M I N U T E S – D R A F T
McKenzie Watershed Council
Weyerhaeuser
Springfield, Oregon
February 11, 2016
5:00 p.m. – 6:58 p.m.
PRESENT: Council Partners: Arlene Dietz, facilitator (Rice Family Farms), Wade Stampe (resident partner), Kurt Cox (Resident Partner), Ralph Perkins (Upper Willamette SWCD), Bob Bumstead (McKenzie Flyfishers), Maryanne Reiter (Weyerhaeuser), Chad Helms (Army Corps of Engineers), Jeff Ziller (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife), Andy McWilliams (resident partner), Randy Hledik (Wildish), Nate Day (McKenzie School District), Loren Leighton (IP), Diane Albino (Mohawk Watershed Partnership), Keir Miller (Lane County), Joe Moll (McKenzie River Trust), Carol Ach (resident partner), Karl Morgenstern (Eugene Water & Electric Board), Mark Stephen (Bureau of Land Management), Mike McDowell (resident partner), George Brown (Eugene City Council), Terry Baker (USFS), Rod Fosback (Northwest Steelheaders); Staff: Amanda Wilson, Jared Weybright, Jennifer Weber, and Justin Demeter; Guests: Charles Tannenbaum, and Sue Zeni.
ABSENT: Craig Patterson (resident partner), Dave Ralston (City of Springfield), Steve Mealey (McKenzie River Guides), and Steve Raymen (resident partner).
PROXIES: Andy McWilliams gave his proxy to Jeff Ziller.
- INTRODUCTIONS AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Members provided introductions and a request to switch items 7 & 8 on the agenda was approved.
Council Partners approved the Agenda as amended, with all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
- GENERAL PUBLIC COMMENT SESSION
No public comment was given at this time.
- COUNCIL MEETING PROCEDURES
Mr. Six shared that at the last Executive Committee meeting there was a discussion on the charter, voting procedures, and meeting procedures. He read the mission, decision-making procedures, and participation rules for the Council. Additionally, he shared the exception for a consensus minus one.
Rules of Conduct:
Mr. Cox shared suggested procedures for adding an item to the agenda for the meeting. Currently, the Executive Committee approves the agenda and it is then distributed to the Council and partners. To add an item to the agenda, the item should be send a week before the agenda. Ms. Ach asked if the Executive Committee could censor the topic agenda. Mr. Cox shared that it the topic must be deemed relevant to the organization, but if not added to the agenda it could be discussed during partner announcements. Mr. McDowell shared it would be nice to have the agenda on the website again. Mr. Brown shared that the City Council provides a form to complete that provides why and why and agenda item should be added.
Council Partners approved the new meeting procedure that adding an agenda item must be submitted one week prior to the meeting including any documentation to share with the Council, with Ms. Ach showing Consensus Level 7 and all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
Time limits:
Mr. Perkins shared that the Council is getting so big that there are times that not everyone gets a chance to speak. As a result, there was a proposal to consider the time limits of agenda items. Mr. Bumstead shared that it should also be considered if the speaker’s comments are pertinent to the Council and relevant to the topic being discussed. Mr. Perkins shared that the facilitator may take away speaking privileges if the time rule is not followed. Sometimes it is difficult when people can’t stop talking about the issues. Mr. McDowell inquired if this would refer to just the partner announcements? Mr. Perkins clarified that this was intended for all agenda items. Ms. Ach shared that she has a hard time with the Council installing this kind of policing, and would rather have a strong facilitator than make laws about time. Mr. Hledik would rather that the Council adopt it as a guideline and have a strong facilitator. Mr. Brown shared that when they have a work session there are three minute rounds for each person. Mr. Ziller preferred Mr. Hledik and Ms. Ach’s idea of leaving it up to a strong facilitator because he can only recall a couple times that the meeting got a little out of hand. He doesn’t like the idea of a set rule. Mr. Perkins shared that as a facilitator the Executive Committee all want to be fair to everybody though most of them have learned by fire. Mr. Bumstead likes the idea of a guideline and thinks the biggest issue is the serial contributors, everyone needs a chance to be heard and the not have an item monopolized by one person.
Council Partners approved to give the meeting facilitator the power to keep the conversation flowing and let everyone speak and limit people who have had multiple opportunities to speak at their discretion, with Ms. Hledik showing Consensus Level 2 and all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
Mr. Moll suggested to bring in help to train strong facilitators. He recently attended a meeting that brought someone in to share the PRES Method – Present, provide a Reason, provide an Example, and Summarize the subject.
- APPROVAL OF JANUARY 2016 MINUTES
January minutes were reviewed by Partners. Nate Day should have been listed as present, Mike McDowell and Diane Albino were absent.
Council Partners approved the January 2016 meeting minutes as amended, with all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
- PARTNER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mr. Morgenstern inquired if any Partner had a copy of the report produced by the Army Corp of Engineers on the economic impacts of the temperature control tower at Cougar Dam. Mr. Ziller shared that he may be able to find a copy.
Mr. Ziller shared that he recently attended the Willamette Fisheries Science Review. The presenters were asked to focus on results instead of methods. The abstracts from the event can be found on the Army Corp of Engineers websites. He also provided an update on salmon returns for this year.
Mr. Helms provided an update on the debris issues and the missing trash racks at Cougar. As of now things are moving ahead pretty rapidly. The contractor was out yesterday. There is a ton of debris outside the tower. The contractor is going to reinstall the trash racks and re-secure those that have not fallen off. Work should begin the first of March. He will provide an update at the March meeting on the progress.
Mr. Baker shared that the Goose decision was signed February 2nd and the USFS will be moving forward with project. There are changes of Forest Service staff in many locations. Kate Meyer will be headed to Washington DC in March as part of a panel presenting the UPRIVER movie.
Mr. Brown shared that the Eugene City Council recently received a presentation on the state of the city parks and there was a two page map of Eugene that highlighted the homeless camps and there were 715 camps that were cleaned up. The city spent $250K to haul all the trash away. It is cheaper to house them and clean up the camps. We need to do something because what we are doing now isn’t working.
Mr. Cox asked Mr. Miller about the status of the Lane County Parks Master Plan. Mr. Miller shared that it is moving forward but it is being revised. The current plan is 30 years old. It is a massive overhaul, and some projects are aspirational. There is still an opportunity to comment by contacting Mike Russell.
Mr. Moll shared that MRT is in the middle of hiring for two position and is within a few weeks of closing on river left of the McKenzie Camp. There are a lot of opportunities in the future for that location. He also discussed Bill 1517 that is currently in the senate. The bill is pretty scary and would have halted restoration around the state. The NOWC and COLT and NOACD are actively working on the issue.
Ms. Dietz shared that she has recently been appointed to Water Resources Advisory Board.
- STAFF REPORTS
Mr. Demeter shared an update on the education program. The restoration team is working at BWCA, Dehne and Green Island. The ipads have been great for the education program. The blog is currently in development. April 4th and 5th at Dickie Joe’s there will be a fundraiser for Salmon Watch. BLM is going to be doing a story on salmon watch this season.
Mr. Weybright shared that the Deer Creek Project is now fully funded and a tentative start date has been set for May with the instream work to be done in July. Kate Meyer is busy working hard to finish up the design for the Lower South Fork that is due to OWEB. On the ground he is really hot and heavy in planting right now, and is about 1/3 of the way through the implementation. UO ELP will continue to do monitoring and maintenance.
Ms. Weber has been working with EWEB on the Keiser Slough planting plan. Just wrapped up the first draft. She completed the OCF application renewal for the second year of funding. The naturescaping workshops will take place on April 2 and April 23. The location will most likely be Leaburg Fire Station.
Ms. Wilson shared that the Council has selected an operations assistant in partnership with the Long Tom Watershed Council and she will be at the next Council meeting. She will be taking over for Ms. Wilson’s administrative duties with her time now split between the MWC and the Coast Fork Council.
- ACTION PLAN UPDATE
Mr. Six thanked all the partners who submitted comments and noted that most have been incorporated in the plan that was sent out this week. We didn’t receive and substantive changes to the document or actions. He is hopeful we could authorize the staff to make the changes and proceed to public review.
Mr. Weybright touched on the changes over the last month. The electronic copy that was sent out yesterday. A good comment was that in the introduction we needed to share who is the watershed council, what do we do, and how do we operate. Section 3 was paired down a little bit. He edited some of the figures to be more descriptive and accurate. Section 8 largely stayed the same, but he will be doing some editing on the tables to add a column to identify the lead agency for each action. Took out section 9 that detailed some of the project funding. Sections 10, 11, and 12 all stayed the same.
When staff started this process over a year ago the idea was to parallel tracks to secure funding though the FIP. The one thing that application required was an action plan. We made our action plan follow their template. Even though we weren’t successful, it was still helpful.
Council Partners approved to release the action plan for public review after comments have been incorporated, with all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
- APPOINTMENT OF NEW RESIDENT PARTNER – EXECUTIVE SESSION
Partners reviewed and discussed the application for Sue Zeni.
Council Partners approved the appointment of Sue Zeni as a Resident Partner, with Ms. Reiter showing Consensus Level 1, and all Council Partners showing Consensus Level 3.
Adjourn 6:58