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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 02-01-05 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 1 of 10 c St. Croix MMMN � f AGENDA -1 AND AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE ',s"T CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING i' TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Ron Raymond, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Land & Water Conservation i L ocal G cr�eer ti rar DATE: February 1, 2005 � TIME: 10:4o a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL County Map ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: February 2, 2005 (Public hearing) ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's Report Bills /vouchers Glen Hills Campground usage summary Phone survey results Bid opening — Lawn mowers UNFINISHED BUSINESS: http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 2 of 10 Snowmobile ordinance Site Manager position — Homestead Parklands Timber sale bid opening LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Agency Reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Subdivision Review —1:oo p.m. 2004 Wildlife Damage claims — Cindy Blonk Lake Planning Grant — Resolution - Squaw Lake Watershed Vouchers UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Draft MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) - DNR Administering NR- Farmland Preservation Program — Soil & Water Conservation Standards - Public hearing — February 2 Staff Reports Information & Education report Priority Watershed Projects ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: January 20, 2005; amended January 24, 2005 http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 3 of 10 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOAR COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS /CORR ECTIONS /CHANGES MINU'rES LAND AND TATATER CONSERN'A'r[ON COMMI' `I'E , FEBRUARY 1, 2005 Members Present: Lois Burri, Gene Ruetz, Ron Raymond, Jan Zoerb Members Absent: Jim Cody, Bill Peavey (both excused) Staff Present: Bob Heise, Dave Larson, and Arlene Lier Others Present: Julie Speer — County Board Supervisor Adoption of Agenda: Ruetz made motion to adopt the agenda, seconded by Zoerb. Carried. Date of Next Meeting: February 2, 2005 (Farmland Preservation Program public hearing) Action on Previous Minutes: Motion by Raymond, seconded by Zoerb, to approve the August 25, 2004 minutes with the correction that Ruetz was present, not absent, and the January 4, 2005 meeting minutes, seconded by Zoerb. Carried. PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: We had our initial kick -off meeting with our Citizens Advisory group on January 26 at the DNR building. The Citizens' Advisory group (29 people) and 6 staff worked on our Outdoor Recreation Plan. We had a brainstorming session during the last part of the meeting. Two different questions were offered, the summary of the questions to this point was handed out. When we come back on February 23, we will let them go back into different committee groups, again offer some new ideas. Then we want to prioritize those ideas and see what things really seem to fit into the Parks Department, what are our highest and lowest priorities as a goal. Town of Hammond offered their town hall meeting room for the February 23 meeting. http: / /www.co. saint croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO2O105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 4 of 10 Short Elliott Hendrickson, Inc. (SEH, our engineering firm working on our electrical plan) is nearly finished with the bid documents and they will be working with Dave over the next month trying to get those packages complete and offered to prospective bidders. Staff expects to bring proposed bids back to the committee at the March meeting. Last month I mentioned that the renter for our cropland at Glen Hills was somewhat reluctant to pay. After another letter was sent to him, with some direction from Corporation Counsel, we got paid in full. Dave Larson reported that we will discontinue renting the 33 acres of cropland and will be restoring it to prairie. The restoration was originally planned for the 2oo6 calendar year. It was planted to soybeans last year and conditions are ideal. Larson met with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Pheasants Forever and they are willing to assist us in the restoration, both technically and financially. County's share will be about $86o, $75 budgeted. Fish & Wildlife will pay about $3,000 for seed and chemicals, and Pheasants Forever is committed to doing the site prep and planting. The conditions with working with the F &WS are that the restoration must remain in that condition for to years. A May /June planting is tentatively scheduled. Heise reported that we are working with the Finance Director on trying to take credit cards as payment to our Parks System. This is more of a customer public relations thing, providing better service to our users. We