Minutes 08-17-09

Monday, August 17, 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, August 17, 2009 at 7:10 p.m. at 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, IN 46614. PRESENT John Dooms, Chair/Supervisor Carole Riewe, Supervisor John Kulwicki, Supervisor Brian Cherry Melvin Kulwicki Randy Matthys Stacey Silvers Dale Stoner Dave Vandewalle Paul Willimams, III Dru Wrasse Rick Glassman. SWCD Debbie Knepp, NRCS Maria Schaefer. SWCD Lisa Wynn. SWCD

ABSENT Dave Craft, Supervisor Jan Ivkovich, Vice Chair/Supervisor Jim LaFree Chuck Lehman Joe Long Gene Meyers Richard Schmidt PUBLIC EX-OFFICIO Dan Fleming, Northwest Territory RC&D

II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA There was no additional agenda proposed. III. REGULAR BUSINESS A. Minutes from July 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 Report was and approved as presented. The Claims report was reviewed. A recommendation and motion were made to approve Claim Nos. 9913-9929 for the amount of $11,019.13. Both carried. -1-

IV. OLD BUSINESS A. Written Reports The Field Office Report and Rule 5/13 Reports were presented and are attached to these minutes. B. Committee Reports 1. Education Dale Stoner (Associate Supervisor) presented the report on the District's educational news, including: upcoming rafting events, No Child Left Inside, a Project WET Workshop, 2009-2010 School Year Program sign-ups, Purdue Ag Career Fair, IDEA Conference. Regarding the Purdue Ag Career Fair, a recommendation and motion was made to have the District attend the career fair (there is no registration fee since we are a government agency.) Both carried. Regarding the MS4 Field day, Maria Schaefer reported that there were about 65 attendees at the half-day workshop at the Eddy Street Commons construction site, which included a site tour, instructional presentations, and presentations with vendors Regarding IDEA (October 14-15), the final cost has not been revealed. Based on prior years, a recommendation and motion were made to allot “about $200 per SWCD employee and not to exceed $1,000.00 total” for attending the conference. Both carried. 2. Forestry In the absence of Forestry Committee Chairman, Richard Schmidt, Carole Riewe gave the Forestry Report. Regarding tree order forms, Carole gave the proposal that we order the same number as last year (9450) from Farmers’ Exchange, based on the estimate of $889.77. A recommendation and motion were made to do so, with the stipulation of not exceeding $1000.00 for tree order flyers for 2009-2010 tree sales program. Both carried. Carole also reported that the Tree Selection Seminar has been set for February 2, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. at the Farm Bureau Meeting Room. 3. Conservation Planning Associate Supervisor, Stacey Silvers gave the report regarding the Manure Management Field Day on July 29th in Noble County that she attended with Debbie Knepp (DC). Overall, Stacey found it to be very educational and well put together, noting that she enjoyed herself. Lots of demos. Debbie added that there were well over 100 attendance, including some of our St. Joseph County producers, and noted that Jane Hardisty (State Conservationist, NRCS) was impressed by the joint effort by NRCS/SWCD and the multiple counties involved. 4. Personnel Funding Chair, John Dooms, gave the report on current personnel funding issues. A St. Joseph County Budget: Hearing was set for the following day (August 18th) at 5 pm, at which time the District, represented by John Dooms and Rick Glassman (Environmental Education Coordinator, SWCD) was to meet with County Commissioners and County Council. John and Rick will be providing the commissioners and councilmen with a brief written presentation in additional any verbal information that is presented. On August 25, a meeting is scheduled for the public to provide input. The county council was originally set to vote of the final 2010 budget on Monday, September 28th, however, as of the date of this transcription (September 16th), the county council's official calendar was revised on August 27th and is indicating that the 2010 budget's voting date is “To Be Announced” (see http://bit.ly/gLm4o). C. NRCS Talking Points Refer to the attached report. The cooperative rent agreement between the NRCS and the District has finally arrived. A recommendation and motion for Chair, John Dooms to sign the agreement were made; both carried.

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D. IDEA Annual Meeting This was actually already addressed in depth in the Education Committee Report (see Section B1 above). E. County Conservationist Position Just prior to the evening's Board Meeting, the Supervisors interviewed four very good candidates, including our current MS4 Conservationist, Maria Schaefer, for the County Conservationist Position. In light of the pending 2010 County Budget, the Supervisors are still deciding how they will handle the filling of this position. Regarding future new hires, due to the significant rise in the charges for fingerprinting, which is required per NRCS guidelines for the background check, a recommendation and motion were made for the district to pay for the fingerprinting and the background check for all future SWCD employees. Both carried, which will be reflected in the District's employee policy handbook. (NOTE from Board Secretary Lisa Wynn: The proposed updated policy will be provided for the Supervisors in their meeting folders for the October meeting.) V. NEW BUSINESS A. Schedules Refer to the attached schedule. B. Leadership Institute Associate Supervisor, Dru Wrasse presented information on the Leadership Institute Cornerstones trainings that are upcoming for the rest of the year. She recommended them based on the “communications” session she has already attended. Regarding the September 19th Leadership Institute training on Board Development, a recommendation and motion were made for approximately $215 per person (for hotel rooms, registration and mileage) for Dru and Jan Ivkovich (Vice Chair) to attend this workshop—a total of $430.00. Both carried. VI. PRIVILEGE OF FLOOR Northwest Territory RC&D Coordinator, Dan Fleming, offered flyers for Pinney Purdue field day/ health fair on Wednesday August 19th, inviting all to come. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.

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