A/GVWC Board of Directors Meeting Minutes, January 9, 2010

AGV Watershed Council

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

January 9, 2010

The meeting was held at 375 Montgomery Road in Sebastopol. It was called to order at 10 am by President Zeno Swijtink. Directors Bob Burke, Jon Sassin, John Roberts, and Barbara Chasteen were also present. Steven Fuller-Rowell and Jo Bentz also attended. Brock Dolman was present for part of the meeting.
1. Treasurer’s Report: The map project overspent its budget by $170.00 the amount of the grant received from the Sonoma County Fish and Wildlife Commission, due to printing costs of $255.00 for 100 educational packages presented to teachers during school visits. Currently there is a balance of $251.69 in the account. Susan Wielk sent a $10 check for membership.
   Bob Burke moved to commend John Roberts and Jean Redus for their work on this project, and also to ratify the expenditure of funds in excess of the grant amount. Zeno Swijtink seconded, motion passed unanimously.

2. Other Director Reports

Map project status: John and Jean visited five schools in December: four more are scheduled next week. They would like to finish up all visits in the next few weeks. The purpose of this project is to create more awareness of creek stewardship, locate students in their environment, educate them as to the importance of keeping creeks clean, of trash pickup and how it helps keep the ocean clean.   There is a great need for classroom presentations.   Zeno Swijtink suggested considering at the February Board meeting how to help provide classroom events. Bob Burke also would like to let more people know about “keepsonomaclean.org” which assists in removing trash from roadsides.

Meeting on waste disposal practices (John Roberts, Zeno Swijtink attended) emphasized working toward a “no waste stream” idea. There is a looming environmental threat from the activities of private companies that run ‘megadumps’, controlling both hauling and dump sites so they have no incentive to reduce waste. Their ‘landfill liability’ is quite limited, leading to major threats to groundwater and other environmental concerns as the dumps deteriorate in the future. The closest such site to this watershed is near Altamont; fortunately Sonoma County has not sold its dump to private interests.

Business Cards/Letterhead status: Zeno asked for help with this project. Barbara Chasteen will assist in completing the design and producing cards and letterhead.

Leadership Course (recent Education and Health talk at SSU): Zeno spoke re the “triad of education: the student, the teacher, the building”. There are financial and other benefits to a school in (for example) “daylighting” a classroom (scores go up). Where we are and how we present learning sends an environmental message to students.

3. Paul Hobbs winery proposal: Jo Bentz presented a report on a mitigated negative declaration and use permit hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals on January 28, regarding the Crossbarn Winery project (Paul Hobbs) near Forestville. The proposed winery location is adjacent to Pitkin Marsh and sensitive riparian and wetland areas. This is the beginning, design review stage, not concerned with water, septic, and drainage issues; however, there is a concern that the initial design needs to include impacts on these wetlands. Nutrients are harmful to this low-acid marsh; an increased load would impact it.   In addition this project potentially would be harmful to nearby wetlands and streams.
   There was discussion of appropriate action for AGVWC to take regarding the impact on downslope wetlands, streams, and the marsh.
   Jon Sassin and Jo Bentz will write a letter for the Board to submit to the BZA before the January 28 hearing. It will include the Board’s concern for the health of the wetlands, the necessity of delineating the marsh and wetland boundaries during the planning process, the effects of necessary widening of Highway 116 on the marsh, the impact of new wells on the property and/or increased use of existing wells, the cumulative effects of vineyard development on the watershed, and alternative sites that are available to the owner for the tasting room/winery.

4. Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership (Brock Dolman)

   The board heard a presentation by Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center on the group known as the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership.

The Partnership is comprised of six organizations, namely,

Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration
Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District
Sotoyome Resource Conservation District
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center WATER Institute
Trout Unlimited
University of California (UC) Research and Extension Center's Hopland GIS Lab.

   The mission of the Partnership is to improve streamflow and water supply reliability in five Russian River tributaries (including Green Valley Creek) critical to the recovery of endangered coho salmon. The Partnership has been funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a copy of the business plan of the Partnership can be found on the Foundation's web site (www.nfwf.org ).

