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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 01-03-08 NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE ` January 3, 2008 (Thursday) —10:40 a.m. Agricultural Service & Education Center 1960 8 th Avenue, Baldwin, WI CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING — February 5, 2008 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT A2ency reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Wildlife Damage - Amendment — Plan of Administration - Set grain prices Subdivision update Vouchers Venison Program — update OLD BUSINESS: Cylon property — response letter Staff reports Priority Watershed Projects PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Bills/vouchers DVD — Bike loop St. Croix River Crossing Homestead Parkland hours * Letter of appreciation - WDNR OLD BUSINESS: Bicycle /pedestrian trail — bike plan narrative - Set public hearing date ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURN SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: December 19, 2007; amended December 27, 2007 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS (Items may be taken in different order) *Additions /Changes /Corrections UNOFFICIAL ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI January 3, 2008 Members Present: Lois Burri, Ken Graf, Sharon Norton- Bauman, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Land Specialist(Watershed) -Kyle Kulow, Land Specialist(Urban) -Tammy Wittmer, Program Assistant -Jonna Fedie, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS, Cindy Blonk- Wildlife Damage Chair Raymond called the meeting to order at 10:58 a.m. Action on Previous Minutes: Motion by Peavey, seconded by Burri, to approve the December 5, 2007 meeting minutes. Carried. Adoption of Agenda: Ruetz made motion to adopt the agenda, seconded by Norton- Bauman. Carried. Date of Next Meeting: February 5, 2008 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Bob Hendrickson - Executive Director's written report was given to the committee. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS) Steve Pernstemer- District Conservationist reported: USDA now has a budget. It will take a little time for everyone to sort out how funding looks for 2008. The 2007 Farm bill has been passed by both the House and the Senate but differences need to be worked out in Conference Committee. It appears most conservation programs will continue. There will probably be no action on the SAFE proposal until the Farm Bill is finalized. We have received an initial St. Croix County Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) allotment and have started developing contracts for the top 13 applications. Many of these applications are for the Comprehensive Nutrient Management practice. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR) No report. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported that the 10' Annual Midwest Value Added Agriculture conference will be held January 24 -25 at the Plaza Hotel & Suites in Eau Claire. WEST CENTRAL AREA WLWCA Burri reported on the conference sessions she attended. She also reported that the auction raised $3,955 for funding the youth education program. Ra�mond reported that he attended sessions on wind power and siting legislation. He also reported that the association changed the annual dues structure from $950 to an amount based on the equalized value of each county, effective 2009. St. Croix County's dues will be approximately $1,250. Larger counties go up to about $3,000. The Great Lakes Compact resolution was passed. It is important that WLWCA identifies water quantity and quality as the number one priority goal to work on. The next West Central Area meeting will be held on Thursday, February 14 at the Dunn County Ag Center. NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: • Approval has been received on our County Aids project. This project involves planting native vegetation on an acre plot around our auxiliary parking lot at Pine Lake. • Received a letter addressed to the Government Center — County Board members from Shelby Hendricks on the general topic of "pollution in St. Croix County ". Heise was directed to reply to her letter. Wildlife Damage — Cindy Blonk Amendment — Plan of Administration Cindy Blonk explained the reason for the amendment. Discussion on paying delinquent property taxes before claims can be paid to the landowners. Motion by Raymond, seconded by Burri, to amend the Plan of Administration: (E) Program Eligibility: (1) To participate in the WDACP, the person requesting assistance may not have any delinquent property taxes. Carried. Set grain prices Cindy handed out the "2007 Wildlife Damage Program Grain Reimbursement Rates for St. Croix County: Corn - $3.31/bushel, soybeans - $7.83/bushel, oats - $2.39/bushel, organic "blue" corn - $8.75/bushel. These rates are one -year averages from the various sources. Peavey made motion, seconded by Graf, to approve the program reimbursement rates presented for grains. Carried. Subdivision update Tammy Wittmer provided a summary of land divisions for the 2007 year, including the total number of lots and acres per town. Information was provided regarding a recent violation related to the Glens of the Willow River conservation easement. A violation notice was sent by zoning staff the last week of December. An update was given regarding the Tribute development in the Town of Troy. Staff is working with the developer and the town engineer to resolve outstanding issues. Items will be addressed during the 2008 construction season. Vouchers Reviewed vouchers. Burri made motion, seconded by Ruetz, to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the