January 7, 2004
Members Present: Kelley Balcomb-Bartok, Peter Fromm, David Hoopes, David Loyd, Jim Slocomb
Absent: Laura Arnold, Mike Bertrand, Tim Carpenter, Brian Calvert, Terrie Klinger, Mary Masters, Kevin Ranker, Kit Rawson, Dennis Willows
Guests: Ray Bigler, Shannon Davis
Incoming Chair, David Loyd, called the non-quorum meeting to order at 8:40 a.m. in the BOCC Conference Room, Friday Harbor.
Shannon gave a brief update of Friends of the San Juans recent activities. The training session for county staff on forage fish and nearshore habitat data use will be held on Thursday, January 15th, from 10 a.m. to noon, at 1011 Mullis Road, Friday Harbor (Fire District #3). Shannon said that FOSJ is interested in applying for a PIE grant for forage fish, eelgrass project outreach efforts, including workshops for landowners on stormwater runoff and shoreline erosion impacts on forage fish; a letter of commitment from the MRC, as a forage fish project partner, would be helpful, she said.
Shannon reported that of the 17 candidates for the position of MRC Coordinator, 4 will be interviewed soon.
David Loyd distributed copies of the December, 2003 “A Sound Investment: The Northwest Straits (Marine Conservation) Initiative.” (See www.nwstraits.org )
New/Old Business:
David announced that the signing of the BOCC resolution designating San Juan County as a Marine Stewardship Area has been postponed until January 27th. All MRC members are invited to attend to sign the document.
Jim mentioned that the last 2004 Work Plan item is water quality sampling/monitoring; he said that the EPA has a grant opening to accomplish such a goal on a local level and wondered if the MRC might be interested in partnering with other similar efforts here to apply for the grant. The goal would be to consolidate all existing data into a usable package and to promote its use. David Hoopes suggested contacting Lori at SJC Conservation District about existing watershed education projects and databases.
David Loyd said the NWSC will be meeting in LaConner on Saturday, January 18th, to discuss MRC effectiveness. Members interested in attending are asked to RSVP to Sasha Horst ( horst@nwstraits.org ).
David said the harbor porpoise lecture scheduled at Camp Orkila will be re-scheduled. Peter Donaldson is doing school presentations on “Salmon People” over the weekend. David also gave a heads up on a June meeting scheduled for all MRC members in Everett with the topic being success of MRC efforts.
There was discussion about Island County's WSU Beachwatchers Program that has for several years successfully worked with landowners and others on beach cleanups, monitoring, etc. David said that NWSC is encouraging all MRC's to develop a similar program in the near future.
Work session:
David emphasized that the better the MRC defines its goals the more likely they can be met. There was extensive discussion on what it will take to accomplish the objectives of the Work Plan; it was agreed that hiring an MRC Coordinator will definitely help the cause.
David mentioned the Community Assisted Marine Recovery Areas (CAMRA's) program and briefly discussed how the concept could fit into San Juan County's Marine Stewardship Area.
Existing and suggested new sub-committees were discussed. Members exchanged ideas on strategy for the MSA public and political process. Shannon suggested that members check out the new and improved MRC webpage, www.sjcmrc.org .
Jim said that a federal bill under consideration will set new numeric discharge standards for boat-based sanitation devices; existing state no-discharge zones will be preempted by this bill. The discharge limit now for Puget Sound is zero. Chemicals that boaters use in such devices qualifies the waste as “septage;” and, Jim added, the toxic shock to municipal waste water treatment plants is an issue. He noted that the difference in water quality between summer and winter is directly related to boater population. Shannon said that K-12 classes here have been taking water samples monthly and year-round at the Port.
Discussion on MRC attendance at NWSC meetings was postponed to the next meeting.
The next meeting will be on January 21st at Islanders Bank, Conference Room, Friday Harbor.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:20 a.m.
Submitted by Helen Venada
