Introductions
Steering committee members introduced themselves and indicated their affiliations with the project.  Dr. Ohren indicated that five of the six Townships with significant acreage in the watershed were in attendance.  He also introduced the new student assistant, Megan Lindsey, who replaced Ms. Shue as the semester began.  The contact sheet had some minor updates made.  The group thanked the Supervisor and staff at Exeter Township for the use of her facility and providing refreshments.

Update on Activities to Date
Minutes from the July 8 meeting, which had been previously distributed, were approved by those in attendance.  Dr. Ohren introduced Janna Sebald as the DEQ project liaison and she indicated that it would be useful to obtain a copy of the Huron River Watershed Council management plan for Mill Creek due to its high quality.  Dr. Ohren reminded participants that the HRWC was also working on a public participation plan for the SC Steering Committee and he hopes to be able to report on progress at the October meeting.

Dr. Ohren also summarized very briefly his discussions over the summer with the Monroe Soil Conservation District staff.   Marlene Rogers at the District in charge of recommending to her Board how the designated funds can best be used. The amount of the funds designated is approximately $50,000, with $10,000 of these funds designated for fish restoration including: habitat, restocking, restoration of shady areas, and maintaining strategic debris for their habitat.  Letters are being sent out to affected landowners to address their concerns. It was reported by the committee that money was designated to enhance the fish habitat. Other funds are to be spent based upon DEQ requirements.  The remaining funds will be used starting at the Monroe County line and extend, ideally, as far as Sumpter Road.

Water Quality Testing and Concerns
Kevin Gustavson reported that the Technical Advisory Committee had met Tuesday September 29th and made several very productive suggestions to the project.  Committee members also suggested several other organizations that would be helpful for representation including someone from SEMCOG, Monroe County Soil Conservation, or possibly one of the state representatives from the area.

Dr. Gustavson gave a PowerPoint presentation to the Steering Committee on the water quality testing methodology and scope, explaining what elements are being tested for at the ten test sites and the types of tests being run.  Participants discussed the extent of these tests and expressed concern over the amount of pesticide and whether or not flow was being tested.  Kevin responded that we did have general knowledge of the flow speed and that it varied depending on time and locale.

Committee members inquired whether or not it would be possible to check additional specific sites if problem areas were identified.  Kevin indicated this was a possibility, particularly as the Committee identifies critical areas over the next month or so.  Some one suggested that we might monitor near the quarry operation, Michigan Stone, but Dr. Gustavson indicated that our focus is on nonpoint source pollution.

In relation to water testing, Kevin Gustavson addressed the issue of DEQ listed impairments at Paint Creek including: DO, fish kills, and pathogens, and at Stony Creek including: TDS, HS, fish and macroinvertebrate.  Janna Sebald suggested these issues be addressed in order to encourage consideration for grant funding in the future.

In response to a question, Dr. Gustavson also described the amount of testing that is being done, stating that the water tests have been done every two weeks over the summer and the macroinvertebrate study is to be done only once. Initially, the macroinvertebrate study was scheduled for Saturday September 27th with an invitation for public participation, but was cancelled due to weather conditions.  If the weather cooperates he indicated that the study would be rescheduled for a Tuesday or Thursday most likely the week of October 6th or 13th (temperatures must be warm enough, and without significant rainfall).

The results of the testing were being tabulated now and would be put in graphic and GIS map formats to make them easily accessible to residents.  All data will be uploaded to the Stony creek website for easy access.  Dr. Joe Ohren asked the committee how much of the technical information they would like to see. Generally, participants felt that they would like access to all information, but only needed to be presented what was necessary for decision making in meetings. They also requested that a more condensed form be available to share with the township boards, and potentially through them to residents.

The water quality presentation concluded with a display of pictures from the Road Stream Crossing Survey conducted in August.  The pictures visually displayed issues such as problems with fertilizers, algae, and proximity of crops to the water. He suggested that community education could do a great deal to improve some of these conditions.

Desired Watershed Uses
Dr. Ohren and Kevin Gustavson brought to the table the discussion of what should be the desired uses of the watershed.  Recreational use was discussed in depth and most felt that landowners would be against such use.  Since there is very little public access, and the creek itself is very shallow, most felt that it would not support recreational uses.  In addition, there is not enough flow to support industrial or municipal uses.

It was suggested and generally agreed to that the first concern ought to be creating and preserving a healthy watershed environment.  Specific uses included drainage, support for agricultural uses and ultimately a return of fish.  Suggestions were made to address issues such as log jams, sedimentation, supporting fish habitat, and addressing issues of run off and standing water.

Community Information Sharing
The idea of a community forum, possibly in mid to late November was raised by Joe Ohren, with possibly two forums, one in Monroe and one in Washtenaw to make it more accessible to all residents. It was generally felt that a forum was a good idea, but would probably be best suited for a later date, when more information is available to share.

Suggestions were made to submit information to communities through a feature article in local papers. The possibility of a Stony Creek newsletter or a brief summary of watershed activities to be included in township newsletters was also suggested. Many felt that if all of the communities distributed common information it would be a good way to dispel rumors and ensure that everyone receives common information.

Next Steps
The next Steering Committee Meeting will be held Tuesday afternoon, 2 to 5, October 28th; once again Exeter Township has graciously offered their Town Hall as a meeting place.  A suggestion was made to create a schedule of meetings and a task list to allow participants to plan in advance for meeting dates and topics.