can get the equipment; we have the phone line in place. What we need to discuss is the charge for each transaction. Michelle Pietrick, Finance Director, wants to know how we want to deal with that. It may be too late to increase the park fees this year but it comes out to about 2 -3% (depending on how she negotiates) per transaction. On a $40.00 transaction (two nights) it would cost us about $i.00. We perhaps could absorb that cost this year; however I would offer another way to offset some of that is to put a donation container by the septage emptying area. Some of that money could be used to offset this cost. Michelle said we could not charge the user; we would have to blanket that across the board. We would have to raise our camping fees. Heise will discuss with Michelle on how other county departments use credit cards. Zoerb was not in favor of using the septage donation for the cost of offering credit cards. The money collected should be used for all campers. The snowmobile trails were opened for 6 days and then were closed Fishing pier — Larson reported that we are getting close to finalizing the design of the fishing pier. DNR meets quarterly to review applications. Bills . /Vouchers Bills list was presented. Motion by Burri, seconded by Ruetz, to approve the bills list for $27,997.01. Carried. Glen Hills Campground usage summary Heise presented a graph over a 3o -year period -- It tells you the number of units that used the campground on camper unit days. The graph indicates that there is a general downward trend occurring in the Glen Hills campground. We have to do something to make that turn around. Glen Hills campground is generally a week -end (Friday- Sunday) campground. http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO2Ol05.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 5 of 10 We want to increase usage and get more people to come. common theme that seems to be showing up is "awareness ". Phone survey indicated people don't know what we have. A lot of people don't know what we have in the County; this also came up in our citizen advisory committee meeting. Homestead Park, seeking donations for the Learning and Reception Center, went through the same phase. Staff offered the following suggestions: Staff is offering for this year, a letter be drafted and sent to our last campers that attended our 2004 season. Staff went back to past years 1 99 8 -1 999 and provided a list of Zoo names of campers that usually came to the park, but do not come any more. The letter will thank them for past patronage and tell them what we have done to improve the park. Staff is suggesting offering a coupon — Stay 2 nights and get the 3rd night free, not valid on holiday weekends. 2nd suggestion — Offer each year same month or same weekend each year to allow the public to use the County parks for free (essentially, one free weekend a year). This would not consider camping, boat or canoe rental. Committee discussed other sources of "awareness" using Dunn County Visitors guide, Chamber of Commerce, Welcome Wagons, Tourist Information Centers, Tourism Centers, rest stops, libraries, realtors, etc. Zoerb questioned whether this downward trend in camping is a trend in the whole industry? Raymond suggested that a "park awareness /promotion plan" be presented at the March meeting. The Park map is complete but we are waiting for more advertising in the map. Larson stated that we need it by February 15 for distribution places to get positive impact for this season. Raymond made motion to approve spending $1,000 to get the map going, seconded by Burri. Carried. Phone survey results Committee was given a handout of the results. Heise was disappointed in what we got out of the survey. We have to do a better job of making people aware of our county park properties. Bid opening — Lawn mowers Larson reported that we sent out proposals for two new lawnmowers. Each year we replace two lawn mowers. We received bids from three vendors. All had the same specs for new equipment. Zoerb made motion to accept the $6,74o.00 bid from Ellsworth Equipment for 2 new lawn mowers, seconded by Burri, carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Timber sale bid opening Heise thanked Ruetz for his work. He directed staff well. The high bid was Biewer Lumber, Prentice, WI in amount of $84,645.00. The contract has been sent out and should be returned in 3o days. Snowmobile Ordinance Heise reported that he received comments back from the Sheriff's Department. His staff is satisfied with the language. Corporation Counsel, Greg Timmerman, is now reviewing the amended ordinance. http: / /www.co. saint croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /lwcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 6 of 10 Site Manager Position — Homestead Pa Heise reported the closing date for the site manager applications is today, February i. So far, 41 applications were received and more will come in. Approximately 5 -7 applicants will be interviewed. Peavey and Ruetz are the delegates