Minutes from the June 13, 2008 WWC board meeting

Whittier Watershed Council Meeting

June 13, 2008, 10 am—noon

BTI Homeowner’s Lounge, Whittier

1. Call to Order and Attendance

Chair Charlene Arneson called the meeting to order at 10 am.

Attending Members: Charlene Arneson (Chair), June Miller (Vice Chair), Gregg Hanson (City Public Works Director), Mike Fretwell (ARRC), Gary Prokosch (DNR), Betty Charnon (USFS) and Jim Barnett (PCD). There was a quorum of 7 of the 8 voting members. Not attending: Virginia Bender (Planning and Zoning Commission).
Attending Non-Voting Advisory member: Kathy Potter (NRCS); not attending: Carrie Godden (ARWA).
Guests: Jerry Vandergriff (Vice Mayor), Randy Hobbs (Alpine Energy) and Bob Gross (Alyeska Resort) attended. Not attending Coordinator Zackery Zaletel

The meeting agenda for today’s meeting and the minutes of the May 16, 2008 meetings were approved as written.

2. New Business

Dam Safety/Levee. Governor Palin acknowledged our letter of support for the levee but it was vetoed after the last meeting anyway. We will work on getting it in the budget again and Rep. Hawker told Jim this would be done. Meg Mueller of the Kenai USDA office conducted a site survey of the levee and creek generally, called a “Damage Survey Report.” A summary was provided; copies of the report were made available by Kathy; Jerry kindly had them copied at the City office while we were meeting. There was an estimated cost of $208,000, including sediment removal of $148,000. They also considered the ARRC and ADOT road bridges, fearful for the sedimentation collected under the bridges. The committee encouraged USDA to focus on the levee, since the bridges have a responsible party to look after them.

Contaminent Source Inventory. Gary, Gregg and Mike will take photos while walking the city to identify all sites known to the community. It will then be put into a spread sheet. Charlene mentioned that only the harbor has an existing underground tank. Jim mentioned an ARRC transformer discovered by Ben Butler at the campground, which had been reported to Mike two weeks ago. Jim encouraged contact to Larry Gilman to learn about contamination on the east side of town and Ben Butler for the parking lot and campground.

WWC Logo Update. No report.

Spring Clean Up. Charlene summarized the very successful clean up in the community earlier this year.

Treasurer’s Report. The financial report was attached to the packet. Mike explained details of the report; the current bank balance is $7,182.00.

Administrator’s Report. Zach was unable to attend. He is keeping up the web site and grant applications, but due to other work responsibilities unrelated to Whittier he is not charging us for his continuing efforts, according to Charlene. Our periodic status report was accepted by NFF, with the email provided in the agenda packet, and they encouraged us to get the funds used so that we can receive the second $7,500 in the grant, which is still available.

Weed Pull Date. Charlene wants to focus on the weeds on the road near the airport. She wants to eradicate sweet clover. The weed pull is scheduled after the next WWC meeting of July 25.

3. Old Business
Earthquake Monument Relocation. There was discussion about a location for the monument. Charlene apparently first raised this issue several months ago since it is not well located to be seen by visitors. Mike and Charlene suggested a place where the tracks and Whittier Street intersect, which contrary to prior minutes is apparently not on PCD leased land.

Mike was uncertain about the extent of PCD leased land in the area and Jim told the group he is finalizing his lease survey as submitted to the City and ARRC last year since there was no response to the draft.
There was also discussion about a whale monument being crafted out of an old cedar log and other locations for these monuments, including the Triangle Gazebo.
ARRC Ditch Reconstruction. We will take this off the agenda, as the ARRC culvert now takes railyard runoff through the PCD oil and grease separator and there has been no proposal to change that in over a year.

Alternative Water Resources Report. Gary, Gregg and Carrie will conduct a survey of existing wells and drinking water sites. There are 3 city wells, with a fourth drilled and capped last year in the campground, and one at the head of the bay. There was brief discussion about preparing a water conditions report.

4. Visitors

Randy Hobbs and Bob Gross spoke about planning for cogeneration projects in Girdwood and Whittier. They are scoping a project in Whittier to be included in the CEA grid. There was a hydro presentation before this group two months ago. This “cogen” presentation was made to BTI and the City Council in recent weeks. Randy explained the mechanisms for use, including capturing heat for use in the winter. Bob Gross gave the Resort perspective, assuring the group this was a “win-win” for users and provider. There is no capital contribution; the sales of excess power to CEA is where the provider earns their income.

5. Next meeting—Action Items

The group made comments about projects and community planning.

The next meeting was set for 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on Friday, July 25, 2008, at the BTI Homeowner’s Lounge.

These are the action items for the next meeting:

• Update on the emergency response plan with the DNR dam safety engineer.

• Review the Contaminant Source Inventory effort now underway.

• WWC logo.

• Zach’s report, including grant making status.

• Weed pull the same day.

• Further discussion of the levee matter and USDA efforts to date.

6. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 am.

Respectfully submitted,
Jim Barnett, Secretary