Minutes

March 1, 2006
4:02 - 6:15 pm, Heller Road Firehall, Oak Harbor
www.islandcountymrc.org

PRESENT: Chair Phyllis Kind, Joe Burcar (permanent alternate for Tate), Tom Campbell, Joe Hillers, Don Meehan, Rolf Seitle, Benye Weber, Executive Director Gary Wood, Admin. Ass't. Dan Pedersen. ALTERNATES: None. ABSENT: Hi Bronson, Ian Jefferds, Dick Toft, Ken Urstad, Jeff Tate.

VISITORS: Ginny Broadhurst, Mount Vernon, Northwest Straits Commission; Lisa Kaufman, Sedro-Woolley, Department of Natural Resources; Steve Jennison, Sedro-Woolley, Department of Natural Resources; Kim Bredensteiner, Coupeville, Island County Salmon Recovery Program; Rex Porter, Coupeville, Island County Public Works, Whidbey Watershed Project Manager.

CALL TO ORDER: 4:02 pm. QUORUM: Declared. AGENDA: Adopted, with switching of the order of two items. MINUTES of 2-15-2006: Adopted. Motion by Hillers, second by Campbell, no objections. CORRESPONDENCE: None.

SUMMARY OF DECISIONS
Year 7 NWSC Action Grant proposal. The MRC approved the Executive Committee's recommendations for projects in FY-07. Motion to approve Category B proposal. Motion by Weber, second by Hillers, no objections, to accept the Executive Committee's recommendation for Category B funds. Motion to approve Category C proposal. Motion by Campbell, second by Hillers, no objections, to accept the Executive Committee's recommendation for Category C funds.
Creosote removal. Wood will send Lisa Kaufman of the DNR a copy of Jim Johannessen's shoreline study which identifies potential creosote-removal sites. He will list the DNR as a partner in our full grant application to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

SPEAKERS
Creosote Removal Projects in Puget Sound and Island County
Ginny Broadhurst and Lisa Kaufman
Broadhurst pointed out that last year the Northwest Straits Commission put $35,000 into a regional project for creosote removal. The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) was a key partner, contributing both money and staff time. Broadhurst pointed out creosote is a widely-used wood preservative in the marine environment. It contains well over 200 chemicals, including many polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are of particular concern. Creosote is listed as a carcinogen and was identified as a contaminant of concern in the Puget Sound Action Team's State of the Sound Report. Creosote persists for a long time in the marine environment and, over time, those chemicals will leach out. Creosote debris ends up in places where it was not intended to be - it is present on nearly every beach. Often it originates with derelict structures that break down over time.

Some of the early creosote removal projects were in Bellingham and Whatcom County. Later creosote debris was removed from Padilla Bay and from about 100 miles of beaches in Skagit County. On Whidbey Island the MRC and Beach Watchers were involved in a project with DNR at the Keystone Ferry Terminal working north into the Camp Casey area, clearing about 38 tons. This past November the DNR partnered with State Parks and the Nature Conservancy, continuing this project and working north for about five miles to Perego's Lagoon. This work was funded primarily with oil spill money and cleared over 100 tons. Other projects also have been carried out on Whidbey Island including Double Bluff Beach and Deer Lagoon.

Upcoming projects in Island County. Kaufman said DNR will continue its creosote clean-up efforts along Admiralty Inlet. In late April DNR expects to work south from the Keystone ferry terminal about two miles. She said one benefit of this stretch of shoreline is that logs can be removed without putting machinery on the beach. In Port Susan Bay on Camano, Kaufman said Nature Conservancy and the Stillaguamish Tribe both are interested in doing some work. In mid- to late June the DNR is hoping to clean up creosote at Lake Hancock, working with the Navy.

Broadhurst pointed out many partners have come forward for creosote projects. She said the conversation she and Kaufman want to prompt from this presentation is what role Island County MRC wants to have in future Island County projects. Kind asked whether Broadhurst and Kaufman could address the controversy surrounding removal of pilings - the extent to which this disturbs or releases creosote, causing greater harm than leaving them alone. Broadhurst said the NWSC has focused all its activity to date on removing debris rather than "pulling pilings." Kaufman said the DNR's feeling is, "Get 'em out." But she said they are evaluating site-by-site and allowing for other considerations such as bird nesting or dive sites. She said the goal is to create positive habitat. Several studies suggest that the removal of pilings creates relatively little disturbance, since in many cases sediments immediately fill the hole and cap it. A bigger problem may be disturbance of sediments by the barge used in doing the work.
Kaufman commented also that if project includes back-filling of holes, the Army Corps of Engineers must be involved. But if a piling is simply removed and no backfilling is done, it is simply a removal and nothing more. Wood this discussion is timely because the MRC is in the process right now of reviewing Jim Johannessen's list of habitat restoration opportunities, many of which involve removal of creosoted pilings.

Kaufman pointed out that Governor Christine Gregoire has launched an Initiative for Puget Sound. In her budget she has requested $42 million, including a line item of $2 million for DNR creosote removal. About 90 percent of the overall operating budget is allocated for piling removal and about 10 percent for continuing the beach removal project. The state senate and house both have passed the budget and are talking, so it appears likely that a large infusion of funds will be available for these projects, which must be spent within one year. So the opportunity is at hand to go after standing beach pilings and address the debris problem at its source. The DNR is giving priority to public access sites, especially places used for spawning by forage fish, and where they can find willing partners. They hope to stay away from sites that have other contaminant issues.

