FOBHL
Board meeting minutes
Powell C of C Meeting Room
Feb 10, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Powell
Call to order and Welcome – Bob C
          Approval of Jan email minutes: Motion by Jerry     Second by Lisa
 
 
John Keck items
Reports on:
The new well bid for the HSBend area is still being processed with hope of bidding soon.
 
The old NPS Patrol Boat will be available to North Bighorn County Search & Rescue through a use agreement with BICA. It will be used to improve public safety on water way patrols and rescues.
 
Compliance surveying is being done on the old and proposed new route of the Abercrombie road.
 
The condition of park signs is being surveyed to determine changes, repair or replacement needs.
 
Highway signs for Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area along Wyoming state highways are being upgraded by Wyo Dot on a rotating basis.
 
The 2009 budget meetings continue as final plans are fine tuned to meet present needs and available resources. The Congressional stimulus bill is being considered in these meetings also.
National Park Foundation grants for up to $10,000 will be discussed at Wednesdays meeting.
 
 
Ongoing items:
Bob C, Ken G & Jerry L of FOBHL will meet with BICA leaders on Feb 11 at 1pm.
These meetings are very helpful in keeping all of us informed and working in a coordinated manner. (see the list at the end of the minutes, of items to be discussed)
 
Conference calls continue each month with stakeholders of BighornLake on winter water management. The February Bighorn Lake Water Operation Plan looks very good. The projected spring low lake elevation will be 3620 ft at the end of April. (This is the BICA minimum lake elevation) The report on Boysen Reservoir is 81% of full with 83% of average snow pack while Buffalo Bill Reservoir is at 70% of full with 98% of average snow pack.
 
Jerry Case spoke at the Cody Chamber of Commerce (Cody Club) at noon on February 9. He will meet with Greybull and Worland Chamber of Commerce’s in March.
 
Jerry Case and Bob C met with Park County Tourism the afternoon of February 9 to discuss cooperative efforts between the 3 groups. We all felt the time spent to be productive for enhancing tourism in the area. Over the coming months several efforts will be started.  Following this meeting Jerry and Bob C met to discuss items of concern and to review the slide presentation from the FOBHL annual meeting Jerry missed.
 
A lengthy discussion of promo plans for 2009 went forth with the Cody and Powell Home shows coming up first, the June 20 celebration, catfish tournament, etc being reviewed. Ken will email out the assignments for the promo plans so far. In order to keep the boat rides free we will have business sponsors for each boat. A large sign on each boat will indicate its sponsor. A letter to the Lovell Lodging tax committee was given to Joe requesting $1000 to be used for lake promotions this year.
 
Our annual FOBHL members meeting was January 15, 2009 from 6 to 8 pm. We served over 70 people and felt the meeting to be very informative. There was good fellowship, food and discussion! We are considering moving this meeting to mid March in order to avoid some school conflicts. If you have ideas please let a director know.
 
USBR Bighorn River Issues Meeting was held in Lovell January 15 from 9:30 am to 3pm. A lot of very technical presentations were made and are still being reviewed by all of us who were present. We are suggesting that more summary info be given in the future and not so much data. We are interested in the “bottom line” details and how they will effect the operation of BighornLake and the river. Check the USBR/MTAO web site for study details soon to be posted.
 
The next FOBHL board meeting will be March 10, at 6:30pm in Lovell.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BICA and FOBHL Meeting
Feb 11, 2009
1 to 3 pm
Access Items:
1 - Dry boat storage
 
2 - Crooked Creek bay – make a shore fisherman trail from parking lot to lake shore
 
3 - A fishing dock at JimCreekBay
 
4 - Ranger lead hikes, evening programs & canoe tours
 
5 - YT unit - berry bush road closure near Jim Ck Bay
 
6 - WGF/BICA/BLM/BH County road maintenance agreement for the YT unit and the JohnBlueCanyon road
 
7 – Construct the Kane & Jim Creek docks from the old HSBend one
 
8 – Place portable restrooms at JimCreek and Causeway ramp areas
 
9 – Boat docks and fishing dock in/out dates
 
10 – Snow removal policy for the roads
 
 
VIP Items:
1 – Possible VIP Projects for 2009
 
2 – FOBHL can provide a list of skills of the VIP helpers willing to be called upon to assist as needed.
 
3 – How can we (FOBHL & BICA) communicate better and more often with the USBR in order to keep BICA’s water needs being considered?
 
4 – Can this group meet monthly in order to maximize our united efforts?