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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-01-09 KRSMA Board MinutesKenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board *** Meeting Minutes"** Thursday January 9, 2014 5:30 p.m. Gilman River Center REVIEWED BY COUNCIL i Soldotna, AK NO ACTION TAKEN CALL TO ORDER Date: A. Roll Call: Joe Connors, Ricky Geese, Brenda Trefon, Clayton Holland, Andrew Szczesny, Terri Carter, Brent Johnson, Andrew Carmichael, Rick Koch, Jack Blackwell, Tim Stevens and Ted Wellman. Carol Padgett and Monte Roberts telephonically. Guest: Ben Ellis, Alaska State Parks Director; Rys Miranda, Chief of State Parks Design & Construction. B. Minutes Approval: Brent made a correction to the minutes under new business second paragraph. The second sentence will be changed to: "Brent objected that the applicants were never discussed before the board as it is written in the bylaws and this is how the process should work." The minutes were approved as amended. C. Agenda Changes and Approval- Discussion to change the date of the February meeting which is under adjournment. The agenda was approved as amended. II. Public Comments /Presentations -Todd Smith said he is hoping the decision from the Department of Environmental Conservation on whether to list the lower Kenai River as impaired for turbidity standards will be issued prior to the upcoming Board of Fish meetings. DEC is currently working on the 20124 integrated Report to EPA which will determine whether or not the state should list the lower Kenai and Little Su Rivers as impaired for turbidity standards. It is unknown whether this report will be available prior to the Board of Fish meetings which are scheduled for the first two weeks in February. Currently, there are several proposals that have been submitted which may change the management of the Kenai River; this information would be helpful in the consideration of these proposals. 111. REPORTS A. Agency and Government Reports: a. State Parks —Jack Blackwell provided board members with the following report: 1) Parks currently has funding for purchasing property and developing a boat retrieval on the lower Kasilof River. A public process identified a list of locations that could be acquired and a retrieval site developed. At this time, Parks is talking with the Swanson family about the possibility of acquiring their property and developing a retrieval. The Swanson property is approximately 0.5 mile upstream from the Trujillo retrieval site. 2) Ben Ellis attended the Habitat and Guide committee meetings. There was discussion on the Bing's Landing Backline and boat launch improvements. b. DEC — Tim Stevens provided board members with following report: 1) DEC did submit the 2012 integrated report and this report did not propose to list the lower Kenai River for impaired for turbidity. This was based on the information that the Kenai is listed as Category Two and Three water. Category Two water quality standards exceed the recreation standards and Category Three is not enough information to make any determination. DEC is currently working on the 2014 draft Integrated Report was scheduled to be available for public comment sometime in January 2014. They are currently delayed by one month. 2) DEC solicited proposals for grants and two were awarded for projects within the Kenai River area. One is for beach sampling at the mouth of the Kenai River and to include other areas upstream to determine the sources of the bacteria feral coliform. The second proposal is to consolidate the last Five years of the Kenai River baseline sampling and to have a five -year report. This report would contain trends analysis for the past five years and the previous five years. �ctuf�, Kenai Area Office, PO Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 262 -5581 Kenai Peninsula Borough, 144 N. Binkley, Soldotna, AK 99669 907 - 2624441 Gilman River Center 514 Funny River Road, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 260.4882 Masks Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, DepparmeentlAwt�ural �Ress�ources, in coope ation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough e KENHL&ER DU Terri Carter asked where this data was acquired. Tim stated that there are 22 sites that are tested each year for 12 water quality parameters. The Kenai Water Shed Forum has been conducting these tests for several years. c. ADF &G —Not present d. USF &WS —Not Present e. USFS /Chugach- Not Present f. City of Kenai —Rick Koch provided board members with the following report: 1) The City of Kenai held a work session to discuss the 2013 dip net fishery report. There was plenty of public testimony. The City plans on holding a work session to finalize the proposed changes to the management of the fishery. A date has not been determined. 2) The City of Kenai is currently working on developing a motion to have the Department of Fish and Game comply with the management of the habitat assessments on the river for the various fisheries and the effect it has had on several of the land within the City of Kenai. g. City of Soldotna — Andrew Carmichael provided board members with following report: 1) The City of Soldotna adopted the Soldotna the Park and Recreation master plan. B. Kenai Peninsula Borough -Brent Johnson did not have any report this month. C. Committee Reports a. President's Report —Joe Connors thanked both board members and public for participating in the committee meetings that were held today. He also asked the board members that have not participated do so in the future. b. Guide Advisory — Joe Connors provided board members with the following report: 1) The committee reviewed the proposed changes for the Bing's Landing boat launch and dock area. The committee recommended a few changed and Parks will try and incorporate them into the plan. The boat launch and dock are slated for improvements for the 2014 season. 