Text Box: LOWA Executive Committee meeting 10/16/06 Camdenton Library meeting room   What to say at a presentation: Who and what we are Main target goals Thumbnail from each committee Mission statement: Citizens will preserve, protect, and improve the Lake of the Ozarks, its watershed, and natural resources while maintaining our economic, social, and environmental health. Committee Thumbnails Water Quality – Greg Stoner - Bob Broz, Greg Stoner, and Bryan Vance met at the Ameren office. They discussed and chose the 30 sites for the 5 yr. study. They looked back at a late 90’s health study, which had about 130 sites). They picked problematic sites as well as sites that, from the late 90’s study, could be considered baseline. That is to say, sites that in the late 90’s were undeveloped but are now fully developed can yield important data. The initial set of measurements can now be considered a baseline set of measurements to which present day measurements can be validly compared. LOWA wants some kind of water testing opportunity for the average citizen – maybe something along the lines of a Pump-Out, but subsidizing water testing, instead. Maybe we could start with something quick that could act as a red flag and indicate a site that needs to be investigated further. Group discussed possibilities, but came to no definitive conclusion. Needs some study. Soil Erosion/LID – Phil Moore – met with Chris Hall, Camden Co. Planning and Zoning Presiding Commissioner (? Not sure of title) and they picked 4 top goals for their committee. One is education about watersheds. After that, this recorder did not get a clear delineation of the other three goals, but the presentation went as follows. When a zoning change comes in, someone needs to look at the site in terms of erosion and control when people submit permits. At present, there are not many regulations in effect, especially for low population areas, which Lake of the Ozarks is considered to be. Make people aware of when a project is coming. Take information to zoning and to the MO DNR. At present, developers need to be able to know what are the regs and how to build and develop in a green manner with the health of the Lake in mind. Springfield will come up here to teach developers how to do this – truly it is cheaper to do it correctly from the start even though initially some of the procedures may be questioned. Developers simply need to be educated. [When everyone is working together, everyone will reap the benefits of a healthy Lake economy. A healthy Lake is a healthy economy for everyone. Recorder’s insert] Maybe we can build a site here, at the Lake of the Ozarks, to show developers proper practices and to train them in proper, cost-effective measures. Chris Hall says other agencies and people need to communicate with him more. Green builders and landscapers are potential speakers and committee members. Waste Water – Dave Morgan – they are going to contact marine dealers associations regarding Pump-Out project, etc. Also they want to contact county officials and determine just who is responsible for what, concerning the Lake of the Ozarks and surrounding watershed. They want to find out what are the protocols for various activities, permits, inspectors, etc. The committee is in the process of getting some questions together. Considering door-to-door Pump-Out program – talk one-on-one with people, find out who is low income and who needs subsidizing. Discussion on pros and cons of sliding scale versus across the board same discount for everyone. No consensus. Maybe get together with Crime Watch associations for the door-to-door campaigns. Don’t want to forget all the folk who are just out in the countryside along the Lake roads but not in a Crime Watch area. Outreach – Christy Fera – went to the Turkey Festival in Eldon – had brochures but didn’t generate a lot of interest. Need a more interactive display to attract kids – where the kids go, so go the parents. Also need more freebies. Priscilla Stotts mentioned the “Watershed Trailer” and knows the person in charge and said that it might be available for a festival. LOWA will have t-shirts, hats, etc for future fairs. We are gearing up big time for Earth Day. Make a coloring page/brochure – have a coloring contest. [Could have a mascot – Watershed Buddy – some kind of little generic animal critter based on something that lives in the watershed but uses the Lake and the streams – that would teach kids about a watershed and the importance of keeping the watershed clean for the health of the Lake, as well as keeping the Lake clean. Recorder’s insert] Maybe MDC or MODNR has freebies for us. Look into the fishing tournaments. Look under the Water Patrol’s website and look under regattas. Lake Safety – Lori Miller – Lake Sun Leader did a poll very recently (date article appeared?) which asked people what they thought was the biggest problem at the Lake. 41% said boat sizes, 33% said alcohol, and the rest cited other safety issues. Under the first one, the committee is addressing boat sizes, Pump-Outs, and speed limits. Under the second one, the committee is addressing a campaign with the bars for free non-alcoholic beverages for the designated driver. Under the last one, the committee is addressing drownings, wave runners, water sports, fishing, and swimming. Pump-Out for the Spring is a BIG push – a Spring Cleaning. LOWA letterhead and business cards were discussed. Exec comm members should get their preferred version of their name to Larry Schafer, as well as other pertinent information. LOWA will get a PO Box at the Sunrise Beach post office and Lori Miller and Donna Swall will have access to it. TV and radio stations all air public service announcements. We need to get our announcements aired. Christy Fera will look into it. Discussion of web page. Consensus was that we don’t want that big text message on the front page. We want an intro page that attracts people to want to push links to more pages. Each committee needs to get to Larry a picture that represents them for the web page. Next executive meeting 5 pm at the Versailles Library for the November 20th meeting. Next LOWA meeting will be in Warsaw and will be basically a repeat of the Camdenton meeting in order to bring LOWA to one of the outlying Lake communities. These minutes respectfully submitted by Caroline Toole, LOWA Recording Secretary.    

