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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20150915 FINAL NPC MRC Minutes NPC MRC 9/15/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 1 September 15, 2015 NPC MRC FINAL Meeting Summary The September 15, 2015 NPC MRC meeting took place at the ONRC Hemlock Room at 1455 Forks Avenue, Forks, WA on Tuesday the 15th from 4:06 to 6:29 PM (00:00:10 on the audio counter). A quorum of voting members was established. Appointed committee members present at the meeting were Steve Allison (Hoh Tribe Rep.), Rod Fleck (City of Forks), John Hunter (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Katie Krueger (Quileute Tribe Rep.), Deborah Kucipeck (Clallam County Rep.), Ian Miller (Washington SeaGrant), Roy Morris (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Rich Osborne (Citizen Rep., Clallam County), Tami Pokorny (Jefferson County Rep.), John Richmond (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County), Dana Sarff (Makah Tribe Rep.) and Jill Silver (Citizen Rep., Jefferson County). Liam Antrim (OCNMS), Breanna Bailey (Student Intern), David Bennet (Student Intern), David Hahn (Clallam County Citizen), Victor Hanna (Intern for Roy Morris), Frank Hanson (ONRC), Cole Johnson (Student Intern), Justin Hause (Student Intern), Kimberly Kearns (Forks Intermediate School), Dan Lieberman (North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center [NOPSC]), Edwin Lisnetos (Student Intern), Violet Senderhauf (Pacific Coast Salmon Coalition [PCSC]) were also present. Introductions Public Comments There were none. Additions to the Agenda Added to the agenda was a presentation by Kimberly Kearns on her water quality project for the Forks Intermediate School. The agenda was approved by consensus, with changes. Approval of the August Meeting Summary The August Meeting Summary was approved by consensus. Announcements Tami Pokorny announced that Kara Cardinal (with The Nature Conservancy) had a baby girl and mother and baby are doing well. Tami also forwarded the MRC Summit registration information from Casey Dennehey. Old Business MRC Summit Update The Coast MRC Summit will be held from October 15th to 17th in La Push. Tami Pokorny reported on last week’s Summit planning conference call: there is a tentative agenda now; they are still working on the crude oil presentation and other details. Katie Krueger emphasized the need to add the Quileute Tribe welcome ceremony to the Summit agenda; she is also in the process of contacting a renowned storyteller from the Hoh Tribe. Discussion followed over the draft letter initiated by the Coast MRC Summit planners regarding the proposed Grays Harbor crude oil facilities draft Environmental Impact Statements. The letter is being drafted by Friends of Grays Harbor’s R. D. Grunbaum and is open for possible support by MRCs or individual MRC members. NPC MRC 9/15/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 2 Katie said the Quileute Tribe has a position on the facilities, but she stressed the importance of signing the letter as individual entities and not as the NPC MRC. The group agreed. *Tami will send the draft around to the group when it is available. Tami also asked for volunteers for set up for the Summit on Thursday the 15th at Akalat at 4:00 pm. ICC—Salmon Feed and Poetry Read Roy Morris led discussion on event details, which will be held on September 19th at Tillicum Park at 4:00 pm. He discussed connectivity with other marine debris cleanup events around the world and the importance of building a volunteer base. Food and supplies are all being donated. Poetry readers will have five minute segments to share nature poems. Project Oriented to Recreational Fishers Tami Pokorny and Deb Kucipeck reported on their efforts on this idea, and the switch from a citizen science project to an education and outreach project. The goal is make it known to the recreational fishing public who the NPC MRC is and what the group does with a display at the La Push Marina. Rich Osborne asked the committee to consider how to increase the relevance of the NPC MRC within the fishing community. Deb brought up the skepticism of fishermen over data collection and discussion followed on the concern fishermen typically have over fishing rights and livelihoods. The group agreed that the committee needs a clear message before approaching fishermen. Transit Center Marine Display Tami Pokorny and Rod Fleck led discussion on a possible marine display to hang from the ceiling in the Forks Transit Center. Kim Kearns offered watercolors of salmon from her student projects. Another suggestion was to hang a video monitor to show marine films. Katie Krueger summarized the last two agenda topics with the question of how to make the NPC MRC known and pertinent to the public. Victor Hanna suggested reaching out to a younger audience through a Facebook page, and *volunteered to create the page. The consensus was in approval of this idea, with the addition of a subcommittee to guide Victor on content. Rod Fleck strongly encouraged Tami to work on the page only after considering information from the Municipal Research Services Center Social Media Pages for guidance on how to go about this for a government entity. John Richmond suggested that one of the best vectors for outreach for the NPC MRC is the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fishing regulations brochure. *Tami will schedule another conference call for a subcommittee to work more on this project. *Rich Osborne offered to help fill out a use permit to apply for use of a skeleton from the Marine Mammal Lab. The group also liked the idea of changing out the display on a regular basis. New Business Introduction to NRDA and Potential Opportunities Liam Antrim presented on the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA), which is part of the Oil Spill Act. In the event of a large oil spill, a response force is coordinated through the Incident Command Center. The Northwest Area Contingency Plan has information for volunteers and can be found at http://www.rrt10nwac.com/nwacp/. Rod Fleck brought up the other needs that must be met, such as feeding volunteers and directing traffic, which do not involve such extensive hazmat training. Katie Krueger added that training must be current to be of any use, and discussed the efforts of the Quileute Tribe in conducting baseline ecological and resource valuations, which were found to be prohibitively expensive. Liam explained that the Coast Guard has given an annual training for tribal communities, which should be promoted by the NPC MRC when it happens. The goal of the NRDA is to estimate ecological damage done by the oil spill; the data is collected by standard protocol and in a manner intended to support litigation. Assisting with the sampling may be a good place for trained locals to volunteer. Discussion followed on various aspects of this topic, including remote beach access, oil spill prevention and shipping traffic. Rich Osborne suggested the Marine Spatial Planning website www.msp.wa.gov for more information. NPC MRC 9/15/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 3 Forks Intermediate School Water Quality Project Forks Intermediate School 6th grade life science teacher Kimberley Kearns presented her project proposal for student water quality monitoring. The project would be part of the University of Washington Olympic Stem Pathways Partnership, made up of 40 science teachers from the Olympic Peninsula. Kim’s intention is to build an interest and excitement about science and technology with hands on learning. Her project goal is to purchase enough materials to build 30 temperature sensors, 10 with local high schoolers who could then help the intermediate school students build the rest. The students would build, launch and monitor the sensors, and retrieve and analyze data, which would be handed over to UW and then be available for public access online. She hopes to raise $3750 for materials for 30 sensors, and is requesting $2500 from NPC MRC. Rod Fleck requested answers to the following questions in the project proposal in time for a funding decision at next month’s NPC MRC meeting: 1: Where would the sensors be deployed? 2: How is the data collected? 3: Who collects the data? 4: What is the QAQC used in that process? 5: Where is the build location? 6: What is needed at the build location? 7: Is this a one shot? (What happens if the sensors get lost/damaged or if the project applicant leaves the program?) 8: What is the timeline? Roy Morris suggested working with Cathy Lear on the project, since she worked on a similar project in the past, in which many of the sensors were lost during high flows, and also establishing a subcommittee to help work on the proposal. Draft Grays Harbor Terminals EIS Comment Letter (tentative) This was addressed earlier under the MRC Summit Update. Funding Round Review Tami Pokorny showed a breakdown of the funding round; there is $2900 remaining for the next two years. Updates Marine Debris/Ocean Acidification/Hypoxia This topic was skipped. Washington Coast Marine Advisory Council Tami Pokorny was unable to access the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for September 23rd in Grays Harbor. Additional information can be found at www.msp.wa.gov. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council Tami Pokorny was unable to access the agenda for the upcoming meeting. The next meeting will be held on September 25th in Taholah. Administration and Fiscal Agent Update This topic was addressed under the Funding Round Review. Next Agenda The next NPC MRC meeting is scheduled for October 20th at ONRC in Forks. Topics will include non-RFP projects, a report on the MRC Summit and natural resource jobs and job training. Public Comments/General Rich Osborne announced that the NPCLE committee that meets before the NPC MRC will be having a field trip on the day of the next meetings, but they plan to be back in time for NPC MRC meeting. Adjourn NPC MRC 9/15/2015 FINAL Meeting Summary 4 The NPC MRC meeting adjourned at 6:29 pm (02:23:03 on the audio counter). Compiled by Rebekah Brooks. Action Items: *Tami Pokorny will send the draft letter regarding the proposed Grays Harbor crude oil facilities around to the group when it is available. *Victor Hanna volunteered to create a Facebook page for the NPC MRC in order to reach out to a younger audience. *Tami will schedule another conference call for a subcommittee to work more on the Forks Transit Center display project. *Rich Osborne offered to help fill out a use permit to apply for use of a skeleton from the Marine Mammal Lab.