Huff Run Home Minutes Archive
In attendance: Maureen Wise, Ed Taggart, Mike Steinmaus, John Slack, Jeremy Broadwater, Ken Huff, Jim Toms, Gary Neisel, Bo Hysong, Merv Burton, Dan and Oscar Trbovich, Gary Alkire, Linda Yeager, Mike Farber, Glenn Beatty, Michelle Shively (arriving late)
Ed Taggart called the meeting to order at 5:30.
Ed Taggart gave the treasurer’s report.
Balance January 16, 2007 1,945.92
Two memberships +15.00
Crossroads annual meeting -54.00
Eastern Regional Roundtable dues -50.00
Crossroads dues -50.00
Balance February 20, 2007 $1,806.92
Bo Hysong motioned to accept the report. Jeremy Broadwater seconded. All voted aye. Passed.
Ed Taggart asked if those present had read the minutes. Jim Toms motioned to accept the minutes from the January meeting. John Slack seconded. All voted aye. Passed.
Introductions were made of everyone present.
New Business
Awareness Day –Maureen Wise gave the update about Awareness Day. She stated that Michelle had scheduled an Awareness Day on May 10 with one school. More days will probably be scheduled because additional schools may get involved. Please keep these volunteer opportunities on your radar screen. More details will follow in future meetings.
OEPA 319 application – Maureen Wise announced that the request for proposals for EPA 319 fiscal year 2008 grants had been sent out this past month. We need funds for our Thomas and Mineral Zoar projects. The group agreed to apply. Maureen told them that she hoped to obtain about $300,000 for Thomas, $40,000 for Mineral Zoar (the cost has gone up that much since the design was made in 2003) and some additional funds for livestock exclusion fencing for the farms in the upper reaches. It is also required to have 10% of the grant be spent on environmental education. Maureen told the Partnership that the grant would be worth $500,000 with the usual 60/40 EPA/match split. The grant period will last three years. She told the group that the application is due April 30, 2007 and we will hear word about our status between January and April 2008.
Old Business
Project Update – Maureen Wise gave the project update. Both the Fern Hill and the Mineral Zoar Road projects have been moved to a summer 2008 construction due to ODNR’s lack of funding. With the ALM reauthorization that Cheryl Socotch spoke about at the last meeting, ODNR will have plenty of funds in 2008 to complete these two projects at that time. Maureen also told that Partnership that she’s told Harsha North is still showing great water quality results. Additionally, the Belden project design was on hold until some tests were run with the large Belden pond water and all the steel slag available. Those tests have taken place and the best steel slag candidate was selected.
Fish Kill Update – Linda Yeager from the Carroll SWCD gave a review of what had taken place with the Fish Kill: Over the weekend of November 11 and 12, a call was placed by Ed Ranowsky about the stream appearing to be black. Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) and local emergency personnel were on the site for fear of an oil or chemical spill. ODA took samples but could not determine the cause of the problem that day. CSWCD received a call about it on Monday (Nov. 13) from Dan Trbovich and were on site on with Dan. ODA contacted CSWCD about it on Monday as well. On Wednesday, a call was placed by Ken Huff about a Fish Kill. The game warden was informed but could not be there so again the CSWCD went to investigate. They took pictures but no conclusions could be made. Because the start of the discoloration started near the Trbovich farm, a dye test from Dan’s milk house was conducted by Carroll County Game Warden and CSWCD. The dye showed that a broken pipe was leaking into Huff Run with the milk house waste. Dan immediately fixed the problem. In mid December, the sample results were back from the lab that ODA took. The results could not point to a direct cause of the problem but did show that chemical levels in the stream would have affected (killed) small fish but not larger fish. Linda also told the Partnership that a Fish Kill could occur up to ten days after an incident takes place. Linda stressed that the CSWCD’s mission to educate farmers. They cannot enforce any laws or rules. Often farmers do not understand that they are a problem to the stream at all because they are just doing the same thing that their father or grandfather had done. Now that the Fish Kill has happened, farmers in that area are becoming aware of agricultural pollution and the CSWCD has an opportunity to help educate them. Dan and Oscar Trbovich spoke about the rumors that had been spreading about them and the HRWRP with the unveiling of the Watch Dog program just after this incident. Members reassured them that our group is here to help and has no ill feelings towards them. Ken was also concerned about rumors spreading. Merv Burton spoke about the millions of dollars that has been spent to restore our watershed and so we are concerned about the stream but again, no ill feelings towards them directly. Bo Hysong asked Dan and Oscar to become members. Dan joined.
MOU update – Ed Taggart passed out changes that had been made to the MOU between Rural Action and the HRWRP. Only two small changes had been made: the HRWRP will receive monthly financial updates from Rural Action and the section about having volunteer clerical help from a program in Athens was taken out. Some copies were passed around. Jeremy Broadwater motioned to accept the MOU. Merv Burton seconded. All voted aye. Passed. Ed signed the paper and sent it with Mike Steinmaus to give to Jane Forrest Redfern.
Dominion Award – Maureen Wise gave an update about the Dominion Community Impact Award that she had written for the group in November. This unrestricted $5,000 to $15,000 award goes to organizations involved in communities. She heard word two weeks ago that we had not been accepted. Over seventy applications had been submitted and only nine awards given away. Groups that won include Crowne Point Ecology Center in Akron and the Ohio-Erie Canal way. After talking to the Coordinator of the award program, Maureen learned about a new North East Ohio Environmental Award that Dominion will unveil in April and would like us to apply for.
Correspondence – Ed shared a letter from the Ohio Mineland Partnership asking us to become a member (dues cost $25). After a bit of discussion, the group decided to table the topic until the next meeting. Jim Toms motioned to table the membership decision. Gary Neisel seconded. All voted aye. Passed.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:36.
Respectfully submitted by Maureen Wise, Coordinator