Friends of the Muscatatuck River Society Meeting Minutes: October 4th in the Jennings County Library Meeting called to order @ 5:35 pm. Attendance: Tom Moore Sherida Moore Troy Jackson Kevin Jayne Les Ticknor Simeon Stearns Delbert Vincent (JNRU) Jeffrey Fish (JNRU) Minutes approval: A spelling correction was made that was pointed out by Delbert Vincent. Treasurer's report: Old balance: $4429.85; transactions include the following: - $232.02 payment on October 5 to George Upling for 'coolies' - $250.00 deposit from a donation from Gary Smith Final balance $4197.83 Old Business: Education, grant money, and task report from Simon and Leanne: Highlights from their report: - 334 completed hours, with 60 hours added from Scipio Elementary School - Leanne will be @ Selmier for educational seminar - Grant funding and hours must be zeroed out by 11/18/05 Please see Simeon or Leanne for more details. Simeon and Tom suggested that we look further into dump-site monitoring cameras to expose trash-dumping perpetrators at FMRS access sites. They will approach Becky Shaw about some solutions she may have for us, and report on this at the next meeting. FMRS is sad to report that Leanne Whitesell, our Educational Coordinator, submitted her formal resignation and 2-week notice this evening. We ask all to extend your support to her and FMRS during this transition. FMRS sign progress at the Vernon Commons: Simeon, along with Dusty Williams from Hoosier Landscaping and Jason Law from JTL Inc., mounted the sign. Tom Moore applied seal to the sign, which was donated by Trevor Miller. Simeon will finish up by leveling the tops of the post. Website updates and changes: Sponsorship on the site: Verizon would require a $500 contribution to sponsor. National City is also interested in being a sponsor. Sherida suggested we make a bumper sticker/certificate/window sticker to display in our sponsor's business places. Simeon to check with George Upling for ideas; Troy and Kevin will contact Larry Hartwell (H & H Computers) for info on his decal-making service. A motion was made to add the statistics from previous river sweeps to the site (pounds of trash, number of tires, attendance); Simeon noted that this info could be gleaned from the Annual Meeting Powerpoint presentation. Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP): Rochelle Owen from RCAP suggested ideas for the Delmar addition in Hayden to address the faulty septic systems. The main problem there is that all the fingers from approximately 25 houses feed into one trunk line. Simeon stated that the simplest solution would be to tap the line into an existing pumping station 0.3 miles from the location (incline of the area would allow for a gravity-fed line to the station). Suggested steps to take to resolve the problem: - Contact Dave McCorvie @ North Vernon Treatment Plant to compose a support letter - Get JNRU to 'write off' on the hookup - Present to RCAP for evaluation of the site and to provide funding to fix the problem Simeon will contact Mike Novac and Rochelle Owen @ RCAP to begin the process. Delbert and Jeffrey notified the group of the upcoming JNRU meetings: - 10/17, 7:00pm @ the Jennings County Library (monthly meeting) - 10/25, 7:00pm @ the Jennings County Library: public meeting to discuss a water treatment plant in Crystal Glades (Phase 1 report) - 11/1, 7:00pm @ the Hayden Elementary School: public meeting to discuss alternatives (IDEM to be present) Tom and Simeon will attend the 10/17 meeting to address support of the Delmar hookup. Delbert will send an agenda to Simeon, who will forward to Mike Novac and invite him also. New business: River Cleanup Report: Statistics from the cleanup, gleaned from Tom's amazingly detailed report: - 95 'river huggers' in attendance - 7,170 pounds of debris collected and 88 tires (a record for tires). Total trash collected since FMRS's inception is 73,028 pounds and number of tires to 411 All of the food was consumed, and everyone got an opportunity this time to eat something (thanks to our wonderful food servers!). Sherida will send a thank you to Valerie Hoppick @ McDonalds for their contribution (one was sent to Kelly Jayne by mistake). Tom will make a correction regarding Boy Scout canoeists dumping at Vernon Cemetery and exiting at Dog Farm Bridge. He will also talk to Dave Shaw and/or Jim Shaw to inquire about the dumping of concrete at Vernon Cemetery. Troy will call RC and Pepsi distributors and North Vernon Beverage to ask them to donate coolers for our next cleanup. Suggested improvements for next cleanup: - Spend more time at Twin Cities racetrack - Add Artz Ford near Graham Creek School - Have canoeists scout areas before cleanup (coordinate with Ken and Bill) - Recruit people with 'Gators'/ 'Mules' or other 4-wheel utility vehicles (2 per site?), and wenches Meeting Length/ Guest notification issues: The group addressed Kevin's concerns and addressed the following solutions: - Assign a time frame to each agenda item - Distribute all extensive/ time-consuming items to committees Update on new 319 application: The application was submitted by Leanne and was the joint effort of Jefferson, Jackson, Scott and Jennings counties. Congratulations to Leanne and everyone involved. Tom expressed his disappointment with the community not offering any employment or financial support for Leanne during her interim between grant funding. Simeon will approach Steve Mobley @ IUS for any educational opportunities and Terry Stevenson @ HHH for employment opportunities. Tom will approach Jennings Community Foundation and the JCSC for similar opportunities. Set initial agenda for next meeting on November 1st, 2005: Old Business: RCAP/JNRU meeting results 10 minutes Web Site Info 3 minutes 319 closeout 15 minutes Assignments: Tom: - Dave/Jim Shaw on concrete dumping 3 minutes - JC Foundation/JCSC meeting 5 minutes Troy: - H & H Computer for decals 5 minutes - RC/Pepsi sponsorship 5 minutes Simeon: - Camera 3 minutes - Treasurer report/ HHH balance 5 minutes - National City corporate sponsorship 5 minutes Sherida: - Certificate/ Thank you's 5 minutes New Business: Annual Meeting 10 minutes Cleanup Equipment 10 minutes Meeting adjourned @ 7:32pm Tentative date for next river cleanup: 2nd week in May 2006 Mother Nature Thanks You Use the TIP LINE. Call 1-800-847-4367 (1-800-TIP-IDNR)