Meeting Summary Hangman Creek Water Quality Improvement Planning Meeting Chair: Elaine Snouwaert, Department of Ecology Present: Reanette Boese, Spokane County Charlie Johnson Jennie Kane Cathy McBeth Gary Ostheller Lon Ottosen David Tysz Dee Bailey, CDA Tribe Bill Rickard, City of Spokane William Sayres Bob Gaulke, Spokane Regional Health APPROVAL OF MINUTES The meeting was called to order at 6:35 p.m. and began with introductions. Elaine explained that due to district requirements that Rick was not able to attend tonight and asked her to fill in. Elaine asked the group if all were ok with her filling this role and all agreed. The minutes for May were reviewed and a spelling change was requested; under Information/Outreach Articles “St. Mary’s” should be spelled “St. Maries.” A Motion was made to approve the May minutes as revised by Charlie Johnson and was seconded by Bill Rickard. Motion carried. (Review after the meeting revealed another error. The meetings approved in the May 12 meeting notes were the April meeting notes not the February meeting notes.) OLD BUSINESS Time sheets Elaine asked for everyone to please fill out their timesheets and turn them in. She would take them to Rick. Elaine opened the floor for public comment. There were no public comments. Sign up for Slippery Gulch Days Elaine announced that the conservation district was going to have a display at Slippery Gulch Days on June 18 and possibly on June 19. A sign up sheet was passed around for those who wished to volunteer at the event. Jennie and Charlie both suggested that the parade organizers would be happy to have another float in the parade. If the CD wanted to just show up at the grade school they could participate in the parade.
Septic System Presentation Bob Gaulke, a technical advisor from Spokane Regional Health District’s Liquid Waste Program, gave a presentation on septic systems. Bob covered the history of human waste treatment, how septic systems function, the importance of site selection and design, and some do’s and don’ts for homeowners. Bob also noted that a properly functioning septic system should not leach phosphates to groundwater because phosphate is readily absorbed by soil. However, if the system was sited improperly (over rocks and gravels with fast water flow) then this would not hold true. On the other hand, nitrogen is not bound to soil particles and readily leaches to ground water. Discussions during and after the presentation included: · Designs must be done by a licensed engineer and the same person can not design, install and inspect the septic system. One person can do two of above tasks, but the third must be done by a separate person. · Soils should be evaluated before people buy property. · The CD has a GIS layer showing the distribution of septic systems in the watershed (done as part of watershed planning process). · People do not have to update septic systems until they fail. · There are straight pipe systems in the watershed but they are not permitted. A person with one of these would need to show a permit to be incompliance. · Regional health does not conduct regular surveillance of septic systems but rather responds to complaints. · The group also discussed whether or not nitrates were a problem in the watershed. Cathy indicated that several years ago their well was tested and it was 13mg/L, which is above the standard of 10mg/L.
BMP Options Sheet With the little bit of time remaining, the group decided to skip ahead in the BMP option’s document and brainstorm ideas for Issue 5: Nutrients/fecal from Improper Functioning Septic Systems while Bob’s presentation was fresh in our minds. The following BMPs were included in the BMP option sheet: Public Comment Elaine announced that the group could consider taking July and August off and have the next meeting in September. Jennie suggested that because barley and lentils are harvested in August and September that group may want to have a meeting in July and take August and September off instead. Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 21, 2005 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Community Center.
June 16, 2005
Public comment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.