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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCFFCOC Special Meeting Summary 20260331 FINAL P a g e 1 | 5 http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us Conservation Futures Fund Citizen Oversight Committee (CFFCOC) Special Meeting: Hybrid between East Jefferson Fire & Rescue Station 6 and Online via Zoom March 31, 2026 from 2:00 to 5:00 PM FINAL SUMMARY as approved 04/21/2026 * Decisions and action items are indicated in bold font. Members Present: Tom Backman – District 3; Carol Bernthal, Vice Chair – District 1; Laurie de Koch – District 3 (via Zoom); Rob Harbour – Interest, Working Lands; Ron Rempel, Chair – Interest, Wildlife Conservation Biology; Robert Simmons – Interest, Watersheds; Esther Trueblood – Interest, Small Farms and Forests; Dave Wilkinson – District 1 Members Absent: Cheryl Lowe – Interest, Habitat Values; E. Ryan McMackin – Interest, Wetlands; Joanne Pontrello – District 2 County Staff Present: Michael Dawson, Environmental Health and Water Quality Manager; Tami Pokorny, Natural Resources Program Coordinator (via Zoom); Tressa Linquist, Clerk Public Present: Peter Bahls, Northwest Watershed Institute; Rich James, President, Peninsula Trails Coalition; Ann Livingston, Executive Director, Peninsula Trails Coalition; Merrily Mount, Board of Directors, Peninsula Trails Coalition; public observer I. Call to Order, Roll Call, and Determination of Quorum Chair Ron Rempel called the meeting to order at 2:02 PM. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves. A quorum was present. II. Agenda The agenda was approved, receiving no objection. III. Public Comments IV. Minutes of Previous Meetings P a g e 2 | 5 The draft minutes of the February 18, 2026 meeting were approved, receiving no objection. V. Old Business VI. Sub-committee Reports • Storymap Sub-Committee The Storymap Sub-Committee (Rob Harbour, Cheryl Lowe and Tom Backman, with staff assistance) had met twice since the last CFFCOC meeting but have paused their work until after the project review cycle is complete. Rob gave a brief update and explained that the goal is to create an informative “20-minute” visitor experience, making the most of limited time spent on the site. There was discussion about potential features of the site, including accessibility by those with disabilities, the ability of program data to be queried or to sort/filter projects by keyword search. The committee should consider presenting the site before the BoCC. A devoted contact page with fillable fields should be added. • Materials Sub-Committee The Materials Sub-Committee (Carol, Dave, Ron, with staff assistance) had not met since the last meeting in February and did not have any updates. They will continue their work after the retreat. • Retreat Planning Subcommittee The Retreat Planning Sub-Committee (Carol, Esther, Rob, with staff assistance) reported on the results of the survey they put out to the CFFCOC. This information will be used to help choose a facilitator and guide the retreat agenda. The Sub-Committee will create a budget proposal for approval by the County Administrator. The retreat is being planned for fall instead of spring, and will likely occur in September, just before the CFFCOC meets again in October. It was asked whether or not the county has a way to take in donations or work with community foundations to fund things like this? Staff will follow up with Apple Martine about this possibility. VII. New Business • RCW 84.34.020 definition of Open Space The first section of RCW 84.34.020 was displayed and reviewed, which lists various categories of lands which may be defined as “open space” under Washington state law and therefore considered for protection by the Conservation Futures Fund. It had been asked if trail rights-of- way and recreation areas qualify for CFF funding, such as this year’s ODT Eaglemount Link project? RCW 84.34.020 specifically lists lands that would “enhance recreational opportunities” P a g e 3 | 5 as open space. However, JCC 3.08 clearly states that the funds may not be used for “active recreation” – what defines “active”? Ballparks, pools, playgrounds, etc. – more like recreation facilities. Also, Jefferson County ordinance 06-0708-02 specifically calls out preserving “trail rights of way” for public use in it’s Whereas clauses, showing legislative intent of JCC 3.08 to include these land types. The land type, use, and public benefit of the Eaglemount Link project seems to be in alignment with CFF requirements. • 2026 CFF Project Application Presentations and Q&A o Olympic Discovery Trail Eaglemount Link Michael Dawson, Environmental Health and Water Quality Manager at JCPH, gave a slide presentation. The project applicant is Peninsula Trails Coalition (PTC), and the project sponsor is Jefferson County. The applicant requests $43,312.50 in CFF funding to acquire easement across a private parcel near Discovery Bay, where a non-motorized trail connecting two stretches of the larger Olympic Discovery Trail (ODT) would be built to more safely connect travelers to and from Port Townsend and cities to the west. Alternatively, the entire parcel would be acquired fee simple for this purpose. Should the property be sold to a new owner, the opportunity for acquisition or easement may be lost. It is anticipated that Jefferson County would ultimately hold the easement. The proposed match percentage is 50% in private donations. PTC is not eligible to be the project sponsor as they are seated in Clallam County. Public Health has stepped in as sponsor in place of Public Works due to a lack of capacity in that department. The ODT is a 140-mile-long non-motorized trail route that stretches from Forks at the Pacific coast to the city of Port Townsend. Approximately 90 miles of the route are developed, 20 miles are routed on low-volume-traffic roads. This project would fill in a gap in the developed trail and direct the route away from high-traffic and dangerous State Route 20, which has very narrow or non-existent shoulders for non-motorized travelling. The new route would be a 6-foot-wide trail, constructed by hand by experienced trail builders with some small power equipment. The surface would be packed gravel, about 1700 feet long, with switchbacks up the forested hillside. The trail will be constructed in a manner that minimizes disturbance to soils and native vegetation. 