The meeting adjourned at 12:30

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara Chasteen
Secretary

AGV Watershed Council	Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
January 9, 2010


The meeting was held at 375 Montgomery Road in Sebastopol. It was called to order at 10 am by President Zeno Swijtink. Directors Bob Burke, Jon Sassin, John Roberts, and Barbara Chasteen were also present. Steven Fuller-Rowell and Jo Bentz also attended. Brock Dolman was present for part of the meeting. 1. Treasurer’s Report: The map project overspent its budget by $170.00 the amount of the grant received from the Sonoma County Fish and Wildlife Commission, due to printing costs of $255.00 for 100 educational packages presented to teachers during school visits. Currently there is a balance of $251.69 in the account. Susan Wielk sent a $10 check for membership. Bob Burke moved to commend John Roberts and Jean Redus for their work on this project, and also to ratify the expenditure of funds in excess of the grant amount. Zeno Swijtink seconded, motion passed unanimously. 2. Other Director Reports Map project status: John and Jean visited five schools in December: four more are scheduled next week. They would like to finish up all visits in the next few weeks. The purpose of this project is to create more awareness of creek stewardship, locate students in their environment, educate them as to the importance of keeping creeks clean, of trash pickup and how it helps keep the ocean clean. There is a great need for classroom presentations. Zeno Swijtink suggested considering at the February Board meeting how to help provide classroom events. Bob Burke also would like to let more people know about “keepsonomaclean.org” which assists in removing trash from roadsides. Meeting on waste disposal practices (John Roberts, Zeno Swijtink attended) emphasized working toward a “no waste stream” idea. There is a looming environmental threat from the activities of private companies that run ‘megadumps’, controlling both hauling and dump sites so they have no incentive to reduce waste. Their ‘landfill liability’ is quite limited, leading to major threats to groundwater and other environmental concerns as the dumps deteriorate in the future. The closest such site to this watershed is near Altamont; fortunately Sonoma County has not sold its dump to private interests. Business Cards/Letterhead status: Zeno asked for help with this project. Barbara Chasteen will assist in completing the design and producing cards and letterhead. Leadership Course (recent Education and Health talk at SSU): Zeno spoke re the “triad of education: the student, the teacher, the building”. There are financial and other benefits to a school in (for example) “daylighting” a classroom (scores go up). Where we are and how we present learning sends an environmental message to students. 3. Paul Hobbs winery proposal: Jo Bentz presented a report on a mitigated negative declaration and use permit hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals on January 28, regarding the Crossbarn Winery project (Paul Hobbs) near Forestville. The proposed winery location is adjacent to Pitkin Marsh and sensitive riparian and wetland areas. This is the beginning, design review stage, not concerned with water, septic, and drainage issues; however, there is a concern that the initial design needs to include impacts on these wetlands. Nutrients are harmful to this low-acid marsh; an increased load would impact it. In addition this project potentially would be harmful to nearby wetlands and streams. There was discussion of appropriate action for AGVWC to take regarding the impact on downslope wetlands, streams, and the marsh. Jon Sassin and Jo Bentz will write a letter for the Board to submit to the BZA before the January 28 hearing. It will include the Board’s concern for the health of the wetlands, the necessity of delineating the marsh and wetland boundaries during the planning process, the effects of necessary widening of Highway 116 on the marsh, the impact of new wells on the property and/or increased use of existing wells, the cumulative effects of vineyard development on the watershed, and alternative sites that are available to the owner for the tasting room/winery. 4. Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership (Brock Dolman) The board heard a presentation by Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center on the group known as the Russian River Coho Water Resources Partnership. The Partnership is comprised of six organizations, namely, Center for Ecosystem Management and Restoration Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District Sotoyome Resource Conservation District Occidental Arts and Ecology Center WATER Institute Trout Unlimited University of California (UC) Research and Extension Center's Hopland GIS Lab. The mission of the Partnership is to improve streamflow and water supply reliability in five Russian River tributaries (including Green Valley Creek) critical to the recovery of endangered coho salmon. The Partnership has been funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a copy of the business plan of the Partnership can be found on the Foundation's web site (www.nfwf.org ). The meeting adjourned at 12:30 Respectfully submitted, Barbara Chasteen Secretary