to sit in on the interview committee. Interviews will be conducted about mid February. Recessed at 12:13 p.m. LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Reconvened: 1:03 P.M. Adjourned: 2:47 p.m. Members Present: Lois Burri, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Gene Ruetz, and Jan Zoerb Members Absent: Jim Cody (excused) Staff Present: Director -Bob Heise, Land Specialist —Kyle Kulow; Watershed Technician -Tammy Wittmer; Secretary- Arlene Lier Others Present: Bob Hendrickson -FSA; Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS; Cindy Blonk- Wildlife Damage Program; Julie Speer - County Board Supervisor NEW BUSINESS 2004 Wildlife Damage claims Cindy Blonk stated that last month there was one crop (organic corn) not on the reimbursement rate list. It was for the same person that had organic soybeans. The rate is $4.75 per bushel (verbal quote). The price will change when it actually is sold. Zoerb made motion to approve the 2004 reimbursement rate for organic corn of $4.75 per bushel, Burri seconded. Carried. Blonk presented the 2004 Wildlife Damage claims list. She explained each of the 7 individual claims. Zoerb made motion to approve the claims in the total amount of $20,940.16, seconded by Raymond. Carried. Subdivision Review No subdivisions were presented. FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Robert Hendrickson reported: *Compliance is nearly completed. http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005 /LWC /lwc020105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 7 of 10 •CREP (Conservation Reserve Program) — Will meet with my District Director (DD), Bob Heise, Steve Pernsteiner and I on February 14 at 10 a.m. to discuss how CREP is doing in St. Croix County. *Staff is putting together folders for the 29 CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) signup and getting them complete. *To date we have made around $252,000.00 in advance DCP (Direct and County Cyclical Program) payments. We have also made around $424,000.00 Advance Counter Cyclical Payments. We are 25% complete with this signup. Producers must sign up by June 1st. *Producers can still sign up for the advance Counter Cyclical payments (first and second) for 2004. •The interest rate for February Commodity Loans is 3.325% and 3.875% Facility Loans. *No MILC payments for January. *The LDP's for today are .20 for corn, .34 for Barley, .00 for Soybeans and .00 for HRS Wheat. •We are also hosting a Lamb Promotion, Research and information order Referendum during the month of February. If interested, all producers may vote in our office. •Information on Premises Registration will be posted in our office. All producers that have livestock must register their farm facility by November 1, 2005. •Recons, farm divisions and combinations are heavy this time of year. It seems like more producers switch land back and forth every year and in order for them to get paid properly for DCP (Direct and County Cyclical Program) and whatever we need to know what land they are running. Land that is selling for houses is also a big concern of ours. •Disaster program (2003 or 2004) may start by the end of March. More information will be coming. *The FSA COC (County Office Committee) elected Jim Cody as Chairman, Louise Peterson as Vice Chairman, and Suzette Sontag as members for the 2005 calendar year. Jim Cody will continue to be the FSA representative to the LWCC. •Cody (FSA rep) is now home and doing well. He is in therapy for his leg /knee. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS) Steve Pernsteiner reported: EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentives Program) sign -up runs until February 15 for local program money. Applications have been received http: / /www.co. saint- croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 8 of 10 which total about half the local $98,000 allocation. Feed management has been added to list of eligible practices. Steve distributed the Annual Wisconsin NRCS Report. This report covers all activities NRCS is involved in. It was noted that RC &D progress was included. There has been some interest in CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) recently. Staff will be meeting in February to discuss future of the program in St. Croix County. DNR No report. RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported that the last meeting was a budget meeting. The budget is $27,720 short of what they want to accomplish. The total budget is $69,000 (mostly from grant money). Lake Planning Grant Tammy Wittmer presented information to the committee regarding a resolution to move forward on a Lakes Planning Grant for the Squaw Lake Watershed that would include post - construction monitoring for the Prairie Flats wetlands. The grant would be for $1o,000 and an additional $15,000 would come from the Fish and Wildlife Service as the local match. There are no county dollars that would be needed for this project. The project is expected to begin 2oo6 and end December 2007. i Motion by Burri to approve the Lake Planning Grant resolution, seconded by Ruetz. Carried. This resolution will go to the County Board of Supervisors at their March 15 meeting. Heise stated that Governor Doyle proclaimed 2005 as the "year of conservation ". Twelve counties in the state will showcase different projects throughout the year as part of that recognition. St. Croix County's "prairie flats restoration" project will be showcased perhaps in May. Vouchers Reviewed vouchers. Burri made motion to approve Chair Raymond's signature on the February voucher lists in total amount of $43,196.99 (2004 budget - $ 13,339.36, 2005 budget - $ 29,857.63), seconded by Zoerb. Carried. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Draft — MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) - DNR Administering NR -151 Heise reported that the State DNR is still at Madison reviewing the MOU. West Central Area http: / /www.co.saint- croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005 /LWC /1wcO2O105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 9 of 10 Raymond gave the background of the Area Association. Both Jody Hahn (president) and Jean Schomisch (secretary- treasurer) have resigned. Since he is the only officer left standing, he is calling a meeting of the West Central Area group for reorganization and election of new officers. Heise reported that he attended a County Conservations' meeting on January 20. Rebecca Bauman, Executive Director of the WLWCA, called this meeting among all the counties. The discussion was "what really is wrong with the organization." Consensus was that there are things we should look at and need to prioritize where we want to go as an association. There are a very select few that want us to do more lobbying. We are limited as to how much lobbying we can do, specifically the way the association is organized. We are, as a county land & Water Conservation Department, part of WCA. We met with the Wisconsin Counties' Association Board and had a really productive meeting. Farmland Preservation Program — Soil & Water Conservation Standards — Public Hearing Heise stated that the public hearing would be held at 7:00 p.m. on February 2 at the Ag Center. The revised soil and water conservation standards to the Farmland Preservation Program will be presented. The existing standards and proposed standards were available at our office and on the county's Web site. Deadline for comments from landowners will be Friday, February 18. Information & Education Report Heise reported that Aleisha provided a written I & E report and was a part of the information in the committee packet. Priority Watershed Projects Kulow reported: Kinnickinnic — Reported on our 2005 cost share budget. We have approximately $219,000 available for BMP's (structural) and another $20,500 for non - structural items such as nutrient management and cover crops. Explained we are no longer able to carry over funds into the next year unless we have the money tied to a signed cost share agreement. Explained the rain garden project we are currently working on with the City of River Falls. We're looking at working on a small, specific drainage within the City to address roof water runoff. The plan is to infiltrate as much water as we can to reduce thermal impacts to the stream. Reported on the progress of ongoing projects with David and Dorothy Nelson, and the City of River Falls /Golf Course. South Fork Hay River — Explained where we are with respect to the stream restoration work over at the Fairgrounds. We obtained a burning permit from the city and can burn brush in March. Currently, Trout Unlimited members and the DNR are clearing brush and woody debris from the banks of the stream with the intention of burning it to reduce the amount of material we need to haul off site. Half of the limestone rock is on site and we expect to be grubbing out stumps in mid to late April. We are hoping to begin the actual bank and bed stabilization in early May. Informed the committee once again that the end date for this project is June 30 of 2005. Cost share available for 2005 equals $20,900 for the stream http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us /Committee/Minutes /2005 /LWC /IwcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 1, 2005 Page 10 of 10 restoration work on Tiffany creek and $54,000 for pollution reduction incentive payments. Lakes Cluster — Discussed the further analysis for phosphorus being done in the Squaw Lake watershed. This is a last step before the Rehab District gets the o.k. for an Alum treatment. DNR will determine this. Discussed the upcoming Lakes steering committee meeting scheduled for February 16, 2005 at the Ag Center. Also, like the South Fork Hay River and Kinni, discussed the dollars of cost share available for 2005. We have $51,000 available for BMP's (structural) and another $12,500 for non - structural. Wittmer reported that we are working on a riprap removal project for Roger Orf on Bass Lake and that project is to begin this spring. Announcements & Correspondence The conservation awards dinner will be held on Thursday, February 24, 7:00 p.m. at the Ag Center. Chair Raymond adjourned meeting at 2:47 p.m. Jan Zoerb Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary not CARI'MICHALL ROAD ,„ HUDSON WI 54o16 �i5.;;86.4600 I.,AST UPDATE: FEB j 2oo6 DISOIJUMER http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /lwcO20105.