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Nobles Soil and Water Conservation Disrict |
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Nobles SWCD Meeting Information
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Agendas will be posted approximately one week before the scheduled board meeting. |
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July 2008 Minutes |
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BOARD MEETING July 16, 2008
The regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the Nobles Soil and Water Conservation District was held July 16, 2008, beginning at 7:30 a.m. The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Lynn Darling. Present were: Lynn Darling, Vern Suedkamp, Jim Knips, Rick Nelsen and Paul Langseth. Also present were: Jane Steffl, Admin. Coord; Ed Lenz, Tech. Coord; and Steve Woltjer, D.C.
MINUTES: The minutes of the June 18, 2008, regular meeting were reviewed. Knips moved to approve the minutes as mailed. Suedkamp seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT: The Treasurer’s Report and Bills Payable were presented and reviewed. Knips moved to approve the reports, subject to audit, in the amount of $24,337.95. Nelsen seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
STATE COST-SHARE: Knips moved to approve the following FY2007 State C-S payments:
2007-11 Jeff Lais FS Windbreak 575.63 2007-12 William Gordon FS Windbreak 692.63 $ 1,268.26
Suedkamp seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
Langseth moved to the following FY2008 State C-S contracts:
2008-7 Sylvester Vortherms Waterway 5,103.75 2008-8 Cyril Henning Waterway 6,581.25 $ 11,685.00
Nelsen seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS: A possible Nobles SWCD Retreat was discussed. Steffl presented a spreadsheet showing seven possible conference locations in the area and the costs involved for each. Three different dates in August and September were checked for availability. The spreadsheet also included costs for meals, mileage and a speaker. Tobias Spanier, MN Extension Service, was contacted and has these dates available. After some discussion of the Board, the retreat was tabled due to scheduling conflicts and will be an upcoming agenda item.
The Nobles County Water Plan Update was discussed. John Shepard, SWRDC, has been working on the plan but was not ready to present a draft by the tentatively planned July 1st meeting. John would like to continue working on the plan and August 26, 2008 has now been set for the Final Draft Review meeting. Agendas will be sent out two weeks prior to the meeting.
The 2008 Farm Bill Assistance Grant has been approved for the Nobles SWCD. We were approved for a 25% employee for this fiscal year. Tabor Hoek of BWSR suggested that we do not count on receiving these funds in future years. Ed will ask Nobles County Pheasants Forever if they would be willing to fund the Local portion of the grant match.
ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR REPORT: Jane reported she had contacted the Nobles County Auditor’s office last week, and Jim Knips, Lynn Darling and Ken Wolf had all filed for election in November. There will be an Area V MASWCD Legislative Forum on September 3rd at the Community Center in Redwood Falls.
The IRS approved a mileage rate increase from 50.5 cents/mile to 58.5 cents/mile, effective July 1, 2008. Langseth moved to approve the Nobles SWCD mileage rate at the IRS rate. Suedkamp seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
Staff from the offices of Richard Holmberg, LTD will be in our office August 13th, to conduct an audit of the FY2007 Financial Records. Mr. Holmberg will be available to present the finished audit at either the September or October SWCD Board meeting.
The rain gardens and seeding projects have all been completed and bills have been paid. A couple of problems arose during planting, but they are all looking very good now. Jane has invoiced several agencies that were planning to contribute to the projects. She then presented a list of the final costs, and the funds contributed towards the projects, to the board. The Nobles SWCD contributed $6,848.00 towards the project of which $4,000.00 was from their Local SWCD Cost-Share Program. The other 2,848.00 came from the District’s education program funding. Mary and Laura have been making sure the rain gardens are being maintained and cleaning them.
The Coteau des Prairie RC&D had approved the rain garden project application earlier this year and the first half of the $2,500.00 was received in April. Now that the projects are complete, the Project Completion form can be signed and submitted by the board to the RC&D.
Mary will be working at the Area 5 & 6 SWCD booth at Farmfest, on August 5th, in Redwood Falls.
TECHNICAL COORDINATOR REPORT: Ed reported we currently have nine completed CREP contracts and two others that are ongoing. Two tree sites are still left to mat because of issues with the site conditions and scheduling.
The wetland delineations report for the Norman Beckman site has been received. The TEP panel will meet July 21st to see how we should proceed. The delineation report shows that the area was historically a wetland up to 2006, when the first part of the tile was installed. BWSR will need to decide if Beckmann had proper permission to install the tile in 2006 and 2007. Ed will keep the board updated on the TEP findings.
Ed had the rear end of the ford pick-up checked out. They made a few adjustments to the limited slip differential. If the problem has not improved we may need to replace a clutch.
D.C. REPORT: Steve reported grassed waterways have been completed for M. Konz and D. Buntjer, and a diversion and grassed waterway was completed for M. Widboom. We received funding for seven new EQIP contracts, for a total of $128,000.00. There may be another sign-up in August. Sign-up for the WRP/RIM program, ends this Friday and there have been several requests for site reviews. Selection will be made on a statewide basis.
The rain gardens are looking very good. Minnesota West, the City of Worthington and Public Works are all watering theirs, but we may need to replace a few trees at the Worthington Middle School. WATERSHED DISTRICTS AND OTHER REPORTS: The Kanaranzi-Little Rock Watershed meeting was held June 19th with a presentation of their 2007 Financial Audit. They are looking for a new board member and requested names of candidates. A rain garden is planned near the Slade Hotel in Adrian. They also discussed the Adrian Campground flooding and are waiting to hear back from the City of Adrian before they contact the State for funding. There were also comments of the Okabena Ocheda Watershed and the BWSR monthly meetings.
NEW BUSINESS: The Outstanding Conservationist Award was discussed. A list of possible candidates for the award and a report of the work they have done, were reviewed with the board. The board then decided to offer the award from the Nobles SWCD to Andrew Wagner. Mr. Wagner will be contacted and if he accepts, his name will be entered as the 2008 Outstanding Conservationist from Nobles County at the State Convention, in December. The District will provide a room, mileage and meals for him to attend the convention.
The DNR Observation Well contract for 2009 was presented to the board. The SWCD will receive $360.00 to read the wells eight times during the year. Langseth moved to approve and sign the contract. Nelsen seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
NRCS Contribution Agreement #5 with the Nobles SWCD, in the amount of $2,000.00, was presented to the board. NRCS is requesting help with writing new EQIP contracts. Langseth moved to approve and sign the contribution agreement. Knips seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried.
The District computers were again discussed. Mike Nienaber of NRCS proposed that the NRCS could offer two free computers if the district would purchase 2 computers. The Board suggested that we send a letter from District asking exactly what NRCS will provide. Ed will contact NRCS to get something in writing. Ed presented bids from Ideas Computers and PC Enterprises. The board decided to request new bids for the August meeting and also to give some time to see what NRCS is willing to provide.
The next regular board meeting will be held August 20th, at 7:30 a.m.
Nelsen moved to adjourn the meeting. Suedkamp seconded the motion. Affirmative: Darling, Suedkamp, Knips, Nelsen and Langseth. Opposed: None. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned.
_________________________________ Jim Knips, Secretary |