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Last Updated: November 16, 2005 |
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ECRR 1st Annual Meeting Minutes March 2, 2005 Charleston, WV Watershed representatives from Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Kentucky gathered in Charleston, WV along with an agency official from OSM to discuss the Eastern Coal Region Roundtable (ECRR) and its direction. Attendees included: Craig Hartsock: President of ECRR, District Manager of the Allegany Soil Conservation District Mike Steinmaus: Vice-President of ECRR, coordinator of the Monday Creek Restoration Project Judy Rodd: Secretary/Treasurer of ECRR, director of Friends of Blackwater Canyon Bruce Golden: Board Member, Western Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation Dewey Houck: Board Member, Rural Appalachian Improvement League Hilary Lambert: Kentucky Waterway Alliance Rick Buckley: West Virginia’s OSM Clean Streams Coordinator Kay King: Upper Guyandotte Watershed, WV Amy Stout: OSM/VISTA Watershed Team Supervisor Kelly Jo Drey: OSM/VISTA for Upper Guyandotte Watershed Meredith Ballard: OSM/VISTA Coordinator for Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable 12:40pm: Craig Hartsock called meeting to order A quick discussion began with the recent acknowledgement of 501 (c) 3 status for the Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable Formal introductions of all attendees Discussion of Funding Mike Steinmaus discussed Ohio Initiative for using 319 money to pay watershed staff. It was a partnership between OH EPA, OH DNR, and OSU extension. It supplied 24 watershed supervisors over a 6 year period, funding diminishes each year. Judy Rodd presented idea of bringing together watershed groups from across the spectrum (advocacy, restoration, etc.) for a conference to form partnerships. Perhaps create an umbrella grant for the entire region, through ARC, mimicking the Ohio model. Rick Buckley stated that West Virginia has 5 Watershed Basin Coordinators throughout the state to help watersheds. 319 grant money is used to fund watershed based plan in West Virginia, but the state does not receive much money, only 2 million. The big dream of the ECRR is for a regional program for seven states to do something similar with large grant opportunities. Need to develop a plan/project to take to OSM, EPA, and other funding agencies. 319 grant money may provide money to do a feasibility study grant. Since the organization deals with different EPA regions, this could provide future problems for funding. A possible grant angle would be to seek an Environmental Justice Grant, since Appalachia has poor residents with poor resources. The key is to provide watershed group sustainability. Vision of ECRR A review of the mission statement began the discussion of the Vision. Judy Rodd motioned to change the mission to include a line of educating and communicating with decision makers. Bruce Golden seconded. Craig Hartsock called for a vote: passed Amended Mission Statement: to help watershed organizations alleviate environmental problems in mine-scarred watersheds in Appalachia by being a unified voice for all stakeholders; including educating and communicating with decision makers, encouraging collaboration and information-sharing among watershed organizations, disseminating information about relevant funding opportunities, and providing resources to help watershed organizations write successful proposals. Bruce Golden motioned to change the By-Laws section 1.2 Purpose, to reflect the changes in the mission. Mike Steinmaus seconded. Craig Hartsock called for a vote: passed In addition to amending the By-Laws, Bruce Golden suggested the addition of a page of organizational matters on the website with links to the By-Laws and Letter of Incorporation. Also add a link to OSM on the website. The changes to the By-Laws will be noted and at the end of the year, all changes will be included in a new copy with the West Virginia Secretary of State. What are practical programs for the ECRR? The mention of drafting a proposed working budget for the 2005 fiscal year. Formulation of an action plan for reauthorization of AML tax Many ideas were mentioned to effectively pursue the reauthorization of the AML tax. Suggestion included telling AML success stories and education & advocacy on AML by humanizing the issue through pictures and stories. An education action plan was formulated. Initially the website would include state specific pages with AML information including # of impacted streams, how many acres impacted, and how much money each state has. The state-specific site would include the State senators and representatives contact information. Then the website would also include an action page with sample letter to representatives. These letters will have different appeals, the Hallmark approach, and also include a watershed spin. This must be done quickly with the use of email and follow-up phone calls; this would get more groups actively involved. The approach must be multi-faceted, focusing on educating watershed groups of the AML fund in common language and include the state’s OSM Clean Stream Coordinator. If only 10% of the watershed groups write letters, then it will create an impact. The main idea is to reauthorize the AML tax in some form, don’t get caught up in all the different bills. Once the website is updated with all this information, then create an AML Road show, giving a brief educational presentation on AML. Also look into creating a billboard to present the need and urgency of the AML tax to the citizens of the local communities. These billboards will be placed strategically on main highways to catch citizens’ eyes. Judy Rodd motioned to work to educate watershed groups through web-based emails and phone calls. Dewey Houck seconded. Craig called for vote: passed. The Board members must use personal expertise to draft an educational message. After the message is sent, follow it up with PowerPoint presentations and educational materials. The first stop would be to team up with other groups, especially Kentucky Waterway Alliance and do a presentation at the River Rally. Bruce Golden will help with information material for the PowerPoint presentation. This is a high priority issue for the Eastern Coal Region Roundtable. The outcomes of this campaign will be to get AML passed and get people involved, make them feel as though they are part of the ECRR. The ECRR needs to develop official letterhead for this action campaign. A sub-committee was created to effectively pursue the action campaign for the reauthorization of AML. The subcommittee will be Keith Pitzer, Craig Hartsock, Mike Steinmaus, Bruce Golden, and Dewey Houck. Rick Buckley offered to host the conference calls and be an advisor for this committee. On March 31st, at 9:00am is the first conference call to update the group on the progress of this action plan. In-between the conference calls, an email list-serve will be created among the committee to facilitate greater communication. ECRR Finances and Budget Judy Rodd suggests the need to draft a budget for this year, providing direction for next year. Suggestions were made about developing a membership, with member dues to help fund ECRR projects. Judy Rodd motioned to have a strategic planning meeting in late 2005 to early 2006. Bruce Golden seconded. Craig Hartsock called for a vote: passed. To develop a budget the group must create the big vision and break it down into little projects. The AML campaign can be used as an example on a possible educational project to acquire a grant. The ECRR could continue to develop an ongoing educational campaign about funding and success stories. Other projects could be continued funding to maintaining and growing the ECRR database and also having a conference or training for all the watershed groups in the ECRR database. Proposed Annual Budget: Expenses: $4,000.00 Total Projected 2005 office expenses (office, phone, copies, tech. support) $6,000.00 AML- Educational Campaign (copies, PowerPoint, video, travel) $ 700.00 1St Annual Meeting $3,000.00 Training/Board Meeting in September (travel, speaker, lodging, meals) $ 500.00 Conference Calls for Board Meetings $14,200.00 Total Expense Budget for 2005 Revenue: $5000.00 OSM for VISTA $5000.00 EPA/OSM/ educational grant $3000.00 Training grant from Environmental Support Center $ 500.00 In-kind from Rick Buckley at OSM (conference calls) $ 700.00 River Rally Conference Grant (Grassroots Exchange Fund) $14,200.00 Total Revenue Budget for 2005 Grant Possibilities: An educational grant for AML: Telling the Story from Appalachian Community Fund, Ben & Jerry’s, or Patagonia. Acquire possible 319 EPA grant to perform a feasibility study. Also gather some grant money to provide a facilitator for the proposed strategic planning meeting. Judy motioned to accept the budget. Dewey Houck seconded. Craig Hartsock called for a vote: passed. Liability Insurance The group decided this is not an issue right now. The topic will be revisited later. Bruce Golden provided possible agencies to provide liability insurance: Pennsylvania Organization for Watersheds and Rivers. Next Meeting Dewey Houck motioned for a tentative Meeting in combination with West Virginia’s Watershed Celebration Day, September 24, 2005. Mike Steinmaus seconded. Craig Hartsock called a vote: passed. A possible grant from the Environmental Support Center could pay for this meeting, if it was in combination with a training event. A day before the Celebration Day, Canaan Valley Institute may provide training, which we could use for board member training to apply for the grant.
4:45 Meeting Adjourn |