Summary of Action Items

Overview

The Wakulla Springs Alliance held a Board meeting on February 20, 2015 at the Renaissance Center. The draft agenda and list of board members, advisors, guests and who participated can be found in Appendices A and B. Review the action items below for your commitments and actions you can help with. This report is based on the secretary’s notes and does not capture everything or exactly what was said.

Summary of Action Items

·  Maria will prepare the final logo based on these points agreed to by the board.

·  Copies of the letters sent last week to Co commissions will go to the City with a cover memo. Send copies to the board and advisory committee

·  WSA will provide comments on the Hwy 319 widening project before March 6. Cal will do a survey of the land.

·  A motion was approved to have WSA join the Florida Springs Council.

·  Bob Knight still has copies of the Wakulla Springs Restoration Plan Summary that need to get to the right people. Let him or Rob Williams know if you need some to give out. Here is a link to the summary and full Restoration Plan you can send out.

·  All WSA members should follow 1000 Friends, Amd 1 Legacy and other updates and advocate as appropriate. The Senate has a website for comments.

·  Debbie, Charles and Rob will develop points to submit and for members to make including funding for biological, water quantity and quality studies from Amd 1 and other projects

·  Sean and Todd will recommend priority scientific studies.

·  Look for funding for a septic cluster system demonstration project study.

·  Include land acquisition priorities discussed below.

·  Look for other funding for Springs License grant proposals (if not funded), for their next phases and for other projects. Steve Tullar USDA has information on other sources of funds. Cal will get the info.

·  Work with Ian McDonald and Jeff Chanton on student projects.

·  Madeleine Carr will meet with Commissioner Miller on the proposed Comprehensive Plan changes.

·  The Friends and WSA can sponsor outreach together.

·  St Marks Refuge Association can be part of this too. We can all go to Wakulla and Leon County festivals and reach a lot of people, more than events.

·  We need to have a joint outreach planning session.

·  Madeleine will be talking to Althemese Barnes at Riley House next week about Black history at Wakulla Springs.

·  The City has offered to take us on a tour of Weems Pond Alum Treatment Facility. Dan Pennington, Bob Deyle, Bob Henderson, Jim Stevenson. Gail Fishman and Tom Taylor are interested.

·  We don’t have baseline fish, macro-invertebrate and other data.

·  We can look at water quality and wildlife correlations

·  We can compare Wakulla and Wasissa, Aucilla and St Marks.

·  Worldwide water monitoring has some information.

·  There needs to be a comprehensive report. There are not reports that look at all the data, correlations and conclusions.

·  Get St Marks Refuge to monitor wildlife and other places in the region.

Meeting Notes

Opening

Sean McGlynn called the meeting to order. Everyone was asked to introduce themselves. Tom Taylor explained the agenda and suggested that after the speaker and other discussions that the board seek consensus on talking points or position statements rather than trying get agreement on every word in position papers. This will allow WSA board, advisors and supporters to speak to public officials and others and clarify WSA positions and their personal perspectives in presentations and discussions. Howard Kessler submitted the treasurer’s report (See Appendix C). The minutes were circulated with the meeting notice but were not formally approved.

WSA Logos

Carol Schwarz and Jim Stevenson explained the 3 possible logos that Maria Balingit, a graphic artist, prepared. The board discussed each option. Maria will prepare the final logo based on these points agreed to by the board:

·  Using the Limpkin in a circle with the WSA Name around it.

·  Having a water/shore line with arrowhead or pickerelweed or a color across the top.

·  That “Wakulla Springs” should be in a larger font than “Alliance.”

·  The Mission (corrected) should be at bottom.

·  Getting an accurate profile of a limpkin.

WSA Wastewater Letter to County Commission

Debbie Lightsey reported that the letter in Appendix C was sent to the Leon County Commission Chair Kristin Dozier with copies to the other Commissioners. These are notes from the discussion

·  Need to keep reminding the Co Commission of options, hookup requirement, consider Lombardo report and focus on below the Cody Scarp, problems with the big pipe to Woodville, problem with 50% surcharge for sewer in the County.

