Meeting Summary
Tuesday, February 26, 2013, 7:00-9:00 PM
The Hearthstone, 6720 East Green Lake Way N
Board Room
Recorder: Davis Patterson
Attendees:
Dillon RothBrian Toth Davis Patterson Ellen Hewitt Rob Zisette Penny Kriese Gene Williams Gail SandersonMarcia NormanBarb MorganGayle GarmanSusan LevyJeannine FloranceGaret Munger
Welcome and Introductions – Garet Munger, President
Parks Department Report
No Parks representative was present (not specifically invited), but Garet had some observations:
- Two concrete pads by the Community Center were removed.
- Pruning inside the path and in the rest of the park has started.
- Davis: Inner trail work that Colleen described at the last meeting has been done, unclear if complete, but gravel and equipment ruts appear to have overrun/damaged the buffer in some areas.
- The fundraising goal to turn the old tree on the west side into a park bench may have been met. The plan is for the stump to be removed.
- ➜Garet would like to set up a meeting with Parks Department personnel to discuss the above issues, including maintenance and pruning along the inside of the path, and the mowing operations to ensure grass doesn’t encroach further into the wild areas.
Treasurer’s Report – Gayle Garman
January income: $0.50 total interest, and no bills, increasing final balance to $6,116.99.
New bills have arrived in February, including Web site domain.
Bills on the way:
- In March friendsofgreenlake.com domain name bill will come due.
- In April, post office box will be due.
Purchase of a new ELISA test kit was authorized last year, but we still have enough supplies for the time being, so it won’t be necessary to purchase right away.
- Garet would like us to develop a protocol about testing to specify when to test or not, what should be done with the results, who should receive them, etc. Gayle noted that it’s difficult to test by appearance when there might be a problem worth testing for.
Gayle has a new account signature page to turn in; writing checks requires two authorized signatures. Garet, Ellen, and Davis will sign.
Susan moved that Ellen and Gayle be authorized to pay up to $30 for the Web site. Marcia seconded. Motion passed.
- ➜Garet requested a list of upcoming expenses in future meetings.
- ➜Garet suggested that we think about new fundraising options and have a discussion at a future meeting. Possible sources: t-shirts, regular donations from individuals, events, requesting donations from park patrons, etc.
Update on Cyanobacteria in Green Lake
Garet has been looking for cyanobacteria on the lake, making a qualitative assessment, and recording based on a scheme he has developed. Since January 25, Garet has seen concentrations every day. Garet collected a sample about a week ago and gave to Brian for testing. Results: between 0.5 and 3 parts per billion. Our Web site has information about testing and closure of the lake last fall.
Gayle recommends taking a photo and forwarding it and results immediately to the Parks Dept., since it is their responsibility to decide if a warning should be put up. The problem changes quickly, so even waiting a couple of days, it may be different.
Gene: Judging risk is a hard thing to do. At this time of year, the risk is mainly to pets. Avoiding surface scum is the best advice. It is not necessary to avoid the entire lake. How can we educate people about best practices?
Rob: Work with the Parks Dept. and others to develop an algae bloom monitoring and reporting plan: who does it, who contacts whom, etc.
Gayle brought data from Kevin Stoops showing that total phosphorus jumped in the summer of 2012, which may be related to the recent growth of algae in the lake. We may be entering a period of more cyanobacteria blooms and may need an alum treatment. Rob has graphed data collected by FOGL volunteers over the last eight summers and subsequently reported to the county. Hisreview of measurements do not show a significant increase in the phosphorous level in the lake. The testing done by Kevin uses a different sampling schedule. Rob indicated he would look at the data collected by Kevin Stoops, to compare the data sets.
- ➜Garet will notify King County of testing results.
- ➜Garet, Gene, Gayle, and Rob will outline a draft protocol and objectives for testing, taking action on testing, and communication with Parks/other contacts, and how FOGL can help protect the public, etc.
- ➜Garet will then invite Katie and other appropriate contacts to discuss the draft.
Green Lake Management Plan
– Discussion of needs for undertaking preparation of Management Plan for Green Lake
This is a lake management plan for Green Lake, including the watershed that affects it, not a plan for Green Lake Park that surrounds the lake area.
– Issues to be addressed
Rob reported on Issues Committee, including Kristi Parks and Richard Fleming, and their work to define scope and issues to address in a lake management plan, and then prioritize. Goal: provide for various uses of the lake, including for lake, shoreline, and path. Will also include statement about areas not to be addressed (sports fields, etc.). Kate Becherer (UW student) is doing an exploratory project on water quality—cyanobacteria management.
– Identification of stakeholders Garet and Gayle reported on the Stakeholders group activities, including making list of business owners, regulatory agencies, types of users (fishing, walkers, etc.). Oscar Overland used GIS in developing the preliminary list of stake holders. Need to involve public, agencies, etc., in making decisions. Develop a plan for stakeholder engagement, including public constituents, identifying stakeholder interests, need for involvement/communication, etc., covering different geographic areas/communities around the lake, etc.
– Tasks to be undertaken by Friends of Green Lake
- ➜Rob will synthesize work done so far to outline process for developing plan and the plan itself: issues, resources, and how to address, dividing into “chapters”—categories like recreation and educational issues, shoreline vegetation, etc. Then others will need to take charge of various pieces of it.
- ➜Garet will contact Hanna Petros and Oscar Overlund to see if they are interested in leading the Stakeholders group.
- ➜Issues tabled for followup at another meeting:
- Identify someone to look at Magnuson Park management plan or other plans to understand the structure, talk to developers of a previous plan, to learn about the process, to avoid reinventing the wheel.
- Develop a timeline for our process.
- Prioritize issues to work on.
Changes to Emailing/Membership List Management?
Ellen and Karen have custody and manage the combined email list, for FOGL and Green Lake Community Council (GLCC), of persons who want to be notified of meetings and other important events related to Green Lake, not to be used for any other purposes, not shared, and not used too frequently. The Web site has a form for signing up also.
We are considering using MailChimp’s free service for non-profits to send up to 12,000 messages per month.
Currently emails are sent from Ellen and Karen’s personal email addresses. Reply field in MailChimp can specify that the sender is FOGL.
Advantages of MailChimp:
- System is easier for someone else to learn and take the place of Karen or in email manager’s absence.
- Bulk emails are more easily managed.
- Can manage subgroup lists.
- The system automatically handles problems when a service provider has technical difficulties.
Will people be uncomfortable with this?
What about security—hacking of lists?
There may be a MailChimp logo at the bottom of the email—Forrest is checking on this.
Garet and Paul (GLCC), as presidents, have authority to have messages sent.
If we do this, we’ll send a message using the existing system introducing the new system.
Other pros and cons were discussed, and ways of making the decision. The issues are fairly technical in nature.
Decision was tabled for continued discussion. GLCC leadership will need to approve.
Susan suggested having more than two persons able to manage the list.
- ➜Prepare list of pros and cons for group consideration. [who?]
Ideas and Suggestions for Projects and Tasks to be Undertaken by FOGL
Lack of time—tabled.
Review of Topics from January and November Meetings
Lack of time—tabled.
Other Business
➜Garet has Secchi disk data that hasn’t been reported. He will send latest data to Ellen to update Web site and enter into spreadsheet.
9:00 Adjourn