HomeMy WebLinkAbout20140416_CFMinutes Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee Meeting, April 16, 2014 minutes 1
Members Present:
Officers: Chair: Richard Jahnke, Interest – Coastal Areas; Vice Chair: Lorna Smith, Interest – Ecotourism.
Members: Phil Andrus, District 2; Scott Brinton, Interest – Agriculture; Lige Christian, District 3; JD
Gallant, District 3; Jerry Gorsline, District 2; Rob Harbour, Interest – Working Lands; Ray Hunter,
Interest – Fallow Farms; Janet Kearsley, District 1; Craig Schrader, Interest – Climate Change; Sarah
Spaeth, Interest – Jefferson Land Trust.
County Staff Present: Tami Pokorny, Water Quality. Recorder: Betsy Carlson
Guest Observers: Judy Surber, City of Port Townsend
I. Call to Order:
Chair Richard Jahnke called the meeting to order at 5:10 pm
II. Approval of minutes:
Christian Lige moved to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2014 meeting. Ray Hunter
seconded. The minutes were approved, all in favor.
III. Guest Observer Comments:
None
IV. Old Business:
a. Discussed January 6th Jefferson County Board of Commissioners Public Hearing and the
changes to the county code. Committee had submitted recommendations for changes
to the county code to the County Commission. These changes included 1) Prevent a
committee member from presenting or advocating for a project, 2) Require recusal for
committee members who represent projects from ranking a proposal, 3) Match the
definition the Conservation Futures Committee uses for Open Space with the State’s
version i.e. remove the words “for public use and enjoyment” and insert the word
“local”, 4) The committee can decide to meet as needed rather than quarterly.
The commission accepted recommendations #3 and #4, but did not pass items
#1 and #2. Richard Jahnke reported that the reason for not passing #1 and #2 was
because the commission believed that would restrict needed expertise from the
discussion. The commissioners said that it would be better for the members to state
openly if there is potential conflict of interest and allow them to be involved with the
discussion and information exchange.
b. Proposed changes to the by-laws
After some discussion, Phil Andrus moved that the committee continue to use the
current by-laws (Rev12) as they are written. Lige Christian seconded, motion approved
with all in favor.
Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee
Wednesday, April 16, 2014 5:10 PM - 7:04 PM
Chimacum Grange
Chimacum, WA
PRELIMINARY FINAL MINUTES
Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee Meeting, April 16, 2014 minutes 2
c. Review of project reports: Sarah Spaeth reported on Jefferson Land Trust projects
i. JLT closed on Boulton Farm conservation easement.
ii. Quimper Wildlife Corridor – Winona Basin - Bloedel II closed; this was the largest
acquisition in the corridor to date.
iii. Berntsen property on the Duckabush River is now acquired.
iv. Restoration on Snow Creek at Elk Round property took place in February with 50
volunteers.
v. Tarboo Forest Conservation easement is not a JLT project, and is not complete.
vi. Short Family Farm project is proceeding.
V. New Business:
a. Election of New Officers:
i. Chair: Lorna Smith was nominated as chair, moved by Lige Christian and
seconded Phil Andrus, all in favor.
ii. Vice Chair: Phil Andrus, nominated Janet Kearsley for Vice Chair, after discussion,
Richard Jahnke seconded the nomination, which was approved with all
committee members in favor.
b. Review of Scoring and Ranking Timeline and Protocol:
i. Members have the scoring forms in their packets.
ii. Completed rankings should be submitted by 10:00 am, April 29th.
iii. Tami will send out the minutes from the 2012 meeting to rank projects for
members to review.
iv. Members are not to discuss the projects amongst themselves (outside of this
public meeting).
c. 2014 Project Presentations:
i. Quimper Wildlife Corridor:
1. Jefferson Land Trust (JLT), presented by Sarah Spaeth, Director.
2. Judy Surber, City of Port Townsend Planning Dept., was invited by Spaeth
to present their support of the Corridor project and its importance to the
city. In addition to the wildlife corridor, the area of town to be protected
by the corridor has poorly drained soils. If it were developed, there would
be drainage and flood management issues. Citizens value it for
recreation. Port Townsend City Council adopted the Corridor Plan in
2008.
3. Sarah Spaeth presented the Jefferson Land Trust proposal to acquire two
pieces of land along the corridor within the city limits from willing sellers.
