Minutes 04-20-09

Monday, April 20, 2009

7:00 A.M.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT 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, at 7:15 a.m. at 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, IN 46614. PRESENT

ABSENT

John Dooms, Chairman John Kulwicki, Bd. Mem.

Dave Craft, Bd. Mem. Chuck Lehman

Jan Ivkovich, Vice Chair Carole Riewe, Bd. Mem. Joe Long

Gene Meyers Paul Williams, III Randy Matthys

Melvin Kulwicki Dale Stoner

Dave Vandewalle Stacey Silvers

Richard Schmidt

Jim LaFree PUBLIC

Brian Cherry Dru Wrasse Rick Glassman Debbie Knepp, NRCS Katie Kurtz Maria Schaefer Lisa W ynn

Carole Sheetz EX-OFFICIO Jim Lake

LEGISLATIVE LETTERS Jan Ivkovich advised that District 10 Senator John Broden has been appointed as a part of the State Budget Committee, and will be part of the decision making process on whether to retain the CWI funding that was in the Senate version of the final State budget. This is the $1 million dollars for Clean Water Indiana from the general fund ($500,000 per year for the next two years). Jan has offered to write a letter of thanks to Senator Broden for voting yes on CWI in the past, urging him to continue to support CWI funding, and elaborating on how the District benefits from these monies. -1-

II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA  Jim Lake requested a few moments to provide some information under “New Business”, “E”. Also, under “Old Business”, “E”, there is a brief update on the lease agreement for the office. III. REGULAR BUSINESS A. MINUTES: The minutes from the March 2009 Board Meeting were reviewed and approved as presented. B. TREASURERS REPORT: Treasurer’s report was reviewed and filed as presented. 1. Claim Approval: A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to approve paying mileage and other board approved expenses to all Associate Supervisors and Supervisors, as allowed in the “District Operations Manual” for the State of Indiana. Both carried. Also, a recommendation and motion were made and seconded to approve Claim numbers 9814 through 9861, for a total of $12,529.96. Both carried.

IV. OLD BUSINESS A. WRITTEN REPORTS: 1. Field Office Report: The Field Office Report was distributed. Dale Stoner asked questions about the wind break on Osborne Rd., and Debbie elaborated on this point. 2. Rule 5/Rule 13 Report: The Rule5/Rule 13 Report was distributed. There were no questions. Maria Schaefer added that the agreement with the other MS4 Education groups has been drafted and is ready to be signed by the District Supervisors. John Dooms signed the agreement on behalf of the District. B. COMMITTEE REPORTS: 1. Forestry: Richard Schmidt reported the Saturday sales were very good and thanked everyone for the fantastic help. He noted that Saturday sales were $8,900.00 last year, and this year they look like they will be around $8,500.00. The total number of trees left over is about 650, and they will be disbursed over the course of the week for potential order shortages and for grants. Also, only about 10 pre-orders were not picked up on Saturday. From speaking to people on Saturday, it seemed that the #1 way they heard about the sale was through the South Bend Tribune, and #2 was by word of mouth. Some customers from Michigan related that our trees looked very good and we were very organized compared to other tree sales they had gone to. Richard did note that we should try to get a few more volunteers for next year’s Saturday sale. Also, Jan and Dale emphasized that it is always a challenge to emphasize the proper procedures to the volunteers, but that this is very important. Dale specifically noted that Order #7 had a mix up at the very start of the day where there were 2 bundles, and 1 had not been given to the customer at first. The customer had gone home, Katie called them to sort things out, and then came back to get the second bundle. Dale suggested that we send them a thank you note for being so understanding. Lisa said she would do so. -2-

