Introductions/Attendance
The meeting attendees introduced themselves and identified their affiliations with the project. Those in attendance included: Kathy Giszczak, Augusta Twp Representative and Master Gardener; Elizabeth Clay, OHM for Ypsilanti Twp; Aretta Schils, London Township resident; Cheryl Baltrip, Exeter Township Representative; Julie Griess, Pittsfield Twp Representative; Joanne Darling, London Township resident; Roger Bezek, Exeter Township Representative; Dr. Kevin Gustavson, WRC/EMU; Dr. Joe Ohren, ICARD/EMU; and Megan Lindsey, ICARD/EMU.

Activities Update
Dr. Ohren highlighted for the group the contacts made and other steps being taken to alert the public of the upcoming public forums.  Local groups have been contacted and a press release is being created to share with major newspapers in both Monroe and Washtenaw counties.  Members should feel free to share the flyers across their communities, and contact EMU staff if you would like us to make other contacts.  The flyer has been distributed via email to everyone in the database and it will be resent via email and regular mail to all local government units in the watershed

Dr. Gustavson informed the group of the updates that have been recently made to the Stony Creek Watershed website.  He has added more maps and data for public access. Another new section of the site was created including links to other useful sites with public ideas and tips on how people can make minor changes to their daily activities to protect the watershed.

Joe and Kevin indicated that the Stony Creek Watershed Technical Committee had met Monday, the day before the Steering Committee, and Technical Committee members were very helpful in offering comments on the research done thus far. They also suggested some adjustments in the presentation and wording of information for the public forums, such as the prioritized pollutants, to make it more clear and concise for public understanding and feedback.

Public Forum
Dr. Ohren distributed a detailed draft agenda for the forums (attached for those of you who were not able to make it).  Forum logistics were discussed in depth and the proposed agenda was accepted with a few suggestions. The forum will open with presentations by Ohren and Gustavson, which will be kept as brief as possible to allow time for group discussion. Dr. Ohren will open things up and describe how we got here, explaining the DEQ 319 planning grant and distinguishing it from the intercounty drain proposal.  

Kevin will follow with a brief watershed video, describing what is a watershed, an explanation of the management planning process, and an indication of where our group is in that process.  Kevin will then share specific data on the water quality research.  The group discussion will follow; groups of 6 to 8 will be joined by Steering Committee members, whose roles will be to serve as resource people, not moderators of the conversation.  Dr. Ohren will guide the entire discussion with several questions, with reactions and responses captured by EMU staff to bring back to the Steering Committee.

We will have forms to acquire contact information on all participants, essentially a brief survey and registration cards. We will also make available some educational resources for attendees to better understand the watershed and how they can contribute to it keeping it clean.

Watershed Plan Timeline
Dr. Ohren presented an amended timeline displaying the next steps in the planning process (also included in the attachment). The timeline spelled out details through October in order to fulfill all of the DEQ required steps and complete a final watershed management plan. There was some concern addressed that local Township Board elections would be held in November and Board members may change before the plan could be completed and presented to the Boards. It was generally decided that this would affect different townships differently and it was best to leave things as they were and work through educating new board members on the management plan when the time comes.