FMRS Meeting Minutes 01-16-07 @ Jennings County Public Library Called to Order @ 5:30 pm Attendance: Tom Moore, Sherida Moore, Kevin Jayne, Troy Jackson, Simeon Stearns, Les Ticknor, Christinia Koons, Everett Sparkmann. Approval of Minutes Approved as written. Treasurer's Report: Summary: CENTRA - $2380.82 checking, $25.77 savings. Total: $2406.59 Activities: 11/15/06 - $45.00 to Express Printing for banner date changes 12/23/06 - $30.00 to Kelley's Greenhouse for arrangement to Sandi Hoene Home Federal - Checking balance $823.64 on 12/31/06 Activities: 01/15/07 - $254.75 to Greathouse Hardware. Purchases: Seven short shovels.........$98.00 Three boxes of trash bags..$27.75 Four winches...............$100.00 Fifty feet cable...............$29.00 Current Balance: $568.75 Old Business: GPS/HRW/WMT Training: - GPS Unit: Kevin is gathering info together for a PowerPoint presentation. We need to solicit 4-5 people per class for training, and will announce at the Annual Meeting. A suggestion given to get people interested was to create a competition using the unit (i.e orienteering); Tom mentioned that Bill Suhre and Matt Vawter might be interested. - Hoosier River Watch: Kevin is interested in holding a spring session. Chrisinia and Les have already received their certification cards from the previous class. - Watershed Management Training: This year's session will be starting soon; the signup deadline has passed. Kevin suggested that we should send someone next year. Dump signs @ Tobey Hole Simeon talked to state representatives regarding creating legislation against dumping. Their suggestion was to have a local attorney draw up an ordinance, then have the attorney submit to state legislators. According to Chuck Wagner, the Indian State Legislation IC-35 should cover dumping; Research found it only illegalizes dumping of controlled substances; it does not support a local ordinance on trash dumping.. Another option is to draft a local ordinance and have it reviewed and approved by the county commissioners. Simeon will contact Chuck Wagner to ask him to co-author an ordinance draft to achieve this; the group suggested to mimic state fine fees ($1,000), and FMRS will make the posting signs. Web Site Cherie Massie has gotten off to a great start! She has posted what she has completed thus far to http://www.fomrs.org. Cherie has committed to finishing the site; it will include features such as video and a tally of total debris collected up to this point. Kevin made a suggestion to change the color theme to something more "earth-tone". Troy and Simeon proposed to pay her for services rendered. Tom suggested presenting her with a gift certificate to a local establishment; the group unanimously agreed. Sherida will handle this issue. Please forward any web site suggestions Simeon, Tom, Kevin, Troy, Sherida. 319 Grant status Below are excerpts from an email sent from Terry Shephenson on 01/11/07: "Hello Everyone, To refresh everyone on Central Muscatatuck, below is the message that was sent out after our meeting with IDEM on Nov 14. To further update you on the project, I talked with Kathleen Hagen this morning and the best guess as to when Historic Hoosier Hills will receive the signed contract is the last of February or the first of March. We plan to put a draft position description for the Watershed Coordinator together within the next two weeks. When that is completed I will sent it out for comments and revisions. After that HHH will post the job announcement at www.ecojobs.com. We have posted at this site on two other watershed projects and have received a very good response. After the position is filled we will work with the coordinator to develop a steering committee with representation from all 4 counties involved with this project. If there are any questions please send me an e-mail. For those who are not aware, Phyllis has retired so we are running a bit thin with office assistance. Thanks everyone for your support. Terry Stephenson, Coordinator Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D" "Subject: Nov 14 contract meeting Hi All, To keep you updated on Central Muscatatuck Watershed, a small group met this morning and reviewed the draft contract between HHH and IDEM. The contract basically remained the same with some minor revisions such as volunteer monitoring (will be completed at least quarterly) and term of the contract (30 months from the date of last state signature). Kathleen Hagan will now make corrections and send a final contract for HHH Council to sign. The contract will then be sent back to the state for signatures. We can go ahead and move forward with an organizational meeting in December if that will work for everyone. We will send out date and location a couple of weeks before the meeting. Please share this info with others that may be interested. Send an e-mail or call with any questions. Thanks Terry Stephenson, Coordinator Historic Hoosier Hills RC&D" New Business: 2007 Officer Elections: No oppositions were made against office positions, and no officer requested to step down after the end of the term, resulting in officers remaining the same during the 2007 term. Officer candidates are: President - Tom Moore Vice President - Kevin Jayne Secretary - Troy Jackson Treasurer - Sherida Moore Action Register for the Annual Meeting: * Registration and Name Tags - Sherida