Antrim Creek Natural Area
Robert McLeod, Chairman
Gale Murphy		Mary Kay McDuffie		Gary Strange	Carl Veenstra
May 10, 2004
Minutes
Banks Township Hall
ACNA Commission Members Present:			Robert McLeod, Gary Strange, Gale Murphy, and Mary Kay McDuffie
Members Absent:			Carl Veenstra
Staff Present:			Howard Yamaguchi
Others Present:			Jacob Veenstra, Louise Haley, Marion Williams, Janet Person and Traver Wood
1.         Call to Order
	The Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Chairman Robert McLeod.
2.         Approval of Minutes
	Motion by Mary Kay McDuffie, supported by Gary Strange, to approve the minutes of the March 9, 2004, meeting with corrections as noted.  Motion carried – unanimous.
3.         Trail Bridge Erosion Repair
	Traver Wood of Site Planning reported that Robert T. Cole did what they felt was their obligation under the contract to repair the erosion problems noted last year.  Some work still needs to be done at the present to correct last winter’s erosion effects, total cost to be $1,400 to $1,600.  Materials only would be about $250.  Janet Person reported that prison labor may be available to do the work, possibly by next month.  Traver Wood will provide final time and material costs to Howard.  The chair requested that prison labor also be employed to clear the trunk of the 20-inch pine tree that still lie on either side of one of the trails.
	Traver also noted that he will start to remind Robert T. Cole to replace the trees that were damaged or destroyed last year.
4.         Grant Update
	Janet reported that grant sources for small-scale grants are hard to find.  They will resubmit the Norcross Foundation grant again in late June.  ACNA could possibly be part of a county-wide wildlife improvement grant to NRCS, as could be the Great Lakes Fisheries grant for fishermen’s access path to the lagoon.
5.         Pitcher’s Thistle Monitoring
	Howard reported that Prof. Hal Reed of Oral Roberts University will return to the Au Sable Institute this summer, and is willing to have his biology class do a survey of the pitcher’s thistle at ACNA.  The work will correspond to data gathering activities for Tasks 2 and 4 of the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) pitcher’s thistle recovery plan document.

	Au Sable Institute is requesting about $600 to $800 for equipment and transportation from the ACNA commission to carry out the work.  The amount can be included in the ACNA budget for next year.  For 2004, we can use the contractual services line item.
	Mary Kay McDuffie requested that a written report be a deliverable for this activity.  She also requested specifics of the budget before the amount could be approved.
	Motion by Gary Strange, seconded by Gale Murphy, to: · authorize the Chairman to review the detailed budget request from Au Sable Institute, and, if the budget submitted is found to be satisfactory, to · authorize the Chairman to approve expenditures totaling not more than $800, from the Contractual Services budget line item, for Au Sable Institute to carry out the summer 2004 field survey of the pitcher’s thistle (data for Tasks 2 and 4 of the recovery plan) at the Antrim Creek Natural Area. Motion carried – unanimous.
6.         Communications
	There was no communications to ACNA.  The chairman noted that Eileen Wallick, Barnes Park manager, and her staff performed numerous pre-season maintenance activities.  She has also offered free accommodations at Barnes Park for the MSU archeology field crew that will be performing digs at ACNA this summer.  Gary Strange reported that he has secured a 5,000-sq ft site for the MSU crew to set up office and lab, as well as a garage to use for equipment storage.
7.         Other Matters
	ACNA Commission instructed Howard to follow up on portajohn deployment at the ACNA for 2004.  They specifically instructed him to make sure that aprons are deployed with the portajohns.
	Janet Person requested permission to transplant some ACNA beach grass to Sand Creek area, where the Conservation District is involved in restoration work for the DNR.  ACNA Commission granted her permission, with the caveat that she not take excessive amounts from the ACNA beach area.
8.         Meetings
	The next meetings will be at the Banks Township Hall, at 7 p.m., on Monday, July 12, 2004, and on Tuesday, September 14, 2004.
	Chairman McLeod instructed Howard to ensure that those dates were posted at appropriate locations.
Meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.