SCOTT COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
MONTHLY BOARD MEEETING MINUTES
Thursday, November 15, 2007, 7:00 p.m.
Location:
Present: Bill Comer, John Hardin, Matt Oberlies, Lynda Phillips, Joe Robbins
Guests: Teresah Caire, Pat Larr
Meeting Called To
Order by John Hardin
Minutes from August 16 and October 18 meetings were approved and signed. Bill Comer made a motion to accept the minutes for both months and Joe Robbins seconded. Motion carried.
Old Business
SWCD Business Plan
§
Host A Drainage Workshop – Matt suggested
that we ask the Drainage board to do a 10 minute Power Point presentation at
the Annual Meeting about the Muscatatuck log jam, cleanup and ideas for
prevention. Everyone felt this was a
good idea. Lynda will contact the Drainage
board to ask if they are interested.
§
Tillage transect published - This item
has been completed (see June 21, 2007 SWCD minutes).
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Rule 5 – Lynda reported on conversations
between Jamie Knowles, Area Planning Commissioner and Denise Dailey, Rule 5
contractor. A flowchart of how the
process would work is attached to these minutes. The board agreed with the flowchart but also
wanted to add that they would like to be contacted before Denise would make a
third site visit (only two site visits are included in the initial
contract). They also noted that if the
contractor requests a third or other visits, then the contractor will incur the
additional charge. Lynda will write a
contract proposal with Denise Dailey based on the flowchart and the board’s
input. The proposal will be presented at
the December board meeting and if accepted, all parties will be present to
sign.
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Clean Water
1. 2008 Drainage Field Day – Matt suggested that we ask for money to cover the cost of a field day which would focus on drainage issues and take place at an actual tiling site. Pat Larr felt this was not likely to be accepted by CWI.
2. Soil Testing – Joe thought he could get a reduced rate to help offset the cost. There was concern that it might be hard to get farmers to actually fix any issues. We would need to focus on getting them to follow through with corrective action.
3. Incentives for buffer strips which could be piggy-backed with EQUIP programs.
All agreed to consider possible CWI grants throughout the month and discuss again at the December meeting.
Fall Tree
A
summary of the sale was presented by Lynda.
Bill felt that the trees were of such high quality that we would have
repeat customers for future tree sales.
The board agreed to have another tree sale in the spring. Lynda agreed to coordinate this and work with
Jefferson and
Annual Meeting & Dinner
The
date and location have been reserved:
January 31, 2008 at
Pesticide Training/Jefferson
County Field Day
It will be
Dec. 4 and we are co-sponsors. Bill made
a motion to give
Plant a Tree for You &
Me: Christmas gift tree sale
Lynda reported that the area co-operative was holding a special tree sale through Dec. 10, 2007. John said that he would like to find a way to get the community more involved with this program. He thought it would be good to get the mayors involved. The suggestion was also made to contact Scott County Community Foundation about finding a way to work with the Beautification Endowment.
‘Entering
Matt
reported that he had done quite a bit of research on this. It is more complicated than originally
thought. Permission must be obtained and
the sign must be installed in a way that will make it safe for drivers. Bill suggested contacting a
FY06 Invoices
There were outstanding, past due invoices from 2006, one for Dave Miller for $110.00 and one for Jesse Loewen for $35.00. The previous Dist. Coord. had researched this issue and found two entries for $110 with one of them missing the payer’s name. It was decided that there may have been recording errors in both situations. Matt made a motion to write these invoices off. Joe seconded the motion. There was also a document requiring Dennis Wilson’s signature. Lynda will call him to sign it.
New Business
Nominees for Election –
Due Date for this is December 1, 2007. Lynda will run an ad in the newspaper asking for nominations. Bill asked John if he would be willing to serve again next term. John answered in the affirmative. Lynda will call Judy to see if she has ideas about who else might like to run. She will also call Jeff Coomes to see if he is still interested in serving on the board, since he does not attend the meetings or events.
District delegate for 2008
annual conference business meeting, Jan. 14-16, 08
John will be the main delegate. Bill is the alternate delegate. Bill made a motion that Lynda attends the conference as well. Matt seconded the motion. Motion carried. Lynda was instructed to make two hotel reservations.
NRCS Rent Partnership
Assistance Opportunities
Pat felt this would be a good idea. The board discussed and agreed that Lynda would help out with the suggested duties. Bill made a motion to cooperate with NRCS to reduce our rent costs. Matt seconded the motion. Motion carried.
2007 Census of Governments
Survey
There was discussion. It was decided that since this was a voluntary survey, that we should not participate.
DNR Termination Notice –
Construction in a Floodway
Board would like to be notified when these arrive, and then the notices should be kept on file.
Reports
§
Pat Larr – NRCS Pat
reported that there were 5 EQUIP contracts approved, 4 that were pre-approved
and 3 that were pending. She had several
that required signatures from the board.
She also passed out an EQUIP fact sheet on Energy Conservation and Soil
Quality Improvement.
§
Lynda Phillips – SWCD Lynda presented a
written summary of the month’s activities.
The board agreed that she could also submit a verbal report in the
future. Her schedule will be M-R, 8-4
and F, 8-3. Any days off should be
communicated to the rest of the office staff.
Financial District Reports
Approval Checks – Accounts Payable Voucher Register
All checks 4090-4111 were signed and approved. The Accounts Payable register was also approved and both the August and September/October registers were signed with a balance of $242.67 and $3,239.44 respectively.
2007 Financial Record audit
Matt thought that he could get someone from Farm Credit to volunteer to audit our 2007 financial records.
Savings vs. Money Market acct
Lynda
had checked with
SWCD Credit Card
Bill Comer made a motion to authorize Lynda Phillips as a user of the SWCD credit card for the purpose of SWCD business. Joe Robbins seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Signature card
The new signature cards from Scott County State Bank were signed to authorize Lynda to act on behalf of the SWCD board.
Additional comments
John mentioned he had been contacted by Ginger Christie, Scott County Chief Deputy Auditor. Ginger reported that there may be extra money available from the County. The money had been budgeted to pay the salary of the Office Manager. Since the position was open for several months throughout the past year, there was money leftover. She suggested that we pursue this matter. Bill and John agreed they would talk to the Council.
Announcements/Public comments
There were no public comments.
Annual Conference
Jan. 14-16, 08/ Annual Conference of
Adjourn
Matt made a motion at 10:00 pm to adjourn the meeting. Joe seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Lynda Phillips, SWCD District Coordinator