·  Copies of the letters sent last week to Co commissions will go to the City with a cover memo.

·  Send copies to the board and advisory committee

Hwy 319 Widening Wakulla Springs Impact

·  Bob Deyle & Jim Stevenson and Cal Jamison went to the meeting last night.

·  Eric Livingston reviewed the road cross sections and report and raised questions about lining, etc. (Appendix D)

·  April Williams will send more information today.

·  Issues are the location of storm water ponds in relation to caves, karst and soils. There are 47 acres of parkland taken without compensation. There should be an easement fee based on the value of the land to be paid to the Board of Trustees.

·  Consider having DOT buy land to offset land impacted or pay for other benefits. Current mitigation is inadequate.

·  WSA will provide comments before March 6.

·  The city has done more, smaller, shallower ponds.

·  Cal will do a survey of the land.

County Delegation Meetings Report

·  Tom Swihart read the WSA position and got positive feedback.

·  Former FPS director Ney Landurm spoke too.

·  Jim Stevenson spoke at the Wakulla County Legislative Delegation meeting.

FL Springs Council Meeting January 28 Report

·  There was no report but several members had talked with Bob Knight at the Water Rally.

·  A motion was approved to have WSA join the council.

·  [Bob Knight still has copies of the Wakulla Springs Adaptive Management Strategy Recommendation that need to get to the right people.]

Legislative Update

·  There are bills being developed for Amendment 1 including a 5-year plan

·  Jim presented to a Senate committee on Wednesday

·  The focus seems to be on sewer and water supply and sewer not springs.

·  There may be money for reuse.

·  All WSA members should follow 1000 Friends, Amd 1 Legacy and other updates and advocate as appropriate

·  The Senate has a website for comments

·  Debbie, Charles and Rob will develop points to submit and for members to make including funding for biological, water quantity and quality studies from Amd 1 and other projects Sean and Todd will recommend priority studies

·  Look for funding for a cluster demonstration project study.

·  Include land acquisition priorities discussed below.

Grant Requests from Springs License Plate Funds, etc.

·  Bob Deyle sent the 3 grant proposals submitted to the License Tag grant. The grants committee has done a report. The announcement will be made 7 days after the March 24 FWF board meeting.

o  WS video is one of the projects.

o  Sean will do N budget from karst lakes if funded.

o  Spectro analysis of color and sources if funded.

·  Look for other sources for these, their next steps and other projects

·  Steve Tullar USDA has information on other sources of funds. Cal will get the info.

·  Work with Ian and Jeff on student projects.

Wakulla Town Hall Meeting

·  There was not a report on the meeting

·  It was pointed out that the Friends of WS have had good outreach to the Wakulla community and WSA can partner with them in the future.

Wakulla County Spring Protection Zone/Comp Plan

·  Madeleine Carr reported that she went to a meeting with Commissioner Miller during which he said he had a vision on needed comp plan changes. Madeleine will meet with him.

·  We need to talk about land acquisition and other issues

·  The Friends and WSA can sponsor outreach together.

·  St Marks Refuge Association can be part of this too. We can all go to Wakulla and Leon County festivals and reach a lot of people, more than events.

·  We need to have a joint outreach planning session.

·  We need to reach kids and adults who haven’t been to Wakulla Springs.

·  Madeleine and Jim are on an EcoShakespeare video. (Insert link)

·  OLLI is doing Jim’s tour March 20 and FSU Law School professors and students March 2.

Black History of Wakulla Springs Brochure

·  We want Black public officials and others to understand the roles of Blacks in Wakulla Springs Historically.

·  Brochure focuses on historic photos. There were baptisms, boat tour guides, lodge workers, film extras, etc. The goal is to connect them to their part of the history of Wakulla Springs.

·  Madeleine will be talking to Althemese Barnes at Riley House next week.

·  Sean Pitman might be supportive of the project.

·  There were concerns about who this gets to and the impression that this is done by whites.

