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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-03-12 KRSMA Board PacketE~1 I I Special Management Area "Working iogefhec_tor the river" QD~I~~OG,3~ ~ OQG°~D ~x* Meeting Agenda*** Wednesday; Nlarch 12; 2003 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center ---~.~-....,.w__.~„_~~„ ~ ~ „ ¢€_ I. CALL TO ORDER ~ nn~yq~}(g~%' It;. ; ,..A. ~ F.l1fJ,L A. Roil Call B. Approval of 2i20i03 minaies ~ ~--~ C. Agenda Changes and Approval ~ ` ~._~.,.' ~~ ~ B..y~ II. PUBLIC C~idIMENT III. NEW BUSINESS A. City of Soidotna's Proposed Wafer and Sewer Line hnprovements, Rick Wood IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Soldotna Bridge Crossing, J`cdy Dougherty, DOT B. Boat Wake Shtdy, Lance Trasky C. Moratorium on new Kenai River Sportfishing Guide Permits for 2003, Update, Chris Degernes D. Water Quality Committee Report, Charles Quaa'e E. Commercial Operator Committee Report F. Kenai River Center Update, Suzamre Fisier V. PUBLIC COMMENT VI. ADJOUR1Vi\IENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting Committee Meetings: Recreation L7se Committeee Meeting, 5:00 pm, 3/12/03 at the Kenai River Center's small conference room ~~ Kenal Area Office, Box 1247, Soldotna. AK 99669, Soldotna 2625581 Kenai ~ninsula Borough, Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669, Soldotna 2624441 p Alaska Division of Parks and Outtloor RecreaHOn, Department of Natural Resources, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough. KENAI RIVER SPECIAL MANAGEMENT AREA ADVISORY BOARll *** Meeting Agenda*** Thursday, February 2Q, 2003 7:00 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Rol! Call Present: Rick Wood. Ted Wellman, Robin West, Charles Quarre, Pete Sprague, Bill Shuster, Lance Trasky, Chris Degernes, Joe Connors, David Westerman, Ben Ellis, Roland Maw, Paul Shadura, and Jim Golden Absent: Linda Snow, Donne Slemons, and Ken Lancaster B. Approval of 1/16/03 minutes Approved as written C. Agenda Changes and Approval Added to new business will be a recognition award by Ben Ellis. II. PUBLIC COMMENT Jeff Kh1g asked the board to send a letter to the Board of Fisheries to endorse and support the morato....m and the guide program. This shotrid i.^.~~,aae a request to not impose n.ore day and hoiu restrictions. Jeff quoted a paragraph from the Kenai. River Comprehensive Management Plan which stated that at the time the plan was written the advisory board did not feel it was appropriate at that time to impose area, time and trip restrictions on the guides. It would enhance the cooperative spirit among guides and encourage them to work on the public process for the guide limitation program that the moratorium will provide. Jim Golden asked when the management plan was written and what Jeff s feelings were on the guide limit. Jeff said the Comprehensive Management Plan was adopted in 1997 and he was surprised at the last meeting that everyone was opposed to the change the Deputy Commissioner made to the moratorium. Jeff said the change makes the moratorium defensible because there is an avenue for new guides to get a permit. Dave Westerman said this seems like a social. issue. He said if there was a biological issue, the Board of Fish would address it, but wonders if the Board of Fish would even consider addressing this issue. Joe Connors would like to address this issue later in tonight's meeting, during the discussion on the guide moratorium. Mel Erickson, fishing guide from Soldotna, said he supports what Jeff King commented on and said we should wait until a final plan is developed during the moratorium before any new restrictions are considered for guides. He also informed the Board that the Borough wants Parks to enforce the Personal Property Tax collections for the guides. He said that is the Borough's job, not State Parks, and is opposed to it. III. NEW BUSINESS A. RecognitionAward=Benpresehted apiagtie to TedfromfneBoard, thanking him for serving as Board President for several years, and recognizing him for his outstanding leadership and dedication to the Kenai River from 1999 to 2003. B. ADOT Milepost 45-60 Update, Sally Morrell, HDR Sally said not much has changed to date. DOT is still working on the analysis of the various routes in preparation for narrowing the list to fewer options. The current list of route alternatives still includes several on both the north and south side of the river valley. Sa11y said they plan on refining the list and discussing options between ADOT, HDR and FHWA next week. Chris Degernes asked what criteria FHWA would be looking at to distinguish altematives that move forward. Sally said they look at the same criteria as we do. Since FHWA is the ftimding agency, they have more advisory status in the project and ADOT has to meet certain standards of design and efficiency. Lance asked which alternatives are looking the best at this time. Sally said at this point, all alternatives on the North side and one on South side will Likely be carried forward, plus the no build alternative, which is required. She said in the next few weeks we should have a list of alterna±ives for the drafC EIS. Bill Shuster asked who the main contact is for the Federal Highway Administration for this project. Sally: Tim Haw, Juneau. Dave Westerman asked when the next stakeholder meeting would be. Sally said they hoped it would be soon, but it would not be scheduled until after the alternativelist is narrowed so that it can be presented at the next meeting. Ted Wellman said this project has beeri in the plahning stage for a long time and wants a definitive timelirie~for when the planningwill be done and the project is --._ Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Soard Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page 2 of ll actually scheduled to go to construction. .Tim Golden said the northern routes were not the desirable routes a few years ago because of the brown bear study. And now we see according to your comments the priority may include the northern routes, which could delay the project further. Sa1Iy that the review team is looking at all the impacts with each alternative route, and currently only the Russian River route is pretty much out of consideration. David Westerman said in an email from Glenda Landua, FHWA expressed concerns regarding some of the alternatives, and has requested a more thorough investigation of the alternatives including additional analysis of traffic data, cost and wildlife data prior to the release of the evaluation criteria document. He said this was why the stakeholders meetings have beer.. cancelleu lately.. Dave Westerman asked if this board has taken any action on this issue or is it neutral. Ted Wellman said we have been briefed quite a lot but we have not received anything concrete enough to make a recommendation. Ted said we should reach a point where we can weigit in. Ben Et1is said that could be when we receive a list of identified alternative routes. Chris said in the early 1990's there was a decision made by the board recommending the Juneau Creek bypass, but this was when we had less information available on some of the issues involved. C. Riverquest RV Park Subdivision, Suzanne Fisler Currently the property is not subdivided; if is leased outin smalTparcels. One lot in the new subdivision request would roughly equal 2 % of the lots in the current RV Park now. These meet the Borough's minimum standard of 6000 square feet, as Tong as on-site sewer and wat`cr are provided. The Borough Planning Dept. staff has submitted a request for more informatier,, which should be available at the next meeting. The original proposal was for the current leasers to buy into a coop and ptuehase rights to their 20' x 40' lots. Now the property owner is looking at a subdivision process, which is a better idea from the river's standpoint. The property has a current DEC approved septic and water system for a community that is seasonal, meaning that it can only be used for 6 months a year and serve a set number of users. If there were no community septic and water system, the minimum Borough lot size of 40,000 square feet would apply. KPB has no authority over water and sewer issues. The Borough is asking for an As Built survey that shows the location of the utilities related to the parcels. The Borough is also asking for a new design plan. because the current design plan would create parcels that would be undevelopable (within the 50' habitat protection corridor) along the Kenai Kcrtai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page3o[ll River channel and the slough and this is contrary to Borough code. Ted Wellman asked how the water and sewer can be DEC compliant if it only operates seasonally and what prevents people from building there to live year round. Suzanne said the property owner and DEC would have to work this out. Jim Golden asked if this would close down public access to the boat ramp. Suzanne said the ramp couldn't be closed to the public because it is on the section line easement. Public parking is available on the State side of the easement. Rick Wood asked what kind of septic system they have. Suzanne said she was not sure but it is located across Ciechanski Road. Ted Wellman said this board should be kept apprised of this situation because we know that people will be living down there year round even though they are not supposed to. D. Boat Wake Study Phase II, Lance Trasky Lance spoke to the Corps in late January. Dr. Maynard proposed a couple of ideas, inchtding an assessment of historical. bank erosion using aerial bank photography and an in-season real time assessment of the effects of wakes on habitat. The important issue right now is funding. The study could cost as much as $300,000. We are running out of time for them to geC up here and start this study. Another factor is the need for buy-in from key people to move forward, and the need for someone to Shepard this project along. Chris asked if there is any federal money available to match the Corps money. Lance said yes there maybe monies available. Chris said DNR put in a CIP request for stateside funding. We are trying to build broader support for this project. 