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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand & Water 11-05-02ST. 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: November 5, 2002 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: December 3, 2002 ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES NEW BUSINESS: *LWCD - Position openings WLWCA Conference - Resolutions Update - New non -point rules Conservation Aids project - Agreement signature *Lake Planning Grant - Agreement signature Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m. Vouchers Cooperating agreement (NRCS) Cedar Creek Flume *Wildlife Damage - Contracted Services - Dave Ferris UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Staff Reports Ag Issues - Animal waste ordinance report 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: October 21,2002;amended October 28, 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 November 5, 2002 Members Present: Leon Berenschot, Lois Burri, Chris Bethke, Jim Cody, Art Jensen, Ron Raymond Members Absent None Staff Present: County Conservationist -Bob Heise; Land Specialists -Pete Kling, Kyle Kulow; Secretary - Arlene Lier Others Present: Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS; Bob Hendrickson -FSA; Bob Baczynski -DNR; John Arkell- Lentz Property; Tom Hubbard-AC/A; Dwight Harvey -Lentz Property(Settler's Glen); Pat Conrad- Somerset Township Resident; Dave Ferris, Cindy Blonk -Burnett County Meeting called to order by chair Art Jensen. Berenschot made motion to adopt agenda. Raymond seconded. Carried. Berenschot made motion to approve the October 1, 2002 meeting minutes. Cody seconded. Carried. Next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 3, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. DNR Bob Baczynski reported on the Alaskan earthquake which affected many Wisconsin well owners. High amounts of dark sediment (turbidity) appeared in their drinking water due to the Alaskan event the evening of November 3. Discussed rules: NR -113, 115, 151, and 243. Several lawsuits have been filed against Jon De Farm. There will be a crackdown on continuous violators. LWCD — POSITION OPENINGS Heise reported that he received two resignations from his department this month. David Sander, Conservation Specialist, has left effective November 1 and Chad DeWyre will be leaving effective November 8, 2002. Heise reported that he has filled the temporary position vacant in the department and is currently in the process of advertising the Watershed Technician position. Heise and committee set tentative dates of December 11 or 13 for the interview process. Heise will be working on filling the Conservation Specialist position. WLWCA CONFERENCE Heise reported that the WLWCA conference would be held in Manitowoc, Wisconsin on December 4 -6. Committee members interested in attending must inform the department very soon to submit registration. Heise stated that the auction will be held again this year and that each county is asked to bring a product of $25.00 or greater. UPDATE —NEW NON -POINT RULES Heise presented a power point presentation on the new NR -151 and ATCP -50 rules. His presentation targeted the agriculture performance standards and specifically how these new rules may affect the department. Heise reported that the department is required to amend their Natural Resource Management Plan to incorporate the new rules into the planning strategies. These amendments are to be completed by the end of 2003. CONSERVATION AIDS PROJECT, LAKE PLANNING GRANT — AGREEMENT SIGNATURES Heise presented two grant agreements for the Chairman's signatures. One grant is for the County Aids project for 2003 and the other agreement is the Lake Planning Grant to plan and organize the Sediment and Nutrient conference in 2003. Motion by Raymond and seconded by Berenschot to have the chairman sign the agreements. Approved. COOPERATING AGREEMENT (NRCS) Heise handed out a cooperative working agreement drafted between the USDA, NRCS and the St. Croix County LWCD. This working document identifies that the LWCD will assist the NRCS with workload in the new farm bill and NRCS will assist the LWCD with the goals and objectives in their Resource Management Plan. Corporation Counsel has reviewed this document. Motion by Raymond, seconded by Berenschot, to have the Chairman sign the cooperative agreement between NRCS and LWCD. Approved. CEDAR CREEK FLUME Heise presented a power point presentation of photos during the repair of the Cedar Creek Flume. Construction was completed by the end of October. Fiscal report was presented to the committee; the total cost of the project was $14, 649.00, receiving 70% cost sharing under the Horse Creek Priority Watershed. The net cost to St. Croix County is $4,394.70. VOUCHERS Reviewed vouchers. Motion by Bethke, seconded by Burn, to approve Chair Jensen's signature on the November voucher list. Carried. SUBDIVISION REVIEW Pete Kling presented: Bluebird Bluffs (In part of the NE 1 /4 of the NW 1 /4 and part of the NW 1 /4 of the NE' /4 of Section 5, T29N -RI 9W, Town of St. Joseph, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) — 36 acre development, I 1 lots total. All storm water and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been submitted. The stormwater and erosion control plans are acceptable for this subdivision. Recommend that all grading be postponed until spring 2003 unless the LWCD and project engineer deem fall weather conditions are favorable to start. If approved, all fall construction will follow a phased construction schedule. 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. Cody seconded. Carried. Britt's Way (In part of the NE 1 /4 of the NE' /4 of Section 16, T31N -R18W, Town of Star Prairie, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) —10.3 acre development, 5 lots total. All storm water and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been submitted. All lots require a stormwater and erosion control plan prior to obtaining building permit. The storm water and erosion control plans are acceptable for this subdivision. Recommend that all grading be postponed until spring 2003 unless the LWCD and project engineer deem fall weather conditions are favorable to start. If approved, all fall construction will follow a phased construction schedule. Recommended for approval. 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. Settler's Glen (In part of the NW 1 /4 of the SW 1 /4, part of the SW 1 /4 of the SW 1 /4, part of the NE 1 /4 of the SW ' / 4, part of the SE 1 /4 of the SW 1 /4, part of the NW 1 /4 of the SE 1 /4, part of the SW 1 /4 of the SE ' / 4 of Section 23, all in T30N -R20W, Town of St. Joseph, St. Croix County, Wisconsin) — 152 acre development, 45 lots total. All stormwater and erosion control issues have been resolved and a revised plan has been submitted. A pre - construction meeting was held on 10/30/02. The stormwater and erosion control plans are acceptable for this subdivision. Recommend that all grading be postponed until spring 2003. All fall construction must follow the approved phased plan discussed at the pre - construction meeting. 