community?s awareness of Baker Creek?s condition has heightened, property owners along the creek have started to work on reducing pollutants, and also on reconstruction and replantings. Other community groups have become affiliated, including boy scout troops, church organizations, senior citizens, the North East Cultural Center, and the high school ecology club. The BCWA received a 2002 Growing Greener grant to do an engineering analysis of this portion of Baker Creek, which will enable an action plan to be developed. Once the action plan is in place, the group will work over a course of years to repair, restore, and rehabilitate Baker Creek.

Diana Hatfield, Secretary, BCWA

In March of 1999 on the corner of West 8th and Bayfront Parkway, Country Fair purchased a parcel of property and decided to build a new Country Fair at this location. This site is also adjacent to the severely eroding eastern bank of Cascade Creek. The S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie Fishing Club along with other interested groups approached Country Fair about numerous environmental concerns related to the site.

With the excellent cooperation of Country Fair and many other partners, including the Lake Erie-Allegheny Earth Force, Strong Vincent Environmental Science Class, Jr. PLEWA, Alice Sjolander of the French Creek Project, Willow Construction, the Erie County Conservation District, and the S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie, PLEWA applied for and received a Growing Greener Grant from the Department of Environmental Protection to stabilize 250 feet of the Cascade Creek streambank protecting it from future erosion problems and reducing the amount of sediment entering the stream.

Not only did Country Fair provide match monies for the project, but continued as a good neighbor with the installation of underground stormwater retention basins along with oil and grease separators placed in the catch basins. Three rows of Gabion Baskets, MacMat, and erosion control fencing were installed to stabilize the bank from soil loss and provide a protected area for planting over 400 seedlings, live stakes, and bare root plants of native species. These were planted along the streambank by partnering volunteers.

This project was the first project to be completed under the direction of PLEWA and is a direct result of the successful private/public collaboration between Country Fair, PLEWA, and the many other partners involved. Country Fair and the S.O.N.S. keep up with the on-going maintenance of the project site and a sign commemorating the project and its many partners has been erected.

The S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie Fishing Club established the first erosion control project on Cascade Creek with recycled Rip-Rap stone from the old railroad bridge at Front Street and State Street, now known as the Bayfront Parkway at State Street. (more…)

On August 7, 2002, PLEWA received an award notification from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for an Environmental Stewardship and Watershed Protection Grant in the amount of $93,130.00. In preparing the grant application, PLEWA forged partnerships with Gannon University, Mercyhurst College, the Erie County Conservation District (ECCD), and various stakeholder groups within the watersheds of Sixteenmile, Sevenmile, Sixmile, Elk, and Crooked Creeks and McDannel Run.

The grant seeks funds to support a variety of initiatives to be carried out from July 2002 through June 2005, including detailed assessment of the streams in the targeted watersheds. The grant funds PLEWA’s Executive Coordinator position and a variety of planning and public education activities. It will also help establish an office for PLEWA at the ECCD’s Headwaters Conservation Park Natural Resource Center.

PLEWA hopes to continue the important work of facilitating the formation of citizen groups focused on watershed issues and reduction of non-point source pollution. In order to achieve all of our goals, PLEWA needs to involve many more people in its planning and pollution abatement efforts. Present PLEWA members can help by simply sharing their newsletter with a friend or co-worker who may not already be involved in watershed improvement activities. Anyone who wants to get connected with other concerned individuals or organizations in their watershed can contact Sarah Galloway at 825-6403 for more information about Lake Erie Watershed activities. The Lake Erie watershed is a great place to live, but we can work together to make it even better!