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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-20 KRSMA Board Packet.N a, 9e ii/ A:ea "Working together...for the river" :~~-k Meeting Agenda's** Thursday, November 20, 2003 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Cali B. Approval of IO/i6103 minutes C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT III. NEW BUSINESS LQDbO~©G°3~I ~ OG1G3© '~ ~~ e ~~ ~ ~~ r A. Kenai River Hydrocarbon Study ?003, Tim Stevens and Kent Patrick- . Riley, ADEC B. Update on Contaminated Sites, Tim Frechione, ADEC C. Kenai River Guide Limitations -where do we Qo from here? IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Kenai River Center Update, Suzanne Disler V. PUBLIC COMMENT VI. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting ~ C'{r~~-, Kenai Area Office, Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 262-5581 ,, Kenai Peninsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna AK 99669, Soldotna Z62-4441 , , ~ Alaska Oivrsion of Parks antl outdoor Recreation, Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Kenal ~ninsula Borough. _ KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY BOARD Thursday October 16, 2003 7:00 pm Kenai River Center CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:05pm by Vice Chair Robin West. President Ken Lancaster was unable to attend. A. Roll Call Members Present: Chris Degernes, Jim Golden, Tom Vania, Linda Snow, Rick Wood, Paul Shadura, Pete Sprague, Ted Wellman, Dave Westerman, Roland Maw, Robin West. Members Absent: Jonne Slemons, Ken Lancaster, Joe Connors, Bill Shuster B. Approval of May 15, 2003 minutes: The minutes were approved as written. C. Agenda Changes and Approval: There were no changes made. II. PUBLIC COMMENT Dwight Kramer, Chair of the Fish &Game Advisory Committee told the members he is seeking input regarding guide numbers during their upcoming winter discussians. Dwight supported the moratorium last year. He would like to establish a baseline guide number with public input through the various user groups, and urged the KRSMA Board to consider working with their group. ill. NELV BUS6NESS A. Gary Morrison, Parks Director Chris Degernes introduced Parks' new Director, Gary Morrison. Gary said he appreciates the opportunity to meet all the board members and would like to work with the KRSMA board on the many issues the board faces. Gary then gave background on himself: 38 years in Forest Service, with half spent in Alaska mainly in the Juneau and Sitka area. He has been working on getting a sense of issues within the State Parks in these past 5 months, and has visited all the main areas of Alaska State Parks. Gary said the advisory boards are critical to Alaska State Parks with the Kenai River high on the agenda. He told the board the Governor has tasked him with 2 priorities: seek to save money in the operations of park units by contracting out some units; and second: focus on the management of the Kenai River. Paul: Guide moratorium was enacted by the previous administration and the present administration discontinued it. With the Kenai River being such a high priority does the Governor have plans fior limiting guides? Gary: The guide moratorium could not withstand a legal appeal, so was set aside. Gary said he would like to see some analysis done that can withstand the test of the law. F&G are apparently going to do an assessment of guide issues not only on this river but other rivers within the state. Suggested the board work with F&G. Concern: it will take a number of years. Gary said he would Tike to find the money to finish the boat wake study. He said COE has some money to help with additional studies, but needs a match of non- federal money. Gary said the pctential for any staffing changes on the Kenai River is unlikely: no additions and no less that what we have presently. Ted: wants a commitment from DNR on finding an acceptable process to follow dealing with the guide issue. He said we have been down this road many times only to find out the process used was not legal to do. Ted said the board needs confidence in what is legal. He added the board needs someone proactive to say what specific guidelines must be met before we do more studies. Gary: Agreed we need to know what the process wil! be. Would like to work with the Board and others to establish appropriate guidelines. B. Soldotna Urban Project ~ Sterling Highway MP 45-tiQ Project Updates, DOT Project Managers Judy Dougherty and Miriam Tanaka Judy Dougherty gave the update on the Soldotna Urban Project (Kenai River bridge project). There wilt be a temporary bridge on the upstream side of the current bridge. There would have been too many impacts to Riverside Lodge if the temporary bridge had been located on the downstream side as originally proposed. Judy said they are working with DEC on the River Terrace side. They will be driving piles and DEC will still be able to work on their test wells. Judy brought a handout with picture and a plan sheet which outlines the project. The new bridge will be about 25 feet longer on the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 2 of 7 Minutes -October 16, 2003 Homer side. The contractor will have to provide a navigation plan as the project will impact normal boating patterns. One channel or the other will need to be open between 6115 and 8/15 between the hours of Sam to 7pm. Outside of these dates and times, it is expected that the river will