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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 03-04-08 NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE March 4, 2008 —10:40 a.m. Agricultural Service & Education Center 19608 th Avenue, Baldwin, WI CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING — April 1, 2008 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Agency reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Wildlife Damage - 2007 claim —Keith Frye Subdivision report Vouchers OLD BUSINESS: Staff reports PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Bills /vouchers Courtesy dock bids — Pine Lake Resolution — Bike & Pedestrian Trail Plan Resolution — Park Improvement Grant - 2009 OLD BUSINESS: Bicycle /pedestrian trail plan - Public hearing comments DVD - Bike loop St. Croix River Crossing (if time permits) ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURN SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: February 21, 2008 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 March 4, 2008 Members Present: Lois Burri, Ken Graf, Sharon Norton- Bauman, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Parks Operations Manager -Dave Larson, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Bob Hendrickson -FSA, Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS Chair Raymond called the meeting to order at 11:05 a.m. Action on Previous Minutes: Motion by Ruetz, seconded by Peavey, to approve the January 31, February 5, and February 13, 2008 meeting minutes. Carried. Adoption of Agenda: Ruetz made motion to adopt the agenda, seconded by Peavey. Carried. Date of Next Meeting: April 1, 2008 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Bob Hendrickson -County Executive Director reported: • As of this date, there has been no movement to pass the New Farm Bill. • All DCP (Direct & Cyclical) payments are up to date. Letters are being sent to some of those people who extended their CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) during the last REX (Re- enrollment/Extension) sign up informing them that they have certain provisions that they must follow to get their CRP land into compliance. Letters are also being sent to all CRP participants that need to destroy their current food plots and reseed them for 2008, as a reminder. • The New SAFE (CRP) program has been approved. • We have about 80 commodity loans so far this year. • Chairman of the COC (County Office Committee) for FSA this year is Ken Graf, Vice Chairman -John Schachtner, Member -Ed Sontag. We are still taking sign ups for the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and the Crop Disaster Program (CDP). • Sign ups for the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and the Crop Disaster Program (CDP) are still being taken. Currently we have paid out $2,600,000.00 in CDP payments and well over $100,000.00 in LCP payments. Between the two, we probably have about 350 sign ups so far. The producer needs crop insurance to get a payment. They can also apply for the whole year of 2007. All producers can apply for 2005, 2006 or 2007, which ever is the greatest loss. For those producers that already got paid for either 2005 or 2006 but 2007 was a greater loss, they can re -apply and get paid the balance for 2007. • The Dairy Disaster Assistance Program (DDAP -II) is still on hold at this point. • In January permission was given to hire a full -time program technician (PT). The person hired is Kelly Gullixson. Laurie Tietz informed me that she will leave FSA and take a job with Rural Development. Another PT will be hired soon. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS) Steve Pernsteiner- District Conservationist reported: • Budget for NRCS is still tight as there is no Farm Bill. • St. Croix had one application for the Wildlife Incentive Program (WHIP) which just recently ended. Statewide the signup was very popular. • Staff is busy processing Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) payments. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR) No report. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported that he will be attending a Board of Directors meeting on March 5. WEST CENTRAL AREA Raymond reported on the February 14 meeting held at Dunn County Ag Center. The main topic of discussion was the Great Lakes Compact. Our representative on the WLWCA state board was instructed by us that we want WLWCA to take on the preservation of not only the quality, but also the quantity, of water in the state as a major priority. A plaque was presented to Jim Forster, Dunn County - County Conservationist, who is retiring after 34 years of service. Clark County will be hosting the summer Conservation Tour in June. Burn (excused) left meeting. Committee took a break 11:30 -11:40 a.m. PARKS DEPARTMENT Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Parks Operations Manager -Dave Larson, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Marion Weber -Town of Troy; Jim Weber -River Valley Trails; Dave Fodroczi - Planning & Zoning Director; Tim Ramberg- Highway Commissioner; Brian Hurtgen- Highway Committee OLD BUSINESS Bike & Pedestrian Trail Plan Heise summarized the status of the plan. A public hearing was held on January 31. Written comments were accepted until February 15. We received 4 different comments (general, one from town of New Richmond). We received written comments from Planning & Zoning, Highway, and Parks Department. The amended plan was sent out to LWCC with tracked changes in the documents that incorporated many of the oral or written comments received. One of the main points of discussion that was received as comments was, should the plan be segmented into two different plans, Bicycle Recreation Plan and a Bicycle Transportation Plan, or combined and integrated into one plan? Can everything be included in one plan? Regional Planning built the plan by using the highway transportation plan as a format and built the document from their template. The goals