January LWCD voucher list (total $28,473.60). Carried. Venison Program — update Jonna Fedie reported: 2007 Venison Program to Feed the Hungry - Deer's Food Locker, Glenwood City Locker, and Powers Wildgame Processing ground 368 deer that came out to 13,824 pounds of venison burger. Hammond Cold Storage continues to store the venison until we have room either at the food pantries or our building. OLD BUSINESS Cylon Property — response letter Heise presented a letter in response to the Wisconsin DNR requesting to delay the sale of the Cylon property until 2010. Peavey made motion, seconded by Graf, to approve the letter suggesting that we are willing to wait until 2010 to consider selling them the land. Carried. Priority Watersheds Kyle Kulow reported on the Kinnickinnic project. We are continuing to work on a conservation easement along Parker Creek with approximately four landowners. There have been no commitments as of yet, but we expect movement on this project by early spring. The banks of the stream will be repaired and artificial habitat will be placed throughout the stream. We have begun to discuss Farm Progress days with Pierce County staff. It is likely we will work together to have some type of presence at the event. A joint booth is possible. In addition, we will work together to address any non point concerns there maybe at the site. We will soon start our accomplishment reporting for the watershed projects. We should have adequate bonded money for nutrient management this year. Our non - bonded money should be sufficient to cover planned Best Management Practices (BMP) for 2008. Kyle also reported on the Lakes Cluster project. We have approximately 3 shoreline restorations planned for 2008. These we hoped to get in at the end of 2007 but the cold weather prohibited us from starting the projects. These projects will have to be started and completed early this spring because of the impending project deadline — June 30 of 2008. We are continuing to offer cost share dollars for lakeshore residents for soil testing. The testing will give us an idea of how much phosphorus is in the soil. Our hope is to educate landowners and those that have high levels will be given advice on sources of non P fertilizers. Accomplishment reporting will begin soon for the project. Again, the deadline for the project is June 30"' and we have until the end of the year to submit our overall Watershed report. MISCELLANEOUS Raymond reported that the Great Lakes Compact resolution has been passed by WLWCA and also the St. Croix County Board. He discussed this resolution with Anne Sayers, program director, of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters who is trying to move this initiative forward. Kulow stated that this item could be added to the Sportsmen's Alliance agenda for the January 8 meeting. The Sportsmen's Alliance could come up with a letter of support. Chair Raymond adjourned meeting at 12:55 p.m. PARKS DEPARTMENT Members Present: Lois Burri, Sharon Norton - Bauman, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Operations Manager -Dave Larson, Site Manager- Homestead Parklands - Sam Clapper, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: None Chair Raymond called the meeting to order at 1:02 p.m. NEW BUSINESS Bills/Vouchers The January bills list for Parks was presented. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Burn, to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the voucher list (Snowmobile accounts total $837.79, Park accounts total $15,991.57). Carried. Director's Report Heise reported: • We were unsuccessful in receiving approval of the Wisconsin DNR Park Improvement Grant ($100,000). We will re- submit the grant application for 2009. • There was a nice newspaper article on Homestead Parklands' future Learning Reception Center. • The Committee has to decide when they want to do a performance evaluation for the Director. It is scheduled for February 13 at 9:30 a.m. • Snowmobile trails have been open since December 26. Letter of Appreciation Heise presented a letter for Chair Raymond's signature, thanking the WDNR for their help on the Pine Lake boat landing proj ect. OLD BUSINESS Bicycle /pedestrian trail — bike trail narrative Heise explained the status of the DRAFT — Bicycle/Pedestrian trail plan. Set Public Hearing date - Discussion on the timeline for scheduling the public hearing date. Decided that the public hearing date would be Thursday, January 31, 7:00 p.m. at the New Richmond Civic Center. The deadline for comments would be Friday, February 15, 2008. Raymond encouraged LWCC members to submit any comments as a county citizen. Homestead Parkland hours Sam Clapper presented the "Homestead Parklands Current Hours - 2007" and concerns with safety and staff efficiency /utilization, and the fact the Parks Department are not having the boat rentals in the evening as originally expected. He also presented the "Proposed Hour Changes for 2008 ". Staff considered the hours at Troy Beach (along St. Croix River), and the other parks which staff members work at, so they would not have to arrive back at Homestead Parkland when the gates are closed and no employees are there. Vice Chair Burri conducted the meeting after Chair Raymond left meeting at 1:45 p.m. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Burri, to approve the proposed new park hours and share the park hour information with Donna Seim - Friends of Perch Lake. Carried. DVD — Bike loop St. Croix River Crossing Committee decided to view the animated loop crossing bike trail around the St. Croix River bridge at their February meeting. Vice Chair Burri adjourned meeting at 1:52 p.m. Gene Ruetz Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary