Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 04-02-02ST. CROIX COUNTY NOTICE OF COMMITTEE MEETING TO: Tom Dorsey, Chairman St. Croix County Board FROM: Art Jensen, Chairman COMMITTEE TITLE: Land & Water Conservation /Resource & Education Committee DATE: April 2, 2002 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: May 7, 2002 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES NEW BUSINESS: *Letter of support - Pine Lake easements *Request to sell County owned land Kinnickinnic Township(Sec.26) Tree Farmer Award Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m. Vouchers Convene into closed session pursuant to Wisconsin Statute sec. 19.85(1)(c) to consider performance evaluation data of a public employee. Reconvene into open session pursuant to Wisconsin Statute sec. 19.85 (2) . UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Staff Reports: Inquiry - Land donation Municipal Waste - Hammond /Roberts 2001/2002 Conservation Awards Dinner CREP(Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) Education Activity Priority Watershed Projects Glen Hills Watershed - Relocation update - Pipe separation - Inspection tour date Ag Issues - Ordinance update - Notice of Discharges (NOD'S) 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: March 20, 2002; amended March 25, 2002 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS /CORRECTIONS /CHANGES UNOFFICIAL Convened: 9:00 a.m. Adjourned: 11:55 a.m. ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION/RESOURCE & EDUCATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI April 2, 2002 Members Present: Leon Berenschot, Chris Bethke, Lois Burri, Jim Cody, Art Jensen, Ron Raymond Members Absent None Staff Present: County Conservationist -Bob Heise; Land Specialists -Pete Kling, Tim Popple, David Sander; Secretary - Arlene Lier Others Present: Kathy Nelson, Bob Baczynski -DNR; Bob Hendrickson -FSA; Steve Pernsteiner- NRCS; David Fodroczi - Planning; John Olson- Project Engineer, Ayres Associates; Willard Moeri- Central St. Croix Sewage Committee Meeting called to order by Chair Art Jensen. Cody made motion to adopt agenda. Bethke seconded. Carried. Berenschot made motion to approve March 5, 2002 meeting minutes. Seconded by Burn. Carried. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 7, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. LETTER OF SUPPORT — PINE LAKE EASEMENTS Popple presented letter addressed to Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for support of Pine Lake easements. Committee recommended approval and directed Chair Jensen to sign letter. REQUEST TO SELL COUNTY OWNED LAND Heise informed the committee that there was an inquiry by a developer to the Finance Committee to sell 80 acres of County owned property in Kinnickinnic Township. The Finance Committee forwarded this request to the Land and Water Conservation Committee for recommendation. Discussion. Berenschot made motion, seconded by Burn, recommending that this land not be considered for sale at this time and Heise write a letter to the Finance Committee stating the reasons for retaining this parcel in county ownership. Carried. TREE FARMER AWARD DNR Forester Kathy Nelson presented a nomination for Tree Farmer of the Year Award (Robert Ted Peller). Cody made motion for Chair Jensen to sign the nomination form and forward it to the DNR Regional Forestry office in Eau Claire. Seconded by Bethke. Carried. INQUIRY LAND DONATION Heise reported that a meeting was set up with the landowner for April 4, 2002 to discuss this issue. Landowner had a conflict with this date and a rescheduling date for this inquiry is yet to be determined. Will keep committee informed on progress. MUNICIPAL WASTE — HAMMOND/ROBERTS Heise made introductions to Willard Moeri, Chairman, Central St. Croix Waste Water Commission and John Olson, project engineer, Ayres Associates who were present at the meeting. Heise gave an update of the March 19 public hearing held in the Village of Roberts regarding the facility plan. Written comments must be submitted by April 18, 2002. There was a meeting on April 1, 2002 at the Baldwin Agricultural Center with members of the Waste Water Commission, Ayres Associates personnel, DNR and County department staff to discuss the issues and concerns of the Phase 1 report and the facility plan. Heise informed the committee of some of the environmental concerns of the Phase 1 report and the facility plan, specifically groundwater degradation, soil borings analysis, site location, short term planning and achieving the desired goals and objectives of the St. Croix County Resource Management Plan and Kinnickinnic Priority Watershed plan. Discussion. Jensen offered to the committee the opportunity to have a joint meeting with the Planning and Zoning Committee on April 9 to finalize written comments to the Phase 1 report and facility plan. Committee agreed to have a joint meeting. 2001/2002 CONSERVATION AWARDS DINNER Heise asked the committee for feedback on the Conservation Banquet that was held March 26, 2002. Committee thought the program went very well and offered a suggestion that a microphone may be necessary next year. CREP (CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM) Heise reported that the Land and Water Board is meeting today to determine the County's request to waive the Farmland Preservation compliance requirements to offset workload to administer CREP. EDUCATION ACTIVITY Written report was developed by Ruth Stern and sent to committee for review. Committee is very pleased with Ruth's interest and development of the Information and Education program. PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS Popple reported: Kinnickinnic - Update provided as to the projects involvement with the UW —River Falls wetland project, the city of River Falls -Lake George Project, and the Roberts — Hammond wastewater treatment facility. It was also noted that continued design work was ongoing, preparing for the spring construction season. St. Croix Lakes - There is continued progress on the Prairie Flats Wetland Project at Squaw lake. Workload is increasing and many (BMP's) best management practices are being designed by staff to be installed this coming construction year. South Fork of the Hay River - Staff continues to work with landowners in the event that additional funding may be provided to expand the Pollution Reduction Incentive Program. GLEN HILLS WATERSHED Relocation update - Relocation of the house below Structure #2 is moving ahead as planned. Pipe Separation - Heise has been in contact with NRCS in developing a contract between agencies. Copies of the final plans need to be received and bid proposals requested. Staff will be working on this process in the next few weeks. Inspection Tour Date - The committee selected Thursday, May 2, 2002 to conduct the inspection of the Glen Hills structures. Heise will send out itinerary. Heise offered to invite Gary Kollman- Emergency Communication Director and Dawn Budrow - County Risk Manager. VOUCHERS Reviewed vouchers. Voucher explanations were asked by Berenschot ($7,064.10 - Gillis Farms — Kinnickinnic cost share) and by Cody ($13.00 — Pepin County LCD — Area meeting registration). Motion by Berenschot, seconded by Cody, to approve vouchers. Carried. AGRICULTURAL ISSUES — UPDATE Sander reported on the state animal waste ordinance. The steering committee had a meeting on March 18, 2002. There appears to be some political pressures being applied and it is not certain how the ordinance will look in its final stage. Sander also reported spreading incidents at the Baldwin Dairy and at the Jon -De farms. On March 13, 2002 Jon -De farms started spreading manure for Baldwin Dairy. The area of application is in section 11, town of Hammond, formerly known as the Roger Thompson farm. The ground was thawed to a depth of two to three inches. Manure pooled on the ground surface and run off occurred late Wednesday afternoon. They continued spreading until 12:30 a.m. Saturday, March 16. Sometime during the weekend of March 16 -17, 2002 Jon -De Farms spread manure on their farm. The area of application is in section 18, town of Eau Galle, and section 13, town of Rush River. Manure pooled on the ground surface and runoff of the manure occurred. Both sites are under investigation by the Department of Natural Resources. HOMESTEAD PARK Kling reported: Pre - construction meeting with contractors, DNR, Bonestroo, and county went well. All agreed to meet at the site the last week of April to assess site conditions as to their suitability to begin construction. The Friends of Perch Lake will be sponsoring an Earth Day event at Homestead Parklands on Perch Lake on Saturday, April 20 from 9:00 -11:00 a.m. LESA (LAND EVALUATION AND SITE ASSESSMENT) Heise informed the committee that the LESA system is in the testing mode. Approximately 30 sites will be chosen and tested by the LESA system. April 11 and 25 will be the next two LESA work group meetings to test these sites. CLOSED SESSION Motion by Berenschot, seconded by Cody, to enter into closed session per Wisconsin Statute sec. 19.85(1)(c) to consider performance evaluation date of a public employee at 9:40 a.m. Roll call vote — all in favor. Carried. Motion by Cody to come out of closed session per Wisconsin Statute sec. 19.85(2) at 10:10 a.m. Seconded by Berenschot. Carried. SUBDIVISION REVIEW Pete Kling presented: Hopkins Estates (In part of the SW 1 /4 of the SE' /4 of Section 11, T29N -R19W, Town of Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) — 31 acre development, 11 lots total. Recommended for approval. Berenschot made motion to recommend that the storm water and erosion control plans are acceptable and a letter be sent to the Planning & Development Committee. Bethke seconded. Carried. Shepard Park (In part of the SE' /4 of the NE' /4 and in part of the NE' /4 of the SE' /4 of Section 10, T29N -RI 9W, Town of Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) — 30 acre development, 11 lots total. Recommended for approval. Berenschot made motion to recommend that the storm water and erosion control plans are acceptable and a letter be sent to the Planning & Development Committee. Bethke seconded. Carried. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Bob Hendrickson reported: • FSA has extended 41 CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) contracts for 1,712.7 acres and are waiting for the county to come on board with CREP (Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program). 817 postcards were sent out to CRP producers to certify their acres for compliance. FSA is current with PFC(Production Flexibility Contract) payments. FSA is updating landowners' names and addresses through a new system called SCIMS (Service Center Information Management System). This new system will become available for NRCS and RD in the near future. FSA is having budget problems statewide. All temporary employees and field men were laid off with no specific date to bring them back. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Steve Pernsteiner reported: NRCS has hired Jennifer Freeman, a River Falls student, to do follow up on CRP plantings. She will start April 23, 2002. He has also posted an opening for a work -study student to help with buffers and CREP. Environmental Quality Incentives Program is also taking applications for cost - sharing until April 19. Practices included: prescribed grazing, nutrient management, conservation tillage, and well plugging. DNR Forester Kathy Nelson reported: Reminder — Licenses expired on March 31. New licenses are being sold now. Price of resident park stickers increased from $18.00 to $20.00, seniors increased from $9.00 to $10.00. Turkey hunting season begins on April 10. Kathy informed the committee that Dan Cain works for Pheasants Forever, Inc. He can be contacted at the DNR Service Center, Baldwin. Informational brochures were distributed to LWCC. Fish & Wildlife annual reports were given out. DNR has completed a management plan for Homestead Park. Bob Baczynski (St. Croix Basin Water Team Leader) reported on the recent liquid manure spreading problems with JonDe Farm and Baldwin Dairies. There was some indication of movement due to frozen ground. He recommended that there should be no winter spreading of manure anywhere. Also announced that there will be a "Waterway & Wetland Permit Process" workshop on April 9 at the Hudson House, Hudson. RC &D Berenschot reported: Council meeting was held on March 20 at Menomonie. Will not be involved with native prairie seeds until fall seed orders. Was asked to serve and agreed to be a WLWCA member on the Wisconsin Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative committee. WEST CENTRAL AREA Raymond reported that we will be following the new schedule for the speaking and poster contests. List of new board members will be available after the spring elections. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE Heise informed the committee that he did receive a copy of a contract from the Corp of Engineers to provide the required analysis to determine the Alum treatment for Squaw Lake. Heise reported that he would not sign the contract until he receives approval that the Lakes Grant application was approved by the DNR. Bethke made motion to adjourn meeting at 11:55 a.m. Seconded by Berenschot. Carried. Jim Cody Secretary