Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 04-01-03 X ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Clarence Malick, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Art Jensen, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Land & Water Conservation /Resource & Education Committee DATE: April 1, 2003 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: May 6, 2003 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES NEW BUSINESS: Ag Center - Building services - Maintenance Glen Hills dam inspections Glen Hills structure #5 Capital outlay Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m. Vouchers UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Staff Reports Natural Resource Management Plan - Update Municipal Waste - Regional - Update Education Activity - Awards program critique Priority Watershed Projects Agency Reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area - Business meeting ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING: ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order) SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: March 20, 2003 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS /CORRECTIONS /CHANGES UNOFFICIAL Convened: 9:00 a.m. Adjourned: 12:10 p.m. ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION/RESOURCE & EDUCATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI April 1, 2003 Members Present: Jim Cody, Art Jensen, Buck Malick, Ron Raymond Members Absent Leon Berenschot, Chris Bethke, Lois Burri (all excused) Staff Present: County Conservationist -Bob Heise; Land Specialist -Pete Kling; I & E Activities Specialist -Ruth Stern; Secretary - Arlene Lier Others Present: Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS; Bob Hendrickson -FSA; Pat Carpenter- Engineer Meeting called to order by Chair Art Jensen. Cody made motion to adopt agenda. Raymond seconded. Carried. Raymond made motion to approve the March 4, 2003 meeting minutes. Cody seconded. Carried. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 6, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. AG CENTER — BUILDING SERVICES - MAINTENACE Heise reported that it is inefficient and very counter productive to consistently repeat the same service requests to Building Services department, yet not receive timely service or service being completed months after the estimated time frame from Building Services. The Agricultural Center is nearly six years old and is requiring regular building maintenance and service. Heise recommended that he would draft a letter to Building Services department offering a maintenance employee be scheduled at the Ag Center on a scheduled bi- weekly occurrence. Heise stated that the Ag Center has developed a similar work schedule, which has been in place with computer services. This has proven to be an effective and efficient work program for both Computer Service and the Ag Center. Motion by Raymond, seconded by Cody, for Heise to draft a letter to Building Services requesting regular maintenance to the Ag Center. Letter is to be signed by Chairman Jensen. Carried. GLEN HILLS DAM INSPECTIONS Committee set Thursday, May 1, to conduct the Glen Hills Dam Inspections. The itinerary is to meet at Kate's Caf6 in Glenwood City at 9:00 a.m. The committee will proceed to make a visual inspection on all ten structures that day. GLEN HILLS STRUCTURE #5 Heise presented a power point presentation showing photos of damage of the embankment of Structure #5 created this spring by an alleged ATV. Heise stated that he has contacted the Sheriff's department on the damages and the Sheriff's department is looking into this issue. Heise estimated the damages at approximately $500.00. CAPITAL OUTLAY Heise presented a handout to the committee with changes to the LWCD, 2004 Capital Outlay Plan. Heise directed the committee to two particular items. An item that will be needed in the Ag Center by County departments is a new network computer server. This item was previously planned for 2007 but will need to be brought forward to 2004 because the existing server is at capacity. Heise showed a power point slide on the proposed fiscal break down and prorating the costs to LWCD, UW -Ext, and Parks department. Malick recommended that Heise discuss his concerns with Gary Kollman- Emergency Communication and determine if the Ag Center will be able to access or receive the micro -wave capabilities that is to be installed around the county. Heise also discussed the proposal of replacing a vehicle this year. This was a planned 2004 cost. Heise has been discussing the use of the vehicle between two departments, both Zoning and LWCD. Malick recommended that Heise talk to Chuck Whiting on financing these costs over a 4 -5 year period. NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN — UPDATE Heise informed the committee that there had been productive meetings this past month by both the Technical Advisory and Citizen Advisory committees who are assisting in amending the Land and Water Resource Management Plan. Another set of meetings is scheduled for Friday, April 4, and April 29. The goal is to have the amendments completed by the end of April and proceed with a draft of the document by June. MUNICIPAL WASTE - REGIONAL - UPDATE Heise stated that there was a meeting with the Planning commission last week and he was unable to attend. However, it appears that the Planning commission is satisfied with the language in the Request for Proposal (RFP) and would like to determine from prospective consultants a ballpark figure of costs for services to respond to the RFP. Heise also provided a handout of a letter he received from the DNR regarding a breached dike in one of the seepage ponds at the Hammond waste water facility. The effluent is apparently discharging into a natural wetland and eventually is discharging into a branch of the Kinnickinnic River. Heise stated that he has been receiving numerous phone calls regarding this issue. He has requested concerned parties call the DNR office. VOUCHERS Reviewed vouchers. Motion by Raymond, seconded by Malick, to approve Chair Jensen's signature on the April voucher list subject to final review by Chair Jensen. Carried. EDUCATION ACTIVITY Heise requested critiquing from the committee on the Land and Water Conservation banquet. Committee seemed pleased with the event, however it was recommended that pictures be taken at the end of the program next year. Heise offered as a suggestion to back off on the West Central Area and the State awards and concentrate on a more local program and