Minutes 05-18-09

Monday, May 18, 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 7:10 a.m. at 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, IN 46614. PRESENT

ABSENT

John Dooms, Chairman Jan Ivkovich, Vice Chair

John Kulwicki, Bd. Mem.* Dave Craft, Bd. Mem.

Carole Riewe, Bd. Mem. Stacey Silvers Melvin Kulwicki

Chuck Lehman Gene Meyers Paul Williams, III

Dale Stoner Richard Schmidt

Randy Matthys Dave Vandewalle Joe Long

Dru Wrasse Rick Glassman

Jim LaFree

Debbie Knepp, NRCS Katie Kurtz Maria Schaefer

Brian Cherry PUBLIC

Lisa W ynn

EX-OFFICIO * called in re: not attending meeting

LEGISLATIVE LETTERS None. II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA None.

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III. REGULAR BUSINESS A. MINUTES: The minutes from the April 2009 Board Meeting were reviewed and approved as presented. B. TREASURERS REPORT: Treasurer’s report was reviewed. Lisa Wynn (Secretary) was asked to amend a few items in the Education and Tree categories so that both the profits and losses would show positive (+) (this is because of a clerical error). Lisa will give the amended report to the Supervisors for approval and filing at the June 2009 Board Meeting. 1. Claim Approval: A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to approve Claim numbers 9864-9879, for a total of $3019.35. Both carried. IV. OLD BUSINESS A. WRITTEN REPORTS: 1. Field Office Report: Debbie Knepp presented the Field Office Report. Carole Riewe asked about the “potential violation” notation on the report, and Debbie explained that it turned out there was no actual violation, just a report of a possible violation. John Doom asked how the landfill inspection went. Katie Kurtz related that she, Maria Schaefer and Carole Riewe conducted the inspection, and everything was looking pretty good. Carole added that it looks like the west ditched deeds to be bush-hogged, but the seedlings look good although with all the rain it was hard to tell for sure. Regarding the cells, the one on the west side is still being used. Regarding the water treatment plant project, the building is now up, but it’s not being used as a water treatment plant yet. 2. Rule 5/Rule 13 Report: The report was presented for questions. John Dooms asked how the US 31 project might affect our office’s workflow, and Katie Kurtz explained that IDEM is handling most of the work since INDOT owns most of the project. Our office is involved with a borrow site, and we are assisting Doug Wolf of IDEM keep track of that. In short, our workflow will not become overwhelmed by this big project. Richard Schmidt asked about the Indiana bat nesting sites that have recently been discovered along part of the project, and Deb related that she had read that at this point it is unknown how long this might hold up the project, and that since the type of trees that are the natural habitat of the Indiana bats have been identified, an expert has been called to come in and evaluate further. B. COMMITTEE REPORTS: 1. Forestry: Richard Schmidt related that the total profit for this year’s tree sales is $12,544.50. Regarding Saturday Tree Sales, we sold 2,392 Evergreens ($4,684.78), 1,044 Deciduous Trees ($1,647.25), 631 Flowering Trees ($1,090.66), 68 packs of Wildflower Seeds ($510.00), 527 Marking Flags ($52.70), and 120 Siberian Irises ($240.00). Katie Kurtz requested payment for services rendered as “contracted labor” to the FFA’s of John Glenn High School

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($100.00) and Penn High School ($50.00), as well as the Science students from Mishawaka High School ($50.00). A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. 

POST-MEETING NOTE: In line with the Accounting and Uniform Compliance Guidelines Manual for Special Districts, p.10-8, which reads, “Payments made or received for contractual services should be supported by a written contract…,” prior to issuing these payments Lisa Wynn will prepare and present at the June 2009 Board Meeting a simple contract form for recommendation of the Board’s approval.

2. Education: Regarding our follow-up activities to the winter meeting, Smart Farming for the Future, Lisa summed up where we are and requested approval for $400.00 toward materials (reference books and USB drives) and at least $400 of in-kind staff time to go toward the remaining $800.00 in grant monies we need to spend on following up on the meeting attendees. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. C. 50th Annual Meeting: The planning of the 2010 annual meeting was discussed briefly. Lisa Wynn is requesting any ideas or suggestions be brought to her attention for consideration. Dale Stoner specifically suggested that we personalize things by gathering stories on the progress of the District as seen through the eyes of each person, including past board members. It was suggested that Jan Ivkovich and Deb Knepp have examples of how this has been done in the past for use as models to those who need a little help getting started. It was discussed that we need a very dynamic speaker, and need to make a big effort to involve past board members, including the possibility of presenting free tickets to the meeting to past board members. D. Green Expo: Maria Schaefer reported that we went thru over 100 flyers on how to construct a rain barrel, and had a lot of requests to purchase the display rain barrel. A few groups like Coca Cola would like a presentation for employees. Overall, this even seemed quite positive. E. Eco Fest: Rick Glassman related that Eco Fest is on Saturday, June 20th from 10:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Howard Park in South Bend. We will be utilizing the rain barrel display that was at the Green Expo. (We will also us this at the 4H Fair in July). Our display is in partnership with MS4 Education Committee, so we will need to ask for volunteers from the MS4 Education Committee to man the booth, along with our own Board Members and office staff. At the April meeting, it was posed that we may want to sell something at the booth if it was allowed. Maria Schaefer mentioned that at one of the recent meetings she attended, someone had a grease catcher for prevention of grease going down the sink that was being sold for about $5-10 by another district or MS4 entity. After discussing this idea, it was proposed that if we could buy the grease catchers and have labels made with our logo for no more than $500 plus the amount of any set-up fee related to the sticker templates, this would be something the District

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would want to pursue. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. F. NRCS Talking Points: Debbie Knepp reported that a number of new NRCS publications have been recently made available. She also reported that there was a good turnout at locally led meeting, and that Jane Hardisty was pleased with the discussions that were had (Jane had received a meeting memo from Debbie to report on the progress). Debbie related that we are now taking applications for WHIP and EQIP, with the sign-ups ending May 29th. She added that the money must be spent by July 15th. She further related that with EQIP, there are a lot of special funds like Organic Farming where there's a special signup along with its own money fund. Other special funds include Socially Disadvantaged, Beginning, and Limited Resource Farmers. For CRP, this year there will be a re-enrollment for the top 30% of producers with expiring contracts, but no new enrollments; top 30% for re-enrollment only – this year. The deadline for this re-enrollment is June 30th. Debbie reported that Jane Hardisty thanks the office staff for promptly signing the agreement forms for access to NRCS files, specifically relating to the confidentiality. Debbie spoke about the NRCS pilot forestry program (part of the Farm Bill.) IASWCD will host the information on their website. Lastly, she related that NRCS has developed a minority farmer conservation award, so let us know if you know of a nominee. V. A.

NEW BUSINESS SCHEDULES: Reviewed handout. Filed as presented.

B. Grant Writing Course: Lisa Wynn requested reimbursement for a 6 week internet grant-writing course she would like to take. It is through the Oregon State University extended learning website. The cost is $95.00. A recommendation and motion were made and seconded to this effect. Both carried. C. Upcoming ISDA Leadership Workshops: Rick Glassman covered the topic of upcoming ISDA leadership workshops for the rest of 2009. Jan Ivkovich and Dru Wrasse mentioned they would be interested in the December session on impacting the community, and Stacey Silvers is interested in the August workshop in Columbus, IN. Lisa will be sure to keep up on the registration process for any upcoming Leadership Institute workshops and relate the information to the board as the information is made available. VI. PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR: Jan Ivkovich thanked everyone for the beautiful bouquet honoring the memory of her sister who has recently passed away. Dru Wrasse related that the Stanley Clark Science Olympiad team that she coaches placed 11th in the nation, and extended thanks to the office staff (especially Deb, Katie and Lisa) for providing knowledge, equipment, etc. on the topic of soil chemistry. John Dooms read a thank you letter from the St. Joseph County Ag Team for helping fund booth space for Ag Days, which had an estimated 6000 attendees. Lastly, Rick Glassman asked the Education Committee to meet briefly following the Board Meeting.

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VII. ADJOURNMENT The May 18, 2009 Board Meeting of the St. Joseph County Soil & Water Conservation District was adjourned at 8:20 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

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