Approved Minutes
Island County Marine Resources Committee
September 18, 2002, 4-6 pm
Trinity Lutheran Church, Freeland
Audio Recorded

Present: Chair Tom Campbell, Dick Toft, Benye Weber, Hi Bronson, Jim Hawley (Roehl alt.), Phyllis Kind, Mike Gallion, Don Meehan, Exec. Director Gary Wood, Admin. Ass't. Dan Pedersen.

Absent: Martin Behr, Sayed El-Sayed, Roger Sherman, Jeff Tate.

Visitors: Kathleen Parvin, Island County Public Works; Harriet Beale, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team; Bill White, Beachwatchers; Julia Hodson, Keystone Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC); Brian Martin, Whidbey Audubon; Joan Nelson, FAC; Leah Alden Jaswal.

Call to order: 4:02 pm, Chair Tom Campbell called the meeting to order.

Introductions: Campbell introduced Harriet Beale from Olympia, who is replacing Joan Drinkwin as our MRC's liaison from the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team. Don Meehan introduced Kathleen Parvin of Island County Public Works, who will report on the Grate Mate program.

Agenda: Approved with three changes. Campbell asked to move Phyllis Kind's report on the Keystone Ferry relocation ahead of the Executive Director's report. Meehan asked to give a joint report with Gary Wood on the Camano Shore Stewards program, and to give a brief report on our improving capabilities with data maps.

Minutes of August 14, 2002: Approved with no changes.

Reports

> Grate Mate. Kathleen Parvin is an environmental health specialist for the Health Department who also handles special projects for Public Works. Her presentation on Grate Mate falls in the Public Works category, dealing with surface water and storm runoff. Grate Mate is a program of Seattle-based "Planet CPR," http://www.planetcpr.org. It has been implemented in 27 Washington communities and shows the potential to spread nationwide. Grate Mates are cloth filters to be installed on storm grates, primarily in parking lots, to catch petroleum hydrocarbons and other pollutants before they make their way into underground, surface water and storm runoff. School groups and other community organizations use Grate Mate as a fund-raiser, selling the filters to business owners and home owners, and performing follow-up servicing. Parvin said data collected in Island County have shown that surface water from parking lots is carrying petroleum hydrocarbons to some marine waters. The fabric filters remove about 50 percent of the sediments, oil, trash and other pollutants from stormwater runoff. Parvin says she is still gathering information and will have more soon, but that this might be an issue that will interest the Marine Resources Committee in the future.

> Keystone Ferry Dock Relocation Proposal. Phyllis Kind has attended two meetings regarding Keystone Ferry dock relocation. She reported that the two ferries used on the run are the oldest in the fleet-about 75 years old--and are the only ones that can get into Keystone Harbor. No replacement is available if one of these two becomes disabled. Strong currents require cancellation of some scheduled runs. Washington State Ferries (WSF) wishes to replace these boats with larger, newer ones interchangeable with other boats in the fleet, but can't do it without relocating the landing. WSF proposes to build a new dock somewhere east of the Marine Protected Area, along the spit, extending out into the sound. Attendees at the meetings Kind attended raised questions about possible loss of the existing boat launch at the state park, the impact on traffic patterns in the area, parking for walk-ons, private property values, Crockett Lake and its bird population, and native plants on the spit. The entire spit, especially the east end, is heavily used for shore-fishing. Kind said she believes it's premature for the MRC to take a stand, but suggested we send the Department of Transportation (DOT) a letter stating our interest and desire to be involved in the discussion and planning. In commenting on Kind's report, several MRC members suggested the DOT may not be considering all the available alternatives to moving the dock. Campbell asked for a sense of the committee on whether they agree with Kind's recommendation to send a letter to the DOT. There being general agreement, Campbell asked Gary Wood to draft a letter and share it with the committee.

> Data mapping. Meehan distributed copies of two layered, Geographical Information Systems maps of the Oak Harbor area produced by Doug Kelly. Wood used these maps in a presentation yesterday about our latest proposal to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB).

Executive Director's Report - Gary Wood

> Marine Ecosystem Health Program (MEHP) grant. Done, closed, paid. Final report is in.
> Northwest Straits action grants. Phase 2, forage fish action grant, done. Everyone is paid. Phase 3 is now on contract, a $50,000 project. This includes a feeder bluff survey, which adds another resource to the layered map we're building, and our pilot Shore Stewards program on Camano. Meehan explained that Wood modeled the Shore Stewards concept after the National Wildlife Federation's (NWF) wildlife habitat backyard certification program. We will ask shoreline property owners to follow practices that are healthy not only for the water but the shore. Meehan met today with the Camano Island Beachwatchers and anticipates good participation from them in launching this. Brittany Stromberg of Meehan's staff has set up a timeline for rollout, with the public "push" coming in January. Participants will be awarded an attractive yard sign identifying them as Shore Stewards. The goal is to enroll about 80 stewards initially on Camano and later expand the program to Whidbey. Mike Gallion suggested inviting Stromberg to attend an MRC meeting and present her program. Meehan and Wood agreed, but favor waiting till it's a bit further developed.
> Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) grants. SRFB Grant 1673, phase 2 of SRFB funding, has $45,000 left to do the eelgrass. Everything else is done. The eelgrass work is under way and that contract has been extended until the end of the year. Meanwhile, funding has been approved for contract 1252, a new contract not to be confused with Phase 4, which we're currently applying for. We are simplifying our Phase 4 project to focus on two parts -- removing 2,200 feet of bulkhead remnant from Maylor's Marsh and performing a feasibility study on the Oak Harbor city side to determine whether any pocket beach pilot restoration work should be undertaken. Wood withdrew the beach shading and outreach components from the original proposal and will, instead, put those into our next Northwest Straits action grant application.

Public Relations issues discussion. Meehan reported that he, Campbell and Dan Pedersen met a few weeks ago to discuss how to advance the MRC's public relations effort. A graphic designer already is working on our logo and Web site. Pedersen has developed several tagline proposals to use with the logo and has drafted some text for a brochure. Meehan asked MRC members to look at the tagline ideas, identify several favorites, and share them with one another by e-mail. Turning to the brochure, Campbell commented that since this is an Island County brochure, he'd like to see the text focus on Island County and not refer broadly to Puget Sound. Gallion said he had understood the original plan, some time back, called for a simple front-and-back insert to slip inside the Northwest Straits brochure. Meehan agreed with Gallion's recollection, but said he believes there's a need for both. Tom Roehl, Jeff Tate and Meehan have volunteered to serve on a PR sub-committee. Campbell appointed them to work with Pedersen.

New/unfinished business. Benye Weber asked about follow-up to Frank Roberts' request for a letter from the committee. Wood said he had forwarded the committee members an e-mail attachment of his response to Frank. Meehan distributed copies of the original correspondence.

Adjournment. With no further business, at 6:10 Campbell declared the meeting adjourned.

NEXT MEETING: 4-6 PM WEDNESDAY, OCT. 2, HELLER RD. FIREHALL, OAK HARBOR.