GCWA Board Meeting Agenda

January 11, 2018, 4-6 p.m.

Owens Field Airport

Attendees:

Madilyn Fletcher, Trish Jerman, Ann Yancey, Lewis Kirk, Sam Agee, Mary McIntosh, Judy Timmons, Buddy Atkins, Gregory Sprouse, {Others in Attendance}

Welcome:

The meeting was called to order at approximately 4:00 PM.

Approval of Agenda:

The agenda was distributed to the committee prior to the meeting for board members to review.

ACTIOn: A motion was made to approve the agenda. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Approval of Minutes:

The minutes from the previous board meeting held on December 15, 2017 were distributed prior to the meeting for board members to review.

ACTION: A motion was made to approve the minutes as read. The motion was seconded and carried unanimously.

Treasurer’s Update:

Mary Macintosh reported the organization recently received some large donations that have put us in a good financial position. One of these donations, $8,604.14, is our share of the proceeds from a Rare Whiskey Auction at Bottles. To date we have not received payment from Richland County Stormwater, but we are expecting it shortly. The current checking account balance is $25,824.80; the savings account balance is $45,397.07; and the restricted Wetlands Fund is $104,050.20.

Staff Transition Plan:

Madilyn Fletcher updated the board on the coordinator search and hiring process. The process is underway and the job announcement is expected to be posted on the USC website within the next week or two. Carol Boggs will chair the search committee, and GCWA members/USC employees Anne Cameron and Emily Jones will serve on the committee. John Grego, President of Friends of the Congaree has been suggested. Madilyn Fletcher has spoken with several people who have expressed interest in the position.

Madilyn announced that Buddy Atkins was volunteering to serve as the 319 Grant Project Manager until such time as a new coordinator is hired and trained. Erin McKinney is now providing contract assistance with membership duties and database management. Mark Evans, who works with IT at USC, has been extremely helpful and has set up a system that allows Madilyn Fletcher to access the USC computer from an off-campus location. Buddy Atkins says we will need to purchase a hard drive so we will have a backup. Madilyn Fletcher will check on the size we need and report back to Buddy.A group of board members will get together to reorganize the GCWA Office. Ann Yancey asked to be included so she can inventory items the Education Committee might find useful.

Grant and Project Management:

Buddy Atkins updated the committee on the 319 grant management activities. Buddy spoke with DHEC and sent the first invoice. Buddy explained that we will be putting together an RFQ this month and it will need to be closely coordinated with the 319 project and the Gills Creek Greenway engineering and design work getting started by the Richland Penny Development Team. Buddy Atkins, Emily Jones, Madilyn Fletcher and Lewis Kirk have already met with The Penny Development Team. Richland County and The City of Columbia have agreed to do Greenway A data collection and permitting. A smaller meeting focused on specifics of design and including the contractors will be on Wednesday, January 17th at 1pm, and Buddy Atkins and Madilyn Fletcher will attend. We will explore entering into a contract with Holt Engineering to run transects along Crowson Road and the Creek. There is not yet a ruling about the issue of Gills Creek B resources going to Gills Creek A, but Councilmen Pearce and Manning are supporting GCWA’s position.

Trish Jerman updated the committee on the Richland County Conservation Commission (RCCC) Grant Proposal. Trish explained that the proposal is almost complete and will focus on the design of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) to complement and leverage the stream restoration work being done as part of the 319 project. The application is due on February 5, 2018 and the Conservation Commission will likely review proposals at their March 2018 meeting.

Other items discussed included the recent award of the Palmetto Pride grant and the need forcoordination with Richland County Stormwater regarding full funding for the coordinator position in the biennial budget.

Committee Reports:

  • Nominations:No report was given.
  • Education: Ann Yancey reported the committee would be presenting and conducting an enviroscape model demonstration at Ac Moore Elementary School. Ann also updated the committee on the upcoming speech by Drew Lanham of Clemson University. Mr. Lanham will be speaking on February 15th at the main branch of the Richland County Public Library. GCWA will be providing Mr. Lanham with a $500.00 honorarium. The committee is also talking with him about either conducting a nature walk in the watershed or holding a 1 hour nature writing workshop earlier that day. Discussion took place about these options and opportunities for widely marketing the event. Media outlets to contact included Jasper, Columbia Daily, One Columbia for the Arts.
  • Stewardship Committee: Sam Agee reported the committee has not met since the last board meeting but is actively working on outreach to businesses regarding donations and sponsorships for the annual Wine for Water event. Discussion took place about the need for gauging new board member interests in serving on the various committees.
  • Technical Committee: Lewis Kirk and Buddy Atkins reported on the City of Columbia Special Protection Area. Buddy explained that this new designation is enabled through the City’s stormwater ordinance and can be applied to impaired watersheds. The designation allows for the implementation of a higher standard of stormwater BMPs which can be more stringent that the existing regulations. The designation also allows enables incentives for landowners to implement these BMPs through reductions in stormwater utility fees. Buddy explained that the city is designating a sub watershed within the larger Gills Creek watershed as a Special Protection area and that the technical committee has drafted a letter to the City asking them to expand the designation to include the Crowson Road area within the 100 year flood plain. Such a designation would complement the 319 restoration and greenway work. The draft letter, provided in the board packet, was recommended by the technical committee for approval by board.

ACTION: The technical committeemoved to approve the special protection area letter to the city of columbia. The motion was seconded by trish jerman and carried unanimously.

The technical committee also updated the board on several ongoing projects to include the development of “success story” marketing materials, watershed based plan project priorities, and the City of Columbia debris removal program. Discussion took place on the need for assistance in identifying large debris within the waterway to help identify priority areas for consideration by the City.

  • Events: Madilyn reported the events committee is currently focusing on Wine for Water and Valerie Marcil is coordinating this effort.
  • Membership: The committee is in hiatus and has not met since the last board meeting. Madilyn and others are working withErin McKinney to get oriented with the membership database and logistics. The committee will provide a more detailed update at the next board meeting.

Old Business:

There was no old business to discuss.

New Business:

The board discussed the need for a new agenda and minutes format that priorities and calls out action items vs. discussion items so it is easy to see where action was taken, who made the motion, and what it contained. Gregory Sprouse agreed to work on developing a new agenda and minutes format.

Adjourn:

The board meeting adjourned at 5:45 PM.

Next Meeting:

The next board meeting is scheduled for February 8, 2018at 4:00 pm at Owens Field.