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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 05-07-02ST. 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: May 7, 2002 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: June 4,2002 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary COMMITTEE REPS: RC &D, West Central Area, Kinnickinnic CAC, South Fork CAC, St. Croix Lakes CAC NEW BUSINESS: EQIP Work Group meeting with FSA County Committee Capital Outlay Plan ATCP -50 Rules Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m. Vouchers *Conservation awards UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Staff Reports: Inquiry - Land donation Municipal Waste - Hammond /Roberts CREP(Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) Education Activity Priority Watershed Projects Glen Hills Watershed - Relocation update - Pipe separation - Inspection tour comments Ag Issues Homestead Park - Update LESA(Land Evaluation and Site Assessment) - Work group update 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: April 24, 2002; amended May 1, 2002 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS /CORRECTIONS /CHANGES UNOFFICIAL Convened: 9:00 a.m. Adjourned: 11:50 a.m. ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION/RESOURCE & EDUCATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI May 7, 2002 Members Present: Leon Berenschot, Lois Burri, Jim Cody, Art Jensen, Ron Raymond Members Absent Chris Bethke (excused) Staff Present: County Conservationist -Bob Heise; Land Specialists -Pete Kling, David Sander; Secretary- Arlene Lier Others Present: Kathy Nelson, Mark Kubler -DNR; Mat Bobowski, Bob Hendrickson -FSA; Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS; Louise Peterson -FSA County Committee; David Fodroczi - Planning; Lee Milligan-UW- Extension Meeting called to order by temporary chair Lois Burn. Cody made motion to adopt agenda. Berenschot seconded. Carried. All were in favor of approving the April 2, 2002 meeting minutes. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 4, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION Temporary Chair Bum called for nominations for Chairman. Raymond nominated Jensen for Chairman. Berenschot moved that nominations be closed and a unanimous vote be cast for Jensen. Cody seconded. Carried. Chair Jensen called for nominations for Vice Chairman. Cody nominated Raymond. Berenschot made motion that nominations be closed and unanimous vote be cast for Raymond. Burri seconded. Carried. Chair Jensen called for nominations for Secretary. Jensen nominated Cody. Burri made motion that nominations be closed and a unanimous vote be cast for Cody. Raymond seconded. Carried. Committee representatives appointed were: RC &D — Berenschot, West Central Area Association — Raymond, Kinnickinnic CAC — Berenschot, South Fork CAC — Cody, St. Croix Lakes — Bethke. EQIP WORK GROUP MEETING WITH FSA COUNTY COMMITTEE Discussion on Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) as requested by letter from Patricia Leavenworth, State Conservationist. The group listed projects and practices they would recommend for state funding. These projects and practices were prioritized and will be sent to Madison in letter form. Group also discussed the opportunity to have a county allocation. Consensus that some money in this type of allocation would be helpful for practices that are high priority but outside a watershed. CAPITAL OUTLAY PLAN Heise distributed department's capital outlay plan and explained the proposed changes in the office equipment category. The amount of increase in dollars for computers is a result of the need for the department to become involved with the county Geographical Information System (GIS). ATCP -50 RULES Heise informed committee that a public hearing was conducted in Madison on April 18, 2002 to hear the ATCP -50 rules. Our department sent written comments signed by the LWCC chairman to be submitted as public record. The outcome was that the Senate Environmental Resource committee recommended that the ATCP -50 rules be returned to the DATCP with modifications. MUNICIPAL WASTE — HAMMOND/ROBERTS Dave Fodroczi, Planning Department, was also present for this discussion. Heise informed the committee that the Central St. Croix Sewage Commission held a meeting on May 1, 2002. Heise and Fodroczi were present at the meeting. Discussed with committee on how the county may engage in the process with the commission to seek a regional solution. Heise was directed to engage in a conversation with Sam Warp, president of the Central St. Croix Regional Wastewater Planning Commission. Jensen is to discuss this issue with County Board Chairman. Discussed that the letter that was sent on behalf of the Planning and Land and Water Conservation Committees, responding to the Phase 1 report and the Facility plan, be sent to all County Board members keeping them informed of the committee's position on this issue. Discussed other state agencies and State Representatives that may need to receive this letter. CREP (CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM) Heise informed the committee that the Secretary of Agriculture has signed the CREP contract with St. Croix County and that the county's request for the waiver of Farmland Preservation compliance was granted by the DATCP. EDUCATION ACTIVITY Heise presented to the committee that four teachers responded to the Conservation Scholarship Program. This is the one -week course that is conducted during the summer at the U.W. River Falls campus. Committee approved applicants. Scholarship money is to come from private donations, Sportsmen's Alliance, and the department's information and educational program. Ruth received a grant for $5,000.00 from the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board for the promotion of the department's environmental education program. The funding does not offset staff costs, but allows the department to purchase equipment for environmental education. Committee all agreed to have Jensen sign the grant award. PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS Heise informed the committee that the staff has been very busy with environmental education activities throughout the county. Watershed staff are completing design work and preparing for the conservation construction season. GLEN HILLS WATERSHED Heise reported that a cost estimate was presented to Rich Loney for the cost of the Structure #7 alarm system that is to be included into the next borrowing pool. Heise explained the type of device that is to be installed in Structure #7. Pipe separation - An agreement was received from NRCS to St. Croix County on the pipe separation project for the structures # 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. Timmerman reviewed the agreement, tracked changes were sent to MRCS. NRCS is reviewing agreement. County will need to sign the agreement by June 1, 2002 to secure the dollars for 2002. Committee approved Jensen to sign the agreement as long as the agreement meets Timmerman's approval. Relocation update - House relocation is proceeding as expected. Inspection tour - Tour went well. Dams are in good condition. VOUCHERS Reviewed vouchers. Motion by Berenschot, seconded by Burri, to approve vouchers. Carried. CONSERVATION AWARDS Heise handed out a list of potential conservation applicants for the departments conservation award program. The committee selected the following candidates: Conservation Farmer Huppert Brothers Wildlife Habitat Marsha Perlick Conservation Leadership Norm Rehder Water Quality Harold and Jan Gelderloos Teacher Mike Grisham INQUIRY — LAND DONATION Heise informed the committee that he met with the landowner, spent an afternoon walking over the land and discussing detail and conditions. Landowner is researching other opportunities and institutions for his property. Committee recommended Heise to keep them informed on the issue. AGRICULTURAL ISSUES —UPDATE Sander reported that incorporation of applied manure at Baldwin Dairy occurred on May 1St Some information has been received in regards to the Jon -De farm's special exception. All the original conditions must be met prior to an expansion of the facility. The state model waste ordinance committee will be meeting again on May 28th. What started out to be a model ordinance is now no more than a plan on what to consider in an ordinance. We will work on our county ordinance over the next several months. HOMESTEAD PARK Kling reported: April 20th Earth Day event was well attended. Also served as a kick -off event for fundraising for Learning and Reception Center. Work on Phase II and III (McCabe Contract) scheduled to begin next week, anticipate finishing in mid August. LESA (LAND EVALUATION AND SITE ASSESSMENT) Heise reported that the LESA system is proceeding well. The last two work group meetings have been testing and making revisions to the site assessment factors. Staff will be meeting on May 9 th to make the desired changes suggested from the work group and continue to test a variety of sites. Discussion. The next work group meeting will be held June 6 th at the Ag Center, Baldwin. SUBDIVISION REVIEW Pete Kling presented: Forest Ridge Estates (In the NE '/4 of the NW '/4 and in the SE 1 /4 of the NW 1 /4 and in the NE 1 /4 of the SW 1 /4 of Section 14, T29N -R17W, Town of Hammond, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) —120 acre development, 32 lots total, 80 acres have an agricultural history, entire plat boundary is now forested. Recommended for approval. Discussed noting on map that large scale and various smaller size farming operations are close to this subdivision. Cody made motion to recommend that the storm water and erosion control plans are acceptable and a letter be sent to the Planning & Development Committee. Burn seconded. Carried. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Bob Hendrickson reported: • We currently have 65 CRP contract extensions for 2,701.1 acres. The deadline is May 31 • The deadline for getting PFC(Product Flexibility Contracts) signed is August 1St • FSA has been putting news articles in the FSA newsletter for LWCD, NRCS, RD and UWEX. CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) compliance postcards are being returned to office. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Steve Pernsteiner reported that Jennifer Freeman will be starting today. She is a student at River Falls who will spend the summer helping NRCS check CRP seedings. DNR Mark Kubler, Lands Team Leader, updated the committee on chronic wasting disease. He stated that more information on the disease could be obtained from the DNR web site links. RC &D Berenschot reported: • Sarah Peot is on board as buffer specialist for RC &D. • Full council meeting will be held on May 22 at Barron. Dale Fern (member at large), appointed by County Board Chair Tom Dorsey while he was still in office, will be attending his first meeting. • Council will be reviewing applicants for two part-time summer positions at Eau Claire. • Received a letter regarding his appointment as WLWCA member on the Wisconsin Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative committee. WEST CENTRAL AREA Raymond presented a Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association training opportunity for LWCC members. Heise handed out the registration form for the West Central Area summer tour that is to be held on Wednesday, July 17, in Pierce County. Need confirmation from committee members by June 1, 2002. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE Heise informed the committee of the Dale Iverson grade stabilization issue. Raymond recommended that Heise inform Corp Counsel Timmerman of the issue. Heise handed out a thank you note from Ray Mitchell (Ter -Rae Farms) on the conservation award he had received at the conservation banquet held this past March. Berenschot made motion to adjourn meeting at 11:50 a.m. Seconded by Cody. Carried. Jim Cody Secretary