Moratorium Support Committee Meeting

5.24.06

Attendees:  Darlene Beckman, Marv Beckman, Richard Koehler, Eric Hauptman, John Stead, Gerry Wasserburg, Karen Peck, Susie Navetta, Johan Hogervorst

Meeting began at 7:10pm

Johan asked for additions or corrections to the minutes from May 17, 2006 .  There were none.

Additional committee members:  Marv and Darlene Beckman expressed interest in being on the mailing list.  Johan will call Liz Purtell and Margaret Hammer to inquire of their interest.

Priority #1 – BMPs

Karen handed out elements of the Tahoe Basin ordinances and pointed out relevant sections pertaining to our research.

Gerry suggested that we make a contact with someone at the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency to at least let them know what we are doing and find out if they can offer any help.  Johan asked Gerry to make the initial contact and he agreed.

John Stead suggested that we make a list of all the governing authorities, statutes and administrative rules in our region that deal with lake issues, and make sure that any BMPs tier to these authorities in any ordinance revision that we do.  Johan gave a short list of the ones that he knew of and John agreed to research further and report back.

We discussed the role of LCOG in ordinance revision.  Last meeting, committee members discussed fear that Gary or others might take on too much of the process.  MSC members envision our committee submitting potential revisions to our code to LCOG, Gary and Denise put them in the proper format within a chosen framework, and a draft come back to the committee for review in an iterative process.  Final sections of completed work would then go to the City Council for review and potential acceptance.

Richard strongly encouraged the group to establish an agreed upon framework for the revision and to put pieces of the ordinance up on a screen to work through them as a group.  Gerry disagreed with the idea of putting things up on the wall and urged the group to remember that we are not rewriting the whole city code, only small parts that will serve to strengthen protection of our lakes.  Gerry said that the group needs to focus on what we promised to deliver in Attachment A of Ordinance 181.  Johan supported Richard’s idea of a strong framework to plug things into.

Gerry also urged the committee to write a clear opening statement on the purpose of each BMP that we are addressing.  Information passed out by Karen from Lake Tahoe also shows this same approach that makes clear the intent of the BMP/ordinance.  John Stead volunteered to make a first cut at this.

Priority #2 – Septic Maintenance Ordinance Implementation

The committee went through selected portions of the “list of 20” originally drafted by Susie to see what the MSC could do to further the implementation of Ord. 173.  Susie had at least 5 items completed and handed out copies to committee members.  Susie was assigned to present these to the Water Quality Committee chair on the following evening’s meeting for discussion and review.

Specific item discussions:

(5) and (6) database program – Johan met with Joanne Hickey and John Scott on May 22^nd, two days earlier, and discussed many things including what database to use for septic system tracking.  At present, the city uses one database (Filemaker, not Access) to track several items of city business.  The only problem is that this database was not completed, and the person originally hired to complete this task has left town.  We are in need of professional help to complete this database and add a septic tracking component.  Joanne is currently researching names for this work and I had mentioned that I would ask our committee if there were any names to add.  The committee had no other names.

With regard to getting names, addresses and info on septics from Lane County , Johan had talked to George Ehlers about a few topics, but had not arranged to have this information sent.  Richard agreed to contact George for the information and Johan later asked if Richard could have this information sent to Joanne at the office.  Johan mentioned that George warned of only having tracking since 1978.  Darlene said that even though they didn’t have septic info on file, they certainly would have records of improvements to properties that would make it obvious who had a septic system that needed inspection.

(7) DEQ approved inspectors – Johan had talked to George Ehlers and he had said that even after Wally had gone through a DEQ-approved training, certification was not obtained.  DEQ is waffling on whether this class is sufficient.  At this time, we do not have an approved inspector in our area.  Johan also mentioned that at their meeting on the 22^nd, John Scott had made changes to both the ordinance and resolution to implement 173.  To the line asking for DEQ certification in the ordinance, John added “and/or a Lane County Sanitarian”, making it possible for a Lane County approved person to serve as a certified inspector.  There was much dismay on the part of committee members over this change without anyone’s approval.

(Note: Gary later confirmed that a change to the ordinance could not be done outside of a public process approved by the rest of the City Councilors).  Johan agreed to send Susie a name and number of a DEQ person in Roseburg that George said could answer questions about certification.  Susie will report back on her findings.

(20) Resolution implementing Ord. 173 – The committee instructed Johan to ask Gary for the final resolution language to review by May 31st, given that it affects our work as well.  Johan agreed.

Priority #3 - Septic System Standards – Johan discussed waiting for Ralph Farnsworth to help us on this.  Instead, Gerry suggested that we contact Mark Cherniak, a consultant out of Eugene , and see what it would cost for him to research and come up with some well-written standards.  The committee agreed to this and asked Gerry to get an estimate of what it might cost for Mark to do this work.

Priority #4 – Educational Outreach – Susie reported that her sub-committee had been assembled and they are scheduled to meet on May 31^st for their first meeting.  Susie will report on progress next meeting.  Members of this sub-committee include Susie, Christine Maye, Linda Lock and Denise Rattan.

Priority #5 – Fertilizer ordinance – This topic was added to the list of priorities at our last meeting, but the committee decided to add this to Priority #1 since it is actually one of the BMPs.  Eric noticed that the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency has what looks like a fairly complete fertilizer ordinance.  Everyone agreed to read TRPA Chapter 81 before next meeting.

Priority #5 – Lakeshore survey – will be done in July by Mark Chandler and company using a digital camera and a GPS.  Johan also mentioned the need to conduct a road survey in Dunes City to record all road ditches that connect directly to a lake or stream in winter.  Johan suggested that this may be one of our biggest threats.  Joanne had suggested a joint meeting with the Road Commission to talk about road connections to drainages and adding this duty to the road recon that we pay for right now.  This will be discussed at an upcoming meeting.

Priority #6 – Documentation on progress – ongoing.  Approved minutes will be forwarded to staff for filing.  We should have our meetings recorded because they are public meetings.  Johan will work with staff to make sure we have recording capability by next meeting.

Summary of assigned duties:

Susie       

-         Report latest Septic Maintenance Ord. Work to WQC on May 25, 2006

-         Call Tenmile Lakes concerning sign they have warning of permits needed to disturb ground in the city limits

Karen

-         Continue reviewing BMPs from Lake Tahoe , particularly chapter on non-point sources    

-         Will talk to Pam Blake of DEQ

 Gerry

-         Call Tahoe Regional Planning Agency for contact

-         Call Mark Cherniak about cost to write septic system standards

John

-         Review Oregon statutes on vegetative stabilization

-         Write draft opening statement for BMPs and their purpose

Richard

-         Read and report back on Tahoe Fertilizer ordinance

-         Find list of DEQ approved inspectors

-         Call George Ehlers at Lane County to get list of septic systems in Dunes City and will also have this list sent to Joanne.

Johan

-         Send grant info to Karen Peck

-         Talk with Gary Darnielle and Denise Kalakay about need to wait on the scope of work

-         Get name and number of DEQ certification person to Susie

-         Call additional possibilities of committee members and ask if interested

Marv , Darlene and Eric – off the hook for now.  Start reading up on ordinances.

Meeting Adjourned at 10:25pm

Volunteer hours = 9 x 3hr ave/committee member = 27 hours

Next Meeting:  Council Chambers, May 31^st, 2006 at 7:00pm

Minutes compiled by Johan Hogervorst, May 27, 2006