Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board

Transcription

1 UPPER COLUMBIA SALMON RECOVERY BOARD Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board BOARD MEETING Nespelem, WA Colville Confederated Tribes Longhouse Thursday, August 24, :00 AM - 3:00 PM Board Members Present: Bill Towey, Colville Confederated Tribes Ron Walter, Chelan County Bud Hover, Okanogan County Chuck Jones on behalf of Mary Hunt, Douglas County Lee Carlson on behalf of Paul Ward, Yakama Nation Julie Morgan, UCSRB Executive Director Others present: Bob Bugert, GSRO; Dick Nason, Chelan County PUD; Keith Kulchins, Colville Confederated Tribes; Steve Dayma, WDFW; Lynn Hatcher, NOAA; and Sandy Cox, Okanogan County; Action Items: Julie to put next year s Board Meeting schedule on the agenda for the Board Retreat Public Service Announcements will be sent out on a regular basis from now on advertising each Board Meeting. Julie to poll everyone for dates in November to meet to review comments Board and NOAA to set up public meetings for October a thank you letter be drafted and sent to Rob, NOAA for website funding Staff to review logo drafts during their meeting on August 31, 2006 Board to make decision on the logo at the September Board meeting Draft and mail a letter to the SRFB Board supporting the increase in budget other Julie to continue to work with other Executive directors to discuss and draft a letter in support of the GSRO Julie to relay the Legal Counsel solution information to the Board when it is received and get input and acceptance Julie s to development an RFQ and bring it back to the Board during the September Board meeting. Welcome and Introductions Bill called the meeting to order at 10:15 AM Bill reviewed the agenda and asked for additions or questions (none were added) Julie made the following suggestions o Lynn should go first on the agenda until conference phone can be hooked up o How effective has the meeting schedule been with the rotating of meeting sites Bob Bugert reminded the Board that one of the reasons the Board did rotate meetings was to accommodate attendance by local constituents APPROVED 09/21/06 1 of 6

2 Bud mentioned that he would like to see the meeting rotation continued and perhaps just rotating north to south would be sufficient Ron state that he felt that the Board still needed to hold meetings in each area of the Upper Columbia even if it is only once a year Dick suggested that some of the scheduled meetings/tours be associated with the funded tributary projects Lee stated that with the rotation of meetings it represents us well in each of the areas would like to see the tours be scheduled separately since the meeting agendas are so full Bill mentioned that Julie is going to plan a retreat for the Board members in the near future and next years schedule should be one topic of discussion Chuck suggested that the Board begin to provide public service announcements on a regular basis for each Board Meeting. o Decision on a new logo for the UCSRB o Consider retention of Legal Counsel for the Board 1. Approval of July 27, 2006 Meeting Minutes Chuck Jones on behalf of Mary Hunt moved to approve the July 27, 2006 meeting minutes. Bud Hover seconded the motion and the motion was passed. 2. Status of the FCRPS BiOp Remand (Phillip Miller, GSRO supports the Lower Columbia and Yakima Board and now represents them in the Remand) (Handout provided in meeting packet) Phil joined meeting via Conference call Phil thanked the Board and all its Staff for the information that they have provided and want to continue with the relationship with the Upper Columbia Board Phil provided detailed background on the Remand Planned actions will be provided to the Board for review Planned actions and BiOp are a requirement for the 3 action agencies and do not become a requirement to any other group Recovery plans are not regulatory now nor will they ever be Phil confirmed for Bill that the documents that he recently received are the most current Bud relayed a concern that the Remand may include the UCSRB plan thus linking it to the requirements and agreements of the remand thus making it a regulatory document by association Phil answered that they don t see it that way at all they are using information provided from the UCSRB s plan but it is only a piece of the resources the plans may be listed as a source document but it is not anticipated that they will be incorporated specifically into the BiOp. Ron asked Phil to again define the three action agencies: Army Corp of Engineers, BPA and Bureau of Reclamation. The stories of the local species need to be told by those that are familiar with them and know them, not by someone out of the area Bill asked Phil if he would be available to join the UCSRB on a monthly basis so that the Board can continue to be updated on a regular basis. APPROVED 09/21/06 2 of 6

