Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance
Minutes of the Board of Directors – Work Session
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
4:30 p.m. at BWB Building
Directors Present: Jim Andrews, Linda Barber, George Borrello, Pierre Chagnon, Bruce Erickson, Ted McCague, Dave Shepherd, and Dave Wesp.
Absent: Jay Bailey
Staff in Attendance: Erin Brickley – Alliance Executive Director, Randall Perry – Alliance Project Manager.
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I. Call to Order:
P. Chagnon called the work session meeting of the Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance (Alliance) to order at 4:30 pm. It was noted for the record that there was a quorum (8 of 9) present.
II. Approval of Minutes:
T. McCague made a motion to accept the minutes of the 3/14/19 Board Meeting, seconded by L. Barber. The motion was approved unanimously.
III. Update on Communications Coordinator New Hire:
E. Brickley advised that Taylor West was hired for the new Communications Coordinator position with a start date of April 1, 2019. T. West grew up on Chautauqua Lake, has a BS in Fisheries & Wildlife Management with a minor is Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and has either worked for seasonally or been involved on a volunteer basis with the Chautauqua Lake Association and Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy. He is an avid fisherman and has a passion for his home lake and watershed. P. Chagnon advised that he is hearing good feedback already regarding our newest addition to the team. E. Brickley commented that the first major action for T. West will be to reach out and attend member organizations’ meetings as an introduction.
IV. Approve Cash Match for Lakewood Chautauqua Avenue Green Street Retrofit:
E. Brickley advised directors in attendance that this project received 90% funding from the NYS Green Innovation Grant Program of $695k. Local match for the remaining 10% was comprised of in-kind services valued at $66.6k from the Village of Lakewood and County/Alliance cash match for $11.1k. Part of the planned in-kind services was credit for 2 years’ worth of operation and maintenance (O&M) by the Village after the project was constructed. However, Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) recently advised they generally close out grant contracts shortly after construction as well as the fact that the Village has since expressed concern about tracking two years of O&M coverage. E. Brickley advised there was still cash match available from the Foundation supported Alliance match fund and requested consideration for approval to commit $20k cash match (in lieu of the Village in-kind for O&M) to this project that has already been awarded state grant funding. L. Barber made the motion to approve the $20k cash match for this project, seconded by J. Andrews. T. McCague abstained as he is deputy mayor of Lakewood. The motion was approved unanimously.
V. Approve CWC “Chautauqua Lake Tributary Stream Water Quality Analysis Program” Disbursement:
E. Brickley advised that in 2018, the CWC was awarded $10k by the Alliance for their Chautauqua Lake Tributary Stream Water Quality Analysis Program. The CWC have now finalized their scope of work and developed an informed budget that was reviewed by the Alliance Scientific Review and Advisory Committee. The Science committee recommends acceptance as written to the Alliance board of directors as of their 3/27/2019 meeting. B. Erickson made a motion to follow the Science committee’s recommendation and complete funding disbursement, seconded by T. McCague. L. Barber abstained as she is the current CWC president. The motion was approved unanimously.
VI. Discussion of Director Candidates submitted by Member Organizations:
P. Chagnon reviewed those candidates nominated by member organizations who had been submitted for consideration for the annual Alliance director openings. L. Barber advised that she would be stepping down from the board as of the adjournment of this work session due to moving out of state. After discussion, directors decided to add her vacancy to the May member voting form, given the timing. The candidates that have been submitted by our members are: Robert Yates from the Town of North Harmony for the open municipal slot; Mary Laumer from Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy and Mike LaTone & Frank Nicotra both from Chautauqua Lake Partnership.
VII. Decision Ad-Hoc Committee Recommendations:
P. Chagnon reminded everyone that the two recommendations still under consideration is to add two more at-large director positions (which would require an update to the By-Laws) as well as formation of new committees related to lake and watershed science. Feedback during director outreach to members showed mixed opinions on the two additional directors and mostly positive feedback on the new committee structure. After discussion, it was decided to table the decision on these two recommendations until after the May Member meeting as there will likely be a number of new director participants and would be good to have them involved in the discussion before making the final decision on the two recommendations. B. Erickson made the motion to table both recommendations, seconded by L. Barber. The motion was approved unanimously.
VIII. Governance Committee/Executive Committee Recommended Slate of Candidates:
After discussion, the governance committee / executive committee made the recommendation for the slate of candidates which will be considered by the members to be: Pierre Chagnon (county open slot), Robert Yates (town/village municipal open slot), Mary Laumer and Mike LaTone (two at-large open slots).
IX. Discuss and Decision County Allocation and Portion to CLA:
P. Chagnon reminded those in attendance that the annual operational funding that the CLA has traditionally received directly from the County was added to the Alliance agency allocation in 2019 for Alliance to decision. After discussion, D. Shepherd made the motion to approve disbursement of $90k to the CLA, seconded by G. Borrello. B. Erickson abstained as he is a CLA director. The motion passed unanimously.
X. Discussion on loss of NYS Funding for CLA/CLP:
G. Borrello advised on the recent state budget and that CLA and CLP lost their annual assistance directly from the state, with the resignation of Kathy Young, and that gap is concerning as it relates to needed summer services. B. Erickson commented that CLA had been receiving funding assistance from the state every year for almost a decade and the loss of $150k (the amount in recent years) to their annual budget is considerable and extremely concerning and they are unsure how to make that kind of missing funding up. G. Borrello commented that he believes CLP got approximately $90k for the last two years from the state. D. Shepherd commented that we as the Alliance need to assist with the narrative in the community about how important these lake services are. E. Brickley advised that there was an opportunity to reach out to Lenna Foundation. Starting last fall, directors determined we would work through the process in making funding decisions sourced from CRCF/Sheldon first, then the County (which was determined today) and then see what needs were still left and then reach out to Lenna.
XI. Discussion & Update on County Led Weed Management Consensus Strategy:
- Discussion was had on the $10k grant award recommendations (4 total) to assist towns for 2019 herbicides that was sourced from Sheldon Foundation/CRCF. It was noted the only caveat that the towns were advised of at the time of award notice is they need a permit in hand by June 1. E. Brickley noted that there was no contracting yet on these due to the permitting unknowns. After discussion, it was confirmed we would need to know what gets permitted to move forward.
- Third party monitoring efforts for 2019 herbicide treatments and funding for such monitoring was discussed. As the direction of county and due to timeline concerns (and the Alliance ability to be more flexible), the Alliance had reached out to two qualified consulting firms and is pursuing contract negotiations with Princeton Hydro to perform the independent monitoring services. Both the county and the Alliance attended the April legislature subcommittee meetings advising of this effort and discussing funding. It is anticipated that the Alliance will contract for a not to exceed amount of $45k and that $35k will be sourced from the County 2% reserve and the remainder will be paid for by the Alliance. D. Shepherd made a motion to authorize the Executive Director to enter into this service contract with Princeton Hydro, seconded by L. Barber. D. Wesp abstained. The motion passed unanimously.
- Directors discussed any possible implications on Ellery being the only Alliance member not signing the County MOA.
XII. Update on Burtis Bay Clean-Up Efforts:
E. Brickley gave an update on Burtis Bay clean-up efforts. The Alliance facilitated a site assessment meeting with multiple organizations at the end of March once ice off occurred. Over the next weeks, multiple stakeholders met as well as participated in conference calls to finalize an approach and scope of work together to coordinate the needed clean up. The scope of work has returned to the CLA as the primary service provider for the majority of the site with a water side approach, in unison with in-kind assistance from multiple stakeholders including the County, Town of Ellicott, Village of Celoron, Alliance, and the JBPU. Given the time constraints, E. Brickley requested the Alliance hold the service contract with CLA, based on a rate structure and a maximum cost not to exceed of $67,500. L. Barber made a motion to authorize entering into such a service contract, seconded by G. Borrello. B. Erickson abstained as he is a CLA director. The motion passed unanimously.
XIII. Adjourn:
B. Erickson motioned to adjourn, seconded by D. Wesp at 6:28pm. The motion was approved unanimously.