July 2009 Minutes & Reports

Monday, July 20, 2009

7:00 P.M.

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, Indiana 46614 574-291-7444, ext. 3

MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER A meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the St. Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District was called to order by John Dooms, Chairman, on Monday, July 20, 2009 at 7:15 p.m. at 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, IN 46614. PRESENT

ABSENT

John Dooms, Chair/Supervisor

Jan Ivkovich, Vice Chair/Supervisor

Carole Riewe, Supervisor

Chuck Lehman

John Kulwicki, Supervisor

Randy Mat thys

Dave Craft, Supervisor

Gene Meyers

Brian Cherry

Paul Williams, III

Melvin Kulwicki

PUBLIC

Dale Stoner

Robert Stiffler

Dru Wrasse

Deloris Stiffler

Jim LaFre e

EX-OFFICIO

Joe Long

Dan Fleming, Northwest Territory RC&D

Stacey Silvers Dave Vandewalle Richard Schmidt Rick Glassman. SWCD Debbie Knepp, NRCS Katie Kurtz. SW CD Maria Schaefer. SWCD Lisa Wynn. SWCD

II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA There was no additional agenda proposed. Dale Stoner (Assoc. Sup.) introduced Dan Fleming, Coordinator to the Northwest Territory RC&D, who was in attendance at the meeting. Also introduced were Robert and Deloris Stiffler who are possibly interested in becoming Associate Supervisors.

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III. REGULAR BUSINESS A. Minutes from June 2009 Meeting The minutes from the June 2009 Board Meeting of the St. Joseph County Soil & Water Conservation District were reviewed and approved as presented. B. Treasurer’s Report and Approval of Claims The Treasurer's Reported was and approved as presented. The Claims report was reviewed. A recommendation and motion were made to approve Claim Nos. 98989912 for the amount of $3.096.37. Both carried. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Written Reports The Field Office Report and Rule 5/13 Reports were presented. Regarding the Field Office Report, Debbie was specifically asked about the 2009 tillage transect results. Debbie Knepp (D.C.) pointed out that the meeting materials included a graph that depicts the results. Debbie also related that she will touch on the survey more later in the meeting. There were no questions regarding the Rule 5/13 Reports. B. Committee Reports 1. Annual Meeting John Dooms (Chairman) announced that the Annual Meeting Committee decided to propose the date of Date Friday, January 29, 2010 for the District's 50th Annual Meeting (2 weeks after 2010 IASWCD Annual Conference--Jan 11-13; http://bit.ly/13B5dE). The committee also decided to propose the venue as St. Hedwig for sit-down Polish meal. Richard Schmidt asked about whether the committee had chosen a speaker and John D. replied that the committee is in the process of looking at options. A recommendation on the date of January 29, 2010 for 50th Annual Meeting at St. Hedwig was made and carried. A motion made to this effect was made and also carried. John D. proposed that the snow date likely will be a week later, depending on availability of the hall. 2. Education Dale Stoner (Associate Supervisor)presented the report on the District's educational news, including: Mishawaka Summer Fest, Eco Fest, 4H Fair, MS4 Field Day, Family Swamp Stomp, Compost Seminar(s), Fall Purdue Ag Career Fair, August Leadership Institute (refer to attached report). A recommendation and motion were made to approve payment of expenses for sending Stacey Silvers (Associate Supervisor) to the Leadership Institute on August 7-8 (“Improving Your Communication Skills) in Columbus, IN (mileage, hotel, registration fees, per diem at an approximate amount of $200+). Both carried. Rick Glassman (SWCD Env. Ed. Coor.) supplemented the information presented by Dale S. The Family Swamp Stomp is official set for Sunday, September 26, 2009 from 1-3 p.m. at the Kingsbury Fish & Wildlife Area (http://bit.ly/XNOrb). Rick also related that the Fall compost seminar is set for October 6, 2009 from 6:30 p.m. at the St. Joseph County Library Again, Main Library, in the Colfax Auditorium (lower level). The compost seminar is sponsored by the St. Joseph County Solid Waste Management District. The August 2009 "Letter from the Mayor" (http://bit.ly/S0DDd) included with water/recycling bills announces this event as follows: -2-

Composting Workshop Tuesday, October 6, 2009 A free informational session at the South Bend Library in the Colfax Room at 6:30. There will be a drawing for backyard composting bins! Reservations only so call now and reserve a seat at 574-291-2300 ext. 3. By attending the fall workshop, you could also be eligible too win a Deluxe Compost Bin, "The Earth Machine" in a special prize drawing that evening.