approach. Raymond recognized the amount of paper work necessary for an award recipient and suggested that the LWCC make the decision of when a local conservation award recipient is forwarded to the Area or State award process. Committee concurred. Ruth presented information on the conservation education program. The month of April will be busy with many classroom presentations, stream ecology workshops, and conservation field days being planned. It is expected that between 800 -1000 St. Croix County students will be reached through the education program during the month of April. Heise informed the committee that he and Barb Nelson would be meeting on April 10, 2003 to discuss an inventory of abandoned wells, manure storage facilities, and non - metallic mining operations. Barb was successful in obtaining a grant to conduct these services. Heise handed out the schedule for dates established to conduct the Drinking Water program throughout St. Croix County. The handout depicts dates, townships to be sampled, and lab dates. The program time frame will begin spring of 2003 to spring of 2005 to complete the entire county. PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS Heise reported that Kyle is waiting for some final figures from the appraiser for the easement he has been working on in the Kinnickinnic Watershed. This project should be complete very soon. Heise commented that Kyle is working on finishing up accomplishment reports for the three watersheds. This documentation is required to be submitted shortly. Heise referred the committee to a letter outlining the Governor's budget proposals. The Land and Water Conservation department would see a dramatic effect on their funding if the Governor's proposal is adopted in its current form. Heise is offering to draft a letter opposing portions of the Governor's budget proposals and will offer suggestions to offset the budget reductions. Committee agreed to have Chairman sign the letter. SUBDIVISION REVIEW Pete Kling presented: DEER MEADOWS -(In part of the NW 1 /4 of the NW '/4 of Section 30, T30N -R20W, Town of St. Joseph, St. Croix County, Wisconsin; being Lot 2 & 3 of Certified Survey Map Volume 2, Page 549) - 29 acre development, 8 lots total. All storm water and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been submitted. The storm water and erosion control plans are acceptable for this subdivision. Cody made motion to recommend that the plans are acceptable and a letter be sent to the Planning & Development Committee. Raymond seconded. Carried. INDIGO PONDS — (In the NW 1 /4 of the SE %4, in the NE %4 of the SE 1 /4, in the SW %4 of the SE %4, and the SE 1 /4o the SE 1 /4, all in Section 24, T29N -R19W and in the NW %a of the NE 1 /4, in the NE 1 /4 of the NE '/4, in the SW 1 /4 of the NE 1 /4, and in the SE 1 /4 of the NE 1 /4, all in Section 25, T29N- R19W, Town of Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) - 181 acre development, 57 lots total. All storm water and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been submitted. A pre - construction meeting will be held prior to any road construction. Cody made motion to recommend that the plans are acceptable and a letter be sent to the Planning & Development Committee. Raymond seconded. Carried. DNR No report. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Robert Hendrickson reported: • The Livestock Compensation Program II program begins today (April 1 and will run for approximately two months. Payment will be made to anyone who has some or all of the following animals: Dairy, Beef, Buffalo, Sheep and Goats; also some Dairy, Beef and Buffalo that were over 500 pounds on June 1, 2002. • CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) activity continues. • No word yet on the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) sign up for this year. NRCS will not be a part of the sign up process. • March commodity loan interest rate is 2.375 percent. • DCP (Direct and County Cyclical Program) sign up is about 60% complete. Deadline is today, April 1, or producer will need to get their name on the register for options 3,4, and 5. If you actually had an AMTA contract and have not signed up, they will roll over to either an option I (no soybeans planted) or option 2 (soybeans were planted last year). June 1 St is the deadline to sign contracts. To date, approximately $1,000,000 has been paid out for 2002 and 2003. • The MILC (Milk Income Loss Contract) program is progressing. We are now making monthly payments to the Dairy producers. There are around 250 MILC contracts so far. The April rate is $1.8225 and we have paid out close to 3.7 million dollars. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Steve reported that he has been able to hire a work -study student to help with records and programs. She will work 20 hours per week until the end of the school year. Aleisha Troendle has accepted the Willow River internship position and will start in mid April. It appears likely that American Farmland Trust and Pheasants Forever will fund a summer intern to help with buffers. The office has been getting a lot of interest in EQIP, especially for no -till. Applications are being taken but a sign up deadline cannot be set until funding arrives. The local workgroup has decided to put a 200 -acre limit per producer on no -till, mulch till, and nutrient management. Several new applications have been received for the CREP program in recent weeks. Four new contracts have been signed and about six applicants need fieldwork. Technical Service Provider information is now available on NRCS Web page. The LWCC should consider if they would be interested in signing as potential provider. RC &D No report. WEST CENTRAL AREA Raymond reported that a business meeting, as well as the poster and speaking contest, is going to be held on Wednesday, April 9 th in Menomonie. Heise has reserved the Highway department van for that day and will be departing from the Ag Center at 9:00 a.m. Raymond, Cody and Berenschot plan to attend. Interview for the LWCD position is going to be conducted after the committee members return from the West Central meeting. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE Heise is asking support from the committee to have Chairman Jensen and County Board Chairman Malick sign the Joint Allocations for 2004. This document is required to be submitted to DATCP by April 15, 2003. Committee concurred to have Jensen and Malick sign the document. Raymond made motion to adjourn meeting at 12:10 p.m., seconded by Cody, carried. Jim Cody Secretary