MRC staff reported progress on hiring a habitat biologist and reminded project leads of impending reporting deadlines, while committee members discussed growing staff burdens from outreach and field projects.

Rebecca said the MRC received 48 applications for the habitat biologist position, completed interviews, and extended an offer that was accepted; the start date is pending background checks. "We made an offer to somebody that they accepted," Rebecca said. She said the timeline depends on the outcome of pre-employment checks.

Staff also reminded project leads that year-end project reports for recently completed projects are due to the Northwest Straits Commission by Sept. 30. Rebecca distributed templates and emphasized focusing on project highlights, lessons learned and next steps; she asked leads to submit drafts early because Amelia (staff) will be unavailable for part of late August and early September.

Members discussed staff capacity: several said staff time for festivals, planting events and fieldwork is substantial and that volunteer participation is variable. One member urged that if staff assemble and transport outreach materials for festivals, volunteers should commit to staffing shifts rather than expecting staff to cover full event days. Rebecca said the grant budget includes 0.5 FTE for a project coordinator, 0.5 FTE for an administrative specialist and 0.1 FTE of her time under task one, and noted the award allows moving up to 10% among budget categories if needed.

Next steps: staff will proceed with the hiring process; project leads were asked to submit draft reports before mid-September to allow review; volunteers and project leads were reminded to confirm festival shifts to reduce staff burden.