for both Parks and Highway are nearly identical. The comments from Tim Ramberg- Highway Commissioner indicated that we should have two different plans. Transportation already has a plan. Fodroczi commented that he cannot understand why we can't have one county plan deal with bicycle and pedestrian systems and facilities that can accommodate multiple means /issues. Why do we want separate plans? We need a transportation element that we have to work on in the County Comprehensive Plan, which will be discussed at committee levels and final approval by County Board. This would result in essentially three separate plans dealing with multiple modes of transportation. We need a unified bike and pedestrian plan to begin with, one plan that meets all objectives. Ramberg suggested that we refer to a page number in the proposed bicycle plan for the transportation plan. Fodroczi commented that cities and villages are separate jurisdictions for purposes of recreation and transportation. For the unincorporated areas of the county, we should have one component covering both recreation and transportation. Raymond stated that we have three choices: (1) Take to County Board as is, (2) Modification that references in the proper place the "Transportation Plan ", (3) Continue discussion to see if more has to be done. Marion Weber -Town of Troy commented that we should eliminate the third option because we had too much citizen involvement to trash it. That would rule out one of the three options. Peavey suggested the wording of the plan be slightly modified to incorporate the transportation plan into the Bike /Pedestrian Plan. Heise stated that there would be uniformity in the plan by adding it as a "chapter ". Fodroczi wondered if there are differences and what they are. Discussion. Ruetz made motion, seconded by Peavey, to include St. Croix County's transportation plan in the bicycle /pedestrian plan by reference and to include the modifications to the map as suggested by Ramberg - Highway Commissioner. Carried. Heise suggested that Ramberg work with Ann Schell - Regional Planning on the modified transportation map. Peavey made motion, seconded by Norton- Bauman, to approve the Bicycle /Pedestrian Trail plan with the changes and recommend taking to the County Board on March 18. Carried. LWCC took a break 12:50 -12:56 p.m. LAND & WATER CONSERVATION Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Land Specialist -Tammy Wittmer, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise stated staff had their first meeting with the Planning Department staff to update our animal waste ordinance. LWCD has spent considerable time on ordinance amendment. This is work in progress and staff will keep the committee informed as we move forward. Reported that he received a report on rating the health of the 72 Wisconsin counties done by the University of Wisconsin. St. Croix County ranks 58th out of 72 counties under the environmental portion (air and water quality). Part of that is due to high radon and high nitrates in the drinking water. Other factors were also included. Wildlife Damaee 2007 claim — Keith Frye Heise reported that Cindy Blonk recommended that the claim should be paid for Keith Frye. Harvey Halvorsen -DNR had submitted proof that enough deer were killed to pay the claim. Graf made motion, seconded by Peavey, that Raymond sign the document for payment of the claim to Keith Frye. Carried. Subdivision report Tammy Wittmer provided information regarding an upcoming training session to be held in April. This training provides an opportunity for building inspectors and agency staff to get certified through the Department of Commerce as a Soil Erosion Inspector. The course is rarely offered and is necessary for those who inspect and approve erosion control related to 1 -2 family dwellings. It was also discussed for staff to evaluate the county developing a separate storm water and erosion control ordinance in order to address storm water and erosion control consistently throughout the county. Tammy will research other counties' ordinances. She will provide a summary at the May meeting. Vouchers Reviewed vouchers. Graf made motion, seconded by Peavey, to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the March LWCD voucher list (total $18,142.69). Carried. OLD BUSINESS None. PARKS DEPARTMENT Members Present: Sharon Norton - Bauman, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: Lois Burri Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Operations Manager -Dave Larson, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: None NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: • Staff will be working on 14 fish cribs at Glen Hills Park on Wednesday. • Due to lack of time, the DVD (Bike Loop St. Croix River Crossing) will be viewed in April. • On March 27 (5:00 -7:00 pm) an informational meeting on the Stillwater lift bridge will be held at the Houlton Elementary School. Courtesy dock bids — Pine Lake Larson presented the two bids received for the Pine Lake courtesy dock. Committee discussion. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Norton - Bauman, to accept the ShoreMaster bid in the amount of $10,000.00. Carried. Resolution - Park Improvement Grant 2009 Heise presented the resolution. Norton - Bauman made motion, seconded by Peavey, to approve the 2009 Park Improvement Grant resolution and move this to the County Board on March 18. Carried. Resolution to Approve Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan Heise presented the resolution. Peavey made motion, seconded by Ruetz, to approve the resolution and move this to the County Board on March 18. BillsNouchers The March bills list for Parks was presented. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Ruetz, to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the voucher list (Snowmobile accounts total $417.47, Park accounts total $4,907.35). Carried. Chair Raymond adjourned meeting at 1:39 p.m. Gene Ruetz Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary