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HomeMy WebLinkAboutM071801 .... ~ Jefferson County Marine Resources Committee Minutes Wednesday, July 18,2001 Present: Larry Crockett, ex-officio, Port of Port Townsend Dave Christensen, Jefferson County Natural Resources Jeff Gallant, District 1 (Vice Chair) Bill Kalina, ex-officio, U.S. Navy, Indian Island Anne Murphy, District 2 Barbara Nightingale, Citizen Andrew Palmer, District 3 (Chair) Rex Rice, Environment Deborah Siefert, Marine Science Practitioner Richard Wojt, Jefferson County Commissioner Absent: Judy Damore, District 1 Excused Spike Hall, Citizen Larry Lawson, Commercial Fishing Sydney Lipton, Local Government, City Excused Linda Newberry, Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe Guests: Paula Mackrow, NOSC Judy Surber & Ian Jablonski, City of Port Townsend Harriet Beale, Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team KerTie Peterson, Citizen Shelby Smith, Intern People for Puget Sound Chair Andy Palmer called the regular meeting to order at 7:05 PM in the basement conference room of the Jefferson County Courthouse Port Townsend, Washington. OPENING BUSINESS A sign-in sheet was circulated. There being no changes to the minutes of the June meeting, they were approved as written. Additions to the Agenda were Executive Committee Report under New Business and MRC Staffing under Old Business. Larry Crockett announced that the Washington State DNR, Submerged Lands 2001 Conference will be held September 23-27, 2001 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center, Seattle. More information is available at www.wa.gov/dnr/base/SLMC.html Joanna Sanders agreed to forward this information to the MRC. OLD BUSINESS - REPORTS SPECIAL PRESENTATION DNR SHORELINE FL YOVER VIDEOS: Barbara Nightingale introduced one of three available videos of the Jefferson County shoreline, covering the area from Glen Cove through Discovery Bay. The MRC purchased the three video set for viewing. Mter distributing a line diagram and USGS map, she reviewed terms used in a classification system for the near shore developed by Megan Deter. The end product of the survey is a shore zone inventory on CD ROM. Users are able to click any point on the shoreline for further details. The MP A committee will try to utilize the DNR Shorezone Inventory database to create maps for our public meetings. She stressed that the detailed DNR Shorezone Inventory is not a tool for measuring change. It is gross information and cannot be used to determine changes smaller than 80%. She also showed maps with overlays for plants and fish populations, stressing that the mapping of forage fish is only their spawning habitat. There was a request that the MRC receive this map electronically. Mter viewing the video, MRC comments were that it was informative and there were areas with which some MRC were not familiar. It was noted that the beaches change frequently from sandy to rocky due to seasonal changes and variable winds. Larry Crockett proposed creating a Jefferson County database of critical areas using similar air videos and monitoring techniques. Barbara Nightingale said that in searching for the most updated geology, she Marine Resources Committee - July 18, 2001 Page: 2 found that Ecology provides protocols to support citizen inventories of shorelines and, on the ground projects, eel grass and kelp beds inventory so that the information can be folded into the regional database. Jeff Gallant asked whether the County, as part of the shoreline management program, has analyzed these systems to see whether they are intact or whether there have been major alterations by bulkheading, etc. Barbara Nightingale responded that Jefferson County funded a mapping process supplemental to the DNR shoreline inventory and it would be good to see that continue. Anne Murphy observed that by using Megan Deter's table format, a scientifically~designed sampling plan could help figure out whether systems are intact or not. She added that some information is available from the Marine Science Center's three~year seaweed study. Paula Mackrow said a complete boat survey of the shoreline was done as part of the Ron Hirschi and Ted Labbe's hyperspectral imagery study. They are digitizing this detailed information so that there can be comparisons over time. Results show Mystery Bay as the highest percentage of bulkheaded drift cell with about 22.5% of the shoreline bulkheaded. NEW BUSINESS & REPORTS MPA COMMITTEE REPORT: The committee has completed their contractor review process for the focus group facilitator and will contact the facilitator to offer the position. Scope of services have been developed for the project and this position. NORTHWEST STRAITS COMMISSION: Anne Murphy announced that there were 99 proposals for the MEHP grant, which is four times greater than the number received during the last cycle. Island County is applying for a PIE grant to acquire high school youth as interns and assistants on the forage fish project. The Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative has successfully started its own foundation. Both the Commission and MRCs can utilize