Kind asked Kaufman whether she has a copy of Jim Johannessen's shoreline study, which identifies many sites where derelict pilings exist. She said she does not have a copy but would like one. Wood asked Kaufman and Jennison whether he could list the DNR as a potential partner in his full proposal to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Puget Sound Marine Conservation Fund, since it deals with the removal of pilings, and they said yes. He will send them a copy of the pre-proposal, which has been approved.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Northwest Straits (NWSC) action grant proposal. Wood reported that the MRC executive committee had met last week and recommended allocating funds for next year's NWSC action grant as follows:
Category B funds
$10,000 Administration - Pedersen
15,000 Executive director - Wood
10,000 Office
3,000 MRC expenses
Category C funds
$10,000 Shore Stewards - to fund a portion of Scott Chase's salary
10,000 Water's Edge book - additional to help fund the printing and any other costs
10,000 Shoreline signage - additional to purchase more signage and hardware
3,000 Stewardship area brochures - additional to print two camera-ready brochures for the Admiralty
Inlet and Saratoga Passage marine stewardship areas
5,000 MRC website - upgrade website content to describe more projects. Funds would pay for
writing, web design and webmaster to keep site updated.
4,000 MRC computer and PC projector to support data collection and data analysis. Meehan will
install about $7,500 of sophisticated software for less than $100, using his software license.
1,500 Equipment to support the Orca Network's data collection work.
2,500 Pigeon guillemot research
Motion to approve Category B proposal. Motion by Weber, second by Hillers, no objections, to accept the Executive Committee's recommendation for Category B funds.
Motion to approve Category C proposal. Motion by Campbell, second by Hillers, no objections, to accept the Executive Committee's recommendation for Category C funds.

Lighthouse license plates. Meehan gave a presentation on the Washington Lighthouses special license plate, which was developed in Island County and is now for sale statewide by the Department of Licensing. Seventy-five percent of the proceeds from the plate's sale will stay in Island County to help fund the WSU programs housed at Admiralty Head Lighthouse - WSU Beach Watchers, Waste Wise Volunteers and Keepers of Admiralty Head Lighthouse. Another 25 percent of the proceeds will go into a grant fund to be available to other lighthouses in the state that are kept open to the public by non-profit, volunteer organizations.

Review of Coastal Geologic Services restoration recommendations. Kim Bredensteiner led a discussion of 37 north Whidbey Island sites where Jim Johannessen identified restoration opportunities during his shoreline study. The structures Johannessen identified all are in a derelict condition - no longer in use or not working properly. During his research Johannessen also identified some protection opportunities, but today's discussion relating to the NFWF grant is limited strictly to restoration opportunities. Wood pointed out that the grant is not strictly about removal but includes funding to evaluate the feasibility of removal. For this reason he thinks we should include sites with creosoted pilings, even though we may not know at this point whether removal is a realistic option in every case. Our sole role might be to identify who owns the site, the exact location, and the specific opportunity. Bredensteiner commented that some of these sites are on private land and asked whether the MRC was willing to invest time in landowner contact. Without landowner contact by us, she said she doubts the Department of Natural Resources will proceed with some of these. Meehan suggested as a first step that we sit down with the county attorney and talk about the concept of doing projects on private property, such as we have done in our weed control program. Then we could explore getting someone to work on the private side, such as the DNR. Wood pointed out this will be true whether talking about creosote or about eelgrass, forage fish habitat or anything else. He suggested we start by excluding sites where we are sure a project is not going to happen because of political or other reasons. Sites excluded were: 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Burcar pointed out water depth affects the complexity of permitting for piling-removal projects that involve using a barge. If the barge sits on the bottom during the project it requires additional permitting beyond what is required if the barge floats above the bottom. Wood urged we remain open to serving as the go-between among the landowner, the contractor and the agency on tasks that involve private property. Bredensteiner agreed. At the same time, Wood said it's important to eliminate any projects we feel confident will not go forward, so we can say that we have begun this process of review and gone part way already.

NEW BUSINESS. None.

LEADERSHIP REPORTS
County Lead. None, because of time constraints.
Chair. None, because of time constraints.
Executive Director's Written Report, distributed before the meeting by e-mail:
NEWS: Shore Stewards PIE proposal success
Yesterday we learned the Puget Sound Action Team has approved a $35,000+ grant to fund expansion of our Shore Stewards program into Whatcom, Skagit, Snohomish, Jefferson and Clallam counties. The grant was applied for through the Northwest Straits Foundation and drafted by your director at their expense. WSU Extension personnel in the respective counties will carry out the program with guidance from Don Meehan and Scott Chase. We also received approval for a $10,000 contribution from the Northwest Straits Commission to pay for materials as outlined in the proposal. Ginny Broadhurst will coordinate the expansion for the Foundation.
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2006-07 MRC Grant (Year 7)
The Executive Committee met on 2/22 to discuss allocation of FY 07 funds. To clarify, this year's grant round - available 6/30/06; to be spent by 6/30/07 - consists of $92,000 in new money and may be requested as amendments to the current FY 06 grant. The committee proposes to apply the funds as follows, subject to MRC approval:

Summary
CAT. "B" budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,000
Pedersen . . . . . . . . . . 10,000 Communications
Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 Director
WSU . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10,000 Meehan/office
MRC Travel . . . . . . . 3,000
Total 38,000
CAT. "C" MRC projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,000
Shore Stewards . . . . . 18,000
Waters Edge . . . . . . . . 10,000
Signage . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000
Brochures (SAs) . . . . . 3,000
MRC Website. . . . . . . 5,000
MRC PC, projector. . . 4,000
Orca Support . . . . . . . 1,500
Pigeon Guillemot . . . . . 2,500
Total 54,000 92,000