FOBHL
Board meeting agenda
Powell C of C Meeting Room
April 14, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Powell
Call to order and Welcome – Bob C
Approval of March email minutes: Motion by Joe Second by David
Motion carried.
John Keck items
Christy Fleming from BICA reviewed the NPS VIP program and how we could keep serving. They are asking for individual volunteers as well to help in the VisitorCenter and other locations.
The entrance fee wavier for June 19, 20 is still pending. We will need to print our rack card soon minus the fee info. The new fee for the 19 improved camp sites at the Horseshoe Bend Camp ground will be $15 per day which includes electricity and water. The other sites will still be available at no charge.
The new well bid is making very slow progress.
The new Horseshoe Bend dock is expected to arrive anytime now and will be installed when it arrives.
The Chamber of Commerce meetings for March with Worland and Greybull went really well. Jerry Case was hosted by FOBHL Directors Ken Grant and Ferrell Mangus.
The spring sediment removal from the Kane and South Causeway ramps was discussed. The sediment needs to be removed each year to keep these docks functional. The sediment from the South Causeway ramp was not removed last year. FOBHL offered to do a VIP project to accomplish this work they will let us know of their decision.
John gave us a copy of the NPS Friends Groups Guidebook to review. This tells how to become an officially NPS recognized Friends Group. The board members will review it and pass it around to others.
Ongoing items for comment or questions:
Boysen and Buffalo Bill Reservoirs snow packs are 100% of average snow water equivalent.
The Annual Spring Bighorn Basin Interagency Coordination Meeting and Bighorn River System Issues Group Meeting in Billings on April 2 were attended by Bob C and Ferrell. They reported it was alot of the same info as the last meeting in Lovell with new items in the interagency meeting. The next meeting will be in September
The April Bighorn Lake Water Operation Plan calls for higher releases (2500 up to 3000 cfs) this will allow needed work on the face of the dam to repair seepage leaks. The end of the month elevation will still be as agreed upon, 3624 feet. The reservoir will be full by the end of June.
Promo plans for 2009? David has the Cody home show booth well organized for April 18 and Bob N is in the process of getting a crew for the Powell Home show on May 9. The June 20 celebration details are coming together very well too. Joe has submitted the necessary permits for the catfish tournament on June 20.
The Horseshoe Bend area cleanup will be done on April 22 by a local youth group. The driftwood project last Saturday at the Red Cliff day use area went very well with 18 VIPs donating 52 hours and enjoying a nice lunch together. The USFS burn team burnt the piles on Tuesday.
The missing log boom and slip dock red buoys that were gone were located by boat on Saturday too. It appears on ice out they were torn loose from their anchor cables. New buoys, anchor blocks and anchor cables will need to be installed if the old ones can not be located. Bighorn Ready Mix in Powell has donated new anchor blocks of 1000 and 500 lbs to be used. We appreciate such community support!
The FOBHL web site was discussed to determine if the site is meeting the needs of our users. We felt it to be simple, informative, factual and easy to use. We may do a survey of our members to get their insights for improvement. We appreciate our members in Billings who host and maintain the FOBHL web site at no charge. On the counter it gets 350 to 400 hits per week.
The board discussed and approved FOBHL becoming involved in the WyoDot adopt a highway cleanup program. We would take the next 3 miles south of the 2 mile section already enrolled by the BICA staff at the south BICA boundary on highway 37. The required application will be filed with the WyoDot office in Basin soon.
The Powell Chamber of Commerce has a new executive director, Naomi Burns. She is excited to work with us and will invite BICA Superintendent Jerry Case to speak to the Powell Chamber. We will take the Powell Chamber staff and families on a canyon boat tour in the coming weeks.
The next FOBHL board meeting will be at 6:30pm May 12 in Lovell.