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Home My WebLink AboutExt Ag Committee - Resource & ED Committee 10-07-97ST0 CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Robert M. Boche, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Vern Dull, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: DATE: October 7, Extension Ag Committee/Resource & Education Committee 1997 TIME: 12:30 p.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES ACTION ON VOUCHERS UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT UW-Extension Budget Update St. Croix County Budget Ag Center Update UW-Extension District Resource Management Planning AG AGENT'S REPORT - Crop Research Plots Fall/Winter Meetings Farm Visits PLANNING DEPARTMENT'S REPORT Clean Sweep Report 1997 Local Grant Fund Distribution 1998 Recycling Grant Application Recycling Legislation Update NEW BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: 4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT REPORT County Fair Exhibit Report St. Croix County 4-H Leader's Banquet Promotional Efforts For 4-H RESOURCE AGENT'S REPORT Ag Clean Sweep - Business Management Counseling Business Management Workshops Tax Impact of Development Research ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Kim Reaman DATE: September 24, 1997 COPIES TO: County Board Office County Clerk News Media/Notice Board Committee Members Ag & Extension/Resource & Education/Planning Committee October 10, 1997 Ag Center, Baldwin Convened: I= p.m. Adjourned: 3:00 p.m. Present: Vern Dull, Leon Berenschot, Ronald Raymond, Chris Bethke, Dave Fodroczi, Lee Milligan, Jim Janke, Kim Reaman . Absent and excused: Art Jensen The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. Date of next meeting was set for November 41 1997 at 12:30 p.m. Chris Bethke moved that the agenda be adopted as presented. Leon Berenschot seconded the motion. Motion carried. Leon moved that the previous meeting's minutes be approved. Ron seconded the motion. IVlotion carried. Leon moved that the vouchers be approved. Chris seconded the motion. Motion carried. Administrative Report State Budget: Legislature passed the state budget this week and the Governor is expected to sign it next week. Over half of the proposed cut to the UW-Extension budget was restored. There will still be a permanent base cut of $1 million. UW-Extension is making up the shortfall by keeping positions open longer. UW-Extension District Resource Management Planning: Reaman reported on the efforts by UW-Extension to consider ways county faculty may work more effectively across program areas and county lines on issues that affect citizens in multiple counties. The Dean of UW-Extension wants more flexibility with salary funds which has led to the need to consider alternative staffing plans. The Resource Management Plans will be developed by each district over the next couple A months and presented at the District and State Wisconsin Association County Extension Committee meetings this spring. St. Croix Count get: The budget was accepted as presented. Planning Department's Report Fodroczi reviewed a list of September vouchers totalling $5,755.60. Raymond moved that the vouchers be approved as presented. Berenschot seconded the motion. Motion carried. Clean Sweep Report: Fodroczi reported on the results of the Clean Sweep Program held on Saturday, September 20th at sites in New Richmond and the Town of Hudson. About 17,000 pounds of hazardous waste were collected from 303 households, 22 farms, and 7 businesses. Estimated disposal fees for the program are $26,000+. About 250 appliances were also collected by J.R. Appliance as part of the concurrent appliance roundup. Fodroczi noted that he volunteered to the Finance Committee to reduce the proposed 1998 Household Hazardous Waste budget by $5,000 given the 1997 expenses. -1- 1997 Local Grant Fund Distribution: Fodroczi reported that the County's preliminary 1997 grant award was $260, 665.12. The County had received 75 % of this amount through July of this year. The remaining 25 % is dependent upon final costs documented in the final report to be completed next year. Fodroczi indicated that increased local demand on the State Recycling Fund might mean that grant recipients will not receive full funding for 1997. He recommended a distribution of funds to local governments at 60 % of projected 1997 expenses with the balance to be paid according to final costs and revenues. Bethke made a motion to approve Fodroczi's recommendation as the Committee's policy for distributing 1997 local recycling funds. The motion was seconded by Berenschot. Motion carried. 