December 2011

Present:  Mike Bailey, Quincy Robe, Elin Jones, John Lee, Dave Blount, Susan Crorcoran, Jesse Daubert, Watershed Coordinator, Kim Steese, Americorps VISTA

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Dr. Katy Lustofin, Assistant Professor of Biology at Marietta College, was a guest at the meeting.

 

Kim agreed to take minutes in Doug's absence.

 

Treasurer’s Report: No big items, memberships have been coming in. Susan still has to lend money to payroll and emailed about receiving the money for Jesse’s grant, but she still has not received anything back. Marilyn said she mailed a letter suggesting that it be paid in one lump sum. Susan said she emailed Joe at ODNR again, and she said we will be in good shape once we get it. She said FLMR has loaned about $3,500, and that it is suppose to be a quarterly payment, which the last quarter ended in September, and doesn’t understand how they think non-profits are suppose to do business if we do not receive the money on time. Jesse read a note from Marti Angert’s daughter and son, who donated $500 in their mother’s memory. Quincy said he will write a response to them. Marilyn said to put the Angert’s on the membership list, and Quincy said he will have Doug put them on the database. Elin said she did not receive a newsletter. Jesse said that from our credits from Goodsearch FLMR has received $26.99, some of which has come from using the search engine in the office. Jesse said you can do online shopping and a portion (up to 15%) is donated to FLMR. Marilyn said to send email about this, and Susan said to put it in the newsletter. Jesse said that if you Google Goodsearch it will tell you how to use it. Katy suggested that this should be on the website.

 

Membership Report: On November 22 Quincy sent renewal notices for November and December. In total, 54 were sent and 27 sent membership renewals back. Jesse gave number 28 at the board meeting. It has been over 2 weeks since Quincy received a renewal. Traditionally membership renewals have been better than 80%, and people who have been members for a while tend to be faithful. Susan asked if we have anything on the web and if we have any way for people to pay with Paypal. Quincy said that there is old stuff on the web that needs to be either updated or taken down. Marilyn said that we should archive photos from events like the raft race. Jesse said to point these things out as they are seen.

 

Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District – Marilyn said there is nothing to report at this time.

 

Watershed Coordinator Report:
Watershed Action Plan Development - Jesse has been told that the Ohio EPA will be doing a total of 12-14 TMDL sites, with 4 sentinel sites (monitored continuously). Kelly Capuzzi from the Ohio EPA sent Jesse a map with the sites and Jesse will be doing the groundwork to get landowner permission for access to these sites. This will help the OEPA, and the data will help Jesse with his Watershed Action Plan. Jesse will be doing additional testing (i.e. fecal coliform, QHEI, etc.) for his WAP. Jesse will be meeting with Keith from the OEPA in January to set up the sentinel sites for the TMDL.

Jesse sent FLMR’s YSI probe (tests conductivity) to Fondriest Environmental to do any needed maintenance and repairs for approximately $100, which will come from the Duke Energy Grant Funds. This probe will be used a lot while Jesse collects data for his WAP and helps with the TMDL.

Jesse also attended a township meeting for Muskingum Township on December 5th. He plans to attend further township meetings within the Southern Subwatershed.

Jesse plans to host two public meetings, one in Marietta and the other in Lowell, in the future.

Website - Jesse updated the website and added new links to a page about his Southern Watershed Action Plan and the Rain Gardens, Clean River project. Jesse created an online version of the survey that is emailed to him when it is submitted to reach his survey out to more people.

Jesse also reported that FLMR has 139 Facebook fans.

Marilyn said to take the fall newsletter to the township meetings with him. Quincy asked if he is doing anything to obtain membership for FLMR during all of these meetings. Jesse said that he does not because he is handing out his survey and is going to these meetings to gain support for the development of the WAP. Susan said that Jesse could hand out fact sheets. Quincy said that it should be clear that this is a membership based organization and a non-profit.

 

VISTA Report:
ACCT Fall Training - Kim attended ACCT Fall Training on November 16th-18th. Appalachian Coal Country Team (ACCT) is who Kim’s VISTA position is through and this fall training was required for both Kim and Jesse. Kim said that topics at training included grant writing, public speaking and outreach and communication strategies. Kim said she had a one on one session with professional grant writer Sonja Carlborg, and they reviewed the Captain Planet grant Jesse had written last year to install an educational rain garden at Marietta High School. Kim said that they also went over the new application for the Captain Planet grant, as it has more in depth questions, and talked about how to make the grant more compelling in order to have a better chance of receiving funding.

 

Ecycle Group Fundraiser - Kim said that she found a fundraising flyer on Ecycle Group’s website to help promote the recycling fundraiser. She said they put the FLMR logo with the organization’s information on the flier and she contacted Marietta College’s Student’s for Environmental Awareness (SEA) Club and the Office of Civic Engagement. She asked them if they would tell departments about this program so they could save their recyclables for FLMR, but SEA said they are already doing a similar program to help AHEAD Energy, but would be willing to help FLMR next school year.