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page I of 7 Croix 1 Wisconsin AGENDA - LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE General Infor-nation a II i ST CROIX COUNTY l NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING County e i I Iti IIl II °I TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman MI St. Croix County Board ; { FROM: Ron Raymond, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Land &Water Conservation DATE: February 2, 2005 I I TIME: 7:00 p.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin * CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA County Map — - • i -- DATE OF NEXT MEETING: March 1, 2005 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES NEW BUSINESS: PUBLIC HEARING - Farmland Preservation Program - Propo Soil & Water Conservation Standards UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: January 14, 2005 http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /1wcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 2 of 7 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDWNOTICE BOAR COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS /CORRECTIONS /CHANGES MINUTES LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE FEBRUARY 2, 2005 Members Present: Lois Burri, Gene Ruetz, Bill Peavey, Ron Raymond, Jan Zoerb Members Absent: Jim Cody (excused) Staff Present: Bob Heise, Jeff Lueck, Tammy Wittmer, Arlene Lier Others Present: Julie Speer, Joseph Kusilek, John McConville, Jim Klemesrud, Harlan Vehrs, Kurt Afdahl, Wayne Willink, Peggy Rode, Gene Nelson(Tn Star Prairie), Lynn Brosi, Gene Nelson(Tn Springfield), Fran Kromrey, Keith Kromrey, Buddy Schumacher, Don Schumacher, Ellen Hurtgen, Joe Hurtgen, Rudy Erickson Adoption of Agenda: Raymond made motion to adopt the agenda, seconded by Zoerb. Carried. Date of Next Meeting: February 24, 2005 (Conservation Awards Program) PUBLIC HEARING — FARMLAND PRESERVATION PROGRAM — PROPOSED SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION STANDARDS Chair Raymond stated that we as a county have proposed standards that meet the State's minimum Farmland Preservation Program standards. The "draft" copy of the amended ST. CROIX COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION STANDARDS FOR THE FARMLAND PRESERVATION PROGRAM is and has been available to the public. DATCP has reviewed our standards and they meet the state standards. This document has been prepared by the county but it is in response to Wisconsin state statutes (SS. 92.104, S. 92.105). If we, as a county, want to receive any benefits of this program, we have to adopt a set of standards that are at least as stringent as those dictated by the state Raymond described why we are doing it, the implications of it, and more importantly that there is a set of new guidelines passed by the state. All we are doing is writing a document that minimally implements those set of standards in this county so the landowners can get the benefits of the state http: / /www.co. saint- croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /IwcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 3 of 7 program. We have to follow the state's guidelines whether we adopt these standards or not. If we adopt it, we can get the benefits of the program. If we don't adopt it, we still have to enforce it without the benefits. If the public did not want to say anything in person, comment cards were available for individuals to write their comments on. The written comment period has been extended to Friday, February 18. Staff will compile comments and the LWCC will review and consider those comments. Comments that do not meet the administrative standards will not be adopted. If the document is changed substantially, it has to go back to DATCP to see if that meets their requirements. If the document does not have to go back to DATCP, committee will forward to the St. Croix County Board and get their agreement on it. It is important to note that standards are implemented whether we do anything with it or whether the County Board approves it. Chair Raymond introduced the committee members and Heise introduced LWCD staff. Heise, County Conservationist, gave a power point presentation on the facts and history of the Farmland Preservation Program. This is considered a Class 2 public hearing notice and the notice was published in the official county newspaper, Glenwood Tribune. A letter was sent to all town clerks in the county informing them of the public hearing. A news release was sent to all newspapers; however only Baldwin, Glenwood City, and New Richmond published the news release. Also, individual