Chehalis Basin Partnership
Meeting Summary
March 22, 2013 Page 1 of 4
CHEHALIS BASIN PARTNERSHIP
Chehalis Tribe Lucky Eagle Casino, Chehalis Rooms
Rochester, Washington
March 22, 2013
9:30 a.m.
Meeting Summary
MEMBERS, ALTERNATES & GUESTS PRESENT
Amy Spoon, WA Dept. of Fish and WildlifeBonnie Canaday, Mayor, City of Centralia
Chris Stearns, Thurston PUD
Chuck Caldwell, Commissioner, Port of Grays Harbor
Commissioner Karen Valenzuela, Thurston County Commissioner Wes Cormier, Grays Harbor County
Dave Geroux, Center for Natural Lands Management
Janel Bistrika, Chehalis Basin Partnership
Jim Hill, Citizen, Lewis County / John Lucas, Lewis County Farm Bureau
John Penberth, Citizen
Lyle Hojem, Citizen, Lewis County
Mark Swartout, Thurston County
Mark White, Chehalis TribeMiranda Plumb, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Patrick Wiltzius, City of Chehalis
Terry Harris, City of Chehalis
SUMMARY OF ACTION ITEMS:
Approval of Meeting Summaries
/ Meeting summaries approved.Decision on where to house watershed coordinator position
/ The group was not able to come to a decision on where to house the position. More information is needed before the group can make a decision.Input on Hiring Committee members for watershed coordinator position
/ The group suggested some members of the STC and others as interested participate in the hiring process.GENERAL PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS
Discuss January 25thand February 22nd meeting summaries: Meeting summaries approved.
Quorum requirement of 10 met:Yes: Chehalis Tribe, City of Centralia, City of Chehalis, Citizen-Lewis County, Grays Harbor County, Lewis County Farm Bureau, Port of Grays Harbor, Thurston County, Thurston PUD, WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.
MEETING AGENDA
1) CBP Work Plan 2013 Discussion and Planning:
GH County as Lead Agency and Lead Entity:
Janel met with each of the 3 Commissioners separately along with Lee Napier’s old boss Kevin Varness to talk about the different roles of the Chehalis Basin Partnership and the GH Lead Entity and show how those organizations work with the County. All 3 of themeetings went well and each Commissioner seemed interested in the work of both the CBP and Lead Entity. Grays Harbor County BOCC met on Monday, March 4th and signed a memo expressing their support and interest in remaining as Lead Agency for Watershed Planning/fiscal agent for CBP and Lead Entity for Salmon Recovery. Janel sent a copy of the memo with your meeting packets.
Watershed Coordinator/Lead Entity Coordinator Housing Discussion:
At the last CBP meeting in February the group discussed some possible housing options for the watershed coordinator/lead entity coordinator position. At the January CBP meeting the Chehalis Tribe offered to house the position and cover the cost of bringing someone in before Janel leaves so they can be trained and caught up to speed. At the February CBP meeting another option presented itself: Centralia College. Terry, Bonnie and Bill met with Dr. Walton about this possibility. So there are 3 options before the group: GH College, Chehalis Tribe, Centralia College. The group should try to come to a decision this month so we can begin the hiring process which will likely take a couple of months. We also need to form a hiring committee that will do the bulk of the work during the hiring process.
A little more background on the position: the responsibilities of the Watershed Coordinator position will not change, but some new responsibilities related to habitat restoration/salmon recovery were added. The current funding for the position is 50% watershed implementation and 50% salmon recovery.
There are several things that need to be considered as we go through this transition:
•Will Grays Harbor County be willing to continue to serve as the CBP Lead Agency for watershed grants? If not, what are our options?
•Will Grays Harbor County be willing to continue to serve as the CBP Lead Entity for salmon habitat recovery efforts? If not, what are our options?
•Where will the Watershed Coordinator be provided office space?
•Who will the Watershed Coordinator report to?
•How will costs associated with the Watershed Coordinator and Lead Entity Coordinator be reimbursed through the Lead Agency/Lead Entity?
•What process will be used to advertise and fill the vacancy? (Who will take the lead? How will we recruit for the position? What is the time frame? Who will make the selection?)
The group was not able to come to a decision on where to house the position. There are still some concerns of members that were not addressed, along with the concerns the Watershed Coordinator posed with keeping the position at Grays Harbor College.
