NHA Minutes 2024-01-11

    Meeting Minutes
    National Heritage Area Management Plan Advisory Committee (NHA Advisory Committee)

    Thursday, January 11, 2024, 1:00 p.m.

    The Point Restaurant
    120 Marina Drive
    Rio Vista, CA 94571

    1. Call to Order – Bruce Blodgett, NHA Advisory Committee Chair

    Bruce Blodgett, NHA Advisory Committee Chair, called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m.

    A quorum was present with voting members Blodgett, Lenora Clark, Paulette Hennum, Douglas Hsia, Janet Lake, Jan Vick, Dan Whaley, and Jean Yokotobi in attendance. Ex Officio members present were Mike Moran and Trevor Rice.

    DPC staff present were Blake Roberts and Heather McClure. Consultants and guests included Augie Carlino, Nancy Morgan, and Peter Samuel of Point Heritage Development Consulting and Debbi Gibbs, Gerry Goodie, Steven Sievers, and Chris Watkin.

    2. Public Comment

    There were no comments from members of the public.

    3. NHA Advisory Committee Member Updates

    The 1883 Clarksburg Schoolhouse held an Open House on July 4, 2024.

    4. Status of Public Review Draft Management Plan – Nancy Morgan, Point Heritage Development Consulting (PointHDC) and Blake Roberts, Delta Protection Commission

    Blake said that the administrative draft management plan was released last month and the comment deadline was January 3rd. We are now going through those comments and feedback from National Park Service.  We are assembling the appendices, the partnership table, and implementation matrix.  We will format so that the Point HDC subcontractor can conduct 508 compliance testing for accessibility. Release of the public view draft will likely be in early February.

    Nancy explained that there is no penalty for not meeting the Congressional deadline.  There are four authors in two different organizations putting this together. We need to make sure that all details are covered going forward and not to focus on the deadline. In addition, we are waiting for commitments from partners. Plan for a month after the February release for public comments, so a mid-April submission to National Park Service at the earliest. There is a chance that National Park Service will kick back the plan for additional information if the plan is not comprehensive enough, if they feel that the plan does not meet their threshold, or if they need more evidence of partnerships.

    5. Status of Letters of Support and Commitment for Management Plan –Nancy Morgan, Point HDC and Blake Roberts, Delta Protection Commission

    Blake said that since many plan strategies are higher level, National Park Service wants to see a demonstrated commitment from partners through letters detailing organizational commitments to specific strategies. We need these from all five counties. DPC is reaching out to the Office of Historic Preservation and through letters and phone calls to Tribes. Five Tribes have responded to date. There are so many partners to contact and they need help.

    Nancy said that PointHDC prepared a list of organizations and possible strategies in which they can participate as well an overall list of strategies. She is happy to share the lists. We can also provide example letters and prepare template letters. Blake said that they need commitments, quick emails now and detailed letters can come later. Trevor Rice said that the local National Park Service units looked at the list and identified what they can do. They strategized what they can help with by looking at things they are already doing. Organizations can can define their own limitations on those commitments.

    6. Public Review Draft Management Plan Engagement Plan – Blake Roberts, Delta Protection Commission

    Blake described the proposed engagement plan for the management plan once the draft is ready. Strategies included placing information in DPC publications and partner publications, public meetings specifically for the management plan, a barnstorming tour of other public meetings, outreach to certain state agencies and organizations, and distribution of hard copies to public libraries. He noted that there could be translation of the executive summary but translating the entire document would require considerable cost and time.  Trevor Rice suggested a video summary for social media.

    7. Member Announcements and Adjourn

    There are Asian New Years events on February 18 in Locke, March 2 in Isleton, and March 9 in Stockton.

    Chair Blodgett adjourned the meeting at 3:00 p.m.