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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-01-18 KRSMA Board Packet~~~~~ ~ Special Ma , gem~ent Ar®a "Working together...Por Pheriver" *** Meeting Agenda**~ Thursday, 7anuary 18, 2001 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Cail B. Approval of 11/16/00 minutes C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT III. NEW BUSINESS A. Kenai River Prehistory, Dr. Doug Reger (EPA funded grant) B. Election of Officers IV. ®LD BUSINESS A. Recreation Impact. Study Committee Report, Chris Degernes B. Commercial Operators Committee Update, Suzanne Fisler C. Quartz Creek Gravel Pit Reclamation Update, Suzanne Fisler V. PUBLIC COMMENT VI. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting < Kenal Area Office, Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-5581 ~'~t~1~ Kenai Peninsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-4441 M ~y(`/,,yB~IMV~ Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Pecreatlon, Department of Natural Resources, In cooperatlon with the Kerial Fkninsula Borough. KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY BOARD Thursday, November 16, 2000 of Soldotna -Council Chambers I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll CaIl Members Present: Jeffrey King, Ted Wellman, Jim H. Richardson, Paul 5hadura, Jim Golden, Brett Huber, Janette Cadieux, Charles Quarre, Tim Navarre, Ken Lancaster (with Rick Wood introduced as City of Soldotna representative), Robin West, Bill Shuster, Glenda Landau (for Lance Trasky), Richard Ross, Chris Degernes, Deric Marcorelle Member Absent: Aim Whitmore-Painter B. Approval of 10/19/00 minutes The minutes were approved as written. C. Agenda Changes and Approval Chairman Wellman stated that the board would be losing a member with Mayor Ken Lancaster being elected as a State Representative. He then offered Ken an opportunity to tender his resignation as the first item before the public comment on the agenda. Ken Lancaster told the board it has been a pleasure to work on this board and that he looks forward to working with everyone in a different capacity in the future. He then recommended Rick Wood take his place on the board representing the City of Soldotna. II. PUBLIC COMMENT III. NE~V BUSINESS Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 20D0 A. Welcome new Board Members Ted welcomed the new board members: Charles Quarre, Janette Cadieux, Brett Fauber and Rick Wood. Ted said there was a mini orientation over din;,er tonight for these board members to discuss board duties. He then asked for each of the new members to introduce themselves. Brett Huber said it's nice to be here and appreciates the opportunity to serve. He looks forward to learning and contributing to the process as time goes on. Janette Cadieux said. this is the first time she has been on a board of this nature. She said she will spend time learning a lot and invited all of the board members to help her out. Charles Quarre said he appreciates being able to serve on the board. As a property owner he said he feels strongly that property owners are stewards of the land and the river, and looks forward to serving. Rick Wood said he feels fortunate to be able to serve on the board. He hopes to bring a lot of resource to the board on what knowledge he does have on the river. Ted commented that this is the first time since August 1998 that all of the board seats have been filled. He appreciates Commissioner Pourchot's actions in making the appointments. B. Summary of EPA Research Grant Awards for the Kenai River, Suzanne Filler Suzazme said the EPA research grant comes from the Borough requesting grant money to support the Kenai River Center for maintenance and operation of the building, but $375k was set aside for research needs. There will be 7 different projects funded with this money. The River Center staff held a series of meetings this past spring/summer where potential proposers could come together and propose a variety ofresearch projects that would provide important information to agencies managing some aspect of the river or to implement a research recommendation from the Comprehensive Management Plan. Staff members from Parks, F&G, KPB, and EPA evaluated and scored all of the proposals, selecting 7 projects that will be funded. Suzanne then told the board she would like to have each of the grant recipients come speak to the board about their projects over the next several months. Mike Lilly and David Nyman will speak tonight about one of the projects. Suzanne handed out the proposal from Mike Lilly that scopes his project on ground water/surface water interactions. She said Mike Lilly does a lot of ground water -surface interaction studies and David 1VTyman does environmental engineering and they have formed a partnership. They have done some work Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2000 out in the Sterling area for Sam McDowell investigating some contamination that occurred at a gas station that seeped into the aquifer. Suzanne said Lilly and Nyman are installing a set of monitoring wells at the Pillars and at the old DOT site in Soldotna. She said they would monitor the soil moisture, the conductivity, the temperature of the soil and the water. The Pillars was chosen because it is a relatively undisturbed site, it is tidally influenced twice a day and there are unknowns about the tidal influence. The old Soldotna DOT yard was chosen not so much for the contamination history as much as it is a site in a very developed part of the lower river and it is not tidally influenced. It is intended that the sites will be monitored for 10 years although at present there is funding for just one year. Suzanne said she is hoping to have the Kenai Watershed Forum or another volunteer group continue to monitor the wells. The unique aspect of the proiect is that Mr. Lilly will have a radio transmit information from the sensors "real time" as it is registering temperatures and from there it is bounced to a radio tower then to the River Center. At the River Center it gets downloaded to a computer and from the computer to their web page. Suzanne said some of the other projects are: • Doug Reger (retired archaeologist from DNR) will complete a prehistory monograph. He will develop a document that reviews the past 25 years of research on the prehistory of the people of the Kenai since the glacial times to the present. • Dick Reger, geologist, (brother to Doug) will document the glacial history of the Kenai River watershed, and describe how the geological forces have formed the valley as we know it today. • Mary Price, USFWS Fisheries Resource Office, will be evaluating the effectiveness of light penetrating grate walks. • Pete Boggs will be preparing a mapping system to classify types of wetlands along the Kenai River. • Some funds have been provided for a citizen water quality monitoring effort. • Morgan Evans will produce a video documenting a historical perspective on the Kenai watershed starting with the glaciers to the present time, and also including the formation of the watershed, the people that lived here, why the system is unique, why we have the fish we have, why there are two distinct runs, why the fish are the size they are and what the wetlands do. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2000 Suzanne said she would schedule the grant recipients to provide information at future board meetings. C. Ground Water Monitoring Study, Mike Lilly and David Nyman Mike stated that most watershed plans focus on surface water issues, and rarely address the relationship between the river and the ground water recharge system. Therelationship between the river and ground water it is not yet understood, but may have a big impact on the viability of salmon eggs and fiy, for example. If the ground water is contanlinated, it could have significant impacts on the delicate life cycle of salmon, which are sponges for hydrocarbons. Very little is known about how much contamination is entering ground water sources, which eventually reach the river. Therefore the idea of this project is to show the interaction between ground water and surface water so the public, land managers and local government can see how these things are connected. Brett asked Mike when he expects to begin monitoring. Mike said it could be as soon as next week. He also said they are installing wells and sensors and during installation the ground is disturbed. To get accurate data it will take approximately two months for the system to get back to natural. The data will be sent to the Kenai River Center and into the Internet. The web address is: http:/lwww.Kenai-watershed.org Brett asked how the information learned from these two sites would be applied to other areas of the river. Mike replied that the water supply level at the Pillars is artesian, and located under a clay layer 30 feet down. A similar clay layer underlies much of the river, but in some areas the layer is thin and allows the artesian water to flow through it and presumably into the river. They're trying to understand the relationship between the surface river water, and ground water that is entering the river. Bill said The Nature Conservancy is doing a surface water quality monitoring program. He asked if these two efforts would coordinate together. The water quality monitoring program might detect problems at one of the testing sites that can be traced to a source, for example. Mike stated they plan to have some water quality tests done at their wells. Janette asked how representative these two sites would be for the lower river section. Mike said these two sites represent two different sites for the lower river area, with one undeveloped, tidally influenced site, and one developed non-tidally influenced site. He thinks the information should be readily transferable for the lower river reaches. D. Establishing Standing Committees for the 2000-2001 season Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November lb, 2000 Ted said there are 5 standing committees: Permit, Recreation Impact Study, Commercial Operators, Borough Committee, and the Legislative Committee. He would like as much participation as possible from board members. He went over the list of members presently serving, explained each committee function and then asked for participants in each committee. Ted said most committees meet sometime before the board meeting or on other days that are worked out with committee members. The committee does not decide anything that is binding but comments to this board for a final recommendation to the agency. Suzanne Fisler chairs the Permit Committee. Suzanne said this committee meets primarily when there are controversial or difficult permit issues to discuss. The committee makes recommendations on denying or approving a permit, and the conditions that should attach to the permit. In 7anuary, the committee may be discussing the restoration of the gravel pit ponds near Quartz Creek. Committee members are: Suzanne Fisler, Chair, Lance Trasky, Ted Wellman, Tim H. Richardson, Bill Shuster, Charles Quarre and Janette Cadielix. The Recreation Impact Study Committee is chaired by Chris Degemes. Chris said this committee would establish the objectives and methods for conducting the study next season. The study will evaluate how people are using the river, what kind of impacts they are experiencing on the river with the idea of deternzining what can be done to improve the recreation experience on the river. Committee members are: Chris Degernes, Chair, Jeff King, Ted Wellman, Paul Shadura, Brett Huber, Charles Quarre, Jim Golden, Rick Wood, Janette Cadieux. Jeff King chairs the Guide Committee. Jeff said this committee has been implementing the recommendations from the Kenai River Comprehensive Management Plan (KRCMP) that have to do with both rental boats and guide activity on the river. Most of the recommendations have been implemented. Committee members are: Jeff King, Chair, Suzanne Fisler, Ted Wellman, Jim Golden, Bill Shuster, Brett Huber, John. Cho, Joe Connors, Greg Brush. The Borough Committee is chaired by Tim Navarre. Tim said the primary focus of this committee is to get the KRCMP adopted by the Borough. Committee members are: Tim Navarre, Chair, Jeff King, Lance Trasky, Chris Degernes, and Ann Whitmore-Painter. Ted then explained that Mayor Ken Lancaster had chaired the Legislative Committee. He said he has asked Ann Whitmore-Painter to chair this committee, and she has agreed to do so. The purpose of this committee is to get legislation passed such as the KRSMA Lands Addition bill. Committee members are: Ann Whitmore-Painter, Chair, Brett Huber, Paul Shadura, Rick Ross, Robin West, Chris Degernes, Jim H. Richardson. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2000 Suzanne said the Kenai River Center is usually available for committee meetings. IV. OLD BUSIivESS A. Recreation hnpact Study Committee Report, Chris Degemes Chris provided some background for the new board members. In 1998 the legislature passed an appropriation to the Department of Fish and Game for $120K for a boat wake study and a vessel overcrowding study. The boat wake study took a lot of time and effort and $60K. That leaves $60K for the recreation impact study: She said the general objectives outlined in the KRCMP call for addressing vessel crowding and other related recreational issues. Chris said this committee would look at the recreation dynamics of the river, how recreational users are using this river regardless of who they might be, and look at the experiences people have on the river. Chris said arecent complexity to look at is a trend of declining sales of sport fish licenses to residents in the southcentral and southeast areas of Alaska. Is the license trend attributed to impacts that people experience on the Kenai River, or are other factors causing the decline? She said Doug Vincent-Lang (ADF&G) proposed that he use some of the money to look at Kenai River anglers to study just this issue. Chris said the committee could help decide and advise what this study should be. Chris said on Monday November 20"' she would meet with Doug Vincent- Lang along with Ted Wellman and Charles Quarre (and any other board members are welcomed to join) in Anchorage. Ted said more work would need to be done by the committee to establish objectives and get this study on track. $. Commercial Operator Committee Report, Jeff King Jeff said the committee meeting had tremendous turnout of the committee with 2 representatives from the guide association. Jeff said Suzanne provided information about complaints from the public related to guides. There were 12 guide complaints from the public from the month of July. However there were 26 complaints from other guides about guides. Joe Connors will help with this as liaison to resolve things among the guides themselves. Jeff said State Parks received 5 letters of complaint from a group of property owners in the Kenai Keys. He said Suzanne, Ted and he would work on a letter to the property owners explaining how we have worked on some of these problems. Suzanne said this is why we need to have an orientation next year again. She Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November t6, 2000 said there would be 7 different sessions with groups limited to no more than 75 per group. The guides will be provided with the scheduled dates soon to help them plan. V. PUBLFC C®iWFMENT VI. E4D30URNMENT A. Board Comments Rick Ross: Rick said the City of Kenai would probably not adopt the entire KRCMP because there are things in it that apply to other communities. He said what he committed to this board about a year ago would be to include those recommendations that apply to the City of Kenai in the comprehensive planning process. Their planning process is expected to begin in Jan. or Feb. Bill Shuster: He talked with Jim A. Richardson and ADF&G about the possibility of some legislation to be directed at encouuaging youth fishing. Following that, he contacted Ken Lancaster and sent him some possible legislation, which would allow ADF&G to draft regulations encouraging youth fishing. Ken stated that he is very supportive of that. Also Bill said the Chugach National Forest is holding a workshop on Friday, Novemberl7 to discuss access issues within the CNF Plan. Paul Shadura: He asked about spawning activity at Liepitz Lake and Tern Lake North since the construction and suggested this could be a topic for a future meeting. Charles Quarre: He said he is honored to be on the board and looks forward to contributing. Glenda Landau: She said she would pass on meeting notes to Lauce. Janette Cadieux: She said she is looking forward to this as a fun challenge. In her professional work she serves the Kenai School District everywhere from Tyonek and Nikiski to Seward so she said she has participated in many of the various land management plans around the area. She is looking forward to this next stage of involvement. Chris Degernes: State Parks is in the process of accepting a donation of 26 acres of wetlands adjacent to Morgans Landing. The donor has subdivided the wetland area from his dry uplands. The new lands are important contiguous wetlands and also are important areas for brown bears. Jim H. Richardson: He said it's great there are three new board members completing the board. It will be an opportunity to get some new perspectives. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board MeeC[ug Minutes November 16, 2000 Brett Huber: Said he is happy to be here. He would like a copy of the committee roster. It would also be really helpful to get advance notice of committee meetings. He also suggested all board members receive copies of committee handouts in the board packets. Robin West He said he is happy to see a full board and welcomed the new board members. He asked for a letter of thanks be sent to Ken Lancaster for of his help tluough the years. Tim Navarre: He too said he is pleased to see a full board. Borough selected lands will be submitted to the Assembly at their next meeting December 12"'. He said the next Boro committee meeting would probably be after the first of the year. Rick Wood: He said he is fortunate to serve on this board and looks forward to serving. Ted: He said Ken was Vice President of this board and since he is no longer serving it would be appropriate to vote for new officers at the first of the year. He also suggested there be no meeting next month as it would Fall on December 21~`and that would be to close to Christmas. He did recommend that committees meet before the January meeting. B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting The next meeting will be on January 18`h, 2001. The meeting will be the first held at the new Kenai River Center. The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 pm. Respectfully submitted, Denise Dutiie, Recording Secretary for the Division of Parlcs and Outdoor Recreation Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Meeting Minutes November 16, 2000