letters were mailed to all exclusive ag zoning participants (over Soo) and it appeared on our St. Croix County Web page. he county adopted the Farmland Preservation Program in March of 198o and the purpose of that was to preserve agricultural lands and open spaces, promote soil and water conservation, promote an orderly land use development, and provide tax relief for landowners. The program has worked fine in St. Croix County and also state -wide. Farmers can receive tax credits two ways. If the town had adopted exclusive ag zoning, that land owner could receive a tax credit. That would be a higher credit than if a land owner was outside of an exclusive ag zoning town. The land owners under a Farmland Preservation agreement would get a less percentage of a tax credit than those under exclusive ag. There were always provisions under exclusive ag or farmland preservation for compliance to certain soil and water standards. That has always been part of the law. Heise showed county ag districts with exclusive ag zoning (pink) and those with farmland preservation agreements (green). We currently have 302 landowners who have agreements and approximately goo landowners that are involved in exclusive ag zoning. Just because they are involved with ag zoning does not mean they take credits every year. Department of Revenue reported in 2002 that 3o8 landowners collected farmland preservation tax credits in amount of approximately $250,000. We always had existing soil and water conservation standards as a part of this program. We looked at their farm plan as their sheet and rill erosion, and wind erosion. The goal of that was to get that soil loss down to the "T" value. Why were the soil and water standards revised? On October 1, 2002 the state passed nonpoint state performance standards and prohibitions. The State Land & Water Conservation Board has the authority under Chapter 92, to create new guidelines. Under those guidelines, they parallel those state performance standards and prohibitions that were approved back in 2002. The result of that was counties participating in the Farmland http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /lwcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 4 of 7 Preservation Program were required to submit revised soil and water conservation standards to the State Land & Water Conservation Board by October 2004 to meet those new guidelines. Those new guidelines essentially stated they were going to parallel the state performance standards and prohibitions. We could have been more stringent than that. We could have created tougher standards should we have desired to do that. We did not do that. We met the minimum requirements as stated by law. If this committee failed to do that, essentially we would deny the county landowners that were eligible to receive tax credits. DATCP would not enter into any new Farmland Preservation agreements with landowners and as part of that, they would also deny our county staff of any cost sharing that we use when we work with landowners and staffing dollars would be denied. There was an obligation from this committee to move forward with that. If you considered the fiscal impacts, it totals approximately $700,000. What are the new standards? Essentially they are, all farmland has to meet the soil loss tolerance to "T ", as before, but it is going to be under a new soil loss equation (RUSLE II - Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation). All clean water must be diverted from barnyards within 300 feet of a stream, no direct runoff from feedlots or stored manure should flow into any water body, livestock access to shore lands must not destroy adequate sod cover, unconfined manure stacks shall not be located within i,000 feet of a lake or 300 feet from a stream, and all manure or other fertilizers must be applied according to the nutrient management plan. Those are the state standards. Who does this affect when it gets adopted? It is going to affect all new Farmland Preservation agreements; any landowner that would come into our office and talk to Jeff Lueck about a new Farmland Preservation agreement, those standards would apply. The Farmland Preservation Agreements that are in place are grandfathered in under the old guidelines. The individuals that are affected the greatest are those that are under Exclusive Ag Zoning. They will have to meet these new standards and participants that voluntarily wish to comply with these standards. There may be reasons why a landowner, that may be grandfathered in, may wish to comply with these standards. There are other programs that may make it more profitable for the landowner. Our department will administer those standards. Essentially, guidelines are no different than we have had in the past. We annually send out a compliance self - certification to landowners. We do monitoring once every 6 years as a cross compliance and should there be something out of compliance (violation), that is where the committee comes into play. We have to identify the