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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021 07 12 CFFCOC Special Meeting Final Summary  * Decisions and action items are indicated in bold font. Members Present: Phil Andrus, District 2; Mary Biskup, District 1; JD Gallant, District 3; Rob Harbour, Interest – Working Lands; Richard Jahnke, Interest – Coastal Areas; Joanne Pontrello, Chair, District 2; Craig Schrader, Interest – Climate Change; Dave Wilkinson, District 1 Members Absent: Scott Brinton, Interest – Agriculture; Ron Rempel, Interest – Wildlife Conservation Biology; Dave Seabrook, Vice Chair, Interest – Food Security; Lorna Smith, Interest – Ecotourism County Staff Present: Tami Pokorny, Environmental Public Health Rebekah Brooks, Recorder (Rebekah Brooks Contracting) Guests Present: Peter Bahls (Northwest Watershed Institute), Sarah Spaeth (Jefferson Land Trust [JLT]), Blaise Sullivan (JLT) I. Call to Order: Chair Joanne Pontrello called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. II. Welcome and Introductions III. Approval of Minutes: Richard Jahnke moved to preliminarily approve the April 27, 2021 CFCOC Meeting minutes as written; Rob Harbour seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The minutes from the April 6, 2021 CFCOC Meeting were accepted without comments. IV. Guest Observer comments: None V. Old Business None VI. Sub Committee Reports None VII. New Business Serendipity Farm Project Closure and Residual Funds Tami Pokorny anticipated $86,600 additional funds would be available to reallocate due to the Serendipity Farm Project closure. She said that everyone did everything possible to try to salvage the project, but the outcome was disappointing. Sarah Spaeth reported that the landowner was not happy with the appraised or reappraised property values, and also decided they were not interested in the restrictions placed on the property, so they terminated the agreement. Expenses were accrued for the appraisal, survey work and other efforts, so JLT was seeking reimbursement from the County and State. The CFCOC reimbursed the JLT at the allowed rate. The returned funds could now be put towards one of the other projects from the 2021 cycle. Sponsor Supplemental Presentations Sarah Spaeth presented on the Quimper Wildlife Corridor, requesting that it be considered for the turned back funds. The Corridor is an ongoing project that has been funded for a number of years by the CFCOC, and was ranked internally by the JLT as the top priority project. Sarah said that Port Townsend residents contribute property tax to the project because it is within the City limits, and that she has heard citizens express concern that the CFCOC should fund projects inside the City limits. Phil Andrus suggested that those citizens who are concerned should give testimony directly to the Committee, where it might have more influence. Mary Biskup was in favor of funding the Quimper project because of its high value to the community. The project request was originally for $100,000. Sarah said that ideally, all of the remaining funds would be directed to this project, and the shortfall would be made up with additional money raised. Dave Wilkinson asked about the ability to raise the remaining funds, and what the viable time frame was for the project if it took more time to raise the difference. Sarah clarified that while some supplementary funds were being raised for this and other projects, the landowners are hoping to sell the Quimper property this fall, so securing additional funding was critical. Peter Bahls thanked the Committee for their participation in the process, but expressed dissatisfaction with the way the NWI projects have been funded in the past. While the NWI projects tend to rank very highly, $18,000 to $20,000 was regularly skimmed off the top of the requested amount to put toward a lower ranking project on the basis that NWI was good at securing additional funds. This year their project ranked second highest and $17,500 was skimmed off to fund projects down the list. The funds that were reduced were designated for the survey, appraisal, management and acquisition-related costs, in addition to administrative costs. He said he would really like to see this project fully funded based on the ranking criteria. Peter suggested that if the Committee really felt like the project should be scaled back, a request limit should be written in to the application guidelines or addressed by an application question about the sponsor’s ability to raise additional funds. Phil asked for some clarification on project costs; Peter explained that while the acquisition amount was granted, there was no money available to actually work on the project because there were no real estate or appraisal funds provided. Rob Harbour asked about the ultimate ownership of the parcel. Most likely, NWI would make the entire purchase, although there was a possibility that the Department of Natural Resources could buy the south half as match. The purchase price was still unconfirmed, but was expected to be between $600,000 and $700,000. Dave asked about the ability of the Committee to recommend funding at a lower level than the ask. Tami confirmed that there was no legal barrier to the Committee making those recommendations. The Committee discussed their process. Phil asked Peter to put his suggestions in writing to the CFCOC so the Committee could go over these issues in more depth during their material revision process. Possible Additional Funding Recommendations Rob Harbour pointed out the two options to the Committee: to fully fund the NWI project first with $17,500, and direct the remaining $69,100 to the Quimper project; or to designate all of the remaining $86,600 to the Quimper project. The group discussed the two options, the merits of the two projects, and the uncertain abilities of both organizations to raise remaining funds. Phil Andrus moved to fully fund the NWI project with $17,500, and the remaining $69,100 to the Quimper Wildlife Corridor project; Mary Biskup seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Rob expressed thanks to the sponsors for their input and looked forward to a constructive review. VIII. Announcements/Administrative Staff Update Tami Pokorny said that Joanne Pontrello did a great job presenting the Committee’s recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners. Some Committee members will need to attend the next presentation with the new recommendations. Next Meeting The next meeting was scheduled for 10/4/21 from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM. It will include review of the bylaws, manual and application questions. Phil Andrus requested any ideas distributed in writing prior to the meeting. *Tami Pokorny said she did not know when the County attorney would have the bylaws reviewed, but she would keep the Committee posted. X. Guest Observer Comments None XI. Adjournment Richard Jahnke moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:18 PM; Rob Harbour seconded. The meeting was adjourned by consensus. Action Items: *Tami Pokorny said she did not know when the County attorney would have the bylaws reviewed, but she would keep the Committee posted.