Hiring Committee Formation:
Janel sent copies of her current job description along with some draft minimum qualifications that were from the original position plus a few new qualifications/experience items. The Hiring Committee would be the group to take on updating this but this gives the group a start to have a discussion.
2) CBP Website Updates
Janel brought up the idea of asking John Kliem from Creative Community Solutions and Debbie Holden to update the CBP and Lead Entity’s websites. John and Debbie originally created the CBP website and with the additional duties of Lead Entity Coordinator, Janel has not had time to update the website. Janel sent out a draft letter of agreement that GH County would sign on behalf of the CBP for John and Debbie to update the website. They gave us an estimate of cost for some of the items I’ve asked them to do. If this looks ok then we can have the GH BOCC sign off and they can begin updating ASAP.
The group discussed the cost estimate briefly and wanted to make sure John and Debbie would not perform any work the CBP did not direct them to do.
3) Presentation: Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership and Foundation
Miles Batchelder from the Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership and Foundation gave a presentation on their experience in forming a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation. You can contact Janel for a pdf copy of their powerpoint presentation.
4) CBP Non-Profit Organizational Discussion:
In looking at the future of the CBP, the discussion of forming a 501(c)(3) non profit foundation is still an option on the table for achieving long-term sustainability of this organization, without funding from the state. In 2010, the group had discussions of forming a non-profit as another option for raising funds for the CBP and possibly securing a longer-term solution to the funding issue. The discussion eased off when some potential issues were brought up of losing control of the Foundation. The CBP has draft articles of incorporation and bylaws that were worked on a couple of years ago and we could use that as a starting point.
There is another organization, the Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership (WCSSP), that is in the process of creating a Foundation and have run into some of the same issues, but they were able to address the control/mission creep issue in their articles of incorporation and bylaws. WCSSP set up their articles of incorporation very specifically and the way they did it would address some of the concerns of this group. They made it very specific that the Foundation will support the activities of WCSSP and implement their plan. They also made it specific that in order the change the articles of incorporation it requires approval by WCSSP. “The Board shall have full power by a 2/3 majority vote of directors in office to amend these Articles of Incorporation, with the exception of the power to change Articles III, IV, VIII, XI, XII, and XIV, which can only be amended with a 2/3 majority vote of the Foundation Board of Directors and, in addition, the approval of the Washington Coast Sustainable Salmon Partnership. Amendments shall be filed with the Secretary of State of Washington with the original Articles and attached to any copies thereof.” The WCSSP Board of Directors will continue all its current functions, including projects to be funded, although the projects are themselves vetted and ranked by each Lead Entity Group. There are four Lead Entity Groups that make up the Partnership, each with equal voting power on the WCSSP Board. Up until June 30th of this year, Grays Harbor County has served as the fiscal agent/sponsor for WCSSP. Beginning July 1st of this year, a new and separate organization, the WCSS FOUNDATION, will become the fiscal agent/sponsor for WCSSP, replacing Grays Harbor County. Both organizations will continue to exist.
The group discussed holding off on making any decision to move forward until all members of the CBP have been briefed. Janel will follow up with absent members.
5) Call for Review Team Volunteers:
Janel is the acting Lead Entity Coordinator for the Grays Harbor/Chehalis Basin Lead Entity. Each year the Lead Entity puts together a reviewed and ranked list of projects for the Salmon Recovery Funding Board.Are you interested in seeing a habitat restoration project prior to construction? Or maybe you’ve wanted to spend time talking one on one with technical advisors or your peers in the field? Are you a little curious about salmon recovery and habitat restoration? Then you should consider volunteering to be a member of the Lead Entity Local Review Team. In my role as Lead Entity Coordinator, I am starting to assemble the review team for this year’s SRFB grant cycle.
•Asking for the local review team and SRFB review team for time to visit sites on May 9th and 10th. Site visits are mandatory for the local review team.
•Distribute final draft proposals to the local review team on June 28th.
•The date of final review and ranking is July 12th.
If you want to be on the review team attending the site visits in May is mandatory. If you are interested please let Janel know so she can add you to the list.
6) Agenda items for April 26thmeeting and future meetings:
ADJOURNMENT
With there being no further business, Chair Bonnie Canaday adjourned the meeting at11:55am.