July DLWID Board Meeting Report

The Devils Lake Water Improvement District held its July board meeting in the District offices on Thursday, July 7th, 2011.  Ten interested parties attended the meeting.

Board Elections:  Two new Board members; Kip Ward and Noel Walker were introduced at the beginning of the meeting followed by the official swearing into to their recently elected office.  The Board elected officers for this coming year; Chair – David Skirvin, Vice Chair – Brian Green, and Sec/Treasurer – Randy Weldon.

Public Comment: The Board changed the process for comments from members of the public allowing discussions of all agenda items at the begining of the meeting. There were no public comments during the period provided.

DSL Permits:There was some discussion on the recent letter sent to residents from Oregon Department of State Lands related to last year’s inventory of structures on the lake and revised licensing requirements. The letter announced an informational meeting to be held July 20th from 3-6pm at the Lincoln City Community Center.

Septic Tank Revitalization: There was not much to report on this program as it continues to be stalled within City government.  You may recall, the District had been advocating on behalf of two bills; Senate Bill 83 which would create a revolving loan program to assist individuals to repair and replace failing septic systems and House Bill 5022 which is the DEQ budget.  Senate Bill 83 failed to make it out of committee;  House Bill 5022 passed and was signed into law.

Save our Shorelines: The District attended a meeting with the Salmon Drift Creek Watershed Council and a representative of the Bureau of  Land Management (BLM), about the Northwest Oregon Restoration Partnership (NORP), a regional source of native plant materials. This meeting was an opportunity to discuss how coastal organizations such as the District could partner with BLM to can keep the NORP program running. While the language for a Memorandum of Understanding for the proposed partnership is still being drafted; given what was discussed, staff has recommend that the District join the partnership.

Grass Carp Application: The District has been working to obtain a permit to re-introduce grass carp into Devils Lake. The District has developed a work plan to continue toward that goal.  The initial estimates of the components contained in that work plan total $164,500.  These include; a professional topographic survey, an aquatic plant survey, an economic impact study, a scientific study outline,  a nutrient study,  a consultant for the ODFW process, and a evaluation of Coho salmon under the Endangered Species Act.  After much discussion, the Board advised that the next step should be to identify and select a consultant and potential experts to advise and assist on the grass carp application.

Union 50: The DLWID Board has been exploring the possibility of buying the old Union 50 building for potential use for the offices of the District. DLWID Board member Brian Green provided an update; generally he started that the project was just ramping up once again.

Communications Report: Devils Lake Revival planning is under way.  The event will be taking place Saturday,  August 27th from 10am-2pm.  Several actions have been taken toward making this event an reality.  Tasks completed thus far include: contacting a list of groups who may wish to be in a booth, the Coast Guard Auxiliary will attend, the Schooner Creek String Band has been booked, Surfrider has been booked, still trying to schedule Stand Up Paddle demo boards and kayaks for public, local artists have been contacted to do activities with the 5-13 age group and food options have been discussed.

Erosion Study: The field work portion of the study has been completed. The dam installation was delayed until July 22nd to accommodate the work. Lake level at the time of install was 8.90, and has risen since to 9.32’.  Staff advised that it best to wait for the contractor’s report which the District expects to be available in time for the October Board meeting.

Water Quality Monitoring: The District has had five straight weeks of samples from lower Thompson Creek that have failed the State’s bacteria limit for recreational water use.  Last year they conducted DNA tests on those bacteria, and found that the only identifiable source came from canines. The Board discussed their options and decided to move sampling to the D-River potentially moving back to Thompson Creek in the fall when water flows are greater. The DLWID website is routinely updated with this information, email notifications are available, and postings are made around the lake.  You can follow testing results using the link on the sidebar of the Navigator as well.

Intern Report: This year’s lake intern Lisa Lynch provided an update on her summer activities.  To date she has been trained and assisted with lab and field work including physical and chemical water sampling around the lake, measuring pH, temperature, DO, secchi disk depth, and conductivity, sampling for E.coli bacteria. She is currently working on making more revisions on Cyano-Watch Sheet, participating in Devils Lake Revival planning, designing a SOS brochure, finishing MSDS book, and reading quality assurance plans.

Executive Session of the Board: The Board of Directors convened an Executive Session requesting that members of the public exit.  The topic of the session was to discuss the Project Manager’s contract which was continued from the previous month.  The unusual timing of the session was to accommodate the seating of our newly elected Board members.

Petition Hostettler Park on the D-River   The District has been approached to sign a petition in support of the redevelopment of the area known as Hostetler Park located on the North shore of the D-River between Hwy 101 and the State Park.  Under consideration is the conversion of this area into a water craft rental facility as a 1-year pilot project.  Hostettler Park is on property acquired by the Lincoln City Urban Renewal District as part of the Year 2000 Development Plan.  The being circulated petition states, “We, the undersigned residents and business owners of Lincoln City, support the redevelopment of the D River area at Hostettler Park that is currently underutilized.  We would like to see the area become a popular recreational site as it has been in the past.”  The Board discussed the proposed development and decided to sign the petition and draft a letter in support.