Lake Ouachita Citizen Focus Committee Minutes
July 2007

Lake Ouachita Citizens Focus Committee Meeting Minutes
 July 9th 2007

CALL TO ORDER:
7:00 PM
Lake Ouachita Project Office
1201 Blakely Dam Road
Royal, AR 71968
(501) 767-2101

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
Richard D. Stokes, Park Manager, Lake Ouachita Field Office
Titus Hardiman, Supervisory Park Ranger, Lake Ouachita Field Office
Bill Jackson, Environmental Safety Ranger, Ouachita Project Office

Guests:

Adam Roberts Director,
Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission

Announcements:

Al Gathright introduced the guests for the evening,
Bill Jackson and Adam Roberts.

Al Gathright mentioned that Al Behm
 is still recovering from heart surgery.

Membership:

 Al Gathright stated Beverly Buys is thinking of resigning due to a conflict in work scheduling.

Votes for Chair and Vice Chair:

Al Gathright  informed the members that during the previous LOCFC meeting on June 11, 2007 that there were not enough members to make a vote but did nominate Arnie Habig as the Chairman and Al Gathright to the Vice-Chairman positions for 2007-2008 year and opened the floor voting. Dave Doty motioned that Arnie Habig be the Chairman and for Al Gathright to be the Vice Chairman for the 2007-2008 year.
Vote passed unanimously.

American Trails Membership:

Al Gathright said that this would be something for the FOLO to address. Dave Doty asked for the reasoning behind our membership in American Trails. Jerry Shields stated that he has read the magazine and that it doesn’t feel that it would be a worthwhile investment and the magazine wasn’t very interesting. A dead issue. No Action taken.

Minutes Review:

Al Gathright  stated that there were two separate minutes that needed to be reviewed. The first set was from May 14, 2007. Sue Hale motioned for approval. Motion passed unanimously. The second set was from June 11, 2007. Jerry Shields motioned for approval, it was seconded and approved.

New Business:

Information on Trash Bash:

Adam Roberts, Director of the Hot Springs/Garland County Beautification Commission, spoke to the members of the LOCFC with regards to the efforts that the HSGCBC is making on the Trash Bash and is open to hosting it on the same day as the Lake Ouachita Cleanup in the future. Right now they are having the Trash Bash on the first weekend following the Labor Day which would be Saturday, September 08, 2007. The LOCFC plans on hosting the Lake Ouachita Cleanup on Saturday, September 15, 2007. The hopes are to make the day a complete environmental cleanup event for the day. Adam Roberts passed out some flyers that they are using for the Trash Bash. He also discussed the benefits of combining some of the flyers and media for maximum affect.

Adam Roberts said the 2006 Trash Bash had a drop in registered participants due to the fact they only registered people attending the luncheon. Bill Barnes elaborated on some of Lake Ouachita’s past lake cleanups and updated Adam Roberts on where LOCFC was today on theirs.
Dave Doty asked what the cost was for sponsors of the Trash Bash?
Adam Roberts said that they were around $1000.00.
Jerry Shields asked if the Garland Co. Judge was participating?
Adam Roberts said he had the Judge’s approval.
Howard Wright asked how much did they budget for media costs?
Adam Roberts said most of funds come from donations but they do pay for some adds.
Pat Witherspoon asked for some of the sponsors.
Adam Roberts said Harvest Foods took care of the picnic, Entergy normally gave money for its donation and that Mid-America provided the cooks.
Adam Roberts said they would be changing their locations from the AG&F Fish Hatchery to the Garvin Garden’s and having two separate picnics.

The Member consensus was that they would discuss this matter further and make a decision on how to participate in a partnership.

Aquatic Weed:

Al Gathright talked about the ANS Task Force Summary Meeting that he attended on June 19, 2007. Al Gathright, Arnie Habig. and Jerry Shields are all on the committee. There are also several biologists on it as well, including Johnny Cantrell. Mark Oliver with the AGFC is Chairman. The committee is presently identifying animal and plant nuisance species in Arkansas. An international set of criteria is used to determine if a species should be classified as a nuisance. The completed plan will identify species as well as their possible paths of travel. The plan will also feature methods to control each species.
The Arkansas Nuisance Species Task force will complete the master plan by Jan 15, 2008. Arkansas will become the 16th state to complete the ANS process. Arkansas will then qualify for federal assistance under the National ANS Plan. The next meeting will be 23 August.

Since the last meeting there has been a report of hydrilla being harvested by the Corps at the Deveraux area.