They are requesting $32,500 from Conservation Futures Program, which
is 68% of the project costs leveraging land match of $38,100 and
community cash contributions of $30,000. Project total is $100,600.
a. Proposed purchase are Fowler’s Park block lots 11 – 16, and
b. Montana Block 46 lots 2,4,6,8
c. Match land is Block 20, lots 1 – 4
4. A PowerPoint presentation was used to illustrate the proposal.
ii. Questions regarding the Quimper Wildlife Corridor:
1. Discussion as to the exact location of the sites.
Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee Meeting, April 16, 2014 minutes 3
2. Member asked about the asking-value of the property and differences
between appraisal and asking price. The match is a difference between
market and appraisal. Staff mentioned that the county has the option of
having a review appraisal done. The committee may also request one.
3. Conservation Futures has $115,000. Current projects proposed total is for
over $123,000. Discussion related to what could be funded since there is
not enough to fund what is requested.
4. What is a “parcel” vs a “property”? The term is used interchangeably in
this discussion. Each of the properties under discussion is 4 lots.
5. Has the county approved the wildlife corridor plan? The county has not.
Is there a threat? There are agreements in place. There is a conservation
easement on 46 acres west of the corridor. The 80 acre DNR parcel has
trust land transfer (now under) 50-year lease with the county. County
and Land Trust have talked about trying to find the funding to purchase
from DNR. Tibbels Lake 500-acre parcel has had the platted parcels
erased and protection is with private covenants. Land Trust has acquired
most of the connector pieces.
6. With the easements protected in the corridor, has that become a
standard language easement that is used over and over? The only
easement is the Middle Point Land Conservancy Easement, all the rest is
fee simple acquisition and the County Conservation Futures Program has
language that goes on every deed that says it has to be protected.
iii. Snow Creek Watershed proposal:
1. Presented by Sarah Spaeth, Director, Jefferson Land Trust
2. Goal is to protect 104 acres in the Snow Creek Watershed
a. 74 acres Irvin property acquisition
i. Irvin inherited property and he would like to either
maximize the project value (develop) or sell it outright.
ii. Irvin had been platted in the 1960s. There are between 20
and 30 development rights for the Irvin property.
b. 28 acres Jenks conservation easement
i. Since the proposal was submitted, Jenks told JLT they may
sell it outright.
c. Both are willing sellers
d. Project is a priority of the Chumsortium who, along with the JLT
have protected 390 acres in the Snow Creek watershed to since
2003.
3. Conservation Futures acquisition request is $90,824 which is 16% of the
total project ($580,650). The rest of the project will be funded with a
state grant ($370,854), donated land value ($90,922), and community
cash contributions ($28,050).
iv. Questions Regarding the Snow Creek Watershed Proposal:
1. Is $90,000 for purchase of the Irvin property and purchase of Jenks
easement? At the time of submission the proposal was for purchase of
Irvin property and purchase of easement on Jenks property. Since
Jefferson County Conservation Futures Committee Meeting, April 16, 2014 minutes 4
proposal submission, Jenks has said that she may sell the property
outright at a reduced rate to the land trust.
2. If JLT can not fund all properties, which would be easier to fund? JLT
would find it easier to raise funds for the corridor projects than for the
Snow Creek properties.
3. What confidence do you have in the sale price? Both landowners are
eager to sell.
4. Comment: Snow Creek Ranch corporation has had some troubles over
the years including water and septic. This may affect the Jenks and Irvin
properties also.
v. Tami said that if members had other questions they should submit these to her
by the next day and she will forward to project sponsors.
VI. Other / Administrative
a. Chair, Lorna Smith, called a special meeting for project ranking to be held on May 30th.
b. Upcoming member terms expiring:
i. October, 2014, Sarah Spaeth, interest JLT
ii. December, 2014, Janet Kearsley, District 1
iii. December, 2014, Jerry Gorsline District 2
iv. District 1 vacancy has also been posted.
c. Reminder – no discussion of these projects amongst the group is allowed outside of the
meeting.
VII. Guest Observer Comments
none
VIII. Adjournment
Lige Christian moved for adjournment, seconded by Richard Jahnke, all in favor, meeting
adjourned at 7:04
Respectfully Submitted by Betsy Carlson