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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-02-08 KRSMA Board PacketSpecial Management e4rea "Working together...for fhe river" I ~ ~,. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board *** Meeting Agenda*** Thursday, February 8, 2007 5:30 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call B. Minutes Approval C. Agenda Changes and Approval II. PUBLIC COMMENT ZII. OLD BUSINESS A. Guide Advisory Committee report -Russell B. Regulation Process update -Sinclair C. Boat wake study update Sinclair D. Emission and Water Quality Committee Update- Wellman E. Kenai River Center Update -Russell IV. NEih/ BUSINE55 A. Kenai River Flooding Update- Sinclair/Russell B. Presentation on DEC Waterbody Recovery Plan- Stevens C. Report on meeting with Commissioner's Office -Wellman V. ACTION ITEMS A. Discussion and adoption of the guidelines for the Hydrocarbon Remediation Plan. B. Elections (Ken and Joe to vote telephonically). VI. PUBLIC COMMENT VII. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting March 8, 2007 Kenai Area Office, PO Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907-262-5581 tt / ~ ° \ Kenai Peninsula Borough, PO Box 850, Soldotna, AK 99669 907-262-4441 ~~ \ Kenai River Center 514 Funny River Road Soldotna, AK 99669, 907-260-4882 i `- R Flaska Division of Parks antl Ouftloor. Racrea[ioq Depadmenf ^` "~a[ural Resocrces, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula oorough P\ air" r ~"` r IC~ ~~ ~1f'~,~~; Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Thursday, January 11, 2007 5:30 p.m. Kenai River Center I. CALL TO ORDER: In the absence of Ken Lancaster, Ted Wellman will be acting President A. Roll Call Members present: Ted Wellman, Jack Sinclair, George Heim, Brenda Trefan, Robin West, Tom Mania, Rick Koch, Tim Stevens, Dick Hahn, Curt Shuey, Rick Wood, Dick Dykema, Gary Knopp, James Czarneski Members Absent: Ken Lancaster, Joe Connors, Jeni Evans Also Present: Jerry Lewanski, DPOR Director B. Approval of December 14, 2006 minutes A correction was made on Page 3. Dwight Kramer proposed the use of 2-stroke motors "above" the Soldotna bridge. A correction was made on Page 7. Dick Hahn, not Dick Dykema, spoke regarding Mike Crawford's public comment. The minutes were then approved with changes noted. C. Agenda Changes and Approval Item F. Committee Appointments was added under Old Business. Item C. Draft Letter by Curt Shuey was added under New Business. Agenda was approved with changes. II. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. III. OLD BUSINESS A. Guide Advisory Committee Report-Mark Glassmaker Not available; will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. B. Regulation Process Update-Jack Sinclair Jack reported that he received the Summary of Comments on the Proposed Park Regulations today and included the summary in the board packets. Director, Jerry Lewanski was in attendance to answer any questions and take comments back to the Commissioner. Discussion followed on how the results were tallied on the form letters received. Jerry said that these comments were counted; however, substantive comments actually gave more weight to the process. It was asked when the Commissioner would make a final decision. Jerry advised that it is in Commissioner Rutherford's hands. She has not decided what to do Dick Hahn voiced his concern that there are a lot of agencies that are responsible for a piece of the pie and they seem to operate independently. He feels that the management of the river is amulti-agency problem and that agencies in concert could do a whole lot better than agencies singly. Jerry said he could not speak for the Commissioner, but she has quite a history with DNR and is aware of these concerns, which has made her very sensitive to the complexities of manaeine the Kenai River. Ted also stated that Ken talked to Commissioner Rutherford, via telephone, earlier this week and raised that very issue of the need for coordination of the agencies. C. Boat Wake Study Update-Jack Sinclair Brenda advised that this is a working draft. There are 100 pages of data and it will be a very good tool for everyone to use. The process will be to get some peer review done by DEC and other hydrologists, biologists and engineers. The comments will. be sent back to Dr. Maynard, hopefully, by the end of February. She hoped to have a video teleconference set up with Dr. Maynard at the Challenger Learning Center. The question everyone is asking is "what does the study say about the 50hp?". Brenda didn't think that the answer that we all wanted is there. She understood, from the study, that Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -January 11, 2007 Page 2 of 8 changing the horsepower alone is not going to have the results that we want. It has to be included with limiting the boat weight