Hangman Creek Water Quality Improvement

Planning Meeting

July 15, 2004

Chair:              Rick Noll, Spokane County Conservation District (SCCD)

Present:          Elaine Snouwaert, Department of Ecology

                        Reanette Boese, Spokane County

                        Cathy Mc Beth

                        Bill Rickard, City of Spokane

                        Charlie Johnson

Micki Harnois

Gary Ostheller

Penney Tee

Walt Edelen

Anna Hansen

Carol Wider (spelling?)

AGENDA

The meeting was called to order outside the hall at 6:40p.m.and began with introductions.  The hall was unlocked at 6:50 and the meeting moved inside.  The minutes for May and June were distributed and reviewed.  Rick asked for any comments or corrections to the May minutes.

There were no corrections for the May minutes.

Motion was made to approve the May minutes by Charlie Johnson and was seconded by Gary Ostheller.  Motion carried.

Rick asked for any comments or corrections for the June minutes.

Under Publishing Minutes, the word “Journal” was added to North Palouse to make it the North Palouse Journal.  The wording for the CSO outfalls was changed for clarity.  The second sentence was changed to:  There are only two outfalls that discharge into Hangman, and soon one will not be functioning at all.

Motion was made to approve the amended minutes by Bill Rickard and was seconded by Elaine Snouwaert.  Motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS

Water quality problem

The situation on Pine Creek was reviewed again to be sure there were no more questions about how Ecology handled the situation on Pine Creek.  Discussion followed about what would a person do if they found or saw a water quality problem on the creek.  Ecology did say they wanted to be informed, but enforcement was limited due to personnel limitations.  

Time sheets

Rick asked for everyone to please fill out their timesheets and keep them up to date.

HB 2514 Storage Grant Meeting

There will be a meeting with the consultant working on developing ways to increase summer water storage in the Hangman Watershed.  The grant for this work is through the HB 2514 watershed group.  The meeting will be held at the Conservation District office Thursday July 22, 2004 from 9:00 to noon.   

CDA Tribe participation

Dee Bailey from the CDA tribe e-mailed Rick that she will provide an overview of the tribe’s water quality activities at the next meeting.

Community events, sign-up

Rick thanked everyone who helped staff the booth. 

New BUSINESS

TMDL Presentation

Ryan Anderson from Ecology gave a presentation on the Lower Yakima TMDL.  He covered the basic problems that lead up to the TMDL and reviewed how the agencies and public cooperated to complete the TMDL.  He also talked about the long timeline involved.  The process was started in 1992 and is still being reviewed today.

CSO Presentation

Bill Rickard from the City of Spokane reviewed how combined sewer outfalls work and their location throughout the Hangman watershed.  Currently there are two outfalls, one (CSO 19 near the Sunset Highway bridge) is scheduled to be removed and the other (CSO 20) is scheduled to be upgraded.  Over the past three years, there has been no indication that either CSO has overflowed to Hangman Creek.

Homework

Rick asked attendees to think of issues and concerns regarding the Hangman Creek field trip. 

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, August 19, 2004, from 6:30p.m. to 8:30p.m. at the Fairfield Community Center.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:30p.m.