Introduction
Mayor Spahr welcomed members and opened the meeting.
Attendance: 14 designated representatives or their alternates attended this meeting. There were 16 additional citizens, alternates, or visitors that attended.
Lead Agency Update
Organization and Operation -- The Lead Agency reported that a subcommittee met to talk about the issues being faced by the Chehalis Basin Partnership and what the Partnership should do to address those issues. The subcommittee found that there are two major categories of issues that need to be worked on.
- Roles, responsibilities and operating procedures -- this includes the Partnership and all its subcommittees. The Partnership needs to insure that it is organized to be efficient and successful. How subcommittees are organized and how meetings are run fall under this category. We also need direction on what decisions are made by the Partnership, what decisions are delegated to the Lead Agency/Lead Entity, and who's supposed to be doing the actual work.
- Legal Obligations - what activities has the Partnership taken on a contractual responsibility to accomplish. Right now there are two activities that the Lead Agency/Lead Entity is obligated to carry out on behalf of the Partnership: watershed planning and salmon recovery. Individual members of the Partnership have contractual involvement in flood control.
The subcommittee recommended that the Partnership call together a meeting of the Initiating Governments to discuss these issues, reaffirm earlier agreements and discuss changes that may be necessary. It was decided to go to the Initiating Governments for two reasons. First, the . Initiating governments were responsible under the Watershed Planning Act to initiate watershed planning. Second, the Initiating Governments will be the primary parties that need to approve the plan.
The Lead Agency will be contacting the Initiating Governments to set up a meeting. This should not be seen as a criticism of how the Partnership has carried out its activities so far, but more of a need to check-back with the Initiating Governments -- like and executive committee -- to see if any mid-course corrections are warranted. Some work on the intergovernmental agreement and bylaws is needed to clarify areas that are confusing. It may also be time to consider having the Partnership become its own legal entity so that it can enter into contracts and perhaps eventually hire someone to act in the role of an executive director to manage the Partnership business on a day-to-day basis so that things get done.
Decision-making - The Intergovernmental Agreement establishing the Chehalis Basin Partnership delegated certain responsibilities to the designated Lead Agency.
"The Lead Agency shall be responsible for and authorized to perform the following tasks:
6.1 - Negotiate and execute agreements with Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE) for Watershed Planning Grant funds.
6.2 - Receive and disburse funds from DOE.
6.3 - Solicit Statements of qualifications, requests for proposals or invitations for bids, negotiate scope of work, and executes contracts to perform the work for projects performed by or on behalf of the parties pursuant to this agreement.
6.4 - The Lead Agency shall not obligate any parties to financial responsibility in performing its tasks under this Agreement without approval of the respective governmental entities.
6.5 - Prepare and maintain proper records for accounting and administration of watershed planning grants.
The Lead Agency shall report regularly to the parties of this Agreement and shall provide them with a full accounting on the receipt and expenditure of funds that may be provided pursuant to this Agreement."
Partnership Officers -- Nominations for the Partnership Chair and Vice-Chair are due at the November meeting.
Report on the Level 1 Assessment - A draft of the Level 1 Assessment is out for review and comment. A group made up of members from the Technical Advisory Committee and the Citizen's Advisory Committee has met twice so far to discuss the Assessment. There will be one more meeting on November 9th. So far, participation in the review has been low. Joy Michaud (Envirovision) has been at these meetings to go over the material and answer questions.
The Level 1 Assessment sets the stage for future work on the Partnership's water management planning for the basin. This is the time for comments and any provided to the Lead Agency through Lee Hansmann will be considered prior to publishing the final version of the Assessment. Comments don't have to be about what in the draft needs to be clarified. If people have reviewed the draft Assessment and are comfortable with it those comments are valuable too.
Water Law -- Featured Presentation
Kitty Gillespie works for the Department of Ecology Water Resources Program. This is the part of the agency responsible for making water right decisions. Kitty presented "Introduction to Water Law in Washington State." The presentation included a discussion of how water law developed over time, how court cases have (in some cases) modified or clarified water law, and how the water management planning under ESHB 2514 (The Watershed Planning Act, RCW 90.82) may provide the first comprehensive approach to water management in the state.
The presentation generated a lot of discussion about water rights, minimum in-stream flows established for the Chehalis Basin in 1976, what is (or is not) being done to put water back into the river, and who individual Partnership members can talk to about pending applications for water rights.
Copies of the presentation are available through Kahle Jennings. Kahle can be contacted by phone at (360) 407-6310 and by E-mail at kjen461@ecy.wa.gov.
Citizen's Advisory Committee Report
The CAC has been coordinating its meeting dates/times with the Technical Advisory Committee so members can participate in the review of the Level 1 Assessment. Citizen participation has been equal to, or greater than, that of technical committee members.
Update on Flood Projects
A workgroup focusing on the Ecosystem Restoration and Mitigation portions of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers flood control work in the Chehalis Basin has been meeting once a month. This workgroup is looking at how to ensure that flood control projects consider basin-wide needs before going forward.
Salmon Recovery Data Viewer CD
The Lead Agency closed the meeting with a brief overview of the prototype Salmon Recovery Data Viewer compact disc that was developed by the Department of Natural Resources with the cooperation of several other organizations. This CD can enable most desktop computers to function as a stand-alone system to create different GIS based maps based on 90 different data sets or themes. DNR is looking for comments on the prototype. Copies for review can be obtained through the Partnership Lead Agency by contacting Lee Hansmann at (360) 249-4222.
Wrap-up/Adjourn
Next Meeting -- Due to the Thanksgiving Holidays the November meeting of the Partnership was changed from the fourth Friday of November to November 17 th at the Chehalis Tribal Center from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.
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Friday November 17, 2000
9:00 to 11:30 AM
Bingo Room, Chehalis Tribe
"Lucky Eagle" Casino
Chair: Mayor Bob SPahr, City of Chehalis (360) 507-3149
Vice Chair: Dr. Sodhi, Chehalis Confederated Tribes (360) 273-5911
Meeting Purpose: Receive latest information on continuing activities and provide direction on how to proceed with watershed planning, salmon recovery and flood project efforts
| Introduction
- |
Mayor Spahr | 9:00 AM |
| Lead Agency Report: Nominations for Chair and ViceChair ,Initiating Governments Meeting, Salmon Recovery Funding, Status of Level I Assessment Review, Other | Lee Hansmann | 9.10 - 10:00 AM |
| Featured Presentation - (we had a cancellation) | - | 10:00 - 11:00 AM |
| Citizen's Advisory Committee Update | Rob Schanz | 11:00 - 11:10 AM |
| Flood Project Update | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | 11:10 - 11:20 AM |
| Open Comment | - | 11:20 - 11:30 AM |
| Wrap-Up/Adjourn | Mayor Spahr | 11:30 AM |
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