Project Vesta Q&A Meeting Summary

I've received several questions about how the meeting/zoom call went on Thursday and what follow up steps there may be.

I attended the meeting via zoom.  It appeared to me that there were 20 or more owners who attended in person and another 20 or so more who attended via zoom.  The meeting lasted about 2.5 hours.  Vesta presented material (slides and verbal comments) and responded to many questions.  Everyone participating could hear the on-site questions and responses.  The zoom questions were raised via zoom-chat.  Many of these questions were responded to via chat, but you had to be on zoom to read the responses.  I'm not sure that all of the chat questions were answered.  

Overall, there were many questions and concerns expressed.  Some owners appeared to be supportive of the Vesta project.  A larger number of owners appeared to have concerns and appeared to oppose it.

One fundamental follow-up question raised was - what's the decision-making process and timeline?  I think this was partially answered in the meeting, but I don't think it was entirely answered.  Here's what I know about that question based upon talking with CAMA:

1. There are 3 government agencies who will review the CAMA application and decide on acceptance or rejection of the proposed project.  They are:
   • NC CAMA
   • NC Water Quality Agency
   • Federal Army Corps of Engineers
2. Each of these agencies has their own acceptance rules that must be followed.  If their respective rules are followed, the application will be accepted by each agency.  
3. There are rules for public (and other government agency entities) notification and gathering of public comments., but I think this is a check-box rule.  I'm not sure the nature of any public comment matters much in the final decision-making, unless a public comment identifies some non-compliance issue with an acceptance rule. 
4. The 3 agencies above have 75 days to accept/reject an application.  That time frame can be extended another 75 days.  Since the original application was submitted in Sept, the first 75-day period is nearly up, so it's likely there will be 75 more days for processing.

In terms of what any property owner can do more at this point, the options are limited.  

• If you are supportive of the Vesta project, you can communicate that in writing to one or more of the 3 government agencies listed above.
• If you are opposed to the Vesta project, you can communicate that in writing to one or more of the 3 government agencies listed above. The most effective objection would be to identify some non-compliance issue relative to any of the acceptance rules.  

If you wish to review the acceptance rules, I'm told they are available online as follows:

• NC CAMA.  DEQ.NC.gov.  Select Coastal Management as the division, and look for Permits & Rules.
• NC Water Quality Agency.   DEQ.NC.gov.  Select Water Resources as the division, and look for Permits & Rules.
• Federal Army Corps of Engineers.  www.saw.usace.army.mil.  Under Mission look for Regulatory Permit Program.

Then, if you wish to communicate (in support of or opposed to) with the 3 government agencies, here's how to do that:

• NC CAMA.  Email Heather Coates at heather.coats@ncdenr.gov
• NC Water Quality Agency.   Email Heather Coates at heather.coats@ncdenr.gov  She will communicate this to NC Water Quality.
• Federal Army Corps of Engineers.  Follow the  Public Notice procedure attached to this email.