 

“Rain Gardens, Clean River” - Kim said for the “Rain Gardens, Clean River” project she has finished the brochure. She passed brochures around and said that if anyone on the board would like to distribute some they are more than welcome. Kim also showed photos of the rain garden model she made that can be used at different events and presentations, and explained how it works. Kim said she met with the environmental group with Marietta High School on December 2nd and that the group is very enthusiastic about installing a rain garden and wants to be very involved with each step of the process (grant writing, planning, presenting at the workshop, etc.). Kim said that she has found four different grants for the high school to apply to, which are: Lowe’s, Captain Planet, Dominion, and the Ohio Environmental Educational Fund. Kim said she meets with the high school group again this Friday, December 16th and will discuss these grants, as well as possibly walking around the school to find a location and calculating the size of the garden.

 

Stream Team - Kim said that while at ACCT fall training she met and spoke with Rachel Yoke, ACCT’s Outreach Coordinator. Kim contacted Rachel about ideas for reaching out to people in the northern watershed to help expand the volunteer monitoring program. Kim gave Rachel information about the stream team program and FLMR, and Rachel made a one-pager to hand out, which Kim brought and showed to the board. Kim and Rachel had a phone call and discussed reaching out to local schools, and trying to get AEP to have some of their employees possibly volunteer while in the area at the ReCreation Land. Kim also said that if any FLMR board members living in the northern watershed area would like to collect samples, she would really appreciate it. Kim also said that she will be working with Rachel to develop press releases about the stream team and will be creating one soon.
Kim said she has mapped monitoring sites for the stream team in google maps, and Jesse has mapped them in ArcGIS to create maps that may be given to volunteers that have the site name, street names and stream names, etc. These maps help develop the stream team monitoring program by having planned, mapped sites to collect data at. Kim showed a map that was printed at the UPS store for $4.79. The money to pay for these maps can come out of the Duke Grant funds.

Kim also mentioned that she has tried to contact Sandy Lahmers with Morgan County Soil and Water Conservation district, but has not reached her. She will try calling her again if she does not hear back from her soon.

 

Morgan Township Meeting – Kim attended the Morgan Township meeting on December 6 at 6:00PM. She said that they will help spread the word of the stream team program and talked about contacting commissioners. The township trustees gave her names of individuals they thought may be interested in volunteering for the stream team. Kim gave them all a copy of the stream team one-pager and FLMR’s brochure. Kim said she will be contacting the county commissioners soon and going to Bloom, Bristol and Meigsville township meetings as well.

 

Fecal Coliform Study (Meigs Creek) – Kim said she contacted Ron Lighthall about a grant possibility through AEP to fund the fecal coliform study in Meigs Creek, where AEP owns the ReCreation Land. Ron said he would look into it and call her back. Kim said applying for a grant through Dominion is also a possibility.

 

Southeastern Ohio Watershed Council Meeting – Kim said she attended the SEOWC meeting on December 9th, and Marilyn was there as well. Kim said that Mike McCormac gave a presentation called “Oil and Gas Regulations Overview”, which gave an explanation of fracking and regulations within the industry, which she thought was very helpful. Francisco “Paco” Ollervides gave a presentation called “Items to Consider as You Work Towards a Sustainable Fundraising Plan”, which was about how important relationship building is, and how everything within the organization (staff, board members, etc.) should be involved in the fundraising process. He also mentioned how important those who have donated in the past are, as they are likely to donate again and acknowledging the donations.

Kim said she will soon begin writing the Duke grant that funds the VISTA position.

 

Clean Ohio Conservation Fund Projects:

Luke Chute/Cabin Run – Dave reported that not a lot has been going on, but he and Dough are trying to isolate the outside perimeter pins because people have been trespassing. There has been log cutting because they must have thought they should maintain the trail. Dave said the perimeter needs to be marked better and wondered if it is okay to contact AEP to bring him retired telephone poles as they replace them, or let him know so he may get them, to use as a trail marker. Dave would be able to stand them in the ground for the banks on the trail. Dave has seen poles they’ve replaced on Cabin Run, as well as some on 266. Dave said he could give his spiel to Jerry Clouss as a representative of the FLMR board of directors and environmental steward at the Luke Chute property. Dave has a trailer and could move them if needed. He will be looking into this.

 

Dana Island – John said there is nothing to report about Dana Island at this time.

 

Devol Run – Jesse will contact the Marietta College crew coach in the future about bringing a boat to help remove the trash from past river sweeps.