3 3. Status of Recovery Plan Adoption (Lynn Hatcher) Lynn provided two handouts Reviewed timeline Each comment received will be responded to by NOAA s team Bill asked about the process of reviewing the comments, what does it look like, would like to set up the process as soon as possible Julie to poll everyone for dates in November to meet to review comments Lynn suggested that a week be set aside for review (same as last time in Dec 05) Bill asked if funds are available for this review process Lynn answered that yes they are Chuck suggested that we stay away from election week when we schedule the comment review time Final Peer review by the 12 member TRT is beginning today on the plan Janet Seers and Brian Gorman set up public meetings for NOAA does the Board want more public meetings to be held during the comment period Bud felt that the meetings held thus far is sufficient. Nothing has changed that would warrant more public meetings. Lee mentioned that there is value in gaining more interest and additional comments from the public Ron mentioned that the meetings are a way to incorporate the local work done into the regional plan good public relations tool Bill suggested that to be proactive on this topic the Board and NOAA should go ahead and set these meetings up. Prior to October 31 st NOAA will hold two public meetings, one in Wenatchee and one in Okanogan. Julie referenced Puget Sound Shared Strategy s bar graphs that they have developed disparities between cost estimates (Shared Strategies vs. UCSRB) o Suggests that we create verbiage that states that even though there are disparities, those disparities shouldn t be used to award funding. Keith asked why Harvest Costs weren t included Lynn relayed that NOAA is in the process of hiring IDEA Marketing for website and logo/branding work Bill thanked Lynn and asked Lynn to relay to Rob the Board s appreciation for NOAA stepping up to the plate for the website. Bill suggested that a thank you letter be drafted and sent to Rob 6 logo examples were reviewed and commented on. Julie reported to the Board that Staff will review the logo as well during their meeting on August 31, 2006 Bill suggested that a decision on the logo be completed by the next Board meeting. 4. Interlocal Cooperation Agreement (Tom Zeilman) Julie provided background on the Interlocal agreement topic Tom mentioned that the Indemnity clause was one of the stumbling blocks Tom asked why the Indemnity clause was included in the agreement o Neither Ron or Bill can answer that question would need to contact each Legal Counsel for the answer APPROVED 09/21/06 3 of 6

4 Tom asked if there is any issue with the Sovereignty issue o Neither Ron or Bill can answer that question would need to contact each Legal Counsel for the answer Steve Suagee stated that in the final agreement we want the established corporation to be the responsible party not the individual components of the corporation Tom stated that one of his concerns is what if the corporation is dissolved where does that leave the responsibilities and obligations Julie suggested that the Board give the go-ahead to the Legal Counsels to gather via a conference call and work all of the issues Julie also suggested that a sixth Legal Counsel be hired to facilitate this process Lee Carlson on behalf of Paul Ward moved to proceed with the conference call of Legal Counsels to discuss and solve ILA and Corporation issues and retain a sixth Legal Counsel to facilitate the call and solution to the ILA and Corporation. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Julie to relay the Legal Counsel solution information to the Board when it is received and get input and acceptance Ron mentioned that he referred Julie to Ogden Murphy Wallace as the sixth Legal Council. Break...12:00-1:00 PM 5. Review of SOW and Budget Insert Julie s presentation (print copy for file) Julie reviewed the current Board structure and the current Implementation structure that is diagramed in the plan and provided an outline for future development areas Ron moved to approve the revised budget and contracts and for Bill to sign as the UCSRB representative. Bud seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Request for Proposals regarding long range Implementation Plan the Board supported Julie s suggestion to development an RFQ and bring it back to the Board during the September Board meeting. Reviewed and discussed Staffing model centralized vs. de-centralized or a hybrid of each Ron asked whether we should follow through with this step before or after the Board retreat. He stated that it may make more sense to address this after the Board retreat. Lee mentioned that the information derived from the outcome of the service provider estimate exercise may provide valuable information for the Board to consider at the Retreat Bill mentioned that the Board has not ever held a focused visioning session to discuss each Board Member s perception on Staffing, perception of the UCSRB, or what the Board wants to accomplish as a Board, etc. APPROVED 09/21/06 4 of 6

5 Bud moved to approve moving forward with the contract with Alliance Consulting to provide the Staff Cost Analysis. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Ron supported initially using Idea Marketing but he would like to advocate using local talents and resources Bud moved to approve the signing of a purchase order with Idea Marketing. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Updates: COR Bill asked where the extra money is going to come from if the budget is doubled. Bob Bugert mentioned: o There are two pots; Federal (PacSRFB) and State (State generated) o Try to secure a larger pot of State money since the Federal money is in question o ½ the intent is to prove to the West Virginia Congressmen that Washington State is very committed to the effort and to continue with the Federal funding Ron moved to draft and mail a letter to the SRFB Board supporting the increase in budget. Bud seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Bob Bugert reminded the Board that they will be required to provide a budget soon for their and that they might want to gear up for that and complete it by the end of October. Julie reported that there is once again a question as to whether the GSRO will continue to be in existence. She is working with other Executive Directors to discuss and draft a letter in support of the GSRO The Board members all agreed that the Board is in full support of looking for ways to support the GSRO. Bob Bugert mentioned that Lynn Hatcher deserves a congratulations on the FRN being accomplished on time. The Board thanked Lynn for his time, efforts and availability. Public Comment None Bill adjourned the meeting at 2:15 PM Executive Session followed this meeting. APPROVED 09/21/06 5 of 6

6 Summary of Motions Chuck Jones on behalf of Mary Hunt moved to approve the July 27, 2006 meeting minutes. Bud Hover seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Lee Carlson on behalf of Paul Ward moved to proceed with the conference call of Legal Counsels to discuss and solve ILA and Corporation issues and retain a sixth Legal Counsel to facilitate the call and solution to the ILA and Corporation. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Ron moved to approve the revised budget and contracts and for Bill to sign as the UCSRB representative. Bud seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Bud moved to approve moving forward with the contract with Alliance Consulting to provide the Staff Cost Analysis. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Bud moved to approve the signing of a purchase order with Idea Marketing. Ron seconded the motion and the motion was passed. Ron moved to draft and mail a letter to the SRFB Board supporting the increase in budget. Bud seconded the motion and the motion was passed. APPROVED 09/21/06 6 of 6