Rick also announced that, given the fact that the Board would be considering whether or not to hire an intern for the summer of 2010, we might also consider attending the Purdue Agriculture 30th Fall Career Fair on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 from 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. (http://bit.ly/rgsBN). The deadline for registering is September 10th. Our booth would be free as a government agency. Rick suggested this event would be good exposure to pool of appropriate candidates for the internship. Ultimately, we will need to have a Supervisors meeting to discuss possible intern for next summer at a pay rate of $5,000.00 for nine weeks of work during the 2010 summer months. Regarding the upcoming MS4 Field Day (http://bit.ly/12GO9O) on Friday, August 7th at Eddy Street Commons in South Bend, Maria Schaefer (MS4 Conservationist) made a request for approval on payment for related expenses, which will ultimately be reimbursed to the District. These expenses include chairs, port-a-johns, flyers, postage, etc. A recommendation and motion for approval of approximately $300.00 for these expenses were made. Both carried. 3. Forestry Richard Schmidt (Assoc. Sup./Chair of Forestry Committee) gave the Forestry Report on the species selection for the 2009-2010 tree sales program. He thanked the Forestry Committee for a great turnout at the selection meeting. Richard explained that a number of criteria are considered when making decisions on what to order, including a 500 quantity minimum for a discount, data from years past, and possible tree diseases. Chairman Schmidt requested payment for the security deposit for the tree order, amounting to a projected $5,034.08. A recommendation and motion were made to this effect, and both carried. 4. Conservation Planning Regarding Conservation Planning activities, Brian Cherry (Assoc. Sup.) gave a report on an upcoming Manure Management Field Day on July 29, 2009 hosted by Whiteshire Hamroc Farm in Noble County (attached). Debbie Knepp (NRCS D.C.) helped supplement Brian's report regarding the background and genesis of this field day. The deadline for registration is July 22, 2009. 5. Marketing Dru Wrasse (Assoc. Sup.) gave the report on recent District marketing efforts (attached). A recommendation and motion for $400 towards ordering 1000 more logo pens were made, and both carried (the money is to come from the CWI grant). Also from the CWI grant funds, a recommendation and motion were made to renew the bulk mailing permit for an annual rate of $185 (our current permit expires July 26th). Both carried. Lastly, Dru requested $20 for making change in the office for Fat Trapper/refill bag sales. A recommendation and motion were made to this effect. Both carried. -3-

6. Finance Carole Riewe (Supervisor) gave the report regarding a recent notification from the SWCD Foundation that Board of Directors of the SWCD Foundation recently voted to cease operations as an active organization (see attached report). Carole provided background information on original history and mission of SWCD Foundation purpose. The supervisors had met and considered what to do with the money, and decided to request the SWCD Foundation to write a check directly to the District to be deposited into our savings account. C. Transect Survey Debbie Knepp (DC) again pointed out that a graph regarding the data from 1990-2009 conservation tillage on the land had been included in the meeting folder. Debbie elaborated that she has been on each survey since the program began. She noted that this year was quite remarkable especially for soybeans. She speculated that fuel cost has played into the switch to no till or strip till based on discussions she has had with producers and word-of-mouth. Debbie also speculated that the trend that we see in St. Joseph County this year is likely similar to what will be reported state-wide. Dale Stoner (Assoc. Sup.) added that the District has played a part in this remarkable increase in no-till/reduced-till, a trend that the District started pushing 25 years ago. He related that at one time the District had even hired two more employees to help manage the seasonal flux of rental equipment. At the point when the District felt we filled our purpose of introducing the practices, and as producers began buying their own equipment, we got out of renting the equipment. Dale also recounted that the five supervisors who began the District's efforts to introduce no-till/reduced-tillage practices even used their own personal credit to get the project started. D. NRCS Talking Points Refer to the attached report. E. The Fully Functioning Committee System John Dooms (Chair) spoke about the committee system and its benefits. To paraphrase some of his comments, consider the following: “As long as I've been here, it's been in effect...The committee system has worked very well for our District. It made us well known and respected in the state. Committees are comprised of a supervisor and an office advisor, and board members. The purpose is to discuss matters, hash out details, and make a recommendation to the board for consideration. This process makes the board meetings more efficient. You have a list in your folder of the current committees and members. The intent of the committee system is to not rely on the office staff to do committee work. Office staff are available for assisting the committee, though. If your committee does not have a chair, please decide who you'd like to act as chair. The chair is the main person responsible for office communication and making reports at the board meetings. Thank you for all your efforts. We've done a lot, and will do a lot. It's about working together.”

