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Meeting Minutes |
Monroe Landing Firehall, Oak Harbor, WA
4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Revision I—updated by Don Meehan 12/11/00
Present: Don Meehan, New member Roger Sherman, Gary Wood, Mike Gallion,
Tom
Shaughnessy, Hi Bronson, Chair Tom Campbell; arriving at 4:30 p.m. were Dick
Toft and Vice
Chair Tom Roehl; Secretary Kate Poss. Visitors: Mike Kyte, biologist, Golder
Assoc., Redmond; Bill
White, public visitor; Mike Sato, North Sound director of People for Puget
Sound; MRC members Jan
Holmes, Jeff Tate and Matt Klope, had excused absences.
A quorum was established
Hi Bronson moved to approve the 11/15/00 minutes as submitted with revision
to remove a note that was
accidentally left in; Gary Wood seconded; the motion was carried by all.
Representative Appointment to Northwest Straits Commission @ 4:06 p.m.
Hi Bronson moved to nominate Gary Wood as the official representative to
the NWSC; Don Meehan
seconded the motion. Carried by all.
Discussion—Mike Gallion said that Gary’s been doing a good job;. Mike asked
about alternate members,
since he’s attended most of the NWSC meetings as an alternate; no discussion
on his question.
Outgoing/Incoming MRC members @ 4:10 p.m.
Don Meehan said that Jan Holmes is not seeking another 1-year term. Since
Jan represented science, Don
said MRC will recommend Sayed Z. El-Sayed, a scientist, to the Board of Commissioners.
“The
commissioners have no problem with him filling that spot,” Don said. Sayed’s
nomination was approved at
the 11/15/00 MRC meeting. Gary mentioned that Matt Klope may not continue
his post on the MRC. Tom
Campbell said that since Matt has just started his new position, we should
wait and see what happens.
Gary said he hopes Matt can stay on, since he has such a great connection
with the Navy and the marine
world. Matt’s term extends until 12/31/01.
Work Plan and Update for 2001—by Don Meehan @ 4:13 p.m.
The 2001 MRC Work Plan is not 100% complete, said Don. Part of the completion
depends on whether or
not MRC receives grants from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board and UC Davis.
Don added we need more
educational meetings. New member Roger Sherman, who is writing the Maritime
History of Island County,
could speak to educate MRC members, Don added. He suggested we invite Mark
Pakenham from the Dept.
of Fisheries and Oceans in Canada to speak on MPA’s and hoped we could get
someone to speak about
how salmon use nearshore habitats.
Don welcomed other suggestions. Here are some: visiting the Oak Harbor marina
to study its way of doing
business; inviting Port authorities to talk about their issues; commercial
fishing methods ghost nets—inviting
Buck Mallory from Whatcom County, who proposes removal of ghost nets; new
shoreline regulations; impact
of birds—inviting Julia Parrish from UW or Laura Leshure from the Fish &
Wildlife Dept. in Mill Creek to
speak; decline of smelt population—part of the proposed forage fish study.
Tom Campbell suggested other
ideas be emailed to Don. Don said he will update the MRC at the Jan. 3 meeting.
Pending grants—we
should know the status by mid-January--will determine the work plan’s direction,
he added again.
Eelgrass update @ 4:32 p.m. by Don Meehan
Jim Norris who is conducting a videographic mapping of Island County’s eelgrass
beds was “on the water,”
on this date, Don said. Maxwelton and Oak Harbor are complete; Norris will
spend 2-3 days mapping at
Utslady. Eelgrass census surveys are still being sent in. Don is anxious to
get the MRC’s website to
include the eelgrass update—he would like to see a page or two devoted to
the survey/census. We are
looking at putting together a map and census for the website.
Sound Water Workshop, planned for 1/27/01—discussion @ 4:40 p.m. by Don Meehan
Don reported that several classes are planned for the day that deal directly
with MRC issues, one on
monitoring being done by Jan Holmes, one on forage fish by Pentilla, and one
on eelgrass by Bulthius.
MRC will create a table and display for its brochures. Gary said the display
could be part of our future road
shows. Don Meehan said he has the display panels at his office. Dick Toft
said he would like to help Gary
create the display. Dick mentioned that Janet Kearsely’s display is professionally
done and could be a
candidate for the conference display.