INC.

EMAIL CLICK HEREDonna Swall Executive Chair Donna@soslowa.orgCaroline Toole Secretary Caroline@soslowa.orgLori Miller Treasurer Lori@soslowa.orgMarv Mondy Vice President Marv@soslowa.orgLarry Schafer Second Vice President Larry@soslowa.orgWaste Water Dept David Morgan David@soslowa.orgWatershed Alliance

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Water Quality Dept. Greg Stoner Greg@soslowa.org

Stream Team Dept. Caroline Toole Caroline@soslowa.org

Lake Safety Dept. Seary Niccoli Seary@soslowa.orgCorresponding Secretary Neva "Boots" Niccoli Neva@soslowa.orgOut Reach Dept Christy Fera Christy@soslowa.org

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Lake of the Ozarks

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MISSION STATEMENT Citizens will preserve, protect and improve the Lake of the Ozarks, It's Watershed and natural resources while maintaining our economic, social and environmental health.

MISSION STATEMENT Citizens will preserve, protect and improve the Lake of the Ozarks, It's Watershed and natural resources while maintaining our economic, social and environmental health.

EMAIL CLICK HEREEMAIL CLICK HERE

Recycling Maddline Hutton Harrell Maddline@soslowa.org

Home PageLow Impact Developement Chris Hall Chris@soslowa.org

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Text Box: LOWA meeting minutes 11th December 2006 Tan-Tar-A Resort, Parasol Room       Donna Swall the LOWA Executive Director called the meeting to order at six thirty PM in the Parasol Room of the Tan-Tar-A Resort, located in Osage Beach, Missouri. The minutes of the November 20, 2006 were then summarized by Executive Director Swall. The reading of the minutes by Donna Swall occurred due to the absence of Caroline Toole, LOWA Recording Secretary. Ms. Barbara A. Maholick was appointed by Donna Swall to record the December 2006 meeting's minutes. Seventeen members were then counted and recorded in attendance by Ms. Maholick. No Treasurer's Report was announced. Hereafter a motion to accept the minutes was made by Pat Arnold and was then seconded by Phil More       Donna Swall announced that LOWA received two donations to cover the cost of the Christmas party.  The first donation was given by the Schultz Engineering Services in the amount of two hundred and fifty dollars and the second from Mid-Missouri Landfill LLC for the Amount of of two hundred dollars.   We are very Grateful to Schultz Engineering Services and Mid-Missouri Landfill LLC for their most generous our first donations that also permitted us to open our bank account.       Johnathan Blodgett brought up a idea of the need for a brochure and a map for pump-out stations. Larry Schafer also suggested that it would be beneficial to add a list of RV pump-out locations to the specified brochure. This led to the discussion where LOWA members should take it upon ones self to research organizations who provided a pumping service for members of the general public. Greg Stoner informed LOWA that he might have a list already available and he would look into the possibility of the existence of that list.        Donna Swall then announced that Carol Lorraine the presiding commissioner of Camden County board of Alderman mailed a National Association Of Counties grant application.   We are very thankful to have Alderman Lorraine work with us and look forward to working with her in the future.       The topic of the conversation then turned to LOWA's resolutions for the approaching year. Executive Director Swall would like to receive feedback from anyone who has a creative methods to recruit more members. She requested that the members focus on their committees goals that they would like to see LOWA accomplish in the new year. Presently LOWA has two hundred and sixty-nine members on roll. LOWA would like to see more small business owners and families become involved with LOWA and it's events as well as to see more people attend meetings on a regular basis.       While promoting boat safety is presently our focus we are also brainstorming ways in which to obtain funds to preserve the watershed well as to prevent pollution in general. The members brainstormed many ideas. One suggestion brought to the groups attention was for LOWA to work with a nationally known brewing company to create boat designated driving campaign while another suggestion brought forward was to obtain a grant to reforest the shorelines. Greg Stoner suggested that LOWA could run a pump-out campaign this summer and apply for grants to cover the cost of the brochure. He also suggested that boat manufactures to participate with the campaign. It was next decided that Larry Schafer, the LOWA web site coordinator, will assist in creating a map and brochure of the pump-out locations.        