·  There is potential value in black tourism

·  This needs to have Barnes and others to take this forward in a way that is relevant to Blacks and Whites so everyone has a better understanding of the role of Blacks in Wakulla Springs history.

·  We need to look at how to bring diversity to our board.

·  WSA can recommend that the Park do a better job of telling the cultural (Black, Native American, Hispanic) history of the park.

·  Friends of Wakulla Springs are working with archeological experts to get better documentation of Native American, Black and natural history.

BMAP

·  Debbie Lightsey noted that the County may have talked to the City

·  Beth Alvi has promised Debbie to be in contact after continued meetings with Leon County and guidance from new Department Management.

Weems Pond Tour

·  The City has spent $10 million on the Alum Treatment Plant at Weems Pond.

·  The City has offered to take us on a tour. Dan Pennington, Bob Deyle, Bob Henderson, Jim Stevenson. Gail Fishman and Tom Taylor are interested.

·  Allowing people to extend lawns to the edge and fertilize have created problems.

Wakulla Co Sinkholes

·  The Wakulla County Commission allowed a landowner in Spring Creek to fill 2 sinkholes. The owners had an “expert” say they weren’t sinkholes.

·  Eliminating the wetlands ordinance makes it possible for anyone to fill wetlands before getting a permit.

·  The county has nobody who can evaluate sinkholes or wetlands.

Wildlife Survey

Bob Thompson made a presentation analyzing the results of 20 years of wildlife surveys. One table from the presentation is in Appendix F. The full presentation is available.

The discussion explored causes and how this correlates with aquatic vegetation, water quality and water quantity data. There was also discussion of how to communicate these results to agencies and the public. These are comments on possible causes:

·  Changes in habitat

·  Moorhens may relate to manatee grazing on hydrilla. Manatee presence correlates with the Moorhens’ decline.

·  Look at interrelations of species.

·  What happened in 2006? There were changes at the City spray field and treatment plant. Check the correlation with N, P and Ph levels.

·  Apple snails are affected by Ph. Tannins affect Ph. Wasissa has darker water and apple snails

·  Dark water may not be a problem. The problem is green water more recently. Records of dark days by boat drivers have not distinguished between green and brown water.

·  There were periods of drought

·  There may be differences based on who observed, rainy days. Bob Thompson trains and checks on volunteer observers. Past observations were by Scott, Bob and others.

·  Moorhens are shallow divers and the loss of hydrilla to manatees has changed their feeding.

·  Wakulla Springs had more wildlife than other springs in the past but not now. The diagram shows collapse. There are fewer fish too. We don’t have good fish and invertebrate data

·  An analysis of monthly data shows seasonal variations.

·  This can be shown to the public.

·  Wasissa still has wildlife like it was at Wakulla Springs. Can we do a comparison?

·  Lake Munson is a comparison of what it can be like. Algae makes it hard to breathe for some.

What is needed?

·  We don’t have historic fish, macro-invertebrate and other data.

·  We can look at water quality and wildlife correlations

·  We can compare Wakulla and Wasissa, Aucilla and St Marks.

·  Worldwide water monitoring has some information.

·  There needs to be a comprehensive report. There are not reports that look at all the data, correlations and conclusions

·  Get St Marks Refuge to monitor wildlife and other places in the region.

Land Acquisition

·  Jim Stevenson and Albert Gregory, Bob Deyle, Cal Jamison and Greg Chelius met to develop recommendations.

·  Bob is working on the maps

·  The group will meet again to propose projects.

·  The acquisition process being considered in draft legislation is not clear. Hopefully they will use the existing procedures.

·  Wakulla Springs Park has an acquisition proposal. We will review this as we make recommendations.

·  We need to lobby ARC to get Wakulla Springs projects ranked as high as possible so they have a good chance to be included in the State Lands work plan.

·  Is there anything we can do to work with Georgia? Most of the area has clay layers that protect water in the aquifer. There are withdrawals that may have impacts.

Appendix A

Proposed 2-20-15 WSA Agenda

Renaissance Center