Chehalis Basin Partnership Meeting

Decisions Needed:

2)

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AGENDA

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Chehalis Basin Partnership Interim Budget

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1998 Budget Sept-Dec

August 1999 Budget

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Meeting Summary-August 27, 1999

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Introduction

Mayor Spahr welcomed members and opened the meeting.

Quorum: According to the interim by-laws of the Partnership, a quorum exists when any number of planning unit members are in attendance at any regularly scheduled meeting. However, a simple majority of the total number of planning unit members must be present for action to be taken. The Partnership currently has 30 designated membership positions. Three are unfilled leaving a designated membership roster of 27. Fourteen designated members or their alternates were present at the August 27 meeting. (see attached sign-up sheet).

I. Small Towns Environment Program (STEP)

Janice Roderick announced the upcoming infrastructure financing workshop 'Putting it all Together" that will be held November 3 - 5 in Wenatchee (see announcement). One Partnership member commented that it would be good for this group to have a presentation on the different funding sources and timing requirements. Janice recommended that this be worked out with the Infrastructure Assistance Coordinating Council (IACC) and said she would be willing to help arrange such a presentation. One idea would be to go over the brochure for the Wenatchee 3-day workshop and pick two or three of the presentations for presentation at an future Partnership meeting.

Janice then described the STEP program using the experiences of several small Washington State communities as examples. STEP works best for small, unincorporated communities with populations of 1 500 to 5000. The purpose of the STEP program is to help small communities save money as they make necessary improvements in their wastewater treatment systems. The program has resulted in many positive projects. For example, the town of Edison improved its wastewater treatment system and as a result shellfish beds that had been closed were re-opened. As with any program, STEP hasn't worked well in every community.

Janice was.-ask how STEP gets around the Davis-Bakon Act and labor union objections? The state has an informal opinion from the Attorney General's office stating that as long as the work is being done by volunteers and notby paid labor it does not cause a problem. Other concerns raised by Partnership member included liability for injury or property damage. Communities do need to meet all applicable Labor & Industry safety requirements.

Janice is available to help communities that think they may be able to benefit from participation in STEP. She can be reached at (360) 407-6426.

II. 2496 Salmon Recovery Grant

The Partnership has receives a Salmon Recovery Grant through the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. The project provides funds for identifying habitat impediments which negatively affect natural spawning salmon populations (Limiting Factors Analysis) and develop/oversee a process for identifying habitat restoration projects in the basin. There is enough in the grant to fund a full-time staff position for two years and some supporting GIS work. Three options for staffing the grant project were presented and discussed:

In the general discussion that followed several additional options or variations were suggested, along with advantages and disadvantages of each option. Additional options mentioned include using volunteers and college students, consider amending contract with Envirovision Corp. to incorporate the 2496 project, having staff from private timber companies do the work, and contacting WDFW to see if they would consider splitting the cost of funding the position (50% grant, 50% WDFW general fund) since using WDFW staff would benefit their budget.

Some of the major advantages/disadvantages of the various options discussed include:

After this discussion the group directed the Scoping committee to examine these options and bring a recommendation to the September 24 Partnership meeting.

III. Citizens Report

Margaret Rader summarized the major issues of the August Citizen's Advisory Committee meeting. A summary of that meeting was mailed out with the agenda for this meeting. The four major issues were:

IV. Update on Chehalis Flood Project

Commissioner Graham explained the different project funds that are available to continue the flood control effort. Yesterday, a grant providing $300,000 was signed in Olympia. An additional $800,000 from a different fund is available once the details can be worked out with the state Department of Transportation. The amount of time it is taking to work out the details is a source of frustration for Commissioner Graham. The project is being delayed and this is the best time of year for completing some of the work. Several Partnership members made comments encouraging DOT to complete the agreements necessary to make the funding available.

V. Update on 2514 Budget

Marc Duboiski was not able to attend today's meeting so Kahle Jennings used material provided by Marc to provide an update on the budget. A copy of the chart Marc prepared is attached. One item of discussion was funding for 'Drops of Water" the Chehalis River Council water quality newsletter. $8,000 was set aside in the budget for education and outreach using this newsletter. The group directed staff to review previous meeting summaries to document the decision, work with the CRC to make the funds available, and send a summary of each Partnership meeting to CRC so the major issues could be included in the newsletter.

VI. Open Comment

Mr. "Red" Cox expressed his mistrust of state agencies and his belief that they want to take his property without paying him for it. He expressed his intent to fight them over this issue.

Chairman Spahr shared his concerns about the mixed messages that state agencies send. As an example he cited two letters from the state. The first letter, dated February 2, 1 999 outlines state agency concerns about proceeding with then current flood control project approach that may not meet federal and state requirements, or provide effective flood control for the entire watershed. The second letter dated June 14, 1 999 was from the Governor and stated that "twelve state natural resource agencies have agreed on principles and procedures they will follow in working with local planning units. These agencies will cooperate to improve the state's contributions to watershed planning.' The chairman believes that the messages in these two letters conflict with each other and that staff representing state agencies on the Partnership are not always consulted before agencies take action.

VII. Wrap Up/Adjourn

Due to conflicts with holidays, the meetings for November and December were changed to November 19 and December 17 . They will be held at the regular time at the Casino.

The next Chehalis Basin Partnership meeting will be held on September 24, 1999

at the Chehalis Tribal Center starting at 9:00.

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