Low impact development is still a concern for LOWA. It was discussed that construction companies need land disturbance permits because storm water run-off contains sediment which must be controlled and kept out of streams. At present LOWA members are not only interested in working with home owners but would like to assist developers and landscapers who would be interested in saving money by utilizing cost effective means to prevent soil and foliage run-off and water contamination while offering the consumer a quality service.  It was further discussed that DNR has no manpower to police problems with soil disturbance.       There was also a public educational issue which concerned LOWA members. Members are concerned with citizens who either avoid reporting lake violations or unaware where to report incidents and that violations.  Larry Schafer Will ad a list government organizations on the web site for the public to report their Concerns. Many of government organizations accept anonymous reports. Citizens will also be encouraged to contact LOWA thru the website www.soslowa.org for forwarding to the proper agency.   Christy Fera reported, the following information obtained from Mr Jim Divencen, Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor's Bureau in November 2006.   The Division of Tourism measures 17 SIC (Standard Industry Codes) directly relating to tourism (expenditures).   For the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2005 (our latest research info) Camden County recorded $145,802,119, Miller County had $31,281,594 and Morgan County had $16,830,379 totaling $193,914,092.   One out of every14 employees in the state of Missouri 284,916 total tourism related employees) are employed in a tourism related business. Camden County has 3,869 Miller County has 890 tourism related employees and Morgan County has 469 employees.   Total tourism in the state of Missouri is a $13.4 Billion. About $8.5 billion is from is from direct expenditures meaning tickets to Six Flags, Worlds of Fun, Silver Dollar City, hotels, restaurants etc, and about $4.9 billion is from indirect expenditures meaning payroll, vender and supplies etc.   This year the Division of Tourism's budget is real close to the $18million range to advertise and to promote our state, Of that, about $9 million is used for direct advertising expenses. We should be on target to receive $20 million dollars next fiscal year.   If anyone has any information regarding the Lake of the Ozarks as an asset please contact Christy Fera.       Madeline Hutton Harrell ,Chair of Recycling voiced her belief that LOWA remove itself from lake safety and concentrate its efforts on yet to be established departments of ecology and endangered species and introduced aquatic nuisance species such as the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). Greg Stoner, MDC then provided an explantation as to why zebra muscles have Become a nuisance. The Invasive Species Coordinator is Brian Canady (Brian.Canaday@mdc.mo.gov) and the Endagered Species Coordinator is Margaret Horner (Margaret.Horner@mdc.mo.gov). Is responsible for endangered species in the state of Missouri.  After a brief discussion it was decided that LOWA would continue to focus on lake safety. (Corrected)        The final issue the evening concerned the member or members being responsible for bringing refreshments to the meeting. As a result Mrs. Kristina Blodgett, wife of Johnathan Blodgett, accepted the Chair of Hospitality.        The meeting was adjourned at eight thirty PM. The members ate a wonderful dinner and were greatly amused by the White Elephant Gift Exchange         The next meeting will be held on the 15th January 2007 at Laurie Bank. The bank is located at the light corner of Hwy 5 and "O" Road. The Exec Committee meeting will begin at five o'clock PM the and the LOWA Meeting of the general public will begin at six thirty PM.  Refreshments will be served       Respectfully submitted by Barbara A. Maholick, Volunteer Secretary.    