Salmon Recovery Funding Board Grant update @ 4:45 p.m. by Gary Wood & Don Meehan
Don and Gary attended the 12/5 Salmon Recovery funding Board Technical Panel
to present along with
others Island County MRC’s request for funding from SRFB. The board will award
$22 million in grant monies
overall. Our MRC is seeking $135,000 from SRFB for this year. Our request
is for SRFB to help fund
completion of eelgrass mapping; mapping of 212 miles of Island County beaches
for forage fish spawning
areas (herring, smelt and sand lance—which are food for incoming and outgoing
salmon); plus completing
the map of Island County’s areas of shoreline hardening. While most of Whidbey’s
shores are already
mapped, Camano still needs to be covered. One reason for this study, Gary
explained, is to educate
shoreline owners on the various solutions to hardened shorelines, which can
degrade the nearshore
environment.
The forage fish project is expected to last for two years; our MRC is hopeful
of getting an additional $85,000
from SRFB to complete that project for the following year. Gary said SRFB
wants a minimum of 15%
matching funds, including volunteer time. Gary said we have grants from the
NWSC and volunteer time to
match 35% of the grant. Volunteer time so far totals $6,048. Tom Roehl asked
if the Beach Watcher’s time
could be calculated in that equation.
Don M. said the soonest we’ll hear news of the awards is in mid-January.
Gary said that SRFB assured we
would get funding since we’re ranked second behind the Navy. In addition UC
Davis is being asked for
$17,000 in grants to fund a marine biologist to head the forage fish study.
He added that administrative costs
were built in to the grant requests this time, unlike the eelgrass project
“where every dime” went to fund Jim
Norris’ eelgrass project. “If any of this is approved, we’ll have serious
money on the table,” Gary said. He
added that if we do get the SRFB grant, we’ll be scrutinized: “They’ll bring
out the bean counters to grind you
to death.”
Tom Campbell applauded Don and Gary for making such a good pitch and knowing
where the $$$ ought to
go. Tom Roehl had suggested the MRC meet soon to discuss these updates with
the Island County Board
of Commissioners.
NWSC request for oil spill resolution @ 5:07 p.m. by Gary Wood
Mike Gallion moved to table the motion on taking a vote either way until
we know more. However the motion
died for a lack of a second. Don Meehan moved that MRC abstain from voting
and advise its representative
(to the NWSC—Gary Wood) to abstain from voting until we know more about the
resolution at a future date.
Tom Roehl seconded the motion, which carried. Gary Wood abstained from voting.
Unfinished/New Business @ 5:30 p.m.
· Puget Sound Research Conference 2/12 to 2/14/01, Bellevue
The Puget Sound Research Conference from 2/12 to 2/14/01 will be held in
Bellevue. Cost is $150
for three days or $90 per day. Don M. said it’s a great conference. Gary asked
if the MRC could
help with the tuition and that the conference is supported by NWSC. Don estimates
it’ll cost close
to $700 a person to attend, including conference fee, travel and lodging.
Don indicated he was going,
but not on MRC funds. Tom Campbell, Tom Roehl, Gary Wood and Mike Gallion
all said they’d like
to go.
To perhaps reduce costs, Mike Sato recommended contacting Scott Redman of
the Puget Sound Action
Team to make a deal. Don said he will do that Campbell said if anyone else
wants to attend, to let him or
Don know.
· Introduction of new MRC member Roger Sherman @ 5:40 p.m.
Roger joked that Don is good at twisting arms and here he is on the MRC.
Roger is a 4th generation
farmer at Ebey’s Praire; his son is a 5th generation farmer. Since the Sherman
farm was large
enough to hire help, Roger began the Sea Scouts, in association with the Boy
Scouts of America,
and served as skipper of the SES Whidbey for a number of years. The program
has since retired
and the boat sold. He is considering a presentation of Whidbey’s maritime
history at the Sound
Waters workshop in January.
· Tom Campbell said he asked Hi Bronson to be sure Tom stays in line
and doesn’t stray too far
from the point. Tom wants to make sure someone is watching over him.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:45 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for
January 3, 2001 at the Monroe
Landing Firehall from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