and the size of the boat. Jack Sinclair stated that the study is essentially two pieces of information. One is the boat wake analysis and the other half is the classification and characterization of the shorelines during the eleven mile reach. Robert Ruffner wanted time to read the whole study and encouraged everyone to do the same. The process of a formal peer view and getting public comment needs to be done. Ted requested that th e Bcat Wake Study be on the agenda for the next meeting as a discussion item. Brenda stated that there are copies of the draft available to the public, but to remind everyone that it is only a draft. The deadline for publishing of the report is December 31, 2007. Dick Hahn was concerned that there was not a conclusion and recommendation section in the document. His comment will be, "what are the investigator's recommendations and conclusions." D. Emission and Water Quality Committee Update-Ted Wellman Ted proposed to the board to have aonce-a-month meeting, perhaps on a Saturday, to work on this issue. There was agreement from the Board. Ted stated that the committee was formed to entertain proposals for processing recommendations to various agencies about how to reduce the hydrocarbons on the river. There was a question addressed to Tim Stevens of what role the KRSMA Advisory Board would have in the recovery plan. Tim stated that DEC is looking at several options. Information will be collected from the communities and the scientific communities as well as having all the agencies come to agreement. It has to be a very public process. DEC will have to approve the plan before being sent to EPA. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Soard Minutes -January 11, 2007 Page 3 off S E. Kenai River Center Update-Pam Russell Pam stated she was asked to give a brief update on the Bridge. The bridge is on hold until Maroh due to coldweather. It is difficult to pour concrete with the cold temperatures and the snow load also becomes a problem. She provided an update on the Sterling Highway Bypass. The project manager advised that they are drafting a document. There were four alternatives, but the project manager would not disclose which alternative had been selected. The document will be out by fall. The final draft of the COE Nationwide Regional Conditions is due out on January 16. Pam will get electronic. copies out to the board members so that they can look at them at the next meeting. Finally, the guide packets are being sent out next week. F. Committee Appointments -Ted Wellman Ted provided a brief background for the new board members on the standing committee assignments. We have allowed members of the public to participate as long as their participation did not impede the progress of the committee rnnacc With the Water Quality Committee, which is going to be the Emissions Reduction Strategy Committee, we could limit it to board members or open it up to non-members. Ted discussed this with Ken and determined that it is the prerogative of the president: Non-members would send in an application for one representative of a group to participate on the committee. Ted said he does not want a committee of forty and suggested to the board that it be opened up to other recognized groups and that they send one representative. In the application, they would explain why they want to participate and what they could bring to the table. Ted asked the board for their opinion on this approach. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -January 11, 2007 Page 4 of 8 Discussion followed with the following points being made: • Every committee could have at least one community volunteer. • Concerns of the potential to have a committee of 500 people. Everyone's comments would be welcome and would be open to the public • Decide after the core committee has met a few times. • Encourage seeking members from the science community. Would give final recommendations more beef. • Develop specific objectives for the committee. • Invite the public to participate, but do not appoint them as committee members. Keep it more informal Ted stated that because this is such a hot topic, we may have to have a public comment period before and after meetings. There is a limit to the number of people who can sit down and have discussions. If you are on the committee, you get to participate fully during the whole session. If you are not on the committee, your comments are at the beginning and end as public testimony. The board concluded that a decision did not have to be made toiiigii t. A CGiiiiaiitte% work aeSSioii CCUid be held t0 disc uSo goals and then decide who should be on the committee. The following Committee assignments were made: Permit Committee: Pam Russell, Chair, Ted Wellman, Joe Connors; Dick Hahn, George Heim, Jim Czarneski Recreation Use Committee: Brenda Trefon, Chair, Jack Sinclair Borough Committee: Not needed at this time Water Quality Committee (formally known as the Water Quality/Emissions Strategy Committee): Set up as a committee as a whole. A meeting will be held to set up goals before inviting non-members to participate. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -January 11, 200? Page 5 of 8 Legislative Committee: Ken Lancaster, Chair, Robin West, Jack Sinclair, Dick Hahn Habitat Protection/Restoration Committee: Dick Hahn, Chair, Ted Wellman, Curt Shuey, Gary Knopp, Tim Stevens, Joe Connors Guide Advisory Committee: Joe Connors, Chair, Greg Brush, Cliff Chamberlain, Mark Glassmaker, Monte Roberts, George Heim, Gary Turner, George Pappas, Jacque Kosto IV. NEW BUSINESS A. New Kenai River Ranger Selection-Jack Sinclair Jack intraduced Kenai River Park Ranger Alison Eskelin. Alison will be attending the law enforcement academy in Sitka in February. The other newly hired park ranger, Jack Ransom, will start on Tuesday, January 16. B. Discussion on rules and guidelines for resolutions, action items and other items for board vote-Ted Wellman Ted opened up the meeting for discussion on setting up some procedures on how much notice should be given for an item that is actually going to be voted on at a meeting. The need for these procedures came about when, in the past, items had not been given sufficient public notice for the public to testify or when items were presented to the board at the meetings and the board did not have the opportunity to read and consider it. After discussion by the board, it was agreed to have a procedural rule of two weeks notice for any action item, unless waived by the Chairman. C. Draft letter by Curt Shuey Curt stated that his draft letter, which was addressed to All governing bodies, agencies and groups with an interest in the administration of the Kenai River Special Management Area (KRSMA) and was in reference to the last bullet point on the list of guidelines discussed at the Iast meeting. It referred to the idea of members of the board representing the broad public interest, per the bylaw that reads: "Each Board member carries the responsibility to represent the broad public interest and no Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -January l 1, 2007 Page 6 of 8 member shall consider himself or herself merely an advocate of a specific group. " Curt stated that he was not asking for any action, but wanted input from the board members on the letter. The letter was sent out to the board members by e-mail prior to the meeting to give people time to think about it. The letter explains the responsibility on the board members, as spelled out in the bylaws, to represent the broad public interest. After discussion, Ted stated that the Borough and Cities of Kenai and Soldotna appoint representatives to the board. The idea behind it was we wanted the official position of the city, not the individual representing the city. The public members of the board are expected to vote their conscience. Ted felt that the letter, as written, would be an insult to agency members and imply that they have not been acting with integrity. If a letter is sent, it could be approached differently, saying that we appreciate the efforts made by the municipalities and encourage their participation to consider the broad public interest. Curt stated that he was not trying to be accusatory, but wanted to explain where this Board is coming from. He thought that special interest groups would benefit from reading a letter like this, with wordsmith, so that it still has the content, but doesn't seem like an attack. It was suggested that the Letter be re-written targeted to a specific audience and brought back to the board. V. ACTION ITEMS A. Approving the guidelines for evaluating hydrocarbon remediation proposals. Ted reviewed the handout of a tentative list of guidelines on submitting ideas on ways to reduce the amount of hydrocarbons entering the river. He asked the Board for a motion to adopt the guidelines so that a discussion could be started. A MOTION was made by George Heim to adopt the list, seconded by Dick Hahn. The MOTION was unanimously passed. Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board Minutes -January 11, 2007 Page 7 of 8 Discussion followed, and a date of Saturday, January 27, 1:30pm - 5pm, was set up for a working group. V%. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. VII. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments Tim Stevens stated that he appreciated all the efforts of the Board in establishing a committee to start looking at the hydrocarbon issue. Robin West thanked Jerry for coming and welcomed Alison Eskelin. B. Date/Agenda of Next Meeting Next meeting will be February 8, 2007 at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai River Center. 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