be closed to boating. Paul: Asked if a barge will be used on the river: Judy said that a barge is not needed for this project like it would have been with the clear span bridge idea. Pete: Will pedestrians be able to get across the temporary structure? Judy said pedestrian traffic will not be accommodated for the 2 years they will be constructing due to the narrowness of the temporary bridge and wiring and such that could harm pedestrians. Ted: Asked what the timeline for this project will be. Judy said it will go out to bid in Jan/Feb 2004; the contractor should be awarded in April with work to commence by June 15. Work will continue through 2005 with wrap up in the spring of 2006. Miriam Tanaka (AD®T) and Mark Dalton (HDR) then reported on the Sterling Highway Project 45-60. Miriam said the last time she talked to the board there were 10 alternatives identified: They have been evaluated and out of those, 3 alternatives and a "no build" alternative have beemidentified. Evaluation was done with public meetings as well as agency meetings. Mark Dalton then reviewed the 3 alternatives: "Cooper Creek Alternative", "'G' South Alternative, "Juneau Creek `F' Wilderness Alternative" and the "No- ouiid AiternatiVe". A haiidOUt W£zS Siippiied tG the 1'iGard mieiiiberS outlining these alternatives. Key concerns are the wetland identification and identification of sensitive plant species on USFS lands. Mark suggested that board members check out their web site for more detailed information: www.sterlinghighway.net. Chris: P.sked Mark ho~,v they chose the alternatives they did. Mark said it is to provide a section of highway that is consistent with the highway on either side of MP 45-60. Other considerations were how well does the highway convey traffic; highway designs and standards; curvature, etc. Paul: Is the plan to take the old bridges out? Mark said if the Juneau Creek alternative is selected, the old bridges would not get attention. Paul said he is interested in the (east impacts possible. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 3 of 7 Minutes -October 96, 2003 Dave W: Asked what happens if the "no build" alternative is chosen. Mark said the "no build" would mean nothing is done to the highway. Dave is concerned about wildlife in the area. Ted: What is the time frame in which decision into-be made on an alternative? Mark: The intent is to have a decision in the winter of 2004105 forgo ahead in 2005. C. Establishing Board Priorities for the 2003-04 season The board members reviewed the list sent out in their packets. Some discussion occurred about the numbering of the priorities. Robin said these are not ranked by priority. Rick wanted to know if there would be funding to complete the Boat Wake Study. Chris said it may still be a tangible goat if grant funds can be secured. Paul said he does not see anything on the priority list that can be taken out. Roland: The title of "Fishing Guide Moratorium" needs to be renamed. For example call it "Fishing Guide Management". Robin: Each of these items was addressed in the comp plan as priorities. Pete: Suggested taking off the numbers and use letters to keep from prioritizing one item over the other. Ted made the motion to remove the numbers and replace with alpha letters. Linda seconded the motion. A!! agreed and a!I bntorl yB3 nn the motion to retype the list with alpha letters. D. Board Vacancies Chris noted there are 2 board seats that need to be filled. There are also 4 board seats up for reappointment: Joe Connors, Ted Wellman, Paul Shadura and Dave Westerman. All four are interested in reappointment. Chris said the board received copies of the applications submitted: John Nelson, Jeff King, Richard Hahn, and Floyd Heimbuch. Motion was made by Ted to forward the applications to the Commissioner without specific recommendation. Pete seconded the motion. Called to a vote and all were in favor. Motion carried. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 4 of 7 Minutes -October 16, 2003 IV. OLD BUSINESS A. 2003 Field Season Report, Bill Berkhahn Bill began the 2003 season presentation by recognizing the 17 volunteers in the Kenai RiverDistrict. The volunteers contributed over 14,000 volunteer hours in the KR units. Volunteers perform a variety of functions: fee compliance, record keeping, visitor info, painting, litter pickup, installing and repairing barrier fences. In addition to the volunteers there are 3 Park Rangers: Don Barber, with 20 years experience, Bill Berkhahn, with 16 years, Jacques Kosto with one season at Parks but previous experience as a FWP Trooper. There was also 1 Natural Resource Tech and 1 Alaska Conservation Corps employee assigned to work on the Kenai River. This staff represents the bare minimum to do what needs to get done in the Kenai River area. Bill said without volunteers they could not do it. Volunteers take care of the routine daily chores especially during peak season when the rangers need to be on the river. Some of the accomplishments this season • Izaak Walton: more tree removal due to spruce bark beetle mortality; young trees are being transplanted into the site. • Bing's Landing: lots of spruce bark beetle infested trees downed there too. • Morgan's Landing: The final stages of the ADA wheel chair accessible fishing platform are close to completion. The funding for this was provided in part by Kenai River Sportfish Inc. • Pillars: Boat ramp repairs. • Pipeline crossing: anew bank closure area was posted and the vegetation is doing wail. • Kenai Flats: Very busy area during the dipnet fishery. Bill said he was disheartened to see 4-wheeler traffic going across the wetlands in this area. • Cooper Landing Boat Launch: There are year round hosts here to help keep the park in good shape. The traffic counter shows 60,000 vehicles stop there each year. "Kids Don't Float" Life Jacket loaner boards currently have 6 displays. This year for the first time, one was placed at Dots Fish Camp. The Kenai River rental boat and inspection program continued. Boating Safety educational. programs continued with training in local schools. Bill then reported on law enforcement. The rangers issued 342 citations so far this year. These were in addition to numerous verbal warnings. 