Port of Bandon

Regular Commission Meeting

March 25, 2010-5pm

Coquille Council Chambers

Coquille, Oregon

Commissioners present: Reg Pullen, Steve Martizia, Rick Goche, Robert S. Miller III

Staff: Gina Dearth, Trudy Spanier

Guests: Fran Capehart, Dennis Graham, Terence O’Connor, Linda Short

Vice President Pullen called the meeting to order at 5pm. Commissioner Miller made a motion to approve the consent calendar, seconded by Commissioner Martizia and passed unanimously.

Public comment began with Dennis Graham representing the Friends of the Coquille River Walk. He read a letter thanking Commissioners Miller, Martizia and Goche for traveling to Springfield for the power point presentation of the River Walk Grant Application to the Oregon Parks and Recreational Trails program. The group was very hopeful that their presentation had been heard with interest and will be awaiting notification during the next month. Commissioner Martizia commented that he felt honored to be a part of their project and he appreciated the letter of thanks.

Fran Capehart extended an invitation to the Port of Bandon to attend the Coos County Fair on July 28^th, 2010 and be a part of the Coquille River Walk presentation.

Commissioner Miller would like to make a line item at the end of the agenda to thank Dennis Graham for bringing a plate of his wife’s homemade cookies.

Dave Schradieck of the Bandon Crab and Salmon Derbies gave a short presentation of both derbies, and explained that although he started these projects 3 years ago, they have been successful to the point that he has to spend 6 or 7 months fundraising and getting ready for them. Every year they get more complicated and more expensive, and since Mr. Shradieck has a business to run in addition to these derbies he needs help. The derbies are a huge asset for the City of Bandon, bringing in many visitors who participate in the derbies and spend money on the boardwalk and in town at hotels, RV parks, and gas and grocery stores. The budget to run both derbies is around $4000. and he has raised $2,200. as of today. The derbies run from July 1^st to Sept. 5^th. Commissioner Miller asked if there was any record of numbers of visitors coming for these events, or where they were coming from. Mr. Schradieck responded that people had

been calling from places like Roseburg, Reno, Redding, Portland and Eugene, but that he could produce the guest log for the tagged entries, and that would give us more particulars.

He stated that at least 30 to 40 people attended each of the 4 drawings, and that over 100 attended the final drawing for the $1000. prize on Labor Day weekend.

Commissioner Goche asked why the derby lasted so long. The response was that over the longer period of time there was more TV and ad exposure, and that with a more confined period of time also came more permits and event insurance factors. Mr. Shradieck stated that his main problem was the time he had to raise the funding. Ms. Capehart suggested getting Nick Fuhrman of the Oregon Dungeness Crab Commission involved with the advertising and perhaps getting the use of Louie the inflatable crab. Mr. Shradieck stated that the City of Bandon, Bandon Chamber of Commerce, Bandon Dunes and Farmer’s Insurance all had backed out of sponsorship this year, and it was making the job that much more time consuming to do the fundraising. Commissioner Goche suggested that perhaps the Crab Commission would donate the live crabs for tagging. Commissioner Miller really liked the idea of the Port of Bandon’s involvement. He felt that forming a subcommittee to figure out how best to help the derbies succeed might be the way to go. In the meantime, port staff will look into fundraising. Mr. Schradieck ended his presentation saying that it was interesting to note that last year one of the tagged crabs that had been set loose for the derby here at Weber’s Pier was found by a commercial crabber up in Coos Bay by the wreck of the New Carissa.

Gina Dearth gave the staff report next. Last week she had completed the letter and photos in response to the NOAA nomination for Bandon, and the award will be given in May. February of 2011 whoever wins will have to travel to Washington DC for the presentation. The NOAA award is for excellence in local government.

Today Ms. Dearth met with the port insurance agent Clay Davis from Juul Insurance in Coquille and Special Districts Loss Prevention Specialist Jeremy Wade to clarify the port insurance as to what structures were floating and which ones were fixed.

Ms. Dearth has submitted a grant with Suzy Yeiter with S. Coast Business Employment to have the NW Youth Conservation Corps. operate at Redmon Pond. She has arranged a partnership with City of Bandon to take the Corps. during periods of bad weather so that the issue of being around the inmate port labor will not affect the work days. The cost would be nothing to either the port or the city. Next Saturday (April 3^rd) is the memorial for long time Bandon resident and commercial fisherman Mel Erdman at the VFW site. His boat Kelori will be moved to Charleston after the moorage expires here in September.

On April 13^th, Dave Ledig of the Bandon Marsh has invited the port to participate in visitor service review. This will be a full day of creative problem solving and discussing any possible future impacts on the area wildlife. Ms. Dearth is looking forward to the panel discussion.

The issue of voting for the City of Bandon police levy is once again coming up, and the question is does the port want to publish another support letter in the local newspaper or just move along.

Port of Bandon received a Safety Grant from Special Districts to obtain a heart defibrillator to comply with the new law. The process turned out to be a bit more complicated, as a prescription and a medical overseer must also be a part of the process. Dr. Pasternak may be able to help us with this and train all port staff in CPR again.

