Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDRAFT JC CFCOC Special Meeting First Draft Summary July 11, 2023Page 1 | 5 http://www.co.jefferson.wa.us * Decisions and action items are indicated in bold font. Members Present: Mary Biskup, District 1; Guy Dobyns, District 3; Rob Harbour, Vice Chair, Interest – Working Lands; Richard Jahnke, Interest – Coastal Areas; Cameron Jones, Chair, Interest – Equity; E. Ryan McMackin, Interest – Wetlands; Joanne Pontrello, District 2; Jessica Randall, Interest – Ecosystem Services; Ron Rempel, Interest – Wildlife Conservation Biology; Craig Schrader, Interest – Climate Change; Dave Wilkinson, District 1 Members Absent: Kalyn Marab, District 3 County Staff Present: Tami Pokorny, Natural Resources Program Coordinator Others Present: I. Call to Order Chair Cameron Jones called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. II. Welcome and Introductions It was noted that Richard Jahnke was technically between terms, as his appointment expired on 6/30/23 and he was awaiting reinstatement. III. Approval of Minutes Rob Harbour moved to approve the Jefferson County (JC) CFCOC minutes for the 4/25/23 Presentation Meeting as written; Ron Rempel seconded. The motion passed by consensus. IV. Guest Observer Comments None V. Old Business None Conservation Futures Citizen Oversight Committee (CFCOC) Special Meeting: Hybrid between East Jefferson Fire and Rescue and Zoom Connection July 11, 2023 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Draft Summary Page 2 | 5 VI. Sub-committee Reports None VI. New Business A. Funding Cycle Review The group reviewed the last funding cycle, which included a presentation from Tami Pokorny, Cameron Jones, and JC CFCOC representatives to the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC). The Commissioners were interested in how the JC CFCOC might move forward with sponsors in the future to clear up discrepancies over how conservation efforts are evaluated. Cameron asked whether a subcommittee was needed to start brainstorming ways to connect with sponsorship organizations and examine the differences in how conservation qualities are measured. The group discussed ongoing areas of concern, including handling erroneous project details, scoring agricultural properties more accurately, understanding conservation easements, evaluating how well sponsors perform in the long-term, migrating tidelands into the application, expanding the wording on climate change in the application, reviewing the program materials, and pursuing the collection of the maximum amount of JC CFCOC funding available through property taxes. Jessica Randall learned about the possibility of increasing funding while researching the other CF committees in the State, and *volunteered to meet with a County Commissioner to investigate the funding process. *She is writing a report on her findings that she will send to Tami by 9/3/23 for distribution to the full Committee so that they can review it prior to the next JC CFCOC meeting. *Cameron offered to assist Jessica with the report. Rob Harbour pointed out that the long list of Committee concerns was likely a multi-year process that should be approached in phases; Joanne Pontrello agreed. The group went over various ways to form potential subcommittees, and which issues to prioritize first. Ron Rempel recommended forming two separate subcommittees: one to look at process/application materials (including the accuracy of the applications and integrating climate change); the other to look at content/scientific assessment (including the valuing of agricultural, wildlife habitat, and tideland properties). Tami suggested prioritizing the areas where the system was broken over the issues that could wait another year or so. She pointed out that the scoresheet was very vague on how operations and maintenance projects were scored relative to acquisition and easement projects. Jessica advocated for lining up the JC CFCOC approach to climate change with County climate change strategies. Mary Biskup proposed a short-term subcommittee to look at the current application and wording that caused some confusion in the last funding cycle and report back to the full Committee in a month or so, and a long-term subcommittee to work on the scientific background of tidelands and climate change. Joanne suggested looking at the applications and scoring processes of other CF committees; *Jessica will share her list of CF committees and contacts as a place to start. After settling on a subcommittee Page 3 | 5 approach, *Cameron, Rob, and Ron volunteered to participate in a subcommittee to look at equitable scoring for the various property types and any technical details to come out of that, to meet on 8/17/23 at 4 PM at the East Jefferson Fire and Rescue. *Jessica, Cameron, Ryan McMackin, and Dave Wilkinson volunteered to participate in a subcommittee to work on the climate change revisions, to meet on 7/25/23 and 8/22/23 at 4 PM at the East Jefferson Fire and Rescue if it is available. *Dave suggested adding the list of JC CFCOC concerns to the bottom of the meeting agendas so that they could stay in the focus of the Committee. *Rob requested that the group submit any additions to the list by 8/11/23. Craig Schrader announced that this would be his last meeting, and that he would be resigning from the CFCOC after ten years of involvement. Cameron expressed the Committee’s gratitude for Craig’s participation. B. New Draft Bylaws Tami Pokorny announced that the new draft JC CFCOC Bylaws were available for review by the Committee after a process of several years of edits and waiting for revision from the County Prosecutor’s Office. While the Appearance of Fairness forms are no longer necessary, there is a new section on Conflict of Interest. Richard Jahnke asked for clarification regarding the new wording around subcommittees, which will allow for informal subcommittee meetings. Dave Wilkinson suggested bringing in the natural resources and environment sections of the JC Comprehensive Plan under the Authority segment of the Bylaws, in addition to the open space section that is referenced. He also asked whether the section on Program Goals and Preservation Criteria could be expanded to include additional habitat values like air and water quality, watershed function, and mitigation of climate change. The group was eager to approve the Bylaws. *The Committee will submit any questions or requests for changes to Tami by 7/18/23 so that approval of the draft Bylaws can be added to the next JC CFCOC agenda. C. Conservation Futures Storymap Tami Pokorny gave an update on the hiring of John Gussman by the County to film and photograph JC CFCOC projects for the creation of storymaps. He has completed the drone-based photographs and given them to Tami; she said they looked very good so far, but she had not had the opportunity to go through all of them yet. Central Services has offered to help the JC CFCOC assemble their storymaps once they have put together the text and materials. The photos are organized by project. *Tami and Rob Harbour will go through the project photos and post them by 10/3/23 so that the Committee can access them for review. D. 2024 Cycle Draft Calendar The Committee reviewed the draft JC CFCOC Calendar. Upcoming dates include the next scheduled full Committee meetings on 10/3/23 and 11/7/23, presentation of recommended program changes to the BoCC by 11/27/23, distribution of the request Page 4 | 5 for proposals by mid-December, submission of project applications to the JC CFCOC by 3/22/24, and site visits on 3/26/23. The group discussed ideas for better communication with sponsors through the application process, the challenges grant writers face when trying to match projects with grant specifics, the value of all of the properties that have been protected in the County, how to attract underrepresented sponsors, weighing the values of properties in spite of potential project flaws, the long-term and short-term benefits of land protection, and various ways to have constructive conversations with past and prospective sponsors. *Tami Pokorny will add an item to the next JC CFCOC meeting agenda to continue this discussion. VII. Announcements/Administrative A. Staff Update Tami Pokorny announced that tomorrow’s edition of the Port Townsend Leader will feature an advertisement for two open interest and one District 2 seats on the CFCOC. B. Next Meeting The next full Committee meeting is scheduled for 10/3/23. VII. Guest Observer Comments None IX. Adjournment Chair Cameron Jones adjourned the meeting at 5:52 PM. Meeting summary prepared by Rebekah Brooks. Action Items: *Jessica Randall volunteered to meet with a County Commissioner to investigate the CFCOC funding process. *Jessica Randall will send her report on Washington State CF programs to Tami Pokorny by 9/3/23 for distribution to the full Committee so that they can review it prior to the next JC CFCOC meeting. *Cameron Jones offered to assist Jessica Randall with the report. *Jessica Randall will share her list of Washington State CF committees and contacts with the JC CFCOC as a place to start looking at alternative application and scoring methods. *Cameron Jones, Rob Harbour, and Ron Rempel volunteered to participate in a subcommittee to look at equitable scoring for the various property types and any technical details to come out of that, to meet on 8/17/23 at 4 PM at the East Jefferson Fire and Rescue. Page 5 | 5 *Jessica Randall, Cameron Jones, Ryan McMackin, and Dave Wilkinson volunteered to participate in a subcommittee to work on the climate change revisions, to meet on 7/25/23 and 8/22/23 at 4 PM at the East Jefferson Fire and Rescue if it is available. *Dave Wilkinson suggested adding the list of JC CFCOC concerns to the bottom of the meeting agendas so that they could stay in the focus of the Committee. *Rob Harbour requested that the group submit any additions to the list of concerns by 8/11/23. *The Committee will submit any questions or requests for changes to the draft Bylaws to Tami Pokorny by 7/18/23. *Tami Pokorny and Rob Harbour will go through the storymap project photos and post them by 10/3/23. *Tami Pokorny will add an item to the next JC CFCOC meeting agenda to continue the discussion on sponsor communication.