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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 08-01-06 NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE August 1, 2006 —10:40 a.m. Agricultural Service & Education Center 1960 8th Avenue, Baldwin, WI CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's Report Bills /vouchers 2007 Budget OLD BUSINESS: Review Capital Outlay Plan LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Agency reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Subdivision update Vouchers Revised job descriptions - Technician - Specialist Resolution — Lake Planning Grant — Sediment/Nutrient Conference 2007 Budget • Oak Ridge property • Ground water inset model - update OLD BUSINESS: Sportsmen's Alliance — County Farm Staff reports Priority Watershed Projects ADJOURN SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: July 19, 2006; amended July 25, 2006 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS (Items may be taken in different order) "Additions /Changes /Corrections UNOFFICAL Convened: 11:07 a.m. Recessed: 11:50 a.m. Reconvened: 12:59 p.m. Adjourned: 3:06 p.m. ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI August 1, 2006 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, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Bill Cranmer - County Board Supervisor -Dist. 22 Adoption of Agenda: Peavey made motion to adopt the agenda, seconded by Norton - Bauman. Carried. Action on Previous Minutes: Motion by Burri, seconded by Ruetz, to approve the June 15 (Conservation tour) and July 6, 2006 meeting minutes as presented. Carried. Date of Next Meeting: August 23, 2006 (2007 Budget review) September 5, 2006 PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: • Park Map — Glen Hills Site Map — Heise presented map to committee. Ryan Schaefer -LWCD, along with Dave Larson, created this map similar to the Homestead Parklands map. They are working with J & M Printing on the map format and folding. • Glen Hills Fishing Pier — Park staff has received permits from Wisconsin DNR on the proposed amendments to the Glen Hills fishing pier. Staff received notice from the Zoning Department that our hearing date for Board of Adjustment (B.O.A.) has been extended to August 24` If we get approval from B.O.A., many of our seasonal staff will be gone after Labor Day, which will make this project more difficult with limited staff. • Pine Lake Park - Staff has received the necessary permits from the Wisconsin DNR for the Pine Lake boat landing improvements. The grant application has been submitted to the Wisconsin DNR. • Letter — Friends of Perch Lake — Heise explained that he has not received a reply on the response letter sent to Donna Seim, president of Friends of Perch Lake, regarding additional parking options and the concept of reserving the shelter for educational activities. • Squaw Lake Boat Landing - Staff has made an assessment and began the maintenance work at the Squaw Lake boat landing. The boat dock has been installed in the lake. This boat landing needs attention on a regular basis. • Cedar Bay Grant — St. Croix County Parks Department sponsored a grant for the Star Prairie Land Preservation Trust on a small parcel of land that they own on the south part of Cedar Lake. It will be a parking lot for viewing area and for winter access. Staff received a letter from the Wisconsin DNR informing us that the grant application has received tentative approval. Troy Beach Guard Rail — Larson reported that he has worked with the County Procurement officer on "Requests for Bid ". Three bids were received and reviewed. Mattison Contractors was the low bidder at $7,114.00 and we are working on signing a contract with them. Revenues - Heise handed out the "Park User Fees Report" showing 2005 — year -end, 2006 to date (deposits thru July 27), and the 2006 estimated revenues for each park. All parks are doing very well and have had a great amount of activity throughout the summer. Bass Lake — Larson reported that since the July meeting, Highway Department extended the ramp another 16 feet. The lake water level continues to go down. 2007 Budget — Heise stated that budget database has been opened for staff to input data and budget entries. Administration Department does not know when they will have all the personnel calculations and health care costs available for budget review. The committees are to review the operation costs of each department. BillsNouchers The August bills list was presented. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Burri, to approve the Parks account bills ($60,657.70). Carried. OLD BUSINESS Review Capital Outlay Plan - Heise handed out a revised plan. Based on the fact that some of the cost estimates for proposed projects have increased, some of the other projects have been eliminated in the maintenance section of the capital outlay plan. Replace Boat landing and relocate — Pine Lake - $22,000 — Will be in the budget as grant pending. Consultant fees — Bicycle plan $10,000 — Request for proposal is nearly complete. Expenses will come out of park dedication fees that we have left in the Parks Department. Black top /chip sealing — Glen Hills Park — day use area mill section to beach and other loops - $20,000. Other items were also reviewed and discussed. Miscellaneous Bill Cranmer - County Board Supervisor -Dist. 22 commented on the great job done on developing the Homestead Parklands at Perch Lake. Heise reported that the Hudson scuba divers came to Perch Lake again to do a weed (milfoil) pulling around the beach area. Two truckloads were taken out. The beach has greatly improved. We may consider having them clean out weeds at Glen Lake. Recessed: 11:50 a.m. Reconvened: 12:59 p.m. LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Members Present: Lois Burri, Jim Cody, Sharon Norton- Bauman, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Land Specialist -Kyle Kulow, County Technician -Jeff Lueck, Administrative Assistant - Arlene Lier Others Present: Pam Quinn - Planning & Zoning, Bob Hendrickson -FSA, Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS, Pat Collins - DNR, Bill Cranmer - County Board Supervisor -Dist. 22 FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Robert Hendrickson - County Executive Director reported: • Kevin Cooley completed the 2007 REX (Re- enrollment/Extension) CRP compliance checks. After re- checking a few for 2007, he will start on the 2008 -2010. • We had approximately 1,800 contracts for DCP (Direct and Cyclical Program) by June 1 The cost is $100.00 per contract to late file. • Crop reporting is complete. Late file fees are $25.00 per farm and $10.00 per field. All fields must be reported. • The interest rate for August Commodity Loans is 6.25 and facility loans are 5.125. • LDP (Loan Deficiency Payments) rates today are .07 for corn and .14 for barley, none for soybeans. • MILCX (Milk Income Loss Contract Program) payment rates known to date are: Oct. 5th - .00, Nov. 5 - .00, Dec. 5 -.04 cents, Jan. 5 cents, Feb. 5 .10 cents, March 6 -.4080 cents, and April O -.8398 cents. May is .9248, June is .9996, July is .7990, and August is .9480. • The June MILCX payments should go out today or tomorrow. • Drought conditions: We do not have any "drought programs" except the Managed Haying and Grazing of CRP. Managed Haying and Grazing of CRP — landowners can hay or graze CRP lands ONCE every three years with a 25% reduction of their annual CRP payment on the acres you graze. The County Committee has decided to ask for Emergency Haying and Grazing of CRP. • FSA - County Committee Elections are open. Jim Cody is finishing out his last term now. The Towns that we need nominations are from Star Prairie, Stanton, Cylon, Forest, Richmond, Erin Prairie, Emerald and Glenwood. August 0 is the last day to file nomination forms at our office. The election will take place the first week of December and the new person will take office in January. Two nomination forms have been received so far. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (MRCS) Steve Pernsteiner- District Conservationist reported: He will be on a 4 -week detail to Louisiana to help with hurricane clean up project with NRCS. Jay Custer will serve as acting DC. NRCS will be advertising for a part-time administrative assistant to help with paper work. NRCS is busy making EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentive Program) and WHIP (Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program) payments. The process has changed as all vouchers are now sent to Madison State office. The 2007 EQIP program will use all flat rates for practices. This will simplify billing process and will help contain costs. The 2006 Conservation Reserve plans for new applications are just about completed and we will be starting on the CRP applicants for re- enrolling. We had several requests for haying and grazing on CRP land due to the drought. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR) Pat Collins -Hydro geologist reported: Mark Kubler— Forestry supervisor — Timber (1600 cords) harvest was done at county forests. Most of it was in Kinnikinnic Forest; some was at Glen Hills and also Pine Lake. Harvey Halvorsen — Wildlife Biologist - • St. Croix and Pierce counties are designated for CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) sampling this year. They are paying $7.50 per deer head. They are looking into alternate locations as well as the registration stations. • The Governor has signed the drought declaration, which allows for irrigating out of rivers and streams. We have not had any requests from landowners yet. This would go through the Water Regulations & Zoning people. • A number of birds from St. Croix County were sent in and two crows have tested positive for West Nile virus. • With the water level so low, Harvey had crews do repair work on some water control structures in the Cylon Marsh. • One of his goals is land acquisition adjacent to existing state lands. There is no money available at this time so he is not pursuing that at this time. • They have been doing brood counts. There has been a good hatch of pheasants, turkeys, geese, and ducks. Looks like bumper year this coming fall. Ronda Helgeson- Service Center Manager — August 1" is the license deadline for fall turkey, sharp -tail grouse, bobcat, otter and fisher. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported that there is a meeting scheduled at Altoona on Thursday, August 3. RC &D has financial problems. WEST CENTRAL AREA Chair Raymond reported that the next business meeting would be held on August 17 at the Dunn County Ag Center in Menomonie. Al Carothers (Buffalo County) will serve on the WLWCA Board. Possibly he can give a report if he attended the scheduled meeting on July 17 -18. NEW BUSINESS Subdivision Update Pam Quinn (Planning & Zoning) updated the LWCC. Discussed the summary report of subdivision activity during the month of July. She and Jeff will be conducting more subdivision inspections since it rained recently. Vouchers Reviewed vouchers. Norton- Bauman made motion, seconded by Cody, to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the August LWCD voucher list in the total amount of $3,981.32. Carried. Revised Job Descriptions — Technician, Specialist Heise explained the Springstead -SAFE system and the reason for amending job descriptions. He presented two department job descriptions (Technician & Specialist positions) that had been amended and discussed with Scott Guinter (Human Resource Manager). The amendments were reviewed by the committee for their approval. Bum made motion to approve the two job descriptions (Technician & Specialist) with amendments, seconded by Peavey. Carried. Resolution — Lake Planning Grant — Sediment/Nutrient Conference Heise presented the resolution for a Lake Planning Grant ($3,000.00) from the Wisconsin DNR to assist in expenditures to offset the 8`" Annual St. Croix Basin — Sediment and Nutrient Conference. Similar grant applications have been applied for annually to assist in the effort. Norton- Bauman made motion to approve grant application for presenting to County Board on August 15, seconded by Ruetz. Carried. Oak Ridge property Finance Committee gave the LWCC direction to begin divesting county property as proposed in the LWCC response to the County property inventory. The properties in discussion are both the Oak Ridge parcel (Section 9- Stanton) and the Cylon Marsh parcel (town of Cylon). We have discussed these properties with the Wisconsin DNR and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. LWCD received a letter of interest from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Heise will continue to talk with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and WDNR. Groundwater inset model — update Heise reported that St. Croix County, as well as Polk and Pierce County, have been working with the USGS on a Tri- County Ground Water model. As part of that model, each county was requested to determine where they wish to target an inset model. Staff has chosen a site around the Village of Roberts /Twin Lakes /Town of Warren, because that area has received considerable attention over the past several years and that we have studies and data available for the USGS to use. A meeting was held on July 20 with the Towns of Warren and Hammond, Villages of Roberts and Hammond to discuss the proposed site or offer other suggestions or areas of study. The consensus that evening was that the proposed site that was chosen by staff was a logical choice and those in attendance supported the inset model location. 2007 BudEet — Heise stated that budget database has been opened for staff to input data and budget entries. Administration Department does not know when they will have all the personnel calculations and health care costs available for budget review. The Committees are to review the operation costs of each department. OLD BUSINESS Sportsmen's Alliance — County Farm Kulow reported: The Alliance has come up with a preliminary goose hunt for the County lands near the old incinerator site. A copy of the proposal, if approved by the Health and Human Services Committee, will be put on the Willow River Rod and Gun Club internet site, in addition to the County's web site. The proposal will include one zone only and Alliance members will sign the property accordingly at the direction of our County's risk manager. The general public will apply to hunt these lands by filling out a permit for a particular time period to include the State's early goose hunt. Alliance members will handle the permit process and update DNR staff on the plans for this hunt. Priority Watersheds Kulow reported: Kinnickinnic — The grade stabilization project near the River Falls golf course is slated to begin within the week. The City of River Falls has decided on a contractor and he has been notified he can start at any time. The project should take approximately two weeks. August 29"' will be our next scheduled Steering Committee meeting and will be held at the R.D.I. building on the campus of U.W.R.F. Dale Braun will use much of the time to discuss the University's storm water master plan. St. Croix Lakes — The Bass Lake shore land restoration on the Englehart/Wilson property has begun. Brook Excavating out of Spring Valley is doing the work. Reinforced silt fence has been installed and the initial road excavation work has begun. At present, we are finding much more road fill material beneath the existing asphalt. The quantity is much more than we had originally estimated. The work should carry us into early next week and seeding and mulching should be completed by mid week. Chair Raymond adjourned the meeting at 3:06 p.m. Gene Ruetz Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary