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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022 10 04 CFFCOC Special Meeting Final Summary  * Decisions and action items are indicated in bold font. Members Present: Mary Biskup, District 1; Guy Dobyns, Vice Chair, District 3; Rob Harbour, Interest – Working Lands; Richard Jahnke, Interest – Coastal Areas; Cameron Jones, Interest – Equity; Kalyn Marab, District 3; Joanne Pontrello, Jessica Randall, Interest – Ecosystem Services; District 2; Ron Rempel, Interest – Wildlife Conservation Biology; Craig Schrader, Interest – Climate Change; Dave Seabrook, Chair, Interest – Food Security; Dave Wilkinson, District 1 Members Absent: Phil Andrus, District 2 County Staff Present: Tami Pokorny, Environmental Public Health Others Present: Rebekah Brooks, Recorder (Rebekah Brooks Contracting), Gus Johnson (Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group [HCSEG]) I. Call to Order Chair David Seabrook called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. II. Welcome and Introductions III. Approval of Minutes Joanne Pontrello moved to preliminarily approve the April 29, 2022 draft minutes; Guy Dobyns seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Guy Dobyns moved to accept the April 5, 2022 draft minutes; Richard Jahnke seconded. The motion passed unanimously. IV. Guest Observer Comments None V. Old Business Final 2022 Cycle Funding Awards Tami Pokorny announced that the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) approved the CFCOC recommendations for the Ruck Salmon Creek and Quimper Wildlife Corridor projects. Mary Biskup pointed out that there was about $20,000 in leftover funds. VI. Sub-committee Reports There were no reports. VI. New Business Big Quilcene River: Moon Valley Acquisitions Project: Request for Acreage Reduction Tami Pokorny explained that Jefferson County is not eligible to sponsor this project because part of the project is in Mason County. In order to move forward with this funding request, the HCSEG is sponsoring the project through the County. Tami reminded the Committee that it was important to be mindful of the project resolution, which did not specify acreage, although the application does. Gus Johnson expounded on the project changes. The property is in escrow now, and as the paperwork was being reviewed, Tami noticed there was a discrepancy between the acreage on the application and the acreage that is actually being acquired. Originally, the landowners did not want to sell their entire parcel, so three options were drawn up. The landowners selected option 3, which included 45 acres. However, the landowners changed their minds and ultimately decided on moving forward with option 2, which is 24 acres. The HCSEG is now seeking permission from the CFCOC to continue forward with the acquisition at the reduced acreage. The group discussed the ramifications of the change and Gus clarified questions about the map, restoration plans, and funding. The landowners will receive less compensation for the smaller sale, and the balance of between $40,000 to $60,000 will go into replanting, fencing, and stewardship of the property. The full riparian zone is still contained in the acquisition, and all of the future processes and all design and restoration plans, including the ability to meander the channel, will continue in place. The agreement with the landowners includes their consent to any restoration or flooding effects to the rest of the property. The Committee agreed to approve the new contract with the reduced acreage. Mary Biskup moved to let it be known that the CFCOC was aware of the acreage reduction and still felt that the project had full conservation value. The CFCOC recommended approval of fully funding the new contract. Ron Rempel seconded. Discussion on the motion included a question from David Seabrook about whether the difference in the purchase amount could be retained with the CFCOC fund. Gus explained that the entire amount provided by the CFCOC was needed to meet match requirements for the State Salmon Recovery Funding Board and Department of Ecology Floodplains by Design grants. The motion passed unanimously. Gus thanked the Committee for seeing the value in the acquisition and allowing the HCSEG to proceed with the project. Bylaws Update David Seabrook reminded the group that recommendations for changes to the Bylaws had been made by the Committee and forwarded to the County attorney, but they had not heard back yet. Tami Pokorny said she still has not heard back from the attorney. She has requested a meeting prior to the next CFCOC meeting, but received no commitment from the attorney. She intends to continue asking for a meeting. She clarified that the Bylaws are required to be reviewed by the Committee every two years and need approval by the County attorney. David Seabrook suggested writing a letter to the County administrator detailing the process and asking for direction so that the Committee can meet its administration requirements. *Tami will seek direction from the County administrator on this issue and follow up with the CFCOC at their next meeting. Application Process Tami Pokorny opened discussion on the annual opportunity to review the application process, adjusting how projects are seen and what applicants focus on, while making sure the associated documents reflect the priorities of the CFCOC. She gave an overview of the schedule, which starts with project applications and site visits in March; followed by presentations, scoring and ranking, and final recommendations for funding to the BoCC from April to June; and any program changes submitted in December. The documents need to align so that applicants can address everything in their project presentations. Manual, Application and Scoresheet Mary Biskup pointed out that the alignment between the application and scoresheet seemed to work well last year, but requested removing the reference to “on the farm” in section 10.b. of the Application. Jessica Randall brought up her work with the Bocc and State and federal offices to develop a new measurement system for valuating different types of lands. A current rubric is from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and integrates issues like climate change, species decline, culture, and social justice to evaluate ecosystem services. She suggested revising CFCOC documents with these priorities in mind, making use of some of these new tools. Cameron Jones echoed Jessica’s ideas, adding that it would be nice to go over the documents with fresh eyes in regard to equity and culture; there might be time in the schedule to at least make some small changes this round. Ron Rempel proposed building on the three top objectives that were added to the application last year. A subcommittee was formed with Cameron Jones, Jessica Randall, and Ron Rempel. The group discussed ideas including expanding on open-ended questions in the application, short-term and long-term approaches to document revision, new resources available, and considering project scale. A second subcommittee with Cameron Jones, Kalyn Marab, Tami Pokorny, and Jessica Randall was formed for the new members to review the application and scoring process. The new member subcommittee will meet on 10/12/22 from 3:00 to 5:00 PM; the document revision subcommittee will be scheduled after that. Dave Wilkinson went over some changes he had for the manual on pages 11 and 12 regarding conservation values in section 5.d. He recommended changing the reference about conservation values in the Project Changes paragraph to “changes to conservation or protection goals,” to be consistent with the application. Discussion followed on language in the documents regarding “goals,” “objectives,” and “measures.” Dave proposed changing the word “goals” to “measures” in the section 16.e. of the application, and to change the word “objectives” to “measures” in the corresponding section of the manual. Funding Round Calendar Tami Pokorny went over the Draft 2023 Round Calendar. The next CFCOC meeting is scheduled for 11/8/22 at 4:00 PM. Presentations to the BoCC will be made in December. Site visits will be on 3/28/23, project presentations on 4/4/23, and the scoring and ranking meeting on 4/25/23. The group discussed hybrid meetings; the limit is six people, 50% capacity, in the Jefferson County Public Health Pacific Room until Covid requirements are lifted. VII. Announcements/Administrative Staff Update David Seabrook announced his resignation from the CFCOC due to overcommitment. Despite greatly enjoying the Committee, he has decided to resign before the next funding round. David expressed excitement for the future of the CFCOC. His resignation will be effective at the end of the month. Tami Pokorny thanked the interview committee for their help bringing in the new CFCOC members. Next Meeting The next CFCOC meeting will be held on 11/8/22 at 4:00 PM. VIII. Guest Observer Comments The group thanked David Seabrook for his service with the CFCOC. IX. Adjournment Chair David Seabrook welcomed the new CFCOC members and adjourned the meeting at 6:00 PM. Action Items: *Tami Pokorny will seek direction from the County administrator on the Bylaw revision process and follow up with the CFCOC at their next meeting. Meeting summary prepared by Rebekah Brooks.