1998 Reeling Grant Application: Fodroczi reported that the 1998 Recycling Grant Application was submitted to the DNR by the October lst deadline. The application requests funding for $307,540 of eligible recycling expenses, including funds for the Tire Roundup and staffing through the contract with the Western Wisconsin Recycling Association. Recycling_ Legislation Update: Fodroczi summarized provisions in tl�e 1997-99 budget bill affecting the Recycling Program. Grant funding is extended under the current provisions for one more year through the year 2004 with needed revenues to be determined. Western Wisconsin Rec�ng Association Representative: Fodroczi explained the need to designate a representative to the Western Wisconsin Recycling Association as part of our annual membership. Bethke volunteered to be the County's representative with Berenschot to serve as an alternate. Fodroczi will accompany Bethke to the WWRA Annual Meeting on November 3, 1997. 4-H Youth Development Report County Fair Exhibit Report: Reports for the 1997 County Fair have been finalized. Junior Fair exhibits were up by 390 from last year. As a result, premiums paid out were higher than last year also. St. Croix County 4-H Leaders' Banquet: Over 100 registrations have been received for the banquet. Club awards will be presented for Community Service, Health/Safety and Environmental Education, Recreation and Softball. Member awards will be presented for club and county leadership contribution. Adult 4-1-1 leaders will also be recognized for years of service. Chris Bethke volunteered to help Reaman present the 4-1-1 leader awards. Promotional Efforts for 4-H: Several promotional efforts will happen this fall as the new 4-H year begins. Twelve 43, clubs have window displays promoting 4-H throughout the county. Clubs have also made presentations and/or distributed materials at North Hudson Elementary Open House, St. Croix Central and Baldwin/Woodville. Interviews for three feature stories were conducted with a Vi Roquette (4-H Leader), Terry and Bev Mitchell (4-H family) and Melissa John (4-1-1 member). These feature stories will be mailed to each local paper, one a month, to promote 4-1-1 and let people know how and when to join 4-1-1. New Age Guidelines: Enrollment eligibility has been extended to first graders beginning this fall. Reaman anticipates an increase in membership as a result. Leader training will be provided this winter so that club leaders are properly trained and prepared to integrate these younger members into their club so that it is a positive experience for members and leaders. -2- Agriculture Agent's Report Milligan harvested the corn silage plot at Doornink's farm. Yields look very good. Data will be incorporated into the UWEX state database. Data will be shared at winter meetings. Four dairy producers have contacted Milligan about expanding their herds to 150 to 500 cows. Milligan has been working with them on their initial plans. Milligan worked at the recent Ag Clean Sweep. Farm visits included farm management issues, dairy nutrition, dairy and swine housing, corn and alfalfa production issues. Milligan is in the planning process of this winter's educational activities. There will be dairy crop and farm management meetings in December, January, February, and March. Resource Agent's Report Janke provided data to the committee on the Agricultural Clean Sweep portion of the hazardous waste collection held on September 20. Two-thousand-tivvo-hundred pounds of agricultural chemicals were collected from 22 participants, which compares to 29 participants in 1996. The average amount of material per participant has remained constant in all the collections. Business management counseling sessions were held in the county government center on September 4 and September 30. Eight businesses participated. Two group workshops were held in Hudson. The first was on how to write a business plan. The second was on financing alternatives for businesses. Two strategic planning sessions have been held on New Richmond in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce. The third session is scheduled for October 13. Janke presented an overview of research that he has been conducting to examine the fiscal impact of non-residential development on local government taxes. The analysis indicates that there is no statistical relationship between the amount of commercial/industrial tax base and the per capita property tax levy in the municipalities of six western Wisconsin counties. Conventional wisdom is that higher proportions of commercial/industrial tax base promotes lower property tax rates. Janke concluded that this does not appear to be the case in the 59 communities in the research. Leon moved to adjourn. Ron seconded the motion. Motion carried. Submitted by, Secretary cz