Approved Minutes
Island County Marine Resources Committee
October 2, 2002, 4-6 pm
Heller Road Firehall, Oak Harbor
Audio Recorded

Present: Chair Tom Campbell, Martin Behr, Hi Bronson, Mike Gallion, Jim Hawley (Roehl alt.), Phyllis Kind, Roger Sherman, Jeff Tate, Dick Toft, Benye Weber, Exec. Director Gary Wood, Admin. Ass't. Dan Pedersen. Absent: Don Meehan, Sayed El-Sayed.

Visitors: Jill McKinnie, District Director for Congressman Rick Larsen; Gwenn Maxfield, Assistant Director of Island County Public Works; Frank Roberts, Consulting Engineer, Greenbank.

Call to order: 4:04 pm, Chair Tom Campbell called the meeting to order.

Introductions: Members of the committee and audience introduced themselves.

Agenda: Adopted, no objections. Gary Wood will give an expanded report to include several items he listed in an e-mail to the committee earlier in the day.

Minutes of September 18, 2002: Approved, no objections. Pedersen asked to correct the spelling of Maylor's Marsh.

Executive Director's Report - Wood

> Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) project phase 4. Wood reported we have scaled back our SRFB proposal solely to Maylor's Marsh Nearshore Restoration, entirely on Navy property. Earlier, we had proposed a second component, a feasibility study on the city side of the bay to determine whether any beach restoration work should be undertaken on that side. The decision to drop the city-side component came after Wood and Don Meehan met with Oak Harbor staff last Thursday. Wood said the city officials like our proposal but that our timeline is out of synch with theirs. The city has just hired a consultant to determine the necessary mitigation if they go forward with a pier project. We will hold off a year or so to give the city time to determine their needs and work through the process of discussions and deliberation. For the remaining component on the Navy property at Maylor's Marsh, we have the full support of the Navy plus several other partners. The Navy SeaBees will provide heavy equipment and operators to remove the failed bulkhead. The Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) will contribute the design and staffing to monitor fish usage by both juvenile salmon and forage fish. People for Puget Sound and the WSU BeachWatchers will conduct long-term, volunteer-based surveys of the marsh-its vegetation, changes in substrate, use for spawning, bird populations, etc. Jim Johannessen and his company, Coastal Geologic Services, Inc., or an equivalent company, will do the baseline monitoring of the sediments. A feasibility study will be performed and sites picked for long-term monitoring. The findings should interest the City of Oak Harbor because the Maylor's Marsh beach restoration will provide a model right across from city side. Puget Sound Restoration Fund will donate up to $150,000 worth (60,000 yards) of glacial till for beach replenishment.

> National Fish & Wildlife Foundation grant. The NFW has approved and signed a $45,000 grant to continue our forage fish work in Island County and extend it to three additional counties-Whatcom, Snohomish and Skagit. The grant monies will come to our MRC and we will pay the Department of Fish & Wildlife (DFW) for Dan Penttila and other employees to work in those three counties, plus Island County. $10,000 is allocated for each of the four counties, and the remaining $5,000 is to post the data from all the counties on a Web site. The data to be posted includes some historical data Penttila had collected in the past.

> Letter of Intent - Northwest Straits Commission (NWSC) Action Grant phase 4. Wood reported he has submitted a letter of intent for a $70,000 NWSC action grant. Each MRC receives this grant and may use up to $30,000 for administration, and no less than $40,000 for a restoration/outreach project. Many of the MRCs are using some or all of the $30,000 for executive directors or other staff. Four counties have never applied for outside grants because they are committees of volunteers who meet once a month, and no one has assumed the job of applying for grants. We propose to allocate $20,000 for shoreline hardening mapping, $10,000 for administration and executive director, and $40,000 for our Certified Shore Stewards program, which is being rolled out on Camano.

> Camano Shore Stewards pilot program. Earlier this week, Wood circulated a draft Shore Stewards project plan to the committee by e-mail. Tate commented that an additional item could be included in the value proposition for participating Shore Stewards property owners. Island County has a Public Benefit Rating System (PBRS) that awards private property owners points for about 20 different features and attributes (such as wetlands) on their property, called "resources." These points qualify them for a significant tax reduction. Tate said the program has existed since 1998 but has not been marketed because the county felt there were flaws in it. But the flaws have now been corrected. The tax reductions range from 50 - 90 percent. The PBRS is described in county code chapter 3.40.

> Possible resolution for county commissioners regarding data. Wood reported there has been discussion among NWSC representatives of asking the counties to pass resolutions calling for the use, or consideration, of the data the MRCs are collecting. He said it does little good to collect data about marine resources if the various government entities and other stakeholders don't avail themselves of it.

New / unfinished business

> Last Friday's NWSC meeting. Campbell reported he attended last Friday's NWSC meeting in Coupeville and came away with the impression that our MRC is on a solid footing with NWSC and is performing in a leadership position.

> Outreach. Campbell thanked Wood for his outreach efforts. There was general discussion and agreement about the need to get our message in front of additional groups.Toft said he'd like to have our Oak Harbor Powerpoint shown to the Rotary. Campbell encouraged anyone who knows of an audience to contact Wood.

> Lead Time. Phyllis Kind appealed for more lead time in any announcements about meetings, such as last week's NWSC meeting in Coupeville, where our MRC should be represented.

> Grant Rules. Benye Weber commented that in her experience with grants, there are often rules prohibiting the applicants from after-the-fact soliciting of letters of support on behalf of their applications. Campbell noted that this is a good point -- that rather than ask various parties to write to the SRFB in support of our proposals, for example, we should ask them to send any letters directly to us, and we will include them when appropriate, in accordance with the rules.

>Jill McKinnie. McKinnie said she's been watching the NWSC and MRC process from its beginning and is very impressed with Island County's performance. Island County is showing other MRCs how to get things done. While it is impossible to predict future legislation and appropriations, both Congressman Larsen and Senator Murray are firm in their support of this process because it is showing real results.

Adjournment. There being no further announcements or business, Campbell declared the meeting adjourned at 5:50.

NEXT MEETING: 4-6 PM WED., OCT. 16, TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH, FREELAND.