'Paul said that Senator Stevens had money corning to the Kenai River for habitat restoration and maybe a portion of that could go to this project. E. Habitat Division Reorganization, Lance Trasky Executive Order 107 transfers Fish & Game statutory authority for protecting fish habitat to DNfc: This removes F&G from roles in Forest 1'racticesin Alaska. This exectttive order goes to the Legislature and they have 60 days to act on this. If they approve it or do nothing it will take effect on April 15, 2003. Some employees are to beu2oved to DNR;'of 85 employees about 35 will be transferred. Thisis being promoted as a streamlining proGe`ss, but it will actually slow the Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -1' ebruary 20, 2003 Page 4 of ll process down. Right now most permits are issued in 14 days. About %z% or all permit requests are denied out of 60,000 projects over the last decade that addressed fish habitat. Rick Wood asked what would happen to the 50!50 Cost Share Program. Lance said he does not know right now. Rick Wood said that only 35 will be moved to D?`IR and now DNR will do all that work with 50 less people to issue permits. Joe Connors said he is not in favor of this and would like to make a motion to send a letter expressing such displeasure. Dave Westerman seconded the motion. Roland Maw said that DNR is going to now make the decision for all permit activities affecting anadromous streams. Who should determine what an anadromoas stream is'? Will the Deputy Commissioner have legislative approval prior to the conformation proceeding on this issue? Lance said there is no requirement for that. Lance Trasky said that the Fishways Act and Anadromous Stream Act is contingent on whether the commissioner determines it provides for the proper protection offish and game. He said that neither the Fishways Act nor the Anadromous Stream Act provide for protection to fish habitat, without vigilance by the Commissioner. Paul said the Legislature does not know much about this issue. He is worried the vote will not go to the floor in 60 days. There is a need to push the Legislature to hold hearings. Roland Maw supported what Paul said. Our letter to the legislature should also reflect comments made by the board members. Robin West said it is obvious this issue is a political one. This is a "no brainer" For this board to support this issue. The loss of the Habitat Division vai11 be a huge setback for what we are trying to accomplish onthe Kenai River. Ted Wellman agreed with Robin. The protection that comes with the Habitat Division is going away. He urged no delay and stated he was comfortable voting tonight. Paul said only way this will be heard is if the public Domes out in strong opposition and with. strong comments. Chris Degernes said this vote should be a vote. for what is good for the river, which would be a division of power as we make better decisions based on a wide Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -February 20, 2003 PageSofll variety of voices and perspectives. Ben Ellis made a revised motion to write a letter to the legislatrue. The Board vote was unanimous in support. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Update on Kenai River Sportfishing Guide Moratorium for 2003, Chris Degernes Since the January board meeting when the latest decision was made, several appeals have been submitted. There has been no action taken on those by the Commissioner's office so far. Joe Connors asked how many appeals have been made. Chris replied that DNR had received 5 appeals and one letter asking for a meeting to discuss the issue. Joe Connors made a motion to write a letter to the Commissioner of DNR to get public process started on this moratorium. Ted Wellman seconded the motion. After brief discussion, the Board voted unanimously to support sending a letter to Commissioner hwin. Joe Connors made a motion that a letter be sent to the Board of Fish to endorse and support'the moratorium, and ask them not to impose any day and hour restrictions. Bill Shuster seconded the motion. Ted Wellman said he couldn't support it as proposed. He said he can support the first half of the motion regarding the support of the moratorium, but he can't support that we would recommend Time and area restrictions not be considered by the Board of Fish. He recommended that the letter advise the Board of Fish on past actions of the Board, including some of the language in the Kenai River Comprshen;ive Maragemerrt Plan relating t~ numeri,c limits for guides being preferable to time and area restrictions. Roland Maw agreed with Ted. The first part of the motion is ok. Paul. Shadura would support a letter to the Board of Fish based on the first part of the motion. Ben