 

Old Business:

 

Putnam Water Supply Nitrate Meeting – Marilyn said there was good attendance at the meeting on December 1. There was a good turnout from both community members and college students. Chris Kenah from OEPA gave the presentation and said Putnam Water Supply has the highest nitrate concentrations in the state of Ohio. He explained geoprobe wells and how to collect water very well. It was easily recognized from Chris’s presentation, that there was an issue with nitrate contamination getting into the Putnam Water Supply. Marilyn said it was also neat how he used isotopes to narrow down the bromide and chloride ratio that was increasing. A water softener is necessary because of hard water in the area. The increase in salt is from the constant recycling of the water. Marilyn said there was also an article in the Marietta Times that was put out two days before the meeting, which helped get people out to the meeting. Marilyn also said that no hormones or personal care products were detected, which are emerging contaminants. Dr. Katy Lustofin said the college students that attended had to write a summary about the meeting, and most of them understood the main point of the meeting. The students were impressed over the community turnout and that there is a problem. Marilyn said a pilot run working with Jay Huck at Putnam Water Supply using reverse osmosis is being conducted, but they will have to look for funding for a larger system to take on the whole water supply.

 

Bag Report – Elin said that she has been working on the bags. Jesse asked her if she still needed a sewing machine, as this had been brought up in the past. Elin said that she did not, and her sewing machine has been working.

Ora Anderson Foundation Report – Marilyn said that Jean Andrews awarded a $2,000 check from the Ora Anderson Foundation to FLMR at the nitrate meeting. Marilyn said this money probably should go to fixing the river bank at the

 

Luke Chute property. Dave said that there are places on Cabin Run that could be looked at and considered. Marilyn said she has emailed the Army Corps of Engineers about the tree at Luke Chute. Dave said he hasn’t been in contact with them, and that there is another tree in the river and the beginning of a third tree. Dave said that it is getting worse. Marilyn said she wants to spend the money, which needs to be spent within a year, and stop getting sediment in the river. She asked Dave to get photos to send to the Army Corps of Engineers. Dave said it would take a lot of money, and soon Muskrat Point could be gone.

 

Rain Barrels – Jesse said that more people have been interested, but we still need to get the paint off. We still have issues of moss and fungus and wanting to paint the barrels. Jesse said we could get a lot of barrels that can be sent to Marietta Memorial. Jesse also mentioned a group he met at ACCT that does rain barrel production workshops. They make the barrels by cutting a hole in the top and putting a strainer in to fill the hole. Jesse said this may be better because it would make it easier to clean. Jesse said the group had to sand the barrels a lot to get the paint to stick. Elin said she likes the idea of a bigger hole and that it may help the water flow better. Marilyn said she likes it, but that you would always be cleaning and algae is hard to clean. Elin said that painting the barrels would be very expensive and time consuming. Marilyn wondered if using an electric sander would work. Jesse said maybe we could use chlorine or bleach. Katy said the bleach would dissipate if there is a hole in the top. Katy also said that she had been reading something and thinks it said that about a 1% solution would kill mosquitoes. Jesse said we could test the Krylon Fusion spray paint on our display barrel. Dave said a cupful of Clorox worked and the algae went away. Elin said Jesse could come over and clean the barrels Thursday or Friday.

 

Walking Sticks – Jesse said he needs to put these on the website.

 

Right-of-Way agreement with Virco – Nothing to report.

 

Time Hoeflich photos – Nothing new to report.

 

New Business:

 

Quincy said the Hulls in Noble County who have a conservation easement of over 400 acres have sold their property. Quincy said this is the test of an easement. Quincy said we’re lucky, because the buyer wants a family retreat and a place to hunt. Quincy said the buyer is James Diehl and he is from Toledo. Quincy said he just has to make modifications to the easement and get them recorded. Quincy said the property is being sold on a land contract and it is hoped that it will be paid in 18 months. Quincy said FLMR will receive 1% of the sold property to be put into the legal defense fund. Quincy said the first payment should be made shortly. There are just a few minor things that they became aware of after getting the easement that needs to be fixed. Quincy said the easement has been gone over in detail with the purchaser.

 

Flood Warning Meeting- Marilyn said she attended a local flood warning system meeting and there has already been a system installed on Duck Creek that was paid for primarily by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD). The one for the Muskingum River area would be paid for by MWCD and the National Weather Service (NWS). Marilyn said information would be fed to NWS in Wilmington where our advisories come from and the project is supposed to start in 2012. Marilyn said the information will be about five minutes behind, and it takes about one hour to produce visuals. Marilyn said the warning would go out ahead of time because of the continuous information being received. Marilyn said gauges will be installed at the AEP Muskingum River Plant and on the Ohio River. Jesse said there will be a wireless unit on the locks, and that it is a Doppler system that measures flow, sediment, etc., and that the USGS and Army Corps of Engineers Silver Jackets are involved in the project. Jesse was told to contact Scott Jackson to see if they could include water quality parameters to monitor. Dave wondered if they had to build anything to keep the system from sweeping away.

