WCRC Minutes

July 6, 2005

Intro of members: Zeke Ward, WCRC Chairman and Mineral County Commissioner; Jim Mietz, SLV RC&D; JB Alexander, Creede; Jim Matush, Creede; Erik Sandvik, Creede; Don Dustin, Mineral County; Jeff Graves, CDMG, Les Dobson, US Forest Service; Marvin Reynolds, CSU Cooperative Extension; Kelley Thompson, Agro Engineering

Approval of minutes:  No corrections to the June minutes were proposed.  Motion to approve the June minutes made by JB; second made by Don.  Motion carried. 

Additions/corrections to the agenda:  Items of fund raising and Nelson tunnel were added to Old Business.  Items of clean up and recognition of out-going director were added to New Business.

In-Kind:  Forms were provided in hard copy for volunteers to track time and other expenses.  Zeke encouraged monthly submission of these forms. 

Director’s Report:  Zeke read a written copy of the director’s report that was provided by Leigh Ann.

Leigh Ann thanked all who helped with the duck race, and she thought that it was a great success.  The race brought in $814 with launching of ducks for 117 adults and 158 youth.  Leigh Ann reminded TAC members to submit comments on the McLauglin Nelson Tunnel treatment feasibility report by July 17^th so we can get comments back to Jim McLaughlin.  For the MCFA clean up, things are moving forward although they have had a few glitches.  Leigh Ann is working with CDPHE and EPA to get a QAPP in order to finish depth soil sampling.  Once samples are collected, someone will need to run XRF in Creede.  The public meeting on June 16^th went well with Leigh Ann discussing watershed plan, fairgrounds, and post flood work; Steve Yochum describing stream restoration project, and Jenny Inge presenting pictures and posters for potential construction at fairgrounds.  Leigh Ann has been communicating with Cindy Villa and Marvin Reynolds about doing a field visit to re-vegetation sites to evaluate which species are doing well and under what conditions.   Leigh Ann received a letter from Michaela Taylor with RiverWatch that said that we should have their data within the next few weeks.  As a correction to the announcement regarding director funding at the June meeting, the WCRC did receive $29,243 from the EPA Consolidated Funding Process.  Funding should be available by the end of the summer. 

In New Mexico , Leigh Ann was offered a job with the Friends of the Bosque del Apache, a non-profit group associated with the refuge.  Leigh Ann informed the group that she has some remaining responsibilities with Willow Creek and will need to make some trips to Creede and to conferences.  Leigh Ann will continue to check messages for the short term, and will work on an hourly basis while in transition.

Old Business:

Flood follow up: Zeke will see if Mike Wireman or Peter Ismert will have results from water samples taken during flood.  Zeke mentioned that Ty Poxson, 51% owner of the Commodore Mine, expressed some interest in doing something at the Commodore to stabilize pile and wooden flume.  Zeke felt that the WCRC should develop a plan for the site that would give direction to the Poxsons, and the committee discussed possible activities.  A motion was made for the WCRC TAC to come up with an engineered plan to address issues at the Commodore.  JB moved, Jeff seconded, and motion passed.  Jeff Graves will coordinate with Kelley to consider engineered alternatives at the site. 

The committee briefly discussed the emergency flood work completed by the NRCS.

Les informed that committee that, after the high water, some additional rock work may be needed at the Outlet Mine.  However, the willows that were planted seem to be doing good; many survived the high water and some are leafing out.  Les hopes to use the committee to help complete work at the Outlet and Midwest sites.

Fund Raising: Jim Mietz is looking into local fundraising possibilities and identified 12 to 14 people that could potentially be contacted to try to raise money.

Nelson Tunnel: Jeff Graves and Leigh Ann went underground to see if backwater in the Nelson Tunnel caused by the flood event had any impacts.  The water was up about a foot, but things looked to be OK.  Jeff and Jim Herron will work on bid documents for dewatering project and will try to start project in September or October.

Jim Matush mentioned that an AAU machine from Summitville may be available.  Zeke will call Joe Fox about the machine.

New Business:

New Director: After reviewing applications and conducting an interview, Zeke said that the hiring committee recommended hiring Kelley Thompson as Director for the WCRC.  Kelley would start as full time director in August and coordinate work prior to that with Leigh Ann on an hourly basis.  A motion was made to approve Kelley Thompson as Director.  JB moved, Eric seconded, and the motion carried.

Clean Up: The committee discussed the clean up that is needed after the flooding in Willow Creek.  Zeke said that a Bobcat with hard tires and a grapple could be rented from Century / Wagner to be able to remove large timbers.  The committee could make several piles of timbers, and interested community members could potentially salvage some timbers from these piles rather than from the floodplain.  The four wheeler club and horses were also discussed as potential ideas.  A large amount of timbers and slash was also deposited at the Amethyst and could be addressed during the Amethyst / Last Chance projects.  Zeke will investigate the possibilities of using county and city funding for clean up.  The clean up will be discussed further at the August meeting.

Recognition of Out-Going Director:

Zeke and committee discussed potential ways to recognize the great work that Leigh Ann did for the committee.  Zeke will talk to Jon.

The next meeting will be August 3, 2005.

Meeting Adjourned 3:30 PM

Respectfully Submitted,

Kelley Thompson