WRIA 14 PLANNING UNIT MEETING

 

Wednesday, January 26, 2005

2:30-4:30 p.m.

Shelton Civic Center

Shelton, WA

 

Meeting Summary

 

Attendance:

Government Members Present:

Jeanne Kinney, Thurston County

Phil Wiatrak, Dept. of Ecology

John Konovsky Squaxin Tribe

Bob Fink, Allan Borden & Lynda Ring-Erickson, Mason Co.

Theresa Parsons, City of Shelton

 

 

Government Members Absent:

Mason County PUD # 1

 

 

Other Planning Unit Members Present:

 

Warren Dawes, SWPSWC

Bob Simmons & Emily Piper, WSU Co-op Extension

Diane Cooper, Taylor Shellfish

Ric Byrd & Al Frey, Port of Shelton

Constance Ibsen, LHCWIC

 

 

Others Present:

 

Susan Gulick, Technical Project Mgr/Facilitator

 

 

 

1.      Updates

q      A draft of the first chapter of the Watershed Plan has been completed.  Comments are due to Susan by Wednesday, February 9th.

q      Jim Mathieu of NW Land and Water and the Port of Seattle are still working to finalize their agreement to use Port wells as part of the Hydro-Geo Study.

q      A new edition of the newsletter has been published. Planning Unit members are encouraged to help distribute it.

q      The letter to the Squaxin Tribal Council from local elected officials has been finalized and is being routed for signature. Theresa agreed to coordinate with Stephanie and Jeanne to get all the signatures.

 

2.      Public Involvement in Watershed Plan Formulation

q      The PU discussed two objectives in public involvement during plan development: to educate the public about the issues and options being considered in the plan and to receive input and ideas from the public.  Thus, the PU agreed the public involvement strategy should include strong avenues for two-way communication.

q      The PU discussed the following options:

o       Focus groups, where a selected group of people are invited to small group sessions.

o       Public workshops, where the general public is invited to hear presentations on specific issues and invited to share input.

o       Watershed tours, with an opportunity for information sharing.

o       Presentations by PU members to community organizations (e.g. Rotary Club, Kiwanis, etc.)

o       Presentations or workshops at BOCC meetings, Board of Health meetings or City Council meetings.

o       Inserts in utility bills. 

q      In general, the PU agreed that it would be good to have two workshops: one on water quality and habitat issues, and one on water resources (including the hydro-geo study).  Perhaps the water resources workshop could be held in Shelton and the water quality/habitat workshop in Allyn or somewhere outside of Shelton.

q      Planning Unit members also agreed that it would be a good idea for each PU member to identify one or two community groups to which they would like to speak.  Bob will prepare a simple PowerPoint presentation for PU members to use when they visit these groups.

q      Bob will put together a draft strategy (including some budget estimates) based on these ideas and bring it back to the PU for further discussion.

q      The PU also discussed recruiting new members to fill vacancies on the PU.  Bob agreed to contact representatives from builders, realtors, agriculture and the Chamber of Commerce to see if there are any interested volunteers.

q      The PU also discussed the pros and cons of moving PU meetings to the evenings.  There was concern that the PU would lose some of the regular attendees if it were moved to the evening and it was unclear how many new participants would join. It was agreed that any workshops for the public should be held in the evening.  The PU meetings will remain in the afternoon, at least for the present.  If there is new interest shown by the members Bob recruits or by citizens who attend the workshops this issue could be reconsidered.

 

3.      Storage Grant

q      The PU is concerned about the lack of communication and coordination between the PU and the consultants on the Storage Grant. In particular, they are unhappy that the consultants have made requests of the Port without informing Susan or a PU member in advance.

q      The PU also does not feel they are receiving adequate status reports on the project.

q      Susan will contact Jim D’Aboy to discuss these issues. 

q      Susan will also review the grant and contract requirements to make sure the consultants are in compliance.

 

4.      Upcoming Meetings

q      The next Technical Committee meeting will be on Wednesday, February 9th from 10-12 at the Shelton Civic Center.

q      The next Planning Unit meeting will be on Wednesday, February 23rd from 2:30-4:30 at the Shelton Civic Center.