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Russian River Watershed Council |
Full Council Meeting |
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Minutes of November 18, 2000 |
Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Bldg 9AM - 1PM |
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Opening count of watershed council members = 34 voting members APPROVAL OF AGENDA No discussion.M/S/C32 Ayes 2 Abstain to Approve minutes. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Discussion that minutes should be included in packet rather than presented at meetings. Vote taken with 20 Ayes. Insufficient support for approval of minutes. Item will be continued to next meeting and minutes mailed in January 13 meeting packet.
ANNOUNCEMENTS • Round Valley Water District will be holding a riparian and creek restoration workshop on December 4 & 5, 2000. There is no cost to attend, but please RSVP to John Calaprice by email( eco-eng@saber.net )or phone ( 983-8025 )as there are a limited number of spaces. • All caucuses to meet during break to select Executive Steering Committee members. Results were:
• California Dept. of Fish and Game will make its decision on the Glassy Winged Sharpshooter Program available on November 27.There will opportunity to address the issue in the 2002 Farm Bill. A public hearing will be held in Ukiah on January 9, 2001 at the Redwood Empir Fairgrounds at 8AM.Further info is available at the USDA websitewww.cdfa.ca.gov/nfact • The Russian River Cleanup this year had 250 people participating over a 2 day period. They collected 3,100 pounds of metal, 1,300 pounds of glass,1,700 pounds of aluminum, 14,000 pounds of trash and 113 tires. Cleanup was made possible by sponsorship of Sonoma County Conservation Council. • There is a proposal for a winery and bottling plant near the Laguna de Santa Rosa by Occidental Rd. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will have this on the agenda for the January 23 meeting.
APPROVAL OF COORDINATOR Linda Curry was elected coordinator for the council by a unanimous 39 Ayes vote.
BUDGET & BUDGET PROCESS Chuck Vaughn reviewed the budget information included in each member's mailing packet. Discussion items included: • The request for proposal for the Russian River Interactive Information System has been posted in Commerce Business Daily by the Corps. • State has $130K identified. The RRWC Exec Steering Committee and Army Corps will be meeting with the State for further discussion of state funding. • Budget was initially approved by agencies in February 1999 and by the council in November 1999. • Budget committee can define where funds are placed. • Allocation of funds will be coming of the proposal developed in the work groups. • As RRWC moves forward a more defined budget process is needed. The Budget committee will meet to move idea forward.
NONPROFIT STATUS/REVIEW OF BYLAWS • Executive Steering Committee members are selected by each caucus. • Non profit status will be a big step. Council members want full discussion and information at the January meeting with action by March meeting. • Steering Committee members should provide leadership on process for gaining non profit status. Non profit concerns: • Individual and group liability associated with non profit status and responsibility for funding...how funds are spent by the group and individually. • Who would be the Board of Directors?May be a need for a smaller group such as Executive Steering Committee. • How much work will need to be done by which individuals to get the status. • Motion by Jerome Dix to have separate study group. Members are: Jerome Dix, Jim Nosera, Rusty Klassen, Ann Maurice, Al Beltrami, Denny O'Brien, Kathy Hayes, Bob Anderson, David Ripple, Dennis Murphy. Tentative meeting for 12/11 or 12/14 in afternoon at Cloverdale library. • Liability issues can be covered by insurance coverage. • Descriptive need to take into account all the work completed to date. • A political body may not be the right structure for a non-profit. With so many different interests represented,We need to be sure that are not taking on too much or are in conflict with positions by member organizations. • Non profits cannot support any political campaigns. • Need a legal analysis of our ability to be non profit organization. • Mendocino County is expecting that the RRWC will be seeking their own legal status as part of the contract for the coordinator. Mendocino would like the matter to move forward quickly with approval from the council at the January meeting so that the status can be formalized by the spring. • Al Giordano will provide legal analysis from Denny O'Brien and research by Jay Halcomb to non profit work group. • RRWC members may represent other non profits so there may be concerns associated with conflict of interest.
