Watts Bar Ecology and Fishery Council (WBEFC) Minutes: April 11, 2017
Attendees:
Dwain Alexander B. J. Gillum Timothy Joseph Bob Lamb Janice Moody Hugh Willett
Al Ziemak
Opening Remarks by Tim Joseph: o Tim said Mark Musolf resigned for personal reasons after the second
meeting. He said he and others have talked and emailed with Mark
several times to ask him not to resign, but Mark has resigned. o Tim agreed to chair the Council until a new chairman is found. o He discussed the need for additional individuals to participate in the
Council and working groups. o He asked Janice to send the Roane County Environmental Review Board
(RCERB) Presentation to all WBEFC members.
o Tim met with Ron Berry, Roane County Commission Chairman. He said they had a very long discussion regarding the 5-member Roane County Commission special work group. The group is called the Aquatic Weeds Committee. The members of the Aquatic Weeds Committee are shown on the WBEFC Structure.
– Bob Lamb said he thinks the Roane County Commission group should reach out to the other counties.
o Tim said he talked with Ron Berry about reaching out to the other counties. Ron said he was going to reach out to the other counties and invite them in a formal way to participate directly, and hopes that each county would have a representative on his Aquatic Weeds Committee and on the WBEFC.
o Bob said in Meigs County, Ron needs to go to the Meigs County Commission Chairman, Stanley Welch.
o Bob said Jeremy Bivens, Meigs County Chairman of Commerce is going to attend WBEFC meetings.
o Tim said Ron plans to reach out to TVA and TDEC to get them involved.
o Bob said he had a contact with TDEC. Alan Wilkinson, phone: 865.594.6035, email: allenwilkinson@tn.gov
o Janice said she had a contact at University of Tennessee. Dr. Neelam Chandra Poudyal, Assistant Professor University of Tennessee Institute Agriculture, phone: 865.974.7126, email: npoudyal@utk.edu
Review and discuss draft Council Structure and Work Groups. Seek volunteers to Chair/CoChair Work Groups. Discuss flow of information among and between groups and full council.
o Tim developed the WBEFC structure. o He described the 7 work groups in the WBEFC structure. o Tim said Work-Group-3, COMMUNITIES, PROPERTY OWNERS, &
ORGANIZATIONS work group will be very important in getting people involved.
o Tim mentioned that Roger Hinsdale has a lot of knowledge on the successes and failures in other lakes and would be a good person to pull it all together.
o Janice said Roger, Peter Giroux, and Janice have had conference calls with several lakes. Janice said she thinks Lake Gaston is more like Watts Bar Lake.
o Work-Group-5: TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP
o Work Group 4: PUBLIC OUTREACH is on hold. o Work Group 2: COMMUNICATIONS
Work-Group-2: Communications: Need and timing for informing to the public– Newspapers, etc. Tim said we should write a brief article to introduce the WBEFC and invite meaningful participation/membership?
o Tim thanked Hugh Willett for attending, and look forward to working with Roane Newspaper.
o Tim is going to send Hugh information on WBEFC. - Hugh said there will be a special edition in May, and Tim said he will
provide WBEFC information to Hugh, and will touch base with him later concerning what information Hugh would like.
WBEFC Structure Items for Success – Lessons Learned