Text Box: FEBRUARY MEETING MINUTES Lake of the Ozarks Watershed Alliance (LOWA) Public meeting 2/26/07 Laurie Bank of Versailles   The meeting was called to order by LOWA Executive President, Donna Swall, at 6:30 PM.  All were welcomed and introductions were made round robin.    Next, Marv Mondy, LOWA Vice-President, gave an update on the damage caused around the Lake by the winter’s storms, especially, the ice storm.  Most of the clean-up around the Lake has been finished, but many dock owners are having to wait until dock companies can get to them for repairs and for materials to come in from back orders.   The EPA said there was only one submerged boat left and that there was no oil or fuel leaking from it that they could tell.  If people see an oil or fuel sheen on the water they should notify the EPA.  There were millions of $ of insurance claims, and all dock owners should check their insurance policies and make sure they are covered as much as they think they are covered.  The Lake of the Ozarks is now completely open again to the public. The Lake Safety Council is a new organization that meets every Tuesday, at 10 am, at the Quail’s Nest.  They are proposing billboards on Interstate highways encouraging various aspects of boating safety, such as a “designated skipper” program similar to a designated driver program, and the wearing of life jackets.  LOWA is happy to see this Council form.  When LOWA first formed, Lake Safety was one of the Lake residents’ major concerns.  Both groups plan to help each other on this important issue. The Missouri legislature is considering changing alcohol limits for boaters to be like those for cars.   Guest speakers:  Dan Gredell, of Gredell Engineering Resources, an environmental permitting and landfill business, and Dan Hall, President of Mid-MO Landfill, Inc., about the planned sanitary waste landfill near Brumley.  Timothy Duncan is proposing to sell 240 acres of his farm, and of that 240 acres, the actual site will encompass 86 acres.    The rest of the 240 acres will be used for equipment storage, offices, and to help manage the landfill site.  The State of Missouri calls this kind of facility a Sanitary Landfill while the Federal government calls this kind of facility a Municipal Solid Waste Landfill.  The landfill is proposed to be located on the NE corner of Camden county, bordering Miller county and Pulaski county.  This facility will encourage the recovery of recyclable and reusable materials, and will accept discarded materials from residences and commercial businesses.  This facility will not accept any hazardous materials.    There are about 20 permitted (I.e., have permits to operate) sanitary landfills in Missouri, today.  The average American generates 4 pounds of solid waste a day on average.  As the population in an area goes up, the total amount of waste for the area also goes up.  Even with the boost in population during the summer months, Mid-MO Landfill, Inc. Anticipates no problems in handling the extra waste.  Citizens from the area expressed concern over the extra truck traffic that the landfill would generate.  Dan Hall acknowledged that there would be several trucks a day, in and out of the landfill site but that would only be from this area’s trash.  Dan Hall calmed a few fears when he stated that Mid-MO Landfill would not be taking in trash trucks from St. Louis or Kansas City.  Recycling is very important to any solid waste system.  Recycling saves energy and water and it produces less air and water pollution than manufacturing from virgin materials.  Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a bulb for 4 hours.  The permits that landfills receive to operate give them a set volume of air space up to which they may fill with trash.  Therefore, landfill operators will definitely try to recycle as much as possible.  Usually, a different business picks up the recycling part.  Jefferson City’s landfill is filling up fast and this area needs a place.  Landfills must have groundwater monitoring systems and they must monitor landfill gases.  There are standards for combustible gas migration control.  The owners and operators of a landfill must show that the site will protect the environment.  Five permits are required, such as solid waste disposal, area construction, storm water treatment and discharge, operating permits, and air emissions control permits.  From announcement to operations is generally at least a 5-year process, and includes public awareness sessions and detailed site investigations.  There are 4 stages of approval required.  A question about the suitability of this area for a landfill arose, considering the Ozarks has Karst topography.  A karst region is characterized by sinkholes, caves, springs, disappearing streams, and a subsurface that allows water to flow through quickly with little filtering.  Mr. Gredell replied that this landfill site is very well suited because its bedrock is Jefferson City Dolomite, which is very massive and solid and will not allow for the rapid subsurface movement of waters.  Even still, the landfill will have 43 boreholes, 22 into bedrock and looking for groundwater and the operators will have to take monthly water readings for 12 months during the Detailed Site Inspection (DSI).   Next, the discussion centered around the anatomy of a landfill, how landfills are constructed, and how they operate.  All are directed to wm.com for graphics and a more detailed discussion.  First the site gets graded, and then a two-foot thick clay liner is constructed and laid down.  This clay liner is built to standards that water will take 100 years to percolate that two feet.  Then a 60-mil high density polymil liner is placed down.  Then a geomembrane, which is a liner layer filter material, is laid down.  Then there are leachate collection areas, constructed so that the water does not accumulate more than one foot deep in these areas, which drain to a pipe so that the leachate can be collected and taken to a permitted leachate water treatment site.  Leachate is all the liquids that drain through the trash to the bottom.  All trash collected in a day must be covered by 6 inches of soil.  Each trash pile is about 8-10 feet thick and a new pile is built each day until a whole layer is covered with on-site soil. Operators and owners must take care of the landfill for a minimum of 30 years after the landfill closes.  