Dru Wrasse (Assoc. Sup.) added that ours is the most efficient board she's ever worked on. Debbie Knepp (D.C.) added that other District board meetings last to 10:30 or even midnight. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Schedules Refer to the attached schedule. -4-

B. County Conservationist Position John Dooms read a letter from Katie Kurtz (County Conservationist) regarding her formal resignation. He related that Katie had notified the Supervisors of her resignation earlier this month. Her last day is July 31, 2009. Katie has decided to get her teaching credentials. The county commissioners approved our hiring of a County Conservationist. Friday the 24th is the closing date for applicants. At this point, there are a few applications downtown. The supervisors will meet after the closing date to discuss which candidates to call to offer the chance to interview of the position. Richard Schmidt (Assoc. Sup.) and the rest of the Board thanked Katie for her great work for the District over the past year. C. District Support Specialist Changes Rick Glassman (Env. Ed. Coor./SWCD) related that Jim Lake, our ISDA District Support Specialist, has been assigned additional counties, further increasing his workflow. Jim has stated that he is available to provide support as usual, but his trips to individual board meetings will decrease due to these changes. VI. PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR Dale Stoner expanded on Dan Fleming's role at Northwest Territory RC&D. Dan Fleming remarked that it was remarkable to think that the District's 50th Annual Meeting was coming up in 2010—Time has flown by! He also related that the Porter County Fair would be starting on July 23rd, and Lake County's fair was to begin on August 7th. He also announced that the annual Pinney Purdue Field Day was set for Wednesday, August 19th. According to Purdue's website (http://bit.ly/14Zptp): AUG. 19: PINNEY-PURDUE FIELD DAY The Pinney-Purdue Agricultural Center will host its annual field day beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the center, located five and a half miles east of Valparaiso. Throughout the day Purdue experts will give presentations on topics, including weed issues in corn and soybeans, manganese research, fungicide use on corn, disease issues, and on-farm energy efficiency. In the afternoon featured speaker Chris Hurt will talk about "Crop Economics in a Recovering Economy." There also will be a twilight program from 6-8 p.m. for those who could not attend the earlier field day.

(See also http://bit.ly/rJQ8R.) John Dooms added to the earlier discussion on the committee system that there was a reason for the way our District preceded every motion with a recommendation, which is not technically required. Since a motion must be made and voted on by the 5 Supervisors per State law, years ago the District began using recommendations to show that the District values the Associate Supervisors and feels they are just as important as the body of 5 Supervisors. Recommendations are called for first, and come from the Associate Supervisors. Without a recommendation, our District does not start the process of motions. This gives more footing to the opinions of the Associate Supervisors. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:40 p.m.

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Brian Cherry

Conservation Planning Committee Report: Conservation Planning Committee Chair: TBA Conservation Planning Committee: Brian Cherry, John Dooms, Jan Ivkovich, Joe Long, Richard Schmidt, Stacey Silvers, Paul Williams, Dru Wrasse, Rick Glassman (Adviser) Manure Management Field Day As you may recall … 

In 1996, we had jointly obtained an EQIP grant, along with the SWCD’s in Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, and Whitley Counties, and the Wood-LandLakes RC&D

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The funds for holding field days in the various counties, all of which are in the St. Joseph River watershed. The field days were focused on manure management issues.

