Minutes – 5/24/04 Board Mtg.
Hickory VFW / Hickory Pa.

T. Jochman, B. Hanselman, P. Anthony, W. Fay, J. Mondok, J. Kremis, N. Loprire, R. Natoli

Welcome to new board member Bob Shuey – Bob was absent from the meeting, so we will have to give him another greeting at the June 28th meeting.

Chapter Project ideas:

Coolspring Creek “Glory Hole” – We again discussed the motion that Pete Anthony proposed at the April meeting to return the hole to its previous state by dredging the rock and sediment out of the hole on the East side of the stream. Jim Mondok said we need to check with the Bureau of Forestry (plant life) and the Pa Fish & Boat commission (aquatic life) to find out if there are any “species of concern” in the stream before we proceed. Without these checks, we can only clean out debris to within six inches of the waters surface.
Coolspring Creek Assessment – Ask for assessment of the stream through a Growing Greener Grant. Jim Mondok recommended Dan Wallace of Hermitage for the job. The assessment could be used to determine where we need to make improvements on the stream.
Coolspring Creek Gabion Basket – Schedule a workday with the Beagle Club to finish filling the basket at the swinging bridge with rock.
Fox Run Stream Wetlands Project – Jim Mondok reported that there is nothing for us to do on this project because the cost is covered by a pending Growing Greener Grant, and the wetlands will be built by the Slippery Rock Water Coalition.

Check to Atlantic for Cranberry – Jeff explained how the checks got mixed up and also how he straightened out the situation.
Monthly Budget Report – He reviewed the budget report for the month ending April 30th.
Yearly Budget for 2004 – He reviewed the budget for 2004 and pointed out that we need to discuss the donations we will make for this year.

A. Watershed Coordinator – Jeff Kremis/Jim Mondok

Neshannock Creek Covered Bridge Area – The parking lot needs two piles of gravel spread out to fill the entranceway holes (Jeff will check with Stoyer’s Nursery to see if he will do the job for us). Bill Fay suggested adding 4-inch diameter rock to the gravel road prior to the culvert we installed (approximately ? mile from Covered Bridge Road).
Landowners – Jeff will check with Bob Shuey to see if the landowners are happy with the new gate and the improved parking area.

B. Nursery – Pete Anthony

Pete wrote Senator Bob Robbins about an agreement with Lake Latonka to release water at a constant rate to improve temperature conditions in Coolspring Creek.
Fence construction along the stream between the Latonka Dam and Route 62 was discussed; and the planting of trees to shade the stream along that ? mile stretch was also discussed.
Stream bank improvements along the confluence of Coolspring and Otter Creeks were discussed (approximately 1/6 mile South of the Route 58 bridge).
Pete commented that the 2004 March Banquet was a success.
Pa Fish & Boat Commission is looking for ways to generate revenues (Pete will e-mail us the note that refers to this endeavor).
Donate another $1000 this year to the Munnell Run Farm (review at the June meeting)
Support Jeff Kremis’s efforts to do stream monitoring in the Neshannock Watershed.
Initiate a program to purchase land along stream access points along Coolspring Creek starting at Scrubgrass Road heading North to the Lake Latonka Dam. A 100-yard easement could be purchased on each side of the stream that would insure stream access for future generations (if we had an easement, that would guarantee that no development could occur alongside the stream). Bill Fay noted that we would not have to pay property taxes on the easement land because a “501C3” organization is tax exempt on property.

Trout Stocking is complete for this raising season (June 2003 to May 2004) and 1775 fish were stocked in area streams
Pete will e-mail a summary showing where the fish were put in
Pete asked for another $300 in the Nursery budget to purchase 500 Steelhead Smoltz which would be released in Neshannock Creek in November (review at June meeting)

C. Cabin Fever / Banquet / Newsletter - Nick Loprire

Jim Mondok will send the digital photographs from the May 22nd canceled Fishing Derby to Nick Loprire to see if Nick wants to use them in his article for Pa Trout Magazine

D. Membership – Tom Jochman

Tom reviewed a new list of board members and coordinators, which now includes Bob Shuey as our newest board member.

E. Youth Coordinator – Dick Rickert

Dick’s visit to Reynolds High School – We reviewed Dick’s report and discussed whether he should tell the board what he intends to review at his next presentation. If the board reviews it ahead of time, we may be able to offer suggestions to improve it.

Spring “Fishing Derby” Report – The derby was moved to May 29th due to inclement weather and high water stream conditions.
Parental Consent Forms – We discussed adding the words “and sponsors” to the form to cover groups other than Neshannock TU for potential liability problems.
Date for next year – Discussed having the event at the end of April next year to try to avoid the volatile May weather problems
Sign for project – Reviewed building a sign to be located at the entrance of the project along Greenwood Drive. Barry Spiker (Dir. Of Public Works for the Borough) may be able to build it for us if we purchase the wood). The sign would be constructed of Womanized Wood with letters carved out using a router.

Rivers Conservation & Fly Fishing Youth Camp – John Bushanic will be an alternate, that is if somebody drops out, John will attend the Camp and we will sponsor him.
Chapter Projects Refined – Review and prioritize at June meeting
Generator for Nursery – Pete requested our new generator be exchanged and dollars added to upgrade it to 2000-Watt capacity (Tom Jochman to return the generator for replacement).