Executive Committee Conference Call
May 23rd, 2008

The Executive Committee met on May 23, 2008 at 10:30 AM by telephone conference call. Present were: Jim Beck, Chairman; Rick Anderson, Vice Chairman; John Chase, Upper Reach; Curt McCann, past Chairman; Ron Garwood, Reservoir Reach; and Vicki Marquis, Coordinator. Absent were Paul Gies, Middle Reach and Boone Whitmer, Lower Reach.

Photo Archive and High Water Marker Project: The meeting began with a discussion of the photo archive and high water marker project. Vicki explained that Karl Christians recommended an intern, Millie Davis, whom the floodplain association has used in the past to compile flood data. Vicki and John explained that Cascade County CD agreed to do the payroll for Millie. Vicki and Toni at CCCD would have to draft up a contract for the payroll expenses. Rick moved to hire Millie Davis and cooperate with CCCD on her payroll and Curt seconded the motion. The Committee discussed payment of Millie’s travel expenses and noted that when possible, Millie should use the lease vehicle, otherwise the Council would reimburse her mileage. Jim noted that DNRC has some Aluminum high water markers available, and that one of Millie’s additional tasks would be to come up with sample markers and suggested locations. With no further discussion, the motion passed unanimously.

John asked that the individual CDs compile lists of appropriate people to contact for photos to aid Millie’s work. Rick noted that use of a GPS unit would be a great benefit to Millie’s work. John moved to allocate $400 to purchase a GPS unit, Ron seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

NAI Workshops: Vicki, John, and Rick explained the discussion at their meeting held after the NAI workshop. An economic study that would highlight the cost of unplanned or undesirable development versus the benefit of planned and sustainable development was discussed. The question of whether or not we have enough money to commission such a study came up. Some ideas were to fund the study in pieces – for example, study one good and one bad example from each county one-by-one. Rick and Jim noted that groups like the Land Reliance and Floodplain administrators already have a lot of the data, so the contractor may just need to compile the data into a report. John suggested that the money be used to contract with a speaker since the study seemed to require more time to specify exactly what the Council wants. The Committee agreed to have Vicki draft a project description that could be used to solicit bids and to continue pursuing the speaker contract.

MRRIC Travel Funding: Vicki noted that MRRIC has not formed yet and asked if the committee wanted to keep the $3,000 ear-marked for this or use it for something else. The committee agreed to keep the funding allocated for MRRIC travel and asked Vicki to look into a contract with the Lower Missouri CRM for the MRRIC membership, travel, meeting attendance, and WRDA outreach.

Easels: The committee discussed the draft easel text that Vicki sent out. John noted that it may be too wordy and not specific enough. Jim asked if there was enough contact information given on the easel. John agreed to work with Vicki to revise the design.

Council Member Travel Funding: After a discussion of the funding left in the Council Member travel account, Rick moved to pay up to $600 of Buzz’s travel expenses to attend the NACD Northern Plains regional meeting. John seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Regarding the remaining funds, the Committee discussed co-sponsoring the “Big Sky Small Acres” publication with the CCCD and contracting with the Montana Conservation Corps on a river cleanup project. Curt moved to split a sponsorship of “Big Sky Small Acres” with CCCD, Ron seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

River Rendezvous Update: During discussion of the River Rendezvous, the committee agreed that agenda items for the business meeting should include: budget for the upcoming fiscal year, finalization of the easel design, NAI speaker contract, and a contract with the Lower Missouri CRM.

Additional Items:
• Regarding the June 3rd FWP Steering Committee meeting in Bozeman, Jim agreed to check his schedule and respond on Tuesday.
• Ron moved to send a letter of support for the YRCDC grant proposal, John seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
• The Committee noted that Vicki’s outreach efforts regarding the sage grouse status review and compilation of data have been adequate and no additional outreach was warranted.
• John and Vicki discussed the Whitmore Ravine Watershed Assessment, John noted that several of the probable causes listed in the assessment were not acceptable. John and Vicki agreed to meet and draft a Council response to the assessment.
• Jim noted that the Great Plains Riparian Forest Summit appeared in line with Council work and that he was interested in attending, this would be further discussed at a future meeting, as would the AWRA Meeting in October at Big Sky.
• Regarding the PFC workshop, Vicki noted that she had just been in Billings with Stan Benes for the BLM RAC meetings and he said that the National Riparian Team was coming in August. Fergus CD had previously agreed to host a workshop in October, but Vicki was going to check with Mike Philbin at BLM, Stan, and the Fergus CD to make sure we were not duplicating efforts between the National and State teams.

With no other business coming before the Executive Committee, the conference call meeting adjourned at approximately 11:50 AM.

Submitted by:

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Vicki Marquis, Coordinator

Approved by unanimous vote on ____________:

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Jim Beck, Chairman