violation, provide adequate time to try to get that violation under control, and during that time the landowner may not be eligible for tax credits until that violation is taken care of. When do these standards take place? As Chair Raymond said, the LWCC approved our Soil & Water Conservation standards to be sent to the State Land & Water Board. We met the October i deadline. The State Land & Water Board approved our standards on November 30, 2004. We are holding our public hearing today. The Land & Water Conservation Committee asked that we take comments and suggestions. The committee will need to make the formal approval of the guidelines; assuming that there are or are not a lot of changes will depend on whether it goes on to the State Land & Water Board again, and eventually to County Board. These are not firm timeframes but just an estimate of what to expect. These standards that are proposed just parallel what we passed in 2002. http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /lwcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 5 of 7 QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION Rudy Erickson — He questioned the amount that the taxpayers got on refunds. Heise stated about $700,000 is a combination of $225,000 (tax refunds), cost share dollars for our working with landowners, and part of that was the staffing grant for St. Croix County. Harlan Vehrs - Talking about being grandfathered in, is that the landowner or the farm? Heise stated if a contract, the contract goes to the next owner. The new landowner would have to follow the new rules. The only time it is grandfathered in is under existing farmland preservation contracts. We have 302 of those. You are not grandfathered in if you are under exclusive ag zoning. You have to meet these new standards. Wayne Willink — Asked what would happen to contracts if the land went into exclusive ag zoning. Heise stated that the contracts would be left to expire. There would be no payback if the land was sold and the contract had expired. Jeff Lueck stated if you want to get out before the contract expired, then there would be a payback (with interest) for the last io years (if credits were taken). There is no pay back if credits were not taken. DATCP and Wisconsin Department of Revenue determine that. Under certain circumstances there is no payback (death in family, etc.). Rudy Erickson asked what a person can do if he is in exclusive ag zoned townships and he does not want to comply with any of the standards. Heise stated that there is a voluntary form of non - compliance. The landowner would not be eligible for tax credits. If land is sold, and the next landowner is interested in the credits, the staff works with that landowner through those standards to make him eligible for credits. Harlan Vehrs asked what the difference was between state and federal programs. Heise stated that some federal programs will require you to get a farm plan to meet that soil loss tolerance. Jim Memesrud asked about barnyard runoff, which bothers him. If he has a letter of noncompliance, would he forgo all government programs? Heise said that this only pertains to the Farmland Preservation Program. Heise stated that these are some good standards. There may be other opportunities for landowners to want to comply with these standards. There is a federal program called "Conservation Security Program ". That program rewards farmers that are performing good stewardship on their land. There are good monetary payments in that program. They are trying to institute that program nationally. We had just a corner of our county as part of that under the Chippewa Basin. Eventually every watershed in the county will be selected at one time or another. But, you have to have the practices in place before the program is offered here. When the program comes, you would be eligible. Chair Raymond called the public hearing to order at 7:34 p.m. Heise read the "Public Hearing Notice ". Farmland Preservation Program Amended Soil & Water Conservation Standards. The St. Croix County Land & Water Conservation Committee will hold a public hearing to accept comments and questions regarding the Farmland Preservation Program Amended Soil and Water Conservation Standards. The http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005 /LWC /IwcO20205.