Grand Lake St. Mary’s Restoration Commission

For

Grand Lake St. Marys Lake Restoration Initiative (LIR)

October 29, 2010 Meeting Minutes

Note: These minutes are prepared only for the use of the members of the Commission and their further distribution is prohibited without the express permission of the LRC Facilitator.

The Grand Lake St. Marys Restoration Committee met at 1 P.M on October 29, 2010 at the Wright State University Lake Campus. Members present were:

NAME ORGANIZATION
Facilitator -Tom Knapke Wright State University
Jared Ebbing P.E. Mercer County Community Development
Thomas Rampe P.E. Lake Improvement Association
Milt Miller Lake Development Corporation
Laura Walker Grand Lake/Wabash Watershed Coordinator
Julie Miller Wright State University

Members excused:
Kevin Bettinger Watershed Agricultural Representative
Darwin Ziegler St Marys Community Foundation
Doug Spencer Augalize County
Brian Miller GLSM State Park
Todd Fleagle City of Saint Marys
Kent Bryan, P.E. City of Celina
Glen Hux Mercer County Civic Foundation
Tom Hitchcock, P.E. City of St. Marys
Jeff Vossler Lake Improvement Association
Greg Schumm Wright State University

Also in attendance was Supporting Member -Tim Lovett, LIA President, and Linda May, Bruns Realty

Also excused were supporting members -Ron Puthoff, Community Development Services

The minutes of the October 29 meeting were approved.

Tom K. introduced Jerry Will who will be a member as a Watershed Agricultural Representative. The members warmly welcome Jerry and look forward to his participation in the Commission.

The minutes of the October 22 meeting were approved with corrections.

Milt indicated he will attempt to get the LRC listed on the November Pepsi Refresh contest at 12:01 A.M. on November 1st. 

The LRC will be requesting $250K for a treatment train on Coldwater Creek. If the LRC is requested, support for the LRC entry will be requested through the LRC website; Dayton, Columbus, and local newspapers, and WCSM. It will be critical to get as many people as possible to vote for the LRC entry and get their friends to vote also.

Linda presented the flyer which will be used to publicize the Duck Races at Sunnyside on January 15, 2011. The Christmas open house fund raiser was also discussed. Several realtors have expressed interest in participating. Linda will have a lunch meeting soon with them to firm up their commitments and initiate planning. Milt reported a local firm has committed to a donation of $5,000 this year and for several years in the future. There will be a formal announcement soon. Milt will revisit firms who made a donation this year to encourage them to commit to annual donations in the future.

The initial draft of the financial appendices to the master plan was discussed. One appendix covered the next year and the other covered ten years. Several line items were added to the financial appendix and
estimates were discussed for several of the line items. It was agreed to error on the conservative (high) side on the estimates and several line items need the majority of their funding in the early years for their programs to be effective. The Wright State University lobbyist will assist in presenting the master plan to federal officials.

KCI is finalizing the text and graph portions of the master plan. The LRC needs to complete the graphics and financial appendices. Julie has a graphic artist that will add the pictures to the plan and complete its
layout for printing at no cost to the LRC. The graphic artist needs the rough draft of the plan as soon as possible and high quality pictures. Linda has initial estimates of $860 for 200 copies of a 48 page document and $960 for a 52 page document.

Jared announced that KCI has arranged a meeting with the Corps of Engineers and EPA representatives at the Mercer County Courthouse auditorium to discuss the Lake on November 10 at 10 A.M.
Commission members are encouraged to attend. Jared noted that the Mercer and Auglaize County Commissioners have allocated $2,500 from each county for legal consultation to develop a Community Improvement Corporation (CIC). Legal consultant Vorys is working on the CIC. Additional funding will be needed for Vorys for the next phase of the legal work. As part of the grant the Commission will submit to the Corps of Engineers, $200K will be requested to implement the master plan.

Linda reminded the members that the Ball State students will present their plan on December 6th at Ball State. Commission members are encouraged to attend.

A list of the people who attended the LRC presentation on the October 20th has been prepared and given to Mark Piening of the LIA so Mark can send them LRC information.

Julie indicated the Wright State University lobbyist will work with the LRC. He can help get our projects prequalified for some programs, especially in the Dayton area.

Wal-Mart still has not sent a letter on our Safety Island expansion project. Ron Puthoff is working on a clean Ohio grant to get funding for land for a treatment train. He has necessary land appraisals for a
grant application due in January. An alternative site is needed for the Coldwater Creek treatment train.

Laura has requested a $500 grant from an Ohio Education fund for an agricultural water quality day for kids.

Tom K. and Mike Shelton of ODNR have prepared a letter which will be sent out soon requesting sponsors for rough fish roundups (carp derbies). Nothing has been heard from OEPA on the alum testing results. The rough fish roundups will help to replace the large bass tournament that was canceled for 2011 at GLSM.

Wright State is looking at the possibility of using some land it owns for a dredge spoil site.

Participation in the Revitalization Forum software was briefly discussed. KCI has purchased a two year license for the LRC to use the software. Long term implications of LRC use of the software need to be
investigated. Info on the software is available at revitalize.com.

Tim indicated Mike Biesner has contacted him about an electrical switch and support program for the LRC. Linda and Milt will meet with Mike to discuss the possibilities. Tim noted there is behind the scenes activity at the state level to get funding for the alum treatment in the Lake next spring.

The next meeting of the Commission will be Friday, November 5 at Wright State University Lake Campus, Rm. 102 Dwyer Hall (admin conference room).

Minutes prepared by Tom Rampe

Note: These minutes are prepared only for the use of the members of the Commission and their further distribution is prohibited without the express permission of the LRC Facilitator.