Mystic Watershed Collaborative
Steering Committee Meeting
February 11, 2004, TIE Office

Present: Janet Kovner, Mau Artinano, Chelsea Bardot, Nancy Hammett, Dale Bryan, Lisa Brukilacchio, Molly Mead, Patrick Johnston, Rusty Russell, Simon Goldberg, Paul Kirshen (second half), Kate Drexler

Lisa facilitated. Kate was timekeeper. Nancy and Molly assisted with recording. Janet took minutes.

Introductions:

• Rusty Russell is joining us for a few months while Julian Agyeman and John Durant on sabbatical this semester.
• Jen Hill and Meg M. unable to attend today.

Brief Announcements:

• Handouts were provided for:
  • MyRWA winter speaker series
  • the Richard Duffy evening talk on Mon, Feb 16th on Mystic history co-sponsored by Tufts Crew and Sailing as new partners thanks to Kate’s organizational assistance
  • the Carter Presidential Award due April 30th http://www.mccormack.umb.edu/carteraward/index.jsp (Lisa, Chelsea, Dale, Kate, MyRWA staff have offered to work on this before next meeting) This may require the next meeting to focus on assessment and value added to community by MWC.
  • Follow-up requests to emails from Janet, Chelsea and Patrick after last meeting (please respond as appropriate to their questions)
  • AWSEAM-Dale and Lisa met with academic technology (AT) team who were supportive and recommended submittal of a letter of intent for grant from them. Dale completed this, which if asked to submit a full proposal should have MWC input. Dale also asked if AWSEAM is a MWC priority as this is crucial in determining next appropriate steps to move forward—or not. Lisa mentioned that Kate and Simon are assisting her in recruiting students to teach a Freshman Explorations course. Kate offered that a presentation to water watch could help engage students; will be done.
  • Herring Run- Janet summarized planning for May 2nd event at Blessing of the Bay Boathouse. Many individuals and groups helping, but still need more help and funding support. Focus on boating, recreational opportunities and the herring.
  • Dale mentioned notice of Arts Sciences and Engineering (ASE) Diversity Fund for 2004-2005 as possible source of funds to support AWSEAM or other MWC efforts. Request for proposals deadline March 8th.

Set 3-6 priorities for upcoming six months of MWC focus:
Lisa proposed that we try to make a decision about 3-6 projects, using our list from past few meetings as starting point. She requested approval to try to apply tools she learned in Facilitative Leadership training last month to help us go through this process in today’s meeting; approved. She outlined the process of opening up the discussion by adding to the list, then using tools to narrow the list and finally reach agreement on 3-6 items.

Per request, the list was reviewed to make sure all present understood items on starting list. The beginning list (with rough description added here) included:

• EJAM (cont)- Environmental Justice Across the Mystic
• EMPACT (cont) –real-time water quality monitoring for recreational use
• River Use (cont)-surveys of people’s activities on or along the Mystic
• AWSEAM (A Watershed Semester: Engagement Across the Mystic)- course
• Mystic Movers and Shakers-celebratory networking event, potential this spring
• Research Conference- primarily water quality related, this spring
• History & Sociology of watershed- projects geared towards eventual publication
• Mystic Flotilla- a major boat gathering on the river
• Intern and/or Research Project list and recruitment of students and faculty\
• Mystic Watershed Conference- broader based focus, potentially in fall
• Herring Run- annual event with increase focus this year on boating and walking
• Mystic “blog” or “wiki”- an on-line communication tool
• Student focus groups/MAD trips (fall orientation Making a Difference projects)\
• Mystic River movie event (movie showing on campus first weekend of march)

As a group, the following were added to the list for consideration:

• Fundraising
• Outreach materials-strategy/program/videos/photo display
• Revisit MWC Goals
• Follow up on community group surveys
• Mystic intermodal transportation
• Porpoises (assist NE Aquarium research on harbor porpoises)
• Development of measurable outcomes/assessment tools (report card)
• Invasive plant inventory
• Mystic Crossing Phase II
• Duggar Park landscape project
• Mystic Link Trail
• Island End Remediation
• Blessing of the Bay landscape project

Clarification on the above was once more reviewed. Then everyone was requested to select their top 9 choices off list. (Paul Kirshen has weighed in on top list prior to meeting). The counts for each were recorded, with a range from 12 to 0 votes per item. The group then reviewed the list to see if any combinations could be made. This led to discussion on several items such as fundraising. It was ultimately decided that fundraising needs to be a part of any selected project. For this six months, it is understood that these projects or events will constitute outreach, with careful attention paid to developing a more comprehensive approach. Outreach was addressed in a similar manner, as it was determined that the events and projects listed all have outreach components. The request that we learn from these projects and utilize these lessons to inform a comprehensive approach to outreach to be a focus in the fall was made and agreed to.

A series of proposals to combine or eliminate certain projects helped to shorten the list. For instance, EMPACT needs additional funding to move forward and there is a team already in place to address this phase. River Use needs to move forward as the funding commitment is for three years, but the MWC role can be minimal for this period as MyRWA has committed to keep it alive. Mau offered to see that MAD trips are coordinated through LCS recruitment. Some projects may have students already assigned (i.e. Island End), and the potential project list that Nancy is building became the temporary home of a few of the projects on the list (i.e. history & sociology of the watershed). During this part of the meeting people also had the opportunity to advocate for certain projects. Time factors and leveraging Tufts and/or community support became key to decision making for the final cuts.

The final List of Projects for MWC focus in next six months was determined as:

• Revisit MWC goals and develop measurable outcomes and assessment plan
• Mystic Herring Run Festival
• EJAM next steps
• AWSEAM
• Mystic Movers and Shakers event
• Mystic Research Conference

Participants then put their name (via a sticky note) on those projects on which they were committed to working. (Those who needed to leave early or were unable to attend should take the opportunity to do the same. Let Lisa know soon as these teams need to meet or confer before the next meeting as to how best proceed to accomplish this project successfully in the next six months. More guidance for this will be sent out soon.)

The lists as of the end of the meeting were:

Revisit MWC goals/measurable outcomes and assessment plan:
Janet, Dale, Rusty, Molly, Kate, Nancy, Lisa

Mystic Herring Run Festival:
Patrick, Janet, Kate, Paul (will run), Mau (Welcome Project and Tufts students), Lisa

EJAM:
Nancy, Patrick, Dale

AWSEAM:
Dale, Janet, Molly, Patrick, Nancy, Rusty, Kate, Lisa

Mystic Movers & Shakers
Chelsea, Mau, Lisa
Mystic Research Conference:
Nancy, Rusty, Paul, Lisa, Mau

Nancy added that each of these projects needs a MWC point person. (Could we try to put this in place by Wed, Feb 18th?)

Next Meeting scheduled for:
Wednesday, March 10th 2-4PM (IF you were not present, please confirm this time works for you. It was set back 30 minutes as two members had to leave for class at 4).