SALMOID RESTORATION WORK GROUP PROPOSAL Scott Barrow presented a proposal from the work group to utilize Stewards of Slavianka as the receiving entity for $10K budgeted for watershed restoration.The RRWC funds will be joined with State Parks and other agencies to develop a proposal by Nov. 27 deadline for Prop 13 funding that includes development and implementation of a watershed managementplan for Willow Creek. The work group has a preliminary draft for proposal guidelines. Discussion: • Will the plan consider grazing impacts? • Renee P from Mendocino State Parks-- we need to put the reports together into the watershed plan. There will be opportunity for public inputs to plan. • Partnership is important and collaboration is a powerful component of the process. • RRWC support for this project will be good public exposure to what council is about. • Problem with this proposal is it addresses erosion caused by existing property owners. The plan will not deal with the land use problem. It should deal with the root cause. • Mendocino Redwoods did not give any guarantee for transfer of information. • It is a poor message to say that the solution is to dredge the channel. • Grassland gullies vs hillside gullies should be looked at together. • Concern at the lack of communication between work group members • We do want to pay for the problems caused by the logging company. • Trout Unlimited had an agreement with Pacific Lumber to make no comment on actions taken in Willow Creek. • Ann Maurice was prevented from delivering all her remarks. She expressed concern that she is a committee member and has not been noticed of any of the recent meetings. • RRWC needs an investigative process/development process to engage and collaborate with a group interested in restoration projects. • There is a good deal of spawning gravel available. The problem is the fish can't get to it. The salmoid have trouble getting in and out of the watershed due to blockage where Willow Creek joins the Russian River. Motion :Have RRWC support providing matching funds of $10K. Discussion: • When will plan be available? It would be valuable for RRWC decision making. • Chatam consultant will hold back funds, a minimal amount of overall funding needs. • Support for the motion but concerned over what Mendocino Redwood is doing in watershed. The timber certification process needs to be reviewed. • Logging in Willow Creek is minimal. • Disagreement that logging is minimal. Vote: 36 Aye; 2 No; 3 Abstain RULES OF OPERATIONS WORK GROUP Al Giordano led a discussion of the proposed final language for Section 3. Motion to change language about meeting notification for work groups to 5 days was not passed (7 Aye; 25 No; 4 Abstain) Motion to modify notification language to "not less than 72 hours" and pass the rules was passed. (36 Aye; 1 No) PRESENTATIONON ROADS Tom Spittler from the California Dept of Geology and Mines and Tom Schott from the National Resource Conservation Service made a presentation on roads and erosion. Highlights of stable practices and culvert placements were contrasted with illustrations of road and bank failures. Handouts included an outline of the topics presented and a rural road erosion hazard assessment checklist. Natural Resource Conservation District Presentation Outline (Tom Schott) Concerns: • CDF requirement for 18' road bed actually contributes to problem. The criteria that is good for fire protection and equipment turn around is not necessarily good for the parcel. • People need to pay more attention to the contours of the land when constructing roads. Where is the agency coordination and enforcement of existing regulations with regards to road building and road impacts? • Enforcement oferosion control related to roads is the responsibility of the regional water quality control board andthe department of fish and game. • Counting fish by electrofishing is at cross purposes. The fish sometimes die from the experience. • RRWC needs a group to address public policy with specific recommendations such as the widest road is not always the best solution and culverts vs bridges. • Rolling dips instead of side stream ditches will help prolong the lifetime of the road. Road surface is subject to compaction. By adding a separation layer between pavement layers can help prevent surface erosion. • Rural residental landowners have few resouces for consultation. • RCD's and DFG are responsible for assisting property owners with erosion control. NEXT STEPS January 13 is next watershed council meeting with presentation on glassy winged sharpshooter and non profit organization issues.Meetings for 2001 have been calendared as January 13, March 10, March 31 (Water Rights Seminar), May 12, July 14, September 8, November 10. Information related to Russian River Watershed Council is available online at : http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/russian. Email address: US Mail address: Russian River Watershed Council Page last updated January 9, 2000 (FC)
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