 

Clean Ohio Update – Marilyn said she received a call from Josh Knights from the Nature Conservancy asking if there are projects in the works for appropriating money from the Clean Ohio Fund. He told Marilyn that if the conservation community gave this information it would be helpful. Marilyn said she sent information on the Boersma property and will see where it goes.

 

Deep Shale Fluid Sampling Grant – Marilyn said she has been paying attention, and there are no permits so far, but there have been millions spent on leases, so we will be getting fracking activity. Marilyn mentioned that at the last meeting Jesse brought up that there are four townships in Washington County that have permits for fracking brine road application for snow and dust. Marilyn said one of these townships is Waterford, which is a river bank township, so it is of concern.

 

Marilyn said since Kim and Jesse do not have another project to apply to Sisters of Saint Joseph's Fund for, perhaps we could apply in order to monitor for frack fluid getting into surface water. Marilyn said there is a lot of radioactive contamination, and this is a big problem in Pennsylvania. Marilyn said there is one treatment plant in Ohio still taking fracking fluid, but has been give a notice that it cannot do this much longer because the radioactive contaminants and other stuff are not being removed.

 

Marilyn said that when she attended the Southeastern Ohio Watershed Council meeting she asked if there are markers that are indicators of elevated fracking fluid to test for, and she will be getting information on this sent from Mary Anne Worch. Elin said we should be concerned, but wondered if we had the manpower to do it. Marilyn said that we could maybe pay someone to do this.

 

Jesse noted that this brine solution comes from drilling the wells and is obtained before they inject the water-chemical mixture into the wells for fracking. Marilyn said that they are putting backflow from fracking fluid on roads in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Marilyn also said they don’t need a plan for the backflow when they get the permit, and that they put it in lagoons and sometimes cover them up. She also said that some hold the fluid in tanks and reuse. Some have also put the fluid in injection wells, and there has been increased seismic activity after the brine has been injected, which has been seen in Youngstown.

 

Katy asked about the markers. Marilyn said that Mary Anne Borch is with the Department of Mineral Resources for the state of Ohio, and you have to have a chain of title sample, and Mary sent the names of labs with credibility. Jesse asked if you have to be a certified data collector. Marilyn said that this was not addressed, and if the bottle is sealed and there is an established protocol with a chain of title, she does not think the person collecting the samples needs to be certified.

 

Jesse asked if the big concern was over surface water or drinking water. Marilyn said both, with groundwater it takes a long time to recover, and with surface water you have things like fish kills. Dave said that there were people who got together and went in on a lease, and only one person uses a well for drinking water and the others have assumed they are safe. Marilyn said she does not think the wastewater treatment plant has the equipment to analyze, and said it can cost over $1,000 for a whole analysis. Jesse mentioned that Friends of the Cheat in West Virginia raised over $2,000 for equipment for their volunteer monitoring program to help get ahead of fracking. He also mentioned he has been trying to contact them.

 

Elin said there should be an agency for this, and that West Virginia is trying to make permits cost $10,000 for companies. Marilyn said she would give Sisters of Saint Joseph a call to see if they will consider this project, and said that it goes along with their community health and wellness mission. Jesse said that we would need a study plan, and have something that correlates with where the leases are being signed. Marilyn said they are being signed throughout the watershed.  Permits will be posted on Div. of Oil and Gas website as they are given.

 

Conservation Insurance – Susan said there is not a lot of maintenance, and if we choose to go ahead and have it we will have to have a break even budget, which we will have to keep in mind when FLMR makes purchases.

 

Anything Else – Marilyn said at the next meeting we will have to figure out what fund the $500 and $650 (Angert memorial and Duke donation) should go in to.

Susan said that we have to balance needs for ongoing cash, and look at what is coming in, paying out, and what we need to set aside.

 

Marilyn said she wants to send out a newsletter in January and has started a list of things to put in it. She said to be thinking about articles for it.

 

Dave said he did some business with a woman whose husband is the new mayor of Stockport, who said people need something to do. Dave said he offered doing a walking trail and hopes that maybe some people will join or give donations.

 

Marilyn said that one membership that came in was cut from the newsletter, and that one person from Fairfield County was prompted to support FLMR by seeing a bald eagle in along SR 60 along the Muskingum.

 

Dave said there is an eagle nest that looks to be on the borderline on the property.

 

Marilyn said at the January 26 meeting she could have someone speak on bobcat research they are doing.

 

Elin said that she will be sending a email out to the nomination committee.

 

John presented Jesse with a walking stick that was from his grandfather for Jesse’s commitment, passion and dedication to the Friends of Lower Muskingum River and the work that he does.

 

Future Dates: 

FLMR meeting:  Thursday, January 26, 7:00PM. Room 150, Selby Hall, Marietta College.

Minutes by Kim Steese in Doug's absence.