Home Minutes Archive
In attendance: Jim Gue, Mike Steinmaus, John Slack, Walter Agnes, Bo Hysong, Maureen Wise, Sonny Halter, Jim Toms, Gary Niesel, Merv Burton, Jeremy Broadwater, Carl Harsha, Phil Rufener, Judy Rufener
Vice President Bo Hysong presided over the meeting in President Ed Taggart’s absence. The meeting was called to order at 5:30pm.
The Treasurer’s Report was given by Treasurer Judy Rufener:
Balance October 17, 2006 $2,681.61
Receipts Banquet 60.00
Banquet 410.00
Dues 10.00
Banquet 60.00
125.00
Expenses Lock -98.00
Shelving -88.97
Banquet -1,023.68
Balance November 20, 2006 $2,135.96
Jeremy Broadwater motioned to accept. Carl Harsha seconded. Accepted
Bo Hysong asked if the Partnership read the minutes of the last meeting and if they would accept them. Jeremy Broadwater motioned to accept. Merv Burton seconded. A vote was taken. All ayes. Accepted.
Project Update - Jim Gue.The Lyons Project has a few maintenance items to be addressed before the end of the year. Harsha North is officially complete. We’re seeing a great increase in water quality still: pH of 7.0 when we expected 5.5 and it used to be 3.5 before. Metals are also being removed. Iron previously was 20 mg/L and now is 2 mg/L. He stated that we should see a jump in stream wildlife next summer with such a change in water quality. Jim says this is our most successful project to date. Carl is concerned about the armoring on the limestone channels. Jim said that the steep channels will limit the armoring and it shouldn’t be a problem. The Mineral Zoar project’s engineering will be complete soon and the project will bid soon after. The design for HR-42 (Fern Hill) is moving along. We might use steel slag to fill in some of the ponds instead of draining them completely. The Thomas Project’s design is complete. We should apply for a 319 in January and an OSM grant to go along with it. The Belden Project has been studied and is under design by ATC. With the use of slag instead of some ideas in the preliminary designs, the funds may be used more effectively and let us expand some of the reclamation areas. The design should be completed quickly and the project will be under construction in the summer – on schedule.
Old Business
New HRWRP Pamphlet – Michelle Shively. The new pamphlet was mailed or emailed to everyone in the group for review. They were asked to bring changes or additions to the meeting. A few were given. Jim Toms motioned to accept the pamphlet and have it printed. Phil Rufener seconded. A vote was taken. All ayes. Accepted.
Watch Dog Mailing – Michelle Shively. A copy of the list of issues and contacts was also distributed among the group and they were asked to bring ideas to the meeting. They thought that it should be more in a booklet form with a semi-hard cover that is colorful so people can easily find and use the booklet. Also, what will happen if the report is made on the holiday or a weekend? The Commissioners should be notified that we are putting this together – they might have something to add to the pamphlet. Michelle will ask the printer for a sample booklet and show it the group at the next meeting.
Open Dump Clean Up – Maureen Wise. Our grant from the Stark-Tusc-Wayne Solid Waste Dist has been used to clean up three dumps on Huff Run Road and three smaller dumps on oil well access roads. The largest dump on Huff Run Road was also excavated out to clear all of the trash away. Merv mentioned that the area was used as the city dump in the 1950s so it’s doubtful we’ll even find or clean up all the trash in that area. The Partnership’s policy is that we will only clean up dumps above group, not those already buried.
Meeting with Carol Kuhre – Maureen Wise. The meeting with Carol will be held the following Thursday (November 30) at the Fire Station. Please attend and bring your family to discuss Carol’s plan for asset based fundraising and increasing membership. It was discussed to buy two coffee pots (decaf and regular) for this meeting and our regular HRWRP meetings. Carl made a motion to buy the coffee pots. Jeremy seconded. Accepted. The HRWRP will also pay for desserts for the meeting with Carol.
Bylaws Change – Bo Hysong. The change to the bylaws that we’ve been talking about over the past summer was sent out to everyone in the group. A petition was signed to make the change. A voted needed to be taken to make the amendments official. Jim Toms motioned to make the changes. John Slack seconded. A vote was taken. All ayes. Accepted.
New Business
Office Lease – Bo Hysong. Our office lease is up in January. We have $300/ month to pay rent in the US EPA grant. Ed concluded that we should ask the Mineral City Council to change the agreement so they do get rent and we are no longer responsible for upkeep of the building. We will renew for one year and make sure a clause is included that the rent money will only be paid if we have a grant to cover it. Michelle will attend a Council meeting and bring the revised lease agreement to the next meeting.
December 19 meeting – Bo Hysong. Sometimes our December meeting is canceled but since we need to talk about the lease, we will still hold it.
Dominion Award – Maureen Wise. The Dominion Power Company gives out awards instead of grants in the form of unrestricted funds. Maureen is putting together an application for us. It’s a small application – only three pages. We do not ask for funding or tell them what we would like to do with the award, only our good works. The award can range from $5,000 to $15,000.
Fish Kill – Maureen Wise. The Carroll SWCD notified the office that a fish kill took place on Nov. 15 in the headwaters of Huff Run. About 30 fish were involved. It may have been caused by a small oil spill or agricultural influences. Locals in the area noticed and called the authorities. ODNR/ Wildlife is working on the case. CSWCD will keep us informed. Maureen will report anything more at the next meeting.
Correspondence – Maureen Wise – Applied Research Conference. ODNR’s ARC will be held Dec 6 & 7 this year. Ed, Michelle and Maureen will be attending with scholarships from ODNR. We will be receiving awards for our Lyons Project and our Awareness Day field trips.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:30pm. Phil Rufner made the motion. Jeremy Broadwater seconded.
Respectfully submitted by Maureen Wise.