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Meeting Minutes |
Island County Commissioners’ Hearing Room
4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Revision I by Don Meehan and Tom Roehl--2-13-01
Present: MRC Members--Chair Tom Campbell, Vice-Chair Tom Roehl,
Roger Sherman, Hi Bronson, Gary
Wood, Jeff Tate, El Sayed-Sayed, Martin Behr, Don Meehan, Dick Toft, Mike
Gallion. Excused
absence—Matt Klope; absent—Tom Shaughnessy. Also present—MRC secretary, Kate
Poss, Julie Buktenica,
Mike Sato, Joan Drinkwin, Michael Kyte, Jan Holmes; Island County Board of
Commissioners—Bill Thorn, Mike
Shelton, Mac McDowell
A quorum was established—Chair Tom Campbell called the meeting to order at 4:35 p.m.
Beach Watcher Eelgrass survey update by Jan Holmes @ 4:40 p.m.
· Commissioner Bill Thorn said even though the west
side of Camano Island is heavily bulkheaded, that the
eelgrass survey found extensive beds of eelgrass.
· The Beach Watchers’ work can be compared with Island
County’s existing maps to create benchmarks to
measure future data, said Don Meehan, adding that as we move into the next
project—forage fish
mapping—we’ll get an idea as to the status of eelgrass.
· Gary Wood said the science folks were amazed to see a 13% response the Beach Watchers’/WSU survey.
· Jan said the program is a great outreach for education and further involvement by Island County residents.
MRC 2000 Review with Don Meehan @ 4:52 p.m.
· Don said our MRC has 62% of its original membership
(1 left due to frustration; 1 member never showed up;
2 members resigned due to work-related conflicts; 1 member left after her
term expired; 1 member left due
to a personal situation) since forming 16 months ago; has had 3 Secretaries,
3 Chairs and 2 NWSC grants.
MRC members have developed a mission statement and bylaws and have developed
a work plan each year.
Currently the MRC has 2 administrative grants—both were processed; 4 Project
Grants-1 project grant
processed; 1 RFP processed; 1 Services contract developed and processed and
2 contract amendments
processed. Total grant values are about $49,000. In addition in Education/Outreach—MRC
has had 14
different presentations/tours for the membership; reached over 5000 citizens
through one means or
another; has a website in its infancy and has helped to sponsor the Sound
Waters conference. Island
County MRC is a leader in the region.
· Role of Don—Tom Campbell said Don is the designated
county lead and asked the BOCC if there is any
reason to change that status. Commissioner Bill Thorn said the board does
not want to change that
status. Tom Roehl said Don’s done a great job with limited resources.
· Grant funds update/Management of grant funds/future direction of ICMRC
o Commissioner Mac McDowell thought the county could draw from
the data provided by MRC to
supplement its knowledge.
o Gary Wood added that MRC is an advisory group bringing paid
for science to the county, which has
a “parallel burden” of coming up with a shoreline master plan.
o Commissioner Bill Thorn said his concern was organizing all
the data so that it would be shared and
work not duplicated by the MRC and county agencies; he suggested perhaps that
leaders meet on
a regular basis.
o Commissioner Mike Shelton said that administrative grants
come with strings and that the BOCC
doesn’t want its tail caught later on if the provisions of the grants are
not met.
Management of grant funds—
o Tom Roehl said he sees MRC moving forward quickly and needing
expertise in managing the grant
funds. He suggested the MRC be analogous to the Economic Development Commission.
He said now
is the time to establish the vision of the MRC. He wanted to find out if the
BOCC would be
receptive to the concept—the concept being the MRC as “science agency” for
Island County and
revenue-driven. He predicts a lot more $$$ on the horizon—coming from grants.
He suggested
looking ahead and examining the long-range structure of MRC. He said if we
deal with large sums of
money there is the potential of becoming a regulatory agency and perhaps we
need an executive
director at the ready.
o Commissioner Mike Shelton said with the MRC being volunteers,
they’re not necessarily committed
to 40 hour work weeks and with an Executive Director managing the funds and
projects, MRC could
expect to get a lot of work done. (Everyone knows that some MRC volunteers
like Gary Wood have
devoted 40-plus hours already.) He later suggested MRC come up with a proposal
soon on how it
envisions management of the upcoming grant funds and projects. He added that
the BOCC would
make time for MRC to return with a proposal in two weeks.
o Don Meehan said MRC is at a transition point and with three
new grants and more on the horizon,
we need someone to manage the existing grants and look for other pots of money.
o Commissioner Bill Thorn advised taking a gradual approach;
to give MRC a chance to know if it
wants an executive director. He said 15% to 20% of the funds are marginally
required to manage
the project; the MRC currently has 10% earmarked for this purpose—Don cautioned
that the
grantors don’t like to see much spent on management fees and that it’s a balancing
act to get
grants and administer them efficiently.
o Roger Sherman said his concern was county support of using
employees such as Jeff Tate—a
county employee and MRC member—and how that would be covered. Commissioner
Thorn assured
Roger of the county’s commitment, saying the “net gain is the ecology of the
Sound. We’ll support
it to the extent we can.”
o Commissioner Mac McDowell said while MRC is successful at
getting the funding, the county’s still on
the hook if MRC doesn’t do what it promises. Don assured him it is his—Don
remarked he would be
sure the county had its interests protected with regard to any grants or contracts--it
was his job
to assure this protection. Mac added that in a few years the MRC will be expected
to deliver
results; not just the inventory of eelgrass, but that more fish need to be
present. He wants to be
sure the MRC stays focused on the original goal of the Northwest Straits Marine
Conservation
Initiative.
o Gary said that keeping overhead costs low is paramount to
the success of administering the
upcoming grant projects. He added that the Salmon Recovery Funding Board grant
will help create
science-based Marine Protected Areas—not rigid areas—everything from no take
to wide open
areas. He said MRCs duty is to inform the BOCC and the public and involve
the stakeholders,
fisherman and recreationists in the process of protecting the Sound’s resources.
Bill Thorn said it is
important to have on the “radar screen” that all stakeholders are represented.
New/Unfinished Business @ 5:45 p.m.
· Don Meehan said that 180 registered for the Sound Waters Conference
· Joan Drinkwin said the Snohomish MRC is gearing up
for public outreach, including holding
meetings on Native American reservations
· Discussion on whether a project manager or Exec. Director
would be appropriate. Dick Toft
said all agreed with Exec. Director.
· Jan Holmes said the new and improved Beach Watchers T-Shirts are available for $15
Adoption of Minutes/Agenda @ 5:55 p.m.
The 1/17/01 MRC meeting minutes were adopted. Today’s agenda was adopted.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:05 p.m. The next MRC meeting
will be held at Trinity Lutheran Church in
Freeland, Wednesday, Feb. 21 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Chair Tom Campbell will
be unable to attend that meeting;
Vice Chair Tom Roehl will chair that meeting.