The port has advertised for one more budget committee member. The last day to apply for the position is April 6, 2010. Summer event season is rapidly approaching, with the first kick-off event being the halibut opener weekend of May 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th. Y Marina will be on hand that entire weekend with a boat show on the west end of the boardwalk. Last year they were able to sell 2 boats while they were here. Various events will take place in June and July with the last one scheduled so far being WindFest on July 31 and August 1, 2010.

Discussion was begun by Commissioner Martizia about the Coquille River Walk Funding. He wanted to thank Commissioner Miller for a remarkable power point presentation, and the cooperation of Commissioner Goche, Terence O’Connor and Dennis Graham. Mr. O’Connor said that he has also submitted another trails grant to ODOT and will hear about that one next month. Commissioner Miller commented that each time the issue is heard in public it opens more doors. At this time Commissioner Goche asked that the port think about committing the amount previously spent each year by Port of Bandon on upkeep at Johnson Log Pond to the project of the Coquille River Walk. Commissioner Pullen felt this was a good idea, but at this time we are at the beginning of budgeting for 2010-2011 and he would like this done as a line item to create a storage place for the money in order to have match money at hand in the event any of these grants were awarded. Ms. Dearth stated that soon the port would begin hearing what tax monies will be available and the legwork will begin for the budgeting. Commissioner Goche suggested that the remaining money that had been budgeted for this fiscal year that had not been spent on the pond be the beginning of the line item.

Fran Capehart asked what the current status of the pond is. Ms. Dearth replied that the process of turning it back to Coos County had been completed that someone from the county had been communicating regarding all past expenses the port had paid. For some reason they need a dollar break out on all items. Ms. Dearth has e-mailed Melissa Cribbens who is the attorney for the Coquille Tribe to find out the current status. Commissioner Pullen commented that he hopes the matter is expedited, as projects outlined by the tribe regarding the dams and the fishing were quite good.

Commissioner Miller wanted to comment to those present from the Coquille River Walk that he thought this project will succeed His past experience with these type of things has taught him that tenacious people get things done. He appreciated being a part of their presentation, and he felt that this involvement is true to the mission statement of the port. Commissioner Miller then made a motion to create a line item for the Coquille River Walk Project in the 2010-2011 budgeting process. Commissioner Goche made a motion to add the leftover funds from this year to the line item, and Commissioners Martizia and Pullen seconded the motions and passed unanimously.

Ms. Dearth has followed up on Commissioner Goche’s inquiry as to whether or not Port of Bandon would need the services of NWFF in providing security or spill response. The port has never had the need of a spill response. The only time that we did have a minor problem the port with the assistance of the coast guard took care of the problem with our own booms. The one thing that had come out of this one instance is that perhaps the port needed to own a boom that had an apron below the water. Commissioner Pullen feels strongly that this would be a good investment. Ms. Dearth intends to keep a dialog open with NWFF spokesperson and has found they will not need to be kept on retainer to act in a mentor type situation. Commissioner Goche commented that fuel remains on top of the water but if it is oil there is a much bigger problem. He also agrees that the port should look into purchasing a boom with an apron below the water.

Commissioner Pullen reported on the meeting this month on marine reserves. He is glad to see Governor Kulongoski’s “new view”. The committee seems to be plowing forward with marine reserves, realizing there is a brick wall ahead that will be painful for all involved. A professional mediator was hired for the last meeting, but she said the committee was too harmonious. Commissioner Goche said that the committee had elected Jim Pex but the mediator didn’t really have much to do. She had done an excellent job of moving the committee along towards deciding about the voting policies. A pivotal vote will be ¾ majority and those who will be at sea will be able to vote by e-mail or by proxy. He was very happy to get that issue straightened out as he will be at sea after July 1. It was also decided that the committee will hear one night of opponents, and one night of proponents, and then vote. There is no new information, and he would be surprised if anyone has changed their vote. At this point it is just wasting everyone’s time.

Ms/ Dearth had a few more housekeeping items, the fish waste signs and DEQ information about the fish waste, and the tsunami definitions as well as the City of Bandon’s planning dept. manager Charli Davis being able to take a more active Emergency Management position due to the state grant paying half of her current salary. This is wonderful news for Bandon on preparation for an event. An interesting note of the past tsunami in Asia was that the elephants used for labor had broken loose prior to the tsunami arriving onshore, and were seen running to high ground for safety well before it was known that a tsunami was on the way. It was suggested with humor that perhaps all Oregon cities should have an elephant in addition to the warning sirens.

Ms. Dearth reminded all present that the City of Bandon will be holding an informational history/archaeology of First Street presentation in Bandon on the evening of April 13^th at 7pm. It will be a very interesting review of tribal presence in the community.

At 5:48pm Vice President Pullen adjourned regular session and announced a 5 minute break prior to holding Executive Session.

Submitted by Trudy Spanier