this tax exempt status as a mechanism for applying for funds. Chad Beauchamp is the new Northwest Straits staff member who will work as a liaison between the tribes and the MRCs. The Annual MRC training is October 26~27, 2001 with the theme "Communication." A live zebra mussel was found in Lake Union. FUND RAISING COMMITIEE REPORT: Andy Palmer said it has been difficult to meet due to his busy work schedule. He and Judy Damore currently comprise the committee. It was suggested that the MPA and Forage Fish chairs meet with Judy Damore to discuss potential ideas for activities. LIBRARY COMMITIEE REPORT: After a small delay in getting to work on the website, the contractor remains on target to complete updates by the end of July, making the site mOre user~friendly, linking to the forage fish project, and adding the annotated bibliography. FORAGE FISH REPORT: The MRC/NOSC mailer to the Jefferson County shoreline property owners should be complete in a few weeks. It is hoped that it can be placed in an office where MRC members can review and make comments. Dave Christensen agreed that the County might be able to scan the mailer once it is available from the Forage Fish Committee. Dan Pentilla will conduct the forage fish spawning survey training on August 6-7 at the Marrowstone fish lab. This training is for volunteers interested in becoming team leaders. Deb Siefert agreed to forward training details via email to the MRC. PUBLIC OUTREACH: Barbara Nightingale mentioned that Clallam County has great public participation and utilizes the newspaper well with ads and articles. She believes there may be a way to similarly increase MRC outreach. It was mentioned that Janet Huck at The Leader has not shown continued interest in the forage fish project. A suggestion was to pursue articles in the Peninsula Daily News and The Bremerton Sun. The MRC will have a booth at Low Tide Fest this weekend. Barbara Nightingale and Jeff Gallant agreed to help. There was a suggestion to continue distributing the MRC questionnaire at the Low Tide Fest and at the Jefferson County Fair. Barbara Nightingale agreed to coordinate with NOSC on possibly sharing a booth at the Jefferson Marine Resources Committee - July 18, 2001 Page: 3 County Fair. This would involve setting up by 10:00 Friday, August 10 and cleaning up after 5:00 on August 12, 2001. After a concern was noted that volunteers are required to buy entry to the fair it was suggested that the MRC budget might cover this fee. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE: The committee suggested that the Long-Range Planning Retreat be postponed, with Saturday, October 20 as a possible alternative. Members were asked to check their calendars and respond to the MRC list~serve with their availability. Anne Murphy agreed to reserve a conference room at Fort Worden and the committee agreed to work on an agenda for the next MRC meeting. The committee also proposed that the committee structure be changed to combine the Training and Public Outreach Committees. OLD BUSINESS MRC STAFFING: With the receipt of the Northwest Straits Administrative Grant, Dave Christensen suggested that he contact MRC members to better outline the MRC staffing needs. He would then return to discussions with the Executive Committee to determine the role of County staff and reevaluate the contract with Joanna Sanders. OTHER/ADMINISTRATIVE Andy Palmer urged members interested in GIS training to contact Katherine Baril at WSU. OBSERVER COMMENTS Harriet Beale announced that the GIS Group of the Hood Canal Coordinating Council recently met regarding revisions to the Shoreline Master Program and available GIS information. She agreed to circulate a Power Point presentation by Cindy Donahue from Ecology. Counties will be provided with a CD with photos from 2000 to compare with the early to mid 1990s. Judy Surber of the City of Port Townsend Planning Department mentioned the City received a Coastal Zone Management grant to do a shoreline inventory as a first step in updating their Shoreline Master Program. The City is interested in building upon the resources which exist in the MRC. They will also be assembling a shoreline advisory committee to compile information which will then be passed on to consultants for summarizing and interpreting as it relates to land use studies. Commissioner Wojt commented on the Geoduck EIS and the battle between Washington Wildlife and Fisheries and DNR over geoducks. Barbara Nightingale mentioned that the MRC was invited to co-sponsor or participate in a meeting with the Washington Environmental Council, DNR and other agencies on this issue. She agreed to circulate background information and noted the MRC has a 2000 geoduck atlas in the MRC library. On behalf of the Committee, Anne Murphy thanked outgoing member Deborah Siefert for her significant contributions to the MRC. PREPARE AGENDA / ADJOURN The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 15, 2001 at 6:00 PM in the basement conference room of the Jefferson County Courthouse, Port Townsend, Washington. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 PM. MARINE RESOURCES COMMITTEE Andy Palmer, Chair