16% of the easement area is expected to be disturbed. Geologic hazard assessment of the area has been completed and confirms that a trail in this location would be safe from major risk of slide. At the top of the proposed trail site, the historic “Road to Tanner Road” is available to host the ODT between the easement section and paved and low-traffic Fairmont Rd. At the base of the trail, travelers may utilize the shelter at Hall Baetz Viewpoint, a culturally significant site for the Jamestown Tribe as a fish harvest area from Snow and Salmon creeks. The trail will also be augmented with additional educational interpretive displays. Development of the ODT is included as a goal in the 2022 Jefferson County Parks, Recreation, and Open Space (PROS) plan. Construction of the ODT is also included in the Jefferson County Transportation Improvement Plan (Public Works). Other than creation of the trail itself, the primary aim is to retain and support a thriving and diverse forest of native species. PTC and partners will work to prevent the introduction of and to treat invasive vegetation in the easement area as they do with other existing trail sections – Every mile has a trail adopter who actively supports their section. This would be the first CFF acquisition near Discovery Bay, and the first one to support P a g e 4 | 5 a recreational trail corridor. The grade up the switchback trail will be 8% or less, and by providing rest areas along the route the entire route up the hill can be made ADA accessible. o East Dabob Bay Acquisition Peter Bahls of Northwest Watershed Institute (NWI) gave a slide presentation. NWI is the project applicant and sponsor. They request $420,000 towards fee simple acquisition of a 42- acre forest and shoreline parcel along Dabob Bay. This request may be reduced by $25K to $395,000 due to other incoming funds from Navy REPI. The total project cost is expected to be over $1.7 million. The proposed match percentage is 76%, mostly from a US Navy REPI grant and a US Fish and Wildlife Service National Coastal grant. The project would be part of the larger Headwaters to Bay project, a landscape-scale watershed conservation effort in the Tarboo Creek area. Permanent ownership and stewardship of the land would be by Northwest Watershed Institute, with a Navy REPI easement (toward purchase of development rights worth $1.4 million) as well as a USFWS Conservation Covenant. Under the terms of these easements, commercial timber harvest will be prohibited. Clean-up and restoration of the property is not part of this request. The property is included in the proposed Dabob Bay Natural Resource Conservation Area by DNR, and is a Priority Terrestrial and Nearshore Priority area in the TNC- WFDW Ecoregional Assessment. Peter made a correction to the application – the area is NOT technically in the Jefferson Land Trust’s plan – however, that plan is out of date (2012). Protection of the shoreline will support a variety of forage fish species and ESA-listed Summer Chum. Proximity to clam beds and other shellfish beds make the site is an important cultural resource for tribes. Most of the parcel is second-growth forested and provides a variety of habitat fornative plant and animal species. Public access to the shoreline would be allowed (by water/boat). The property is located in the underserved Toandos area. • Scoresheet review Attendace at meetings: CFFCOC Bylaws section 12, Voting and Decision, states that a CFFCOC member must attend both the presentation meeting (and the ranking meeting), and attend or view a recording of the site-visits, to vote on funding recommendations. Therefore, those three members not in attendance today are not eligible to participate in the next meeting on April 21. To obtain a quorum, it is critical that those in attendance today also attend the April 21 meeting. Scoresheet review: An electronic (Excel) score sheet was displayed and described. Tressa will send the blank score sheets out to the committee this week. Members may submit in Excel or Word format by April 17. VIII. Discussion of Next Meeting Date and Agenda • TU APR 07 Deadline for additional questions for applicants P a g e 5 | 5 • TU APR 14 Deadline for applicants to respond to questions • FR APR 17 CFFCOC to provide scores to staff via email • Next meeting date: TU APR 21, 2:00-5:00 PM • Score, Rank and Recommend Meeting IX. Announcements X. Public Comments The attending member of the public recommended the Jefferson Transit conference room at Four Corners as a potential meeting space. XI. Adjournment Chair Ron Rempel adjourned the meeting at 4:38 PM. Action Items: *Staff to follow-up about possibility of taking public donations to subsidize retreat costs Meeting summary prepared by Tressa Linquist