HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 01-07-03 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: January 7, 2003
TIME: 9:00 a.m.
LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin
CALL TO ORDER
ROLL CALL
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: February 4, 2003
ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES
NEW BUSINESS:
Local work group - Discuss WHIP (Wildlife Habitat
Incentive Program)
Update EQIP (Environmental Quality Incentive Program)
CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) Contract signature
Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m.
Vouchers
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
Staff Reports
Agreement - Amend NRMP (Natural Resource Management Plan)
Municipal Waste- Regional
Education Activity
Priority Watershed Projects
Agency Reports
FSA
NRCS
DNR
RC &D
West Central Area
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE
POSSIBLE AGENDA ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING:
ADJOURNMENT (Agenda not necessarily presented in this order)
SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise
DATE: December 23, 2002
COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD
COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS
* ADDITIONS /CORRECTIONS /CHANGES
UNOFFICIAL Convened: 9:00 a.m.
Adjourned: 11:45 a.m.
ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION/RESOURCE
& EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI
January 7, 2003
Members Present: Leon Berenschot, Chris Bethke, Lois Burn, Jim Cody, Art Jensen, Ron
Raymond
Members Absent None
Staff Present: County Conservationist -Bob Heise; Watershed Land Specialist -Kyle Kulow;
I & E Activities Specialist -Ruth Stern; Technicians - Jennifer Emmerich, Jeff
Lueck, Tammy Wittmer; Secretary - Arlene Lier
Others Present: Jay Custer -NRCS; Jim Riemer -US Fish & Wildlife Service; Kris Belling,
Marty Engel, Harvey Halvorsen -DNR
Meeting called to order by Chair Art Jensen.
Cody made motion to adopt agenda. Bethke seconded. Carried.
Bethke made motion to approve the December 9, 2002 meeting minutes. Burri seconded. Carried.
Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 4, 2003 at 9:00 a.m.
Heise introduced new Land and Water Conservation employees: Jennifer Emmerich, Tamara
Wittmer, and Jeff Lueck.
Employees gave a short biography of themselves and there was an introduction of committee
members.
CREP (CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM) CONTRACT
SIGNATURE
Heise reported that he received an amended CREP contract from the Department of Agriculture that
extended the length of the CREP contract from 2005 to 2007. Corporation Counsel has reviewed
the amended contract and had no problem with the department signing the amended contract.
Motion by Berenschot, seconded by Bethke, to have Chairman Jensen sign the amended contract.
Carried.
AGREEMENT — AMEND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
Heise reported that he has received a revised service agreement from Cheryl Bursik to assist the
department in amending the County's Natural Resource Management Plan to meet the new
guidelines established in ATCP -50. The cost of the service agreement is $6,200.00, which will be
paid from the 2002 budget out of watershed allocations. Motion by Raymond, seconded by
Berenschot, to have Chairman Jensen sign the service agreement. Carried.
Heise also presented a letter written to the Department of Agriculture requesting an extension to the
deadline date of our Natural Resource Management Plan amendments form December 31, 2003 to
December 31, 2004. The request is to build in some flexibility in case the department cannot
achieve the initial December 31, 2003 deadline date. Committee concurred with the request and
recommended Chairman Jensen to sign the letter.
MUNICIPAL WASTE - REGIONAL
Heise informed the committee that inside the mailed packet to each committee member was a
"draft" Request for Proposal to consider both long -term and short-term solutions to the wastewater
issue currently affecting the St. Croix Valley region. The RFP were issues identified during the
scoping sessions held this past summer. Discussion.
Heise informed the committee that this RFP would be presented to the CSCCRWPC (Central St.
Croix County Regional Wastewater Planning Commission) at their next meeting for their support
and approval.
Heise informed the committee that the St. Croix Central Wastewater Commission is having a
meeting on Wednesday, January 8, 2003 to discuss a new site location and preliminary soil borings
conducted at the site. Heise plans to attend the meeting.
VOUCHERS
Reviewed vouchers. Motion by Berenschot, seconded by Raymond, to approve Chair Jensen's
signature on the January voucher list. Carried.
EDUCATION ACTIVITY
Ruth reported on the conservation education activities. Informational packets were recently
distributed to many teachers in the county regarding the conservation education programs offered by
the county. Future educational dates include: Conservation Poster Contest judging — March 4th
(prior to LWCC meeting), Conservation Speaking Contest — March 13 and Conservation Awards
Banquet — March 27 Greenfield Elementary School in Baldwin has requested training on soils for
all of their 4 grade students to help meet state environmental education standards. This will take
place at the school on January 17
Heise reported that there was a request from the West Central Area to determine each county's
desire of holding the poster and speaking contest in 2003. Currently, there is a planned spring event;
however, with the recent resolution at the WLWCA supporting a fall contest, the question lies in the
fact of having a spring and fall contest in 2003 or a spring contest in 2003 and a fall contest in 2004.
If we are to consider a fall 2003 contest, we need to give the host county ample time to coordinate a
location to hold the event. This may also be a very short time for teachers to work into their
curriculum. Discussion. Committee was in favor of holding a spring 2003 contest and follow with a
fall 2004 contest. Heise is to respond to West Central Area.
PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS
Kulow reported: He is in the process of putting together 2003 workshops. Made reimbursement
deadlines for 2002. Discussed Hans Hagen development at last Kinni steering committee meeting.
Committee did not "support" or "not support" the annexation of land to the city of River Falls for
the development. Kinni Land Trust wanted a letter of support stating that our committee did not
approve the annexation.
GLEN HILLS
Dam repair update — Kulow reported that he met with Mary Cormican out at Structure #7 late last
fall. Manhole was set to the correct elevation and the backfilling and upgrading was completed.
The little bit of seeding that needs to be done will be completed in early spring of 2003. The
elevation for the alarm was marked on the inside of the manhole and it has been installed.
SUBDIVISION REVIEW
Kulow presented :
Prairie Pond Breaks — (In the NW 1 /4 of the NW %4 of Section 32, part of the NE 1 /4 of the NE %4 of
Section 31, and part of the SE 1 /4 of the NE' /4 of Section 31, all in T31N -R18W, Town of Star
Prairie, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) — 87 acre subdivision (60 acres of agricultural land), 35 lots
total. All stormwater and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been
submitted. Recommended for approval. Raymond made motion to recommend that the stormwater
and erosion control plans are acceptable, per staff recommendations, and that a letter be sent to the
Planning & Development Committee. Berenschot seconded. Carried.
DNR
Harvey Halvorsen - Private Lands Wildlife Biologist reported on his working with land owners who
request wildlife habitat management assistance and also implementing pheasant habitat management
on public and private lands. Dan Cain, Pheasants Forever, assists in wildlife programs and habitat
management.
Jim Riemer- Wildlife Biologist, Private Lands Program -U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, reported that
he also works with management of private lands for landowners (not CRP, CREP, or EQIP).
Projects are 100% cost shared and can be piggy backed with DNR programs, not piggybacked with
CRP, CREP, or EQIP. Also mentioned the "Debt for Nature" program on FmHA properties, set
aside conservation easements.
Halvorsen also reported:
• New DNR secretary, Scott Hassett, is an outsider and is 54 years of age.
• Another outsider, Todd Ambs, was appointed administrator of DNR's Water Division.
• Rhonda Helgeson, Service Center Office Manager - Check on line for permits search, update
addresses, etc. New licensing machinery will be in operation this fall.
• John Stoffel — Ethanol plant at Wheeler is in planning stage. Impacts corn production.
• Eunice Post — NR -118 should be fully implemented by January, 2003. No official word yet due
to new board members.
Kris Belling reported:
• Wildlife Biologist reported that the new forester, Dahn Borh, is currently located at Ladysmith,
but will eventually be located at the Baldwin Service Center. Mark Kubler- Forestry will be
attending the February LWCC meeting.
• Chronic Wasting Disease(CWD - Statewide, total of 38,241 deer were sampled. Total of 7,785
were tested. Intensive Harvest/Eradication Zone had 2,207 analyzed and 50 deer tested positive
(Dane and Iowa counties). County harvest was down 17% (registration).
• Deer's Locker at Deer Park has been processing deer for the food shelf.
• Road kill should be reported to the County Sheriff s department or a DNR warden. Pat Malloy
of Game Unlimited is the person contracted to pick up road kill.
• Wildlife Damage Program - All farmers with $1,000 worth of appraised deer damage as
documented on their claim forms (regardless if they met the harvest objective or not) will be
required to enroll in the WDACP and apply for deer damage shooting permits.
Marty Engel reported on the carp virus issue on Cedar Lake — Closed for carp harvest. Tests from
St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers were positive. There is an international watch list on the virus.
Lab studies are ongoing. Should we be concerned about it? The ban on carp harvest may be lifted.
FARM SERVICE AGENCY
Cody reported:
• Louise Peterson was re- elected to the FSA County Committee for another 3 -year term.
• Currently not much CREP activity. The CRP annual signup may be in February or March.
• Steve Pernsteiner, Mary Warner, and Bob Hendrickson held two information classes for the
Tech school Ag classes in December.
• We are well into the DCP (Dairy & Counter Cyclical Program) sign up. It takes anywhere from
1 -6 or 7 hours to sign up, with several trips involved. Help is needed to tell farmers to call for
appointments.
NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE
UPDATE EQIP (ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVE PROGRAM
Jay Custer gave the NRCS report on the Local Work Group meeting of December 12. The work
group had discussed the resource needs of St. Croix County and ranked them in this order: 1)
Surface water pollution from nutrients, animal waste, and pesticides. 2) Groundwater pollution
from the same sources. 3) Soil erosion from cropland. 4) Streambank and shoreland erosion. 5)
Grazing improvement. 6) Animal habitat quality.
This prioritization will be used to set up ranking criteria for applicants.
The workgroup reviewed the list of practices and felt that all practices should be made available to
producers in St. Croix County.
Publicity for the program will be through the FSA newsletter and local papers. One on one contacts
will also be used to promote the program.
The workgroup felt that the January LWCC meeting would be a good time to review the WHIP
program and get input from the other agencies on local wildlife priorities.
LOCAL WORK GROUP — DISCUSS WHIP (WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVE
PROGRAM)
Jay gave the Committee the history of WHIP and outlined the Statewide priorities which included
grassland habitat improvement and restoration, fisheries and streambank habitat, protection of
woodlots from cattle degradation, grazing on warm season grasses.
Harvey Halvorsen, Kris Belling of DNR, Jim Riemer of FWS and Jay Custer of MRCS led a
discussion of wildlife priorities.
A motion was made by Raymond to include the statewide priorities and add the control of invasive
species in grassland and woodland as the county priorities. Seconded by Berenschot. Carried.
RC &D
Berenschot reported:
• Board of Directors meet on January 8 at the new Altoona office.
• The Wisconsin State Association of RC &D Councils conference has been moved from
Stevens Point to Eau Claire.
• The 5 th annual national Value Added Conference will be held at Eau Claire on January 24 -25.
Previous conferences have been very successful with people attending from all parts of the U.S.
Sponsors include RC &D, WITC, DATCP, etc.
WEST CENTRAL AREA
Raymond stated that report has already been presented under EDUCATION ACTIVITIES.
ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE
None
Bethke made motion to adjourn meeting at 11:45 a.m., seconded by Raymond, carried.
Jim Cody
Secretary