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 6 of 7 public hearing will be held Wednesday, February 2, 2oo5 at 7:00 p.m. at the St. Croix County Agricultural Center, i96o 8u` Avenue in Baldwin. Copies of the Amended Soil & Water Conservation draft plan are available from the St. Croix County Land & Water Conservation Department located in the St. Croix County Agricultural Center, 196o 8u' Avenue in Baldwin and also located on our County Web site. All interested persons are invited to present comments at the hearing. The Land & Water Conservation Department will accept written comments until Friday, February 18, 2005. Chair Raymond stated that the public should identify themselves before speaking. Rudy Erickson registered and stated that one of the reasons he put his name on the paper is that a year ago the Conservation Department redid their Land and Water Conservation plan and they went through the same type of hearing process, had an open meeting and closed it 10 minutes later, and said nobody was interested. That started a lot of us to want to be involved in controlling what is going on with this committee and this department. That is one of the reasons a lot of us are here tonight. We felt that we took this to the County Board, the Supervisors did not know the plan, had not read it and had not worked on it, and yet it was stuck down a lot of farmers approach. It was said that we had to have it that night. In checking, we could have asked for a delay of 3 months or longer before we had to have an approved plan. That is one of the reasons. Number two, Farmland Preservation might have some advantages and it did in the 198o's. But farm land use taxation far exceeds the benefits that any of these people can get from . umping through the hoops and staying in Farmland Preservation Program. They need to know the easiest and the quickest way to get out of this program. If it is just saying "non- compliance" and not collecting $50, $ioo or $too a year for the next years, get out of it, do it, because all you are doing is opening yourself up for a war. Secondly, one of the things that came across the computer a couple of days ago, about a week ago the Soil Conservation people met in Madison and the people there carne up with a proposal to help undo our land use tax rate program we have. They suggested that everybody that gets this lower tax would have to put an extra $20.00 per parcel down and come up with a ten -year plan with this group before you could get your land use taxation. Land use has been the best and everything proposed during the last 5 years for me as an agriculturalist. Gene Ruetz, I would say I am a "tax dodger" if my cows walk the woods, even though it is electric fence on the other side, they still walk the woods. They are going to walk it because I went from $2,500 in evaluation to $65. I planted a windbreak and I've got more trees in windbreaks than I had in the woods, but I'm still going to pasture my woods. So our conservation schemes and our plans are working against farms. There are a lot of things that you are doing. If you feel you are correct, go educate us but don't keep hammering us with $5o fines. Then this week in the http: / /www.co. saint- croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /1wcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006 Land and Water Conservation Committee - February 2, 2005 Page 7 of 7 Soil & Water Conservation in your ag plan 50, we are supposed to go through and identify all farms that have livestock. That's fine, I've got one, but if I didn't, I could get up to a $200 - $2,500 fine. I got a letter, for every steer I sold this past year that didn't go to market place for $5o.00 check off, I've got to send them $1.00, but if I don't I could get a $io,000 fine. I'm getting so ornery about fines and people putting their weight down. It's so easy to break them. I say if you got $5o if I don't comply and I don't do it. It just irritates me and I expect you people to try to find a way to let us out of this mouse trapping policy. Chair Raymond asked for other questions and comments. Fran Kromrey — Town of Springfield — We're on a farm too. We used to be "dairy" but now we're not. I agree with Ruddy. I think the farmers did enough with high prices of fertilizer this year and low prices for feed. The prices for corn are what they got in the 193o's. Are your wages priced at what you got in the 1930's? Farmers have taken the brunt of everything all these years. We have soldiers over in Iraq fighting for those people's freedom to do what they want with their land. You guys here, little by little, inch by inch, here are taking the freedom from American farmers and if you don't have the farmers you're not going to have food on the table. I don't know why these people think getting grant money from the state for programs is helping. Your tax money goes to get those grants. So if you wouldn't accept a lot of this state grant money, maybe your taxes would be lower too. So I totally agree with Rudy. The farmers are always getting hit. Your County Boards should be for the people, but for the farmers also to help them save a dollar here because they are not getting it from their commodities. Chair Raymond asked for other comments. Hearing none, he closed the public hearing at 7:42 P.M. Chair Raymond asked for a motion to close the public hearing. Ruetz made motion to close the public hearing, Peavey seconded. Carried. Chair Raymond adjourned the meeting at 7:43 p.m. Jan Zoerb Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary not CAKMICHAEL ROAD ' HUDSON WI 54016 715.386.4600 LAST` UPDATE;: FEB 3, 2oo6 DISCLAIMER http: / /www.co. saint - croix.wi.us/ Committee /Minutes /2005/LWC /1wcO2O2O5.htm 2/6/2006