John Dooms added that especially considering the newness of the majority of the office staff, the Board sees them working well together, and thanked the office staff for their hard work. Dru Wrasse also mentioned that the volunteers, and especially the kids, were very nice and polite. 2. Conservation Planning/Grass Drill: Katie Kurtz reported that we had 6 renters so far, but had not received confirmations on how many people actually ended up using the drill. She added that the last drill holder believed that maintenance was in order. Jan Ivkovich noted that the Elkhart SWCD’s latest newsletter had a big write-up about the drill rental. 3. Education:  Dale Stoner handed the floor to Rick Glassman, who reported that the Composting Workshop had gone very well—about 150 people attended. Unfortunately, the Solid Waster Management District ordered the compost bins quite late, and due to a large increase in price, they did not order enough to give one to each attendee. The office staff ended up creating vouchers to give to attendees whose names were drawn, and the attendees will pick up the bins from SWMD at a later time.  Regarding Eco Fest on June 20th, Rick related that last year we had jointly attended with the MS4 Education Committee, but that this year we will likely need 1-2 board members to help out. This year Eco Fest is at Howard Park. Rick has been requested to do a water quality presentation that day, as well. Jan asked whether we can we sell items, which we are unsure of at this time. We will discuss this again on next month's agenda.  Rick also requested to renew the annual subscription to the National Association of Interpreters at a rate of $60.00 per year. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. 4. Committee Sign-Ups: John Dooms emphasized that the committee system is very important to the success of our Board Meetings, and that as a committee member, the staff may need your help at times. Jan Ivkovich stated that she, Dru Wrasse, and Stacey Silvers wanted to be on the Education/Water subcommittee. Rick will be contacting the Water subcommittee to set a meeting to discuss the future of this committee's activities. C. NRCS Talking Points: Debbie Knepp reported that the NRCS is still rolling out the farm bill and there are a lot of trainings and meetings related to this. She added that, for instance, today is the locally led meeting. Debbie related that there are a number of new table top exhibits on conservation planning available for use from NRCS, along with a number of new publications, including on how to apply for our programs, organic agriculture, inheriting land (to see if there are easements), and energy conservation. NRCS is still waiting to roll out some programs that are in the comment period and/or are in the process of having manuals being drafted. Debbie noted that there are numerous changes in the Animal Feeding Operations procedures as related to Clean Water Act (CWA has changed). Regarding the stimulus package/Floodplain Easement Program, Debbie related that we had 12 applications in St. Joseph County, and in Indiana as a state there are about 200 applications. There are around 30 million applications nationwide, amounting to about $1-billion being sought after while there is much less than that available. The decision on the final applicants that will be accepted into FEP will occur on a national level. Debbie also reported that according to the 2007 census, in Indiana there has been 1% increase since in agriculture since the 2002 census.

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D. WORKSHOPS/MEETING REPORTS: Katie Kurtz reported that she and Maria had attended the Green Site Planning workshop in Indianapolis on March 26th and that there was a lot of very good information on rain gardens. Katie added that, for the Green Expo, Maria was planning to use this information in her display. Maria noted that the MS4 Education Committee is paying for the booth fee for Green Expo, and that, as discussed in a past Board Meeting, the District would pay for the display materials, Maria would create the display, and the District would be able to use the display in the future. Maria added she is constructing a rain barrel as part of her display, and requested a budget of $100.00. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. E. LEASE: John Dooms related that the Suite 3 (MS4) Lease Agreement needs to be signed by him following the meeting, and that there are no changes in terms of this year versus last. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. Rick Glassman added that we did get a letter from Farm Bureau about whether we are staying with them, to which Rick had responded that we would stay with NRCS wherever they end up, and that NRCS cannot guarantee anything at this point.

V. NEW BUSINESS A. SCHEDULES: Reviewed handout. Regarding the landfill inspection, both Carole and Jan are planning on attending with Katie, but Jan may be out of town. As long as one supervisor attends, everything is fine. Also, Dru indicated she would like to attend the inspection. B. Trainings/Conferences: Maria Schaefer stated that she has no new trainings/conferences to report at this time. C. 2009 River Friendly Farmer: Debbie Knepp related that the award deadline for 2009 River Friendly Farmer has been announced (June 16th) and that the Conservation Farmer award information should be coming out soon. She asked that any recommendations for either award be related to the office, and that she had a few ideas for the River Friendly Farmer nominee. D. 2009 State CWI Grant ($10,000.00): John Dooms related that he had signed the application the week before and that Lisa had sent it in to ISDA as required. E. Jim Lake: Jim (our ISDA District Support Specialist) related that there is a “Farmers’ Care Packet” for stewardship week that is being prepared by the State Soil Board that will be sent out to legislators, Nathan Stoelting is assisting Jim with this task. Also, on the radio this morning, Jim heard that President Obama was considering recommendations for USDA office closings/consolidations, but this was typical with a change in leadership. Jim noted that Jerod Chew, the newly appointed Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture-Division of Soil Conservation, understands the true partnership of the Districts with the NRCS. Still, at this point, the ISDA is down to 4 District Support Specialists for the entire state (down from 8). Jim announced that the State Soil Conservation Board survey online results are coming in. Regarding additional CWI funding options for Districts in the future, it may end up that the CWI -4-

monies may not be committed to CREP, and that they could then be distributed somewhat differently than in the past. For instance, there might be only 1 final report versus quarterly reports, and it may be possible for the same basic options to be available each year rather than piecemeal, along with fewer restrictions and more flexibility. VI.

PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR:

No one had anything to add.

VII. ADJOURNMENT The April 20, 2009 Board Meeting of the St. Joseph County Soil & Water Conservation District was adjourned at 8:15 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Alisa R. Wynn, Treasurer Approved by:

___________________________________ John Dooms, Chair

___________________________________ Jan Ivkovich, Vice-Chair

___________________________________ John Kulwicki, Supervisor

___________________________________ Dave Craft, Supervisor

___________________________________ Carole Riewe, Supervisor -5-