and Cherie; Tom will send out mailers via an Internet mass mailing service. * Power point - Troy (send any info you would like to add); Kevin is sending info from his Watershed Management Training class * Photos for power point - anyone reading this, please forward to Troy. * Timed agenda, programs - Tom; example of last year's agenda: o 5:00 FMRS business o 5:30 Set up the Open House o 6:00-6:20 Registration, snacks o 6:25 Welcome, Year in Review, Tom Moore o 6:30 Power Point Presentation o 7:00 Induction of Officers, Mayor John Hall o 7:20 Certificate of Appreciation Presentations & Preview 2006 o 7:30 Hazardous Material Presentation, Officer David Turner o 7:45 Public Comments from Attendees o 8:00 Adjournment * Certificates - Kevin * 319 Grant Update - Simeon and Troy; Troy will glean info from Terry Stephenson's email correspondence. * Year in Review - PowerPoint presentation * Year to Come - Kevin * Brochures - Sim * Invitations: o Mayor, Greens (Coffee Creek Conversation Club) - Sherida o Jim Reeves, Bobby Wilhite, Richard Schneider - Tom and Simeon o Plain Dealer, WJCP- Tom and Sherida o Hazardous Material Presentation (Dave Turner)- Simeon * Refreshments: o Finger foods/ sandwiches - Sherida; contact Naomi Roberts @ Subway o Water, soft drinks, ice - Tom and Trish Losey (iced tea) o Cookies - Christinia will approach Jay-C for a donation o Veggie tray and dip/ Cucumber sandwiches - Sherida o Plates, flatware, cups- Sherida will round up our leftover supply; Les will check storage, and will make a spare key for Tom. o Coffee - Kevin o Coolers - Tom, Troy * Stickers - Tom; he passed out samples he found from the Internet * We need ideas for a door prize; email your ideas to Tom, Kevin, Simeon or Troy. Office Arrangements We no longer have office access at the Government Building. Possible new office locations include the old library and the old Vernon jailhouse. Richard Schneider is working very hard at finding us a location, and will get us access to our previous office to remove our supplies once we find a place to store it. We have been offered garage storage with Gossman's Storage if we require it. Orlo Bloomquist Race: Bill Suhre contacted Troy to discuss some issues regarding the race: - Look at re-naming the race to reflect FMRS's involvement - Wants to see if race can be held under the umbrella of the HHH for liability issues - As in the past, contributions to go to FMRS - Would like to organize concurrent events with the race for non-participants/early finishers/spectators and family, such as fundraisers, auctions, etc. Some activities/fundraiser items were suggested, including a Texas Hold'em Tournament. Troy will contact Bill to further discuss this, and Simeon will also discuss with Chuck Wagner. Correspondence: * Angie Brown, one of Kevin's classmates and a Deleware County SWCD employee, announced to Kevin in correspondence that she has been promoted to a higher position and is leaving that office. * Also Angie Brown is asking for Kevin's aid in developing a river sweep similar to ours, and would like us to teach a class. Kevin has created an outline for review and will forward on to Angie. * Also, there is a current vacancy at the Jefferson County SWCD office. Other: Preliminary work toward May 12 Cleanup Action Register: Things to be done: * Gloves: Les will place an order for "All-Grip" brand gloves from his workplace; 2 dozen size 6, 4 dozen size 8, and 1 dozen size 10. * Registration: Add a "Check in/Check out" box to sign-in forms * Completed purchases: 5 dry bags (Kevin this weekend); 5 gallon buckets (Troy will supply); 7 compact shovels (Sherida, done); 4 "come-alongs" (Sherida,done); 3 boxes of heavy trash bags (Sherida, done) * Needed Purchases: Disinfectant wipes, sanitizer, and 3 first aid kits (purchase with Wal-Mart grant) * Wal-Mart grant: Simeon will apply for it.. * Heavy equipment: Tom/Simeon to contact Mike Magner @ FPBH for their equipment. * Cell phone list: Need to laminate next time to protect from the environment. * Get marker flags: Tom will ask Wayne Stearns to donate. * Develop new Papa Johns contact: Kevin * More promotion of watershed quality to the general public * Find missing debit card: Need to cancel/reorder soon if it cannot be found. * Email address updates: Tom and Troy need to coordinate their lists. Tom invited everyone to reflect on the meeting: Sherida - We need to invite/include legislators to our Annual Meeting. Les - We need to find more ways to involve other members by forming committees, assigning tasks, etc. Troy - Ready for the upcoming year. Reminder to everyone: send pictures, other info to include in the annual PowerPoint presentation. Kevin - Stressed to involve other groups with similar interests (i.e. Angie Brown) Christinia- Agreed with Les to involve other members. Everett: We need to express to legislators the value of water quality and testing, and to supply the public with statistics on water content and conditions. Agenda for next meeting: Tom will issue before the Annual Meeting; only critical items will be included due to the short time that we will have. Meeting adjourned at 7:20pm The next meeting is the Annual Meeting on February 6 at 5:30PM in the Jennings County Public Library. Up-coming dates for next river cleanup: 5/12/07 Use the TIP LINE 1-800-847-4367 (1-800-TIP-IDNR) Mother Nature Thanks You!