101 guides were cited for their failure to submit End of Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 5 of 7 Minutes -October 16, 2003 Season reports. He gave examples of citations; fees, parking, unregistered boats, 2 guides were sited for violating guide stipulations. An ongoing issue is with capsized boats, with occupants generally not wearing life jackets...Lower river: there were fewer complaints this year that may be attributed to the great king run. Bill then provided special recognition for some outstanding people: Dale and Maxine Dingman, volunteer hosts at the Pillars. From mid- June to mid-August they were up before dawn greeting the public, assisting in any way they could to keep the park operating smoothly. Wayne Dodson, host at Bing's went way beyond the scope of his duties. He rebuilt the Kids Don't Float Life Jacket stations. Jerry and Bonnie Streiby: as visitors and users, they helped a lot in assisting'the hosts, provided the hosts with a fishing trip. Dan Schaaf, who has a place upstream from Bings Landing. Always treated the Bing's hosts with courtesy. He would come in with the newspaper and a fresh loaf of bread, or take the hosts fishing. B. Kenai River Center Update, Suzanne Filler Suzanne said 172 projects for permit action have been submitted from June 15` through the present. Of those, 41 needed permits from DNR. Some of the permits pending are: Gary Galbraith, rock vanes in Cooper Landing; currently waiting for a report from COE, Alaska Rail Road is still having problems with their rock protection near Kenai Lake. River Quest's subdivision plat is on hold. (Pete Sprague said there is a decision to remand and the Planning Commission is looking at 7 areas of concern.) Castaway Cove replaced their bridge. Riverwood Subdivision received a permit to expand their parking lot. The Bateman project, road from Site 17 which crosses wetlands to Honeymoon Cove, is working out a solution with CIRI. CIRI will allow Bateman's to build a private road through CIRI lands, who will in turn do some improvements to culverts. George Siter asked for permit to placer mine along Crescent Creek. It was granted as long as there is no vegetative disturbance within a 200 ft corridor. Fairweather Geophysical Seismic testing in March/April was not completed due to early break up, but is ready to pick it up again this fall. Sam McDowell's property now has water monitoring equipment placed by Mike Lilly to look at the ground water interchange. There is a new ADA fishing area behind the KRC. Suzanne invited the board members to check it out. Suzanne said the "pillars" will finally be removed from the area upstream from the Pillars boat ramp, as they are a navigational hazard. Kenai River Special Managemen4 Area Advisory Board Page 6 of 7 Minutes -October 16, 2003 Suzanne asked the board to think about the following issue regarding floating docks. It has been a stipulation for permittees with floating docks to remove them every winter. There have been several requests from folks who would like to leave them in place and let them go dry on the river bed. Suzanne said some of the floating docks would not be damaging any habitat by leaving them on the riverbed. Roland suggested allowing the non-removal for 1 year to see how that works so DNR would not be locked into a decision. Robin asked folks to think about it and then let Suzanne know. Suzanne handed out a sheet with the 2003 guide statistics. This year there were 5 orientation sessions conducted. In 2004 the orientation will be only for new guides. There were 469 Commercial Use Permits issued for the Kenai Area, of which 387 were Kenai River Guides. Suzanne also handed out a list of guide complaints received this year. Several were guides complaining about other guides. V. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment. VI. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments Paul: Kenai/Soldotna F&G Advisory Committee met last night. Paul said they wanted to know what role this board plays in the river managemen± igg~wA3, Pal it said rt was nice for the chairman Dwight Kramer to address the board tonight and solicit help. Pete: Regarding the Soldotna Bridge project he is concerned about no pedestrian traffic for 2 years across the bridge. Ted: Thanked Gary Morrison for coming down tonight. Roland: Would like to explore legal means of implanting guide limits. He suggested some kind of fee structure, possibly increasing fees. B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting: November 20, 2003 DEC will provide information on the hydrocarbon study done during the past summer --- Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Page 7 of 7 Minutes -October 16, 2003