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The funds had been managed by Wood-Land-Lakes RC&D (they kept the money in an account)

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In 2008, the Wood-Land-Lakes RC&D had discovered that there is still $1,900 of this grant money left over, so, with the approval of their respective boards, these same SWCD’s and Wood-Land-Lakes decided to hold one more manure management field day in LaGrange County.

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The field day is on Wednesday, July 29th from 10am-2:30pm in Albion, IN. RSVP’s are supposed to be made by July 22nd by calling the Noble County SWCD (260636-7682, ext 3).

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Albion is about 1 hours and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes away from South Bend.

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Lunch is free if you are one of the first 100 to register (grilled by the Noble County Pork Producers)

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If anyone would like a brochure for the field day, or if you think of someone who may be interested, stop by or call the District Office (291-7444 ext 3).

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Debbie Knepp was appointed by the board last year as the representative of our District for this field day. She will be attending the field day on July 29th.

Carole Riewe

Finance Committee Report: 7/20/09 Finance Committee Chair: TBA Finance: John Dooms, Jan Ivkovich, John Kulwicki, Carole Riewe, Rick Glassman (Adviser) Indiana SWCD Foundation 

On June 16, 2009, the SWCD Foundation emailed the District, along with 59 other Districts, with the following information:

The Board of Directors of the SWCD Foundation recently voted to cease operations as an active organization. The Foundation was established a little over ten years ago to provide an additional funding source for Indiana's Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Unfortunately, we have struggled to fulfill this mission. We are disappointed that we must abandon our efforts at this time, but the difficult fundraising environment now facing many smaller not-for-profits has had a significant impact on the Foundation as well. At this time, the Foundation holds endowment accounts for 59 Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The St. Joseph County SWCD is one of these accounts. The Foundation plans to distribute the funds within your account prior to termination. Fund assets will be distributed based on the fund's value as of May 31, 2009. The Foundation Board is encouraging all districts to consider using the funds held by the Foundation to establish an endowment account with a local community foundation. Every county in Indiana is served by at least one community foundation, and these organizations can be a strong partner for Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Local community foundations are professionally staffed and offer a variety of fund management options. If you need assistance contacting your local community foundation, do not hesitate to contact me. The Foundation hopes to completely cease operations by August 31, 2009. I have attached a form letter for you to complete and send back to me indicating how you would like your funds disbursed. Please discuss all of your options with your district supervisors, fill out the form, and return it to me. If we do not hear from you by August 31, we will release your district's endowment funds directly to the district. 

The Finance Committee / Supervisors met about a week after this email was sent and decided to request the SWCD Foundation to disburse our funds directly to our checking account.

Dale Stoner

Education Committee Report: 7/20/09 Education Committee Chair: TBA Education Committee: Dave Craft, Jan Ivkovich, Joe Long, Carole Riewe, Stacey Silvers, Dale Stoner, Dru Wrasse, Rick Glassman (Adviser)

Dale August Leadership Institute Workshop  August 7-8 in Columbus, IN  Topic: Communication  Recommendation: Stacey Silvers to attend the workshop ($125 for the workshop, $ for the hotel at the government rate, meal expenses per county guidelines, and travel expenses.) Eco Fest and Mishawaka Summer Fest  At Eco Fest, we talked with many people who wanted information about rain barrels. We also introduced the Fat Trappers. Many people were interested, but we had trouble actually selling them. There were not huge crowds, but it was a better turnout that last year’s Eco Fest.  There was much less interest at the Mishawaka Summer Fest. Many people attended, but very few of them were interested in conservation, rain barrels, rain gardens, etc. MS4 Field Day  Friday, August 7, 2009  The MS4 Education group (made up of the MS4 entities plus Maria and Katie) has planned an MS4 Field Day for August 7th at Eddy Street Commons. It is aimed at contractors and developers; there will be a tour of the construction site and also presentations about new and innovative ways of protecting stormwater.  Recommendation: Maria to attend Field Day.