Ellis said historicallythis board has stayed away from allocative issues between commercial and sport fishing. He also recommended that the Board avoid issues relating to allocation between guided and non-guided users. Kenai River Special Mauagemenf Area Advisory Board Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page 6 of 11 Pete Sprague made a motion to amend this motion to only ask for support of the moratorium. and delete reference to days and hours. Robin West seconded this motion. Roland Maw asked if there was any intention in either motion to include comments from the Kenai River Comprehensive Management Plan. Ted said it was his intention to put this into context. He would like the Board of Fish to know this is a social problem this board is addressing and this is what we have done. Vote on the amendment to the motion: All in favor, except Joe Connors is opposed. Motion passed. A. Water Quality Committee Report, Charles Quarre Charles reported that the Committee reviewed the draft hydrocarbon strategy of DEC from the last meeting. DEC wanted suggestions on this draft strategy. Some of the suggestions included sampling on different days and times, different types of sampling; inventory the 2 and 4-stroke boat motors and count the boats on sampling days. The cost of this strategy was estimated between 100 - $200,000. DEC will develop a draft and present at a future meeting. C. Commercial Operator Committee Report, Joe Connors The moratorium was the first issue discussed by the Committee along with the Future of the guiding industry. This industry is a very viable part of this community and it has been hard for them to get support from the local community. The End of Season Use Reports were also discussed and Joe wanted to compliment State Parks on their great job, there were 100 citations sent out, which meant about 250 people did not get citations. T•he Kenai Borough resolution for property and sales tax issue was discussed. This seems like an attempt to single out guides in terms of one more requirement for them to make to receive their permit. Now the Borough wants DNR to enforce it. Our position is that this is not appropriate for State Parks to become the enforcement agency for the Borough in terms of taxes. The last item discussed was the 5-6 orientation sessions that are set up between March and June. Guides will be assisting in some of the presentations, including sessions on proper catch and release methods. Committee had hoped to start the "mentoring ptrogram" this year but that will not happen, but;next year we should be able to get this process moving. - Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board. Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page 7 of 11 Jim Golden asked Pete about the tax issue. Pete said the administration brought this request to the Assembly, and there was no opposition expressed at the Borough Assembly meeting. Roland asked if there has been a problem with this in the past. Suzanne gave a brief history about the start of the sales tax issue. This started in 1984 when the Kenai River Guide program was put together there were a body of guides getting business licenses, Coast Guard licenses, and were paying sales tax. They felt it was appropriate for others in this industry meet those standards. The regulations were put in place to require certain standards be met. Questions brought up in the committee meeting include how to assess taxes on nou-resident guides and guides based off the peninsula. There are no other industries on the peninsula that Suzanne knows of that require the business to be in compliance with their sales tax account to get their business licenses renewed or to conduct their business. The committee was not in favor of having Parks move forward and enforce this for the Borough. Suzanne would like a recommendation from the board one way or the other and we would like to continue to talk to the Borough about this. At any rate, it can't be imposed on guides this year as the annual letters have already been mailed and it would be inappropriate to require something new at this point. Roland Maw asked if the list of guides is available to the Borough. Suzanne replied that it is as it is public information. Suzanne suggested that before a guide is issued a letter stating they are in compliance with their sales tax payments, the Borough could ascertain that they are also in compliance with their personal property tax at the same time. The Borough could then withhold the sales tax compiiarce form until the personal property tax is collected. D. Kenai River Center Update, Suzanne Fisler • Fairweather Geophysical withdrew the Kenai River 2-D seismic program that was to be condi.teted in the lower river today. • Executive Order 106 moves DGC to DIVR. The benefit of having it in the Governor's office before was that it gave the Division. a sense of impartiality and it gave the applicant and the resource agencies the ability to interact with