At that point, on the top is one foot of clay, another plastic liner, membrane, protective soil cover, topsoil, and a vegetative cover.  The site must manage storm water drainage also.  Landfills do generate gases, namely, methane and carbon dioxide, which are odorless, and small amounts of odorous gases.  Some landfills are looking into collecting methane for fuel (energy), but collecting methane from this landfill would be many years down the road. This landfill will not be visible from the road, it will cause some increase in local traffic, but not a large increase, and there is a possibility of blowing debris, but 86 acres inside of 240 should minimize the blowing debris.  The landfill operators are required to put up fences and police the area for trash.  The possibility of experiencing unpleasant odor should be limited to the person driving the crushing truck.  At present, the landfill will only have daytime operations and they do not anticipate the volume for anything else.  Owners also have to put up money in a Financial Assurance Instrument that covers money to close the landfill and money to take care of the landfill for another 30 years beyond that.   Next to speak was Bryan Vance from Ameren on Adopt-a-Shoreline.  LOWA has signed up to help out with the Shoreline Clean-up coming up soon.  Volunteers should meet March 2nd at Laurie Mall at the Boardwalk.  Between March 17 and April 1, over 500 miles of Lake shoreline gets cleaned up.  Last year, over 2000 cubic yards of trash was collected and disposed of.  Call Bryan Vance at 365-9252 and he can hook you up with other volunteers at any part of the Lake you may be interested in.  Since the majority of the trash is white foam from docks, damage from the ice storm may have generated even more trash this year.  Ameren does try to recycle a good portion of the collected foam.  People can also call Bryan about docks that are down and considered derelict.   Next, Greg Stoner spoke on water quality testing.  Beginning this May, a 5 year study will test for fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria in the coves of the Lake of the Ozarks.  Each year, 120 samples will be collected over a 6-month collecting period and a different set will be sampled each year (except for “problem” areas) so that over the 5-year period, the entire Lake will be tested.  LOWA will help by collecting the samples and delivering them to the DNR who will run the tests and analyze the data.  Groups will be organized to collect the samples and this year’s sites will mostly run from Bagnell dam to the toll bridge.  Training for the sample collectors will be in April and at least one person from each team/boat must participate in the training.  Contact Marv or Greg if you are interested.  The money for this study came from Ameren, and because LOWA could help, the number of sites to be tested was tripled.  Sampling will be in the coves.  There will be monthly reports about the progress of this study on the LOWA website at www.soslowa.org   Next on the agenda was news on the LOWA Pump-Out Program, headed by Dave Morgan.  The Pump-Out Program will involve the four-county area and four grants.  We will start with about 60 pump-outs per county and we’ll work with a few select contractors who will offer a reduced rate in addition to further assistance to low-income situations.  Hopefully this program will grow in future years as more money becomes available.  The reduce rate will stay even if the extra assistance money runs out.  This program will begin June 1st.  Also, in each county there will be demonstration sites that will serve as educational resources and to increase public awareness. Perhaps the Pump-Out program could coordinate efforts with the bacteria study at the Lake. If the study finds a hot spot, the pump out program could target their efforts at that area, and see whether, when the study retests that site, a massive pump out effort had an effect on amount of bacteria found at that spot.   Next to address the audience was Elizabeth Bentz, who is coordinating efforts with the Outreach committee, to present an Earth Day program to the 5th graders at the School of the Osage.  Students will perform some water quality monitoring tests using water from the Lake of the Ozarks, and then participate in a variety of activities in celebration of Earth Day.  If interested in helping, please contact Christy Fera, Outreach committee, on LOWA’s website.   Next was a discussion of the monies that MO DOT has for stream mitigation.  If a landowner needs work done on their land that affects water flow or water quality or water use, MO DOT can do certain work for landowners, but the land then becomes easement land.  However, if not enough citizens use this money, then MO DOT has to give the money to agencies like the DNR who will then use the money anywhere in the Lake’s watershed.  Ideas for using this money include things like fixing a low water crossing or eliminating blockages preventing fish from swimming upstream.  Maybe LOWA could use its not for profit status to set up a special fund that would be eligible to receive some of those monies.  Anyone have any ideas on this subject?   Next, Chris Hall gave an update on the committee to write the Watershed Management Plan (WMP) and said the start was very encouraging.  Lots of information is already available and there are some monies available to write the WMP.  Basically, the writers need to establish and describe the goals and objectives for the Lake watershed, and what we want to do with our resources.  Many more and larger grants will be available for funding LOWA’s many projects once we get the WMP written and accepted.  Another large component of the Watershed Management Plan is public input.  LOWA has been gathering public input since its inception, but LOWA meetings will become a forum for speakers to disseminate information, a place for citizens to come and share concerns, comments, and ask questions, similar to the format of this evening’s meeting.  We need public input.  Please speak up and please volunteer with one of the many projects or in one of several focus groups/committees.  It is through the work of the committees that the true work of LOWA will get done.   Future meetings will address the topic of Karst topography, what it is and what its implications to the issues of the Ozarks are.   The next meeting will be March 19th. These minutes respectfully submitted by Caroline Toole, Recording Sec’y