Rick 4H Fair  Casting Contest: 52 Contestants  A quiet week, but the weather was very pleasant. Family Swamp Stomp  September 26th or 27th Compost Seminar(s)  Tuesday, October 6, 2009 (7-8pm) @ the Main Library  Also have conducted several composting seminars this summer with the community gardens... Fall Purdue Ag Day 

Tuesday, October 6, 2009 from ___ to ___.

Dru Wrasse

Marketing Committee Report: 7/20/09 Marketing Committee Chair: TBA Marketing Committee: Brian Cherry, Jan Ivkovich, Dru Wrasse, Lisa Wynn (Adviser)

Pens   

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Just prior to the Annual Meeting this past January, we purchased 1000 pens from 4imprint (our usual vendor) to add to the 300 or so we had left over from a prior purchase. The pens in January came to a total of $399.24 ($.39 each). We have used the pens for marketing at the office, at  Annual Meeting (Jan.)  Science Alive (Feb.)  Tree Seminar (Feb.)  Winter Workshop (Feb.)  Composting Workshop (Feb.)  Saturday Tree Sales (Apr.)  Green Expo (Apr.)  Eco Fest (Jun.)  Mishawaka Summer Fest (Jun.)  4H Fair (Jul.) Now, we are completely out. We would like to request $400 towards 1000 more pens, to be funded from the Clean Water Indiana State Grant account.

Bulk Mail    

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Our permit for pre-sorted bulk mailing rates expires on July 26, 2009. The charge for renewing the permit is $185 (last year it was $180). We use the permit mainly for mailing newsletters, pre-order forms for tree orders, and receipts for tree pre-orders The permit saves us about $.28 - $.32 per piece of mail. With newsletters alone, we mail about 850 pieces, 4 times a year (3400 per year). At the standard rate ($.44 each), this would be about $1,500 per year. With the permit ($185 per year), 3400 pieces come to about $990 per year, for a total of $1175 or so per year ($185 + $990). This is a savings of about $325 per year with newsletters. If you figured in tree sale mailings, this amount would be much more (approximately double) We would like to request $185 for renewal of the bulk mail permit, to be funded from the Clean Water Indiana State Grant account.

Fat Trappers  

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The Fat Trappers debuted at Eco Fest, where we sold 7 of the starter kits (starter kits = the container and 2 foil bags—all with our logo—and an information brochure w/reordering information). The mayor’s office had contacted us, and Maria spoke briefly to one of the mayor’s assistants about the Fat Trappers. In the current utility bill (water bill) for South Bend, the insert/Mayor’s Letter to the City, featured the fact that we are selling the Fat Trappers. We have had about 5-6 calls for more information. 1 woman came into the office and purchased 15 foil bags, and another woman came into the office and purchased a starter kit. We have brochures made up, featured them in our own Newsletter (Kaleidoscope, July, Aug, Sept. 2009), and have featured them on the homepage of our website. The minimum purchase from the vendor was 84 containers and 500 foil bags. The marketing committee will need to brainstorm on ways to further market the Fat Trappers. It was briefly discussed at a Supervisor’s meeting in July that partnering with someone at the Farmers Market or a similar venue may be effective.

FIELD OFFICE REPORT June 15 through July 17, 2009 2008 Farm Bill: Environmental Quality Incentive program  Process 4 grazing payments and 1 fence payment  Rank application (WASCoB, No-till, nutrient and pest management)  5 funded contracts – develop contracts and job sheets  Work with additional 7 applicants  Meet with 4 different organic producers  8 contract reviews Wildlife Habitat Incentive program  2 funded applications – develop contracts and job sheets Conservation Reserve program  Review and approve Grassed Waterway design (Needler)  Planning – grassed waterway, windbreak, wetland, filter strip (Manges) 

Conservation planning:      

Pasture (Ernst, Heckaman) Wetlands – 14 determinations  Work with landowner who wants to mitigate to clear a woods 5% status review – 2 Tillage Transect Root Audit – 3 contracts 4-H Fair

Meetings:   

3 Teleconferences – HEL/wetlands, Partnership, State Office Supervisor/s Meeting Area Meeting

Office Closed for 4th of July