an impartial entity about their projects. It also provided a tremendous public notice mechanism for their projects and also provided local governments input into these coastat management reviews. She said she is hotsure if we will lose those oppor[unities for input. V. PUBLIC COMMENT Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page 8 of 11 Bob Strauss, a leaseholder at Riverquest RV Park since 1996, stated that last fall's flooding inundated portions of the RV Park. The proposed lots are not much different than what is there now. The water and sewer lines connected to the island consist of one line each running along the bridge to the island. There are no underground lines mm~ing to the island. We have complied with the 50' habitat ordinance for any changes on his lot Ed Beddow is representing the island leaseholders at Riverquest RV Park. He was an engineer and builder involved with all the bank restoration work after the 1995 flood at Riverquest. The owner has met the DEC compliance with the septic system now, but if the subdivision goes through, it is questionable whether the system will be in compliance. The bridge put in by the owner within the last year has not been inspected. The water piping is make shift and not code compliant. There is no grounding system on the island. If there is another flood, part of the bridge could be taken out with it along with the water and sewer lines attached to it. There needs to be further studies done on this proposed subdivision plan. The bank on the island is eroding and some individuals have utilized the 50/50 program to protect the bank habitat. Rick asked about the hazardous waste mentioned. Ed said a report was forwarded DEC of containers on the back portion of the property that are leaking. No one knows what is in the containers at this time. Lance asked if the septic system is located in the wetlands behind the subdivision on the back side. Ed said itis prior to the wetlands. ' - Jeff King of Ridgeway said the moratorium is just a time out to create a clear atmosphere from which to build this program. He asks that the letter being sent Co the Legislature have passages quoted from the Kenai River Comprehensive Management Plan that pertain to numeric limits as opposed to days and time restrictions. VI. AD70L'RIVMEl'sT A. Board CommenEs Pete Sprague said the Borough Assembly rnet with the Legislative delegation and during comments, Paul Seaton mentioned that he had conversation with Mayor Dale Bagley regarding some land selections on Kenai Lake. Mayor Bagley is interested in trying to get additional lands along Kenai Lake. Pete said that one of the board priorities is to riy to get more lands into KRSMA, Robin West said he wished we could have supported the guide industries interests Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory $oard. Minutes -February 20, 2003 Page 9 of ll here, but he feels it is inappropriate for this board to strongly influence the Board of Fish with our opinions and our message should allow them to read between the lines. Roland Maw encouraged the board to see if the Commissioner of DNR will designate an official contact for this moratorium issue. Rick Wood does support Roland's comment. And he will be bringing to the next meeting a draft of the water and sewer plans for Funny River Road by the City of Soldotna. It is in the design phase now but we should have a draft to present to the board next month. Lance Trasky thanked the board for the card and all the support. Chris Degernes requested that Pete Sprague initiate another assembly resolution in support of KRSMA lands additions in light of the new State administration and legislature. Joe Connors encouraged by board members comments regarding the guiding industry, but he is still concerned. He said he believes there are ways to deal with this without restricting days and hours. Bill Shuster said he is pleased to announce the completion and publication of the Russian River Withdrawal the USFS has been working on for a number of years. This closes the area from Lower to Upper Russian hake from mineral development. The existing mining claims in that area are null and void. The improvements will be removed and this area is safe from mining development for ZO years. Paul Shadura said the board should access the ear of Allan Austerman to discuss the guide industry concerns and hear about our consensus on the moratorium issue. Jim Golden recommended that the Kenai River management plan comments be included in the letter to the Board of Fish. Dave Westerman said a lot of people will be happy with the Russian River Withdrawal. Ben Ellis said he doesn't think any actions Taken tonight speak against the guiding community. This board is weighhrg all aspects for the river's health and user groups. He said what we did tonight was to encourage the Board of Fish to embrace the moratorium idea. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board - - Minutes -February Z0, 2003 Page 10 of 11