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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 05-06-08 a' NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE May 6, 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 — June 3, 2008 COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE REPS REORGANIZATION: RC &D, West Central Area, Kinnickinnic CAC, EQIP Local Work Group, Tri- County Wildlife Damage Agency reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Land & Water Resource Management Plan 2008 Soil & Water Resource Management (SWRM) Grant Discontinuing 125 Lane — Town of St. Joseph Glen Hills dam inspections Vouchers OLD BUSINESS: Staff reports PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Bills /vouchers OLD BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURN SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: April 23, 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 May 6, 2008 Members Present: Ken Graf, Linda Luckey, Buzz Marzolf, Bill Peavey, Dan Raebel, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise; Land Specialists -Kyle Kulow, Steve Olson, Tammy Wittmer; Jonna Fedie - Program Assistant; Technicians -Jeff Lueck, Ryan Schaefer; I & E Specialist - Aleisha Miller; Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Bob Hendrickson -FSA, Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS, Roger Rebholz -County Board Chair, Chuck Whiting - Administrative Coordinator Ruetz called the meeting to order at 11:05 a.m. Action on Previous Minutes: Motion by Peavey, seconded by Graf, to approve the April 1, 2008 meeting minutes. Carried. Adoption of Agenda: Motion by Graf, seconded by Peavey, to adopt the agenda. Carried. Date of next meeting: June 3, 2008 COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION Marzolf made motion, seconded by Raebel, that the slate of officers ( Ruetz- Chairman, Peavey -Vice Chairman, Marzolf- Secretary) approved by the Ag & Extension Committee also apply to the Land & Water Conservation Committee. Carried. LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT LWCD staff introduced themselves to the committee and gave summaries of their job responsibilities. COMMITTEE REPS REORGANIZATION Representatives appointed were: RC &D — Gene Ruetz, West Central Area — Gene Ruetz, Kinnickinnic CAC — Linda Luckey, EQIP Local Work Group — Bill Peavey, Tri -County Wildlife Damage — Dan Raebel. County Board Chair - Rebholz will be requesting quarterly (written) reports from the representatives on the Rehab. Districts (Willow River — Buzz Marzolf, Bass Lake — Linda Luckey). FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Bob Hendrickson -County Executive Director reported: • The Farm Bill has been extended to May 16 U '. • There will be an informational meeting on June 16` for the CRP SAFE (Conservation Reserve Program — State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement) in New Richmond. • The SAFE (CRP) program started on May lst. About 2,500 acres is allocated for our area. Eligible lands are located west of Hwy 63 and two or three townships in southern Polk County. Land for SAFE must have been cropped four out of the six years from 1996 through 2001. It must be located within the designated area (west of Hwy 63) and it does not need to be highly erodible for enrollment. Producers must have owned the land for at least 12 months before sign up. There is a one -time Signing Incentive Payment of $100.00 per acre after the 30 days after the contract is approved. FSA will use the average of the top 3 soils to determine the Annual Rental Rate. Annual payments will be made once a year after October I". Cost Shares will be paid at the rate of 50% of what it cost to establish the cover. There will also be a Practice Incentive Payment of 40% of the total cost for establishing the practice after the practice is installed. At this point we already have 3 producers interested in the SAFE program. • 2007 commodity loans are slow also. We would expect a few more before the end of May. • Sign ups are still being taken for the Livestock Compensation Program (LCP) and the Crop Disaster Program (CDP). We have currently paid out over $2,749,894 in CDP payments and well over $140,889 in LCP payments • Between the two programs we have about 600 plus sign ups so far. • Signups for the Dairy Disaster Assistance Program (DDAP -III) ended on May 5. We ended up with 38 applications. • Mark Brixen has transferred to Rice County, MN after this week. There is an ad in the paper to hire another person. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (MRCS) Steve Pernsteiner - District Conservationist handed out a brochure on NRCS programs. Steve gave an overview of NRCS function in St. Croix County. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR) No report. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported: • River Country is working with Sacred Heart Hospital -Eau Claire on a "buy local foods program." The hospital is willing to spend $300,000 this year for food produced locally. They are trying to work together to get enough producers to produce what they want. They applied for a $40,000 grant. • Funds are running out for the grazing program. WEST CENTRAL AREA Heise reported that Clark County will host the Summer Conservation Tour on June 26 (Thursday). Election of officers will be held during the business meeting. All committee members are invited to attend. Heise presented information on the "Land Conservation Committee Supervisor Training" which is scheduled for Hayward on June 26 (conflicts with the summer tour in Clark County). He is attempting to have training scheduled near St. Croix County. NEW BUSINESS Director's report • We have been working with the Planning office on updating our animal waste ordinance. A draft copy should be completed within the next couple of months. • Willow River project — There will be two meetings in May, one being a technical committee meeting where we will begin a planning initiative (TMDL — Total Maximum Daily Load being delivered to the St. Croix River). Our planning team to administer this planning effort is from the St. Croix Watershed Research station in Minnesota, the Marine on the St. Croix. The technical meeting will be held at the Ag Center on May 15, 9:00 -12:00 noon. The second meeting will be held at the Government Center in Hudson, lower community room, on May 29, 9:00 -12:00 noon. It will be a broader perspective of stakeholders, getting folks in communities together as part of the planning iniative. Once the plan is completed, the goal is to try to get dollars from EPA (Federal program) or other sources to implement the program. • 2009 budget - Next month the committee will need to discuss capital outlay plans and begin prioritizing department budgets. Land & Water Resource Mann ement Plan Heise stated that this plan is a guideline for our department. It is on a 5 -year cycle and it has to be updated by the end of this year. 2008 Soil & Water Resource Management (SWRM) Grant Heise presented the contract from DATCP which is for staffing dollars (Kulow, Miller, and some for Schaefer) and cost share dollars (not watershed). Peavey made motion, seconded by Graf, to approve Chair Ruetz's signature on the 2008 SWRM grant contract. Carried. Discontinuing 125"' Lane — Town of St Joseph Heise presented the proposal by the Town of St. Joseph to discontinue 125` Lane. The staff has no objection to the proposal. _Glen Hills dam inspections Heise stated that in the past, staff and LWCC members made an annual inspection of the 10 Glen Hills floodwater control dams. The Parks Department staff does an exceptional job of maintaining the woody vegetation and mowing the embankments. Because of the continual maintenance effort, the issues out on the dams have become less each and every year. Ruetz suggested that the committee discontinue the committee inspection of these structures and have the staff provide an oral report on each structure at the June meeting. Vouchers Reviewed vouchers. Peavey made motion, seconded by Graf, to approve Chair Ruetz's signature on the May LWCD voucher list (total $31,223.33). Carried. PARKS DEPARTMENT Members Present: Linda Luckey, Buzz Marzolf, Bill Peavey, Dan Raebel, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Parks Operations Manager -Dave Larson, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier, Glen Hills Park - Joe Grant, Merwyn Neibacher Others Present: Roger Rebholz- County Board Chairman, Chuck Whiting- Administrative Coordinator Parks staff introduced themselves and gave a brief overview of their job responsibilities. Present were Dave Larson, Operations Manager; Joe Grant, Glen Hills Site Manager; and Merwyn Neibacher, Maintenance Manager. New Committee members were introduced to park staff. NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: • County parks are officially opened. • After all of the seasonal staff had been hired, one person (3 months) at Glen Hills and also one person (6 months) at Homestead have resigned The two positions will be refilled. • Homestead Parklands — The Hudson Scuba Club will be doing an Eurasian Milfoil weed pull on May 17, rain date May 18. Weed pulls will be made in May, June, and early in July. • June 14 & 15 — Free entrance into County parks. It is scheduled annually on the second weekend in June. Larson updated the Committee on the history of the Pine Lake Boat Landing project and presented a brief overview of the May 5"' meeting with Xcel Energy representatives. Dialogue to continue with Xcel Energy. No decision has been reached. Discussion. Vouchers The May bills list for Parks was presented. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Marzolf, to approve Chair Ruetz's signature on the voucher list (Snowmobile accounts total $3,568.14, Park accounts total $15,030.14). Carried. Chair Ruetz adjourned meeting at 12:50 p.m. Buzz Marzolf Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary