FOBHL
Board Meeting Minutes
Bighorn Federal Meeting Room
May 13, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Lovell
Call to order and Welcome – Bob C
Approval of April email minutes: Motion by HD with the second by Bob N
motion carried
Report from John Keck - BICA
New Supt. Process and John’s role thru it
Beginning June 12 Sandi McDermit (from the Denver Regional Office) will be living at Ft Smith, MT as the acting superintendent for BICA. John will continue as the assistant superintendent. This leadership will continue until a new superintendent is in place later this year.
NPS Budget – The budget looks good this year and will handle the needs of BICA.
HSB Cpgrd - All personnel from the south end have been busy getting the campground finished for the Memorial Day wkend. FOBHL will help on Sat with a restoration project in the areas around the sites where habitat has been disturbed. There will be no campground fee this year due to the fee freeze by Congress. A flyer will explain that the no fee situation will only be for this year then a fee based on the local area will be charged.
HSB Well – The well will be bid again soon with some changes. It is hoped that water will be flowing by late summer.
HSB new boat dock – BICA is awaiting final word on the grant money before ordering the dock.
Boating hazards on the lake – John is checking with NPS on what the policy is concerning lake hazards and will give us more information as soon as he receives it.
HSB grounds keeper – A man has been hired and is working presently. He has a lot of experience in this type of work and will keep this area very nice.
Concession special use permits – Mark Garrison from Cody will have an additional 40 passenger boat this year for his canyon tours. He will be doing tours from bus tour groups too. Conoco Country Store has the marina concession for the next two years. Lisa and staff are busy getting ready for the upcoming weekend.
Boat Ramp – launch elevation and dock elevation issue, log boom elevation ***
John indicated that these numbers are only used as management guidelines and can be adjusted as needed depending on the conditions each year. We suggested that there not be so many different levels.
National Geographic is sponsoring a promotion for the Greater Yellowstone Area and will include BICA in its national advertising. The idea is to spread the people out over the entire tourism area when they come to visit YNP or GTNP. They have already done this in other locations in the country with great success!
John was excused and we continued with Board items
FOBHL Board Member Committee Work
HD & Margaret – The railroad crossing on Hwy 37 at American Colloid/CETCO was replaced this week. The road is to be cleared of a build up of bentonite too. BICA is not happy with the road conditions in that area and will be contacting WyoDot again.
Bob N & Jim - Bob N reported on the Powell Home and Garden Show May 10, 2008. The crowd was small and only 2 memberships resulted and some advertising of the June 21 event. The promo DVD we had been using did not work properly and caused some frustration.
David & Marilyn – Bob C reported on the CodyHome and Garden Show April 18-19 ,2008 since they were not able to attend the meeting. This was their largest show with over 3700 attending with 8 FOBHL memberships enrolled. It was real busy for the helpers inviting folks to the June 21 day plus answering questions on the area.
Ferrell Mangus – Mustang Day Committee rep for FOBHL – June 21 event. No meeting was held to report on.
Jerry & Bob C – The day board project maybe delayed into June due to finishing up the Horseshoe Bend Campground this month. A new shallow water sign (4’ x 8’) will be reinstalled going into the south narrows to inform boaters of the flat water conditions.
Ken, Lisa & Joe – Promo activities for Bighorn Lake 2008 season and the June 21 event
HD, Jerry and Bob N are in charge of advertising for the season
June 21 details:
Food – HSBend marina (Lisa)
Kettle Corn, Lemonade and Smoothy, BBQ (David & Marilyn)
Boat Rides – Ken with Darece getting the dock hands for loading and unloading
Inner Tubes – Joe
Shuttle service – Ferrell
VIP activities – Keith Grant & Ferrell
BICA details, permits, parking and coordination
BHC Search & Rescue - Bob C
FOBHL info table – Rena & Margaret
Catfish Derby July 12 – Joe with WGF helping
Ongoing items for comment or questions:
Bob C will be out of town so Ken will attend the USBR-MTAO Bighorn River Issues Grp Meeting May 21 in Billings.
Bob C and Ken have participated in four USBR-MTAO conference calls April 21 & 28, May 6 & 12 with stakeholders of BHLake concerning the summer water management plans.
New lake maps from Mormon Point to ML Ranch area are being printed this month by NWC. They will be in pdf format on our web site as well as available free of charge at several locations to be announced.
Ken and Bob C went on a tour of south BighornLakeApril 29 with BICA, MTAO-USBR and the COR reviewing possible sediment control and removal methods being evaluated. This report will be presented in November of this year.
Driftwood burn? (The burn team did the job this week and it burnt real clean)
The May Bighorn Lake Operation Plan reduced outflows from 1900 cfs to 1500 cfs in order to fill the lake. MTAO wants a full lake to allow for an overall more consistent year a round management. The lake should be at 3617 feet by Memorial Day weekend.
***
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The following are Bighorn Lake Facilities Operating Levels:
Ok-A-Beh
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Launch Ramp
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3580 Feet
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Courtesy Docks
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3590 Feet
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Marina & Gas Docks
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3600 Feet
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SwimBeach
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3610 Feet
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Barry’s Landing
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Launch Ramp
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3580 Feet
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Courtesy Docks
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3590 Feet
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Horseshoe Bend
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Launch Ramp
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3617 Feet
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Courtesy Docks
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3620 Feet
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SwimBeach
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3625 Feet
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