Rick Stokes said that Johnny Cantrell reports that we have about 130Million Pakistani flies and proposed that we “bank” them at the Water Ways station in Louisville. He also included there is a new possibility of a flyover in August and/or September at no to minimum cost.

Lake Ouachita Vista Trail:

Jerry Shields asked Rick Stokes if he would be able to attend a meeting at the Womble District on 9 AM next Tuesday. Since the last meeting the USFS had considered relocating the last mile of the trail and moving it south to avoid a conflict with an adjacent landowner. Jerry Shields felt this was an unacceptable option but would be at the meeting. The goal of this meeting would be to determine the best course of action. Jerry Shields brought in some proposed maps. So far there are 12 benches on the trail and the Lake Ouachita Vista Trail website is under construction but should be up soon.

ADA Trail:

Jerry Shields said there is $14,000.00 left over from the National Recreation Trails Grant. AG&F promised $150,000.00 for the Handicapped Accessible Watchable Wildlife Trail. Rick Stokes said that he has sent the EA that was signed by Col. Vesay to the AG&FC and the work on the area is presently under way. There are some issues with the congressional support for the proposed bridge and he doubt it would be funded.

Rick Farmer showed an article he found in the Sentinel Record citing that those who use the trail really appreciate the trail itself and the bench along the route.

Wastewater Discharge:

Rick Stokes talked about the meeting he and Bill Barnes attended on June 03, 2007 meeting with the Vicksburg Real Estate Division. Another meeting has been scheduled for the 18th or 25th of July. Mr. Dennis Norris, Chief of Operations, is planning on attending. Dave Doty will represent the LOCFC when the meeting does take place. The ideas and concepts being tossed around are complex but the goal the district has in mind is to create an all encompassing SOP for the entire Vicksburg District.

Clean Marina:

Sue Hale asked Bill Jackson to elaborate on the Clean Marina Program. Bill Jackson said that out of the Wastewater Discharge meeting that took place on June 03, 2007, that the Ouachita Project is looking at recognizing the Marinas that are doing a good job and presenting them with awards and items that they can display that shows the marina(s) is in compliance with the program. One of the benefits to the Clean Marina Program would be to allow the State to get a higher priority in the terms of grant money. Dave Doty questioned the funding ideologies. Bill Jackson explained that the finer details and the differences between the State operation expenses and the Federal Grants for pumpout stations.

Sue Hale asked how the committee could help? Bill Jackson said that there will be a meeting next week, July 16, 2007, that will involve Corps, District, AG&F, ADEQ, etc. This committee can help by supporting the programs. Bill Barnes questioned whether the Marina Safety Committee has and was approved the Clean Marina Program? Bill Jackson said that it was not set in stone but only an idea at this point but they have to start somewhere.

Fisheries and Campground:

Al Gathright talked about Recreation Passes/Fees, letters to Representative Ross, and Senator Lincoln, Pryor and Snyder. Al Gathright asked the members to check the June minutes. Rick Stokes expounded on the finer details of the America the Beautiful Passes plus the budgetary shortfalls and increase in district overhead. Bill Jackson elaborated on other details of customer satisfaction surveys that the Corps does and the cost of the National Recreation Reservation System. Al Gathright said that the letters had been written to the congressmen. Jerry Williams said that the Recreation Program needs a lobby group. Jerry Shields said that he talked to the Mayor of Mt. Ida and she would like to talk with the committee and the Corps about how she feels about camping and recreation. Rick Stokes said that it was fine with him.

LO Cleanup 2007:

Pat Witherspoon announced that the date for the Lake Ouachita Cleanup will be Saturday, September 15, 2007. He encouraged members to start talking it up and contacting sponsors from the 2006 Cleanup. Jerry Shields said there are a few people locally that can do a good job on printing the T-Shirts at a reasonable price provided that the colors are kept to a minimum and the addition of an information block would be good for the posters. Titus Hardiman and Al Gathright both seem to think that they have the graphics file for the T-shirt and poster on disk from last year.

Bill Barnes suggested we keep the shirt and just tone it down a bit.

Pat Witherspoon recommended setting the number of people to cook for at 200 persons.

Other Business:

Rick Stokes passed out reimbursement checks for mileage.

FOLO Report:

Jerry Shields passed the financial statement.
June expenditures-$581.18,
Account Balances
Trail Bench Donations-$6,856.86
Lake Cleanup-$2,526.39
Trail Matching Funds-$4,627.86

Adjournment: 9:30 PM

Information courtesy of
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers