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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAquatic Invasive Species Committee - Minutes - 5/20/2015Bayfield County Aquatic Invasive Species Committee K:\AIS\Admin\Meetings\Committee\Minutes\2015\5-20-15 AIS Minutes.docx Present: Nan Olson, John Kudlas, William Bussey, Mike Defoe, Jim Krueger Not Present: Kenneth Jardine Staff: Andrew Teal – AIS Project Coordinator Others: Ben Dufford, Pam Roberts, Anne Leafblad, Sally Pease, Jeremy Bates Minutes Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM 1.Call to Order: Nan Olson called the meeting to order at 9:02 AM. 2.Introduction of new AIS Project Coordinator Staff: Andrew Teal recently started the role of Bayfield County’s AIS Coordinator. Andy gave a brief background of himself, and shared that he is a graduate of UW-Stevens Point with a B.S. in Biology, and has been hoping to get into an AIS Coordinator position since college. John K. also introduced Sally Pease, who is from Barnes and would like to replace him on the committee after John moves to Florida. This will be John’s last meeting; Nan commended him for all of his hard work, and expressed her thankfulness and appreciation for his efforts while serving on this committee. Ben D. explained the formality of electing Sally Pease to the AIS Committee. MOTION: Recommend Sally Pease for approval by the County Board to serve on the AIS Committee. Olson/Bussey – carried. 3.Public Comment: None 4.MOTION: Approval of minutes from 11-20-14 – Bussey/Defoe – carried. 5.Grant Updates: Andy gave an update of the Clean Boats Clean Waters grants. He shared that we’ve received $20,000 in funding for the Iron River area lakes, and $16,000 for the Lake Superior landings. There are currently 2 interns that have been hired, with hopes of having a total of 3 interns. In previous years, our interns have come from Northland College, as Bayfield County has an established working relationship and negotiated wages with their organization; however, this year it has been difficult to get enough qualified applicants. Just recently, Bayfield County agreed to employ limited-term interns as a way to broaden the pool of applicants (instead of just Northland College). Pam Roberts has also reached out to Ashland County with a possible proposal of sharing some of their interns with Bayfield County. The shared interns would only cover 2nd Landing in Ashland. 6.Discussion/Possible Action: Discussion took place about filling vacant positions and recruiting new member(s) to the AIS Committee. There is still an opening on the AIS Committee after Sally replaces John. Jim agreed to ask around to see if there is anyone who may be interested in filling this spot—the position must be filled by a Town Board member or a Lakes-related Business Owner. No action taken. 7.Strategic Plan Draft/Update: The latest version of the strategic plan was reviewed. Andy mentioned that it is still a work in progress, but he has already changed a lot of the formatting to make it easier for continuous reading. Discussion took place regarding the “Priority Lakes” section on pages 44-45, and making updates to this list. Nan requested that the committee review the strategic plan, and contact Andy with any updates or revisions they would like to see. 8.AIS Coordinators Report: Andy shared some of the recent things he has been working on. He plans to send the committee an email with a link to view a presentation about Wisconsin’s Ballast Water Disinfection Program and permits. He also asked the committee for their input regarding an AIS equipment auction by Shawano County, as they have lost their funding for their AIS program. Ben recommended that it’s worth looking into, but before any purchase is made we need to consider if the price is reasonable. Andy has also been working on distributing AIS signs to be displayed on river accesses and boat launches. He’s also organizing Clean Boats Clean Waters trainings—both will be held on June 4, one at the Barnes Town Hall from 9 AM-12PM, and the other at Namakagon Town Hall from 2 PM-5 PM. 9.Partner/Department Reports: Nan thanked Pam for her efforts of filling in the gaps until the AIS position was filled. Pam shared that she is organizing an invasive species education session on June 29 at the NGLVC, and passed around some invasive species information for the committee to review. Mike DeFoe shared that he is hiring someone to do AIS surveys, as well as doing treatments on Phragmites and purple loosestrife. Unfortunately, he lost all of his survey data from the last five years due to a computer virus, so he is starting new again this year. Jeremy Bates was present, and shared that he and Andy will be doing early detection monitoring on Bayfield County lakes every Tuesday starting June 23rd this summer—there are 9 lakes they will be monitoring, which were randomly selected. Jeremy gave an explanation on the BC AIS grant and how the application process works—it has evolved over time, which has affected the amount of funding each county receives. Ben expressed that Bayfield County plans to apply for another AIS grant in December 2015. 10.Future AIS Activities: Reviewed and on-file. Andy shared some upcoming events with regards to AIS activities. Some upcoming events are the LEEP Field Day on May 21 in Barnes, and the CBCW training on May 29 from 9 AM-12 PM at Northland College. Discussion took place about the NW WI Lakes Conference on June 26 and how it would be a great event for AIS committee members to attend, along with others from lake associations. Nan suggested planning a round table session, perhaps in late September or early October—more information on this to come. The committee also decided to adjust the meeting time for the remaining 2015 scheduled meetings to 9:00 AM (1:00 PM was previously agreed on). The remaining dates for 2015 AIS Committee meetings are scheduled for August 19 and November 18, at 9:00 AM. 11.Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:19 AM.