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Minutes: Quarterly Meeting of the Board of Directors
October 25, 2000
Meeting was called to order by Diane Moore, Wisconsin Co-Chair, at Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College. Members present introduced themselves.
Topical Presentations:
Brian Hayden, Water Planner, Carlton County Zoning Office, presented an update of the Nemadji River Basin Project, including the current workplan and plans for future activities. Planners are looking at human-induced problems and hope to coordinate forest management practices. Most of the ready-to-harvest timber (15 years old) is aspen, and more conifers are being planted because that species of tree retains more water in the clay soil. The Nemadji River has 20% of migratory trout habitat in the state.
Dave Warburton, USFWS Environmental Contaminants Biologist, listed resources of interest in the St. Louis River: 1) Piping plover, 2) wetland habitat, 3) lake sturgeon, 4) exotic species. The USFWS wants to assist with local efforts and have a formal partnership with St. Louis River CAC. The organization is helping with funding for the Habitat Plan and is waiting for action of the plan.
Marilyn Danks, MDNR Ecologist, explained the process of Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR) when used at Superfund sites. Endpoint is restoration of resources. Superfund sites in the SLR basin are USX and Stryker Bay. Focus is on restoration -- it is never too late to start.
Business Meeting:
Minutes of the quarterly board meeting in May were approved as distributed. Members present took a 10-point quiz about the 43 recommendations for AOC cleanup; called "RAP memories", the quiz was just-for-fun. Pat Collins had eight correct answers and won gift certificates from Grandma's Restaurant.
Director's Report: Lynelle Hanson
• Introduced a resolution for the Executive Director to submit a
grant to the state of Wisconsin for financial aid for river protection
purposes. Moved, Seconded, Passed to approve the resolution.
• Five priority action items were enumerated.
• Executive Committee is drafting a 3-year strategic plan. Anyone
interested is asked for input.
• Budget passed at the last board meeting was updated. An accountant
was hired to do taxes this year.
• Administrative Assistant is going through the 43 recommendations
and calling implementers to find out status of those recommendations.
• Must write about state of the river in 2001.
• Plans are going forward for a canoe trip the first weekend in August,
followed by the Willard Munger Memorial Picnic. Willard Munger's daughter
and son will host the picnic on the river. Discussion followed.
• Estuary Restoration Act passed in Congress today! $315M over a
5-year period for restoration of the estuary.
• ARDC is mailing a survey on use of Cloquet, Whiteface and St. Louis
Rivers.
New Business:
Workgroup Reports:
Habitat:
(Pat Collins reporting) Contractor on Habitat Plan was unresponsive and
contract was terminated because the product wasn't useful. Committee is
identifying components of Habitat Plan and hopes to use several contractors
to complete the plan parts. This is a very important part of the CAC.
TMDL: (Yvonne Heimer reporting) Stakeholder driven organization
to develop a TMDL for mercury; has established a workplan and work groups;
elected a Board of Directors with 16 members; steering committee does
day-to-day basics. Have applied for funding from River Network and MPCA.
(TMDL means "Total Maximum Daily Load).
Sediment: (Phil Monson reporting) Workgroup dealing with issues
of sediment contaminants; characterizing hot spots. Information on sediments
needs to go to city governments so can seek funding. NE Midwest Institute
is assessing benefits of cleaning up sediments, and has chosen this AOC
as one of three to study. "Sediment Quality Targets" is a data base of
kinds and amounts of sediment contaminants and is linked to SLR
web page.
Stewardship: (Kamal Alsharif reporting) Stewardship Awards will
be given at the January Board of Directors meeting. Deadline for nominations
is November 15th. Last summer's canoe outing was a big success with 40
canoes traveling from Boy Scout Landing to Clyde Avenue, with lunch on
Clough Island provided by Will and Sally Munger.
Public Relations and Fund Raising: (Diane Moore exhorting) CAC
is a non-profit and many non-profits do fund raising. If 20 Board members
could contact a business for membership/donation, we would have funds
for infrastructure. All members are urged to do so! Plans
are to present Alden Lind with a plaque at the October Board of Directors
meeting in recognition of his environmental efforts for Lake Superior.
Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Nan Stokes, Secretary
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