2) The committee also met with the River Use Committee and reviewed the Bing's Landing backline access and parking improvements project. This project includes developing additional parking and trails to access the area referred to as the backline. Parks engineers and landscape architect had hoped to attend the meeting, but, due to weather, were unable to fly from Anchorage so they attended by teleconference. With the input received today, Parks will revise the site plan and meet back with the committees on March 13. c. Habitat —Brent Johnson provided board members with the following report: 1) This was the first committee meeting chaired by Brent and there were several members and agencies that attended. The committee discussed goals for the 2013 -2014 board sessions. Some of the recommended goals area: a. Tim Stevens recommended that DEC partner with the US Fish and Wildlife service in the 50/50 Coast Share program for Bank Stabilization along the Kenai River for private land owners. b. Monte Roberts was interested in having more latrines placed along the River. Ben Ellis stated that the Governor's proposed FY15 budget includes $1 million for infrastructure along the Kenai River. This money would construct two new bathrooms along the river. Locations are yet to be determined, but Parks will work with the River Use committee to help identify locations. If appropriated by the legislature, funding would develop two new restrooms on the Kenai River (one upstream from Bing's landing and one on the lower river) and develop the site plan for the Eagle Rock boat launch and fund the first phase of improvements at this site. EVOS funds have been approved to purchase the Eagle Rock boat launch and have it operated by Parks. c. The committee would also like to look at bank trampling along the Kenai River. d. The committee would like to review spill response in the Cooper Landing area. e. The Beluga Whale symposium will be held on January 16 and17 at the Gilman River Center. The public is welcome to attend. Brent asked about the chain of command for making recommendations to other agencies. Jack Blackwell responded that the committee should draft the recommendation and then bring it to the full board for a vote then it will be sent to the recipient intended. d. River Use- Andrew Szczesny provided board members with the following report: 1) The committee had a joint meeting with the Guide committee and Parks engineers reviewed the proposed plans for the Bing's Landing Backline access improvements. e. Legislative /Government Activities —No Report f. Board Development/ Nomination — The committee met on Wednesday about the nominations and only two people attended the meeting. The committee recommended that a working group be formed to review the nomination process and make any recommendations on bylaw changes to the board. Joe Connors asked for volunteers for this committee. Brenda Trefon will chair this committee and Ted Wellman and Rick Koch will also be on this committee. g. Agenda/Board Structure/Housekeeping —Pam asked that board members reply within 24 hours if they will be attending the board meeting. IV. OLD BUSINES: V. NEW BUSINESS: 1. Letter of support for the AmeriCorps funding: Andy motioned to support the letter and Brenda second. Call for a vote by Joe. The motion passed unanimously. 2. Review Board Appointment procedure: Brenda Trefon will chair a committee with Ted Wellman and Rick Koch at reviewing nomination for the KRSMA board. 3. The City of Soldotna requested support of Alaska Board of Fish Proposal 233. Andrew Carmichael addressed the proposal of closing the lagoon adjacent to the boat launch area at the Centennial Park. This closure would be July and August of each year. The board discussed writing a letter of support for this proposal and a motion was introduced. The motion passed unanimously and Andrew Carmichael declined to vote due to a conflict of interest. 4. Board Elections- President and Vice President 1) The board was asked for nominations for President. Ted Wellman nominated Joe Connors. Rick Koch nominated Brent Johnson. Brent kindly declined and said, he would like to be on the habitat committee for a while first. Joe was asked if he would like to accept the nomination for president and accepted. A role call vote was conducted. Eleven members voted yes and one member voted no. Joe was elected president. 2) The board was asked for nominations for Vice President. Ted Wellman was nominated by Ricky Geese. Ted was asked if he would like to accept the nomination for vice and he accepted. Role call was conducted and all twelve members voted yes. Ted was elected Vice President VI. CORRESPONDENCE —Letter from the Kenai Peninsula Fisherman's Association to the DNR commissioner. Ben Ellis reported that the commissioner is reviewing the letter at this time. Kenai Area Office, PO Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 262 -5581 Kenai Peninsula Borough, 144 N. Binkley, Soldotna, AK 99669 907 - 262 -4441 Gilman River Center 514 Funny River Road, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 260 -4882 Alaska Division of Parks end Outdoor Recreation, Department uRtural Resources, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough RpU KENAL&LR !I VII. PUBLIC COMMENT. VIII. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date /Agenda of Next Meeting: January 9, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. 1. The board changed the February meeting to the 201" at 5:30 pm. KENAI RIVER Special Management Area "Working together... for the river" Q" ) lJ fl @ @2 U ° &Z ° D Kenai River Special Management Area Advisory Board *** Meeting Agenda"* Thursday February 20, 2014 5:30 p.m. Gilman River Center CALL TO ORDER A. Roll Call B. Minutes Approval C. Agenda Changes and Approval It. Public Comments /Presentations III. REPORTS A. Agency and Government Reports a. State Parks —Jack Blackwell b. DEC -Tim Stevens c. ADF &G -Robert Begich d. USF &WS- Andy Loranger e. USFS /Chugach- Bobbie Jo Kolodziejski f. City of Kenai- Rick Koch g. City of Soldotna- Andrew Carmichael /Keith Baxter h. Kenai Peninsula Borough- Brent Johnson B. Committee Reports a. Presidents Report b. Guide Advisory G. Habitat d. River Use e. Legislative /Government Activities I. Board Development g. Agenda/Board Structure /Housekeeping IV. OLD BUSINESS V. NEW BUSINESS- Action Items: VI. CORRESPONDENCE VII. PUBLIC COMMENT VIII. ADJOURNMENT A. Board Comments B. Date /Agenda of Next Meeting March 13, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. Kenai Area Office, PO Box 1247, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 262 -5581 Kenai Peninsula Borough, 144 N. Binkley, Soldotna, AK 99669 907 - 262 -4441 Gilman River Center 514 Funny River Road, Soldotna, AK 99669, 907 - 260 -4882 Alaska Division of Parks and Outdoor Recreation, ��Deppa�ar //lAA�{o�ot�o�f�N�attu�rr(�al Resources, in cooperation with the Kenai Peninsula Borough 41 d 1.]Ll. AI &IR VRpV I , v r c o