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. WILDLIFE DAMAGE — CONTRACTED SERVICES — DAVE FERRIS Heise introduced Dave Ferris, County Conservationist, Burnett County and Cindy Blonk, contracting consultant. Heise reiterated previous committee discussions regarding the contracting the Wildlife Damage Program services out to a consultant. Ferris proceeded to introduce how the program worked in Burnett, Polk and Washburn counties contracting the Wildlife Damage Program. The consultant must follow the respective Counties plan of administration and the county LWCC remains the decision maker on all claims and abatement. Consultant charges the county for time and material. All costs are reimbursed from the state to the county. Ferris handed out a copy of the consultant agreement and the working agreement. Heise reported that Corporation Counsel is reviewing these documents. Committee agreed to contract the Wildlife Damage Program services out to a consultant for a one -year trial basis and move forward with this agreement with Corporation Counsel's acceptance of the agreements. AG ISSUES Heise reported that since Sander has terminated employment with the department, Heise would resume the responsibility of re- writing the Animal Waste Ordinance. Discussion. We will continue to work with the Planning Department to provide consistent language and formatting into the animal waste ordinance. MUNICIPAL WASTE - REGIONAL Heise handed out a letter for the committee to review. This letter is a response to the letter received September 20 from Willard Moeri, who had responded to the county's comments on the Phase 1 report and the Facility plan. The purpose of this letter is to clarify some of the statements presented in the September 20 letter from Mr. Moeri. Motion by Cody, seconded by Bethke to have the Chairman sign the letter at his discretion once discussed with the Planning, Zoning, and Parks Committee. Carried. Heise informed the committee that a wastewater workgroup meeting was held on October 28 to work through the identified scoping issues. Another meeting is scheduled for November 14 7:00 p.m., Ag Center, Baldwin. The goal of the next meeting is to finish working through the scoping issues and identify specific criteria to incorporate into a Request for Proposal. Heise invited the committee to attend a meeting on November 6 th , located in the community room, Government Center, 1:00 p.m. to discuss both surface and groundwater resources of the county. The purpose is to begin a comprehensive planning and protection of these water resources of the county. EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITY Heise reported that Jonna Fedie had informed him that the department has sold 37,000 trees and 49 prairie flats this season. Ruth Stern reported that approximately 600 St. Croix County students participated in one of the fall conservation field days sponsored by the Land & Water Conservation Department. The events were staffed by individuals from the LWCD, NRCS, DNR, Pheasants Forever and St. Croix County Sportsmen's Organization. Ruth is keeping a list of volunteers, resource organization, and agency personnel that will help with future conservation field days as the number of requests from local schools continues to grow. With Perch Lake Park being well along into the development stages, the LWCD will likely utilize the park for several conservation field days next spring. Conservation classroom presentations will take place during the upcoming winter months and since the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has recently added soils into the state educational standards there will be more requests to cover this topic in the classroom during the school year. PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS Kulow reported on the watersheds' non - bonded reimbursement requests. These have been sent in to the DNR prior to the November 1" deadline. The department has asked for $30,000 for the Lakes Cluster project. Non - bonded money is used for "soft practices" such as nutrient management, pest management, and reduced tillage. Reported that the Kinni steering committee held their quarterly meeting on October 24 at the Regional Development Institute on the campus of UW -River Falls. The main issue was the use of the irrigation system at the River Falls High School. It was reported that it is in use and operating satisfactory. There were questions as to whether or not it was actually in use. Reported on the well abandonment demo, which was held at the Greiber farmstead on October 17 Gave a short presentation followed by the actual abandonment. There were approximately 10 people present. The department plans to have another well abandonment demonstration in the near future. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Bob Hendrickson reported: Have been out doing CRP maintenance checks this last month. Most of the CRP looks good. • CREP is very quiet for the time being. Held two informational meetings with UW -EXT help on the Direct and Counter Cyclical Program (DCP). NRCS and our FSA Farm Loan Manager also participated with the meeting. Approximately 100 producers attended each meeting. • We have started sign up for the DCP. The software for this is very cumbersome. We are looking at 1/2 hour to 1/2 day per person to sign them up. The letters we sent out to producers for the DCP on the producers base and yields appeared to be very helpful. Majority of the Dairy payments have been sent out, approximately 1.5 million dollars have been paid out to local producers. Interest rates for Facility loans are at 3.375 %, Commodity loans are 2.625 %. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Steve Pernsteiner reported: Two opportunities for internship students to work in St. Croix County are in the works. The Willow River Rehab District has agreed to fund a student to study the sedimentation in the Upper Willow River Watershed. This student would be considered a volunteer for NRCS and get a scholarship when the intern is completed. The St. Croix Basin Team is looking to have an intern promote Citizen stream monitoring. Jennifer Freeman, NRCS student employee, will be done at the end of November. NRCS hopes to be able to hire a technician for work in St. Croix within the next year. CREP program is keeping staff busy helping landowners get site preparation ready and owners are busy ordering trees. We have 6 sites that need visiting for the program. The local workgroup will need to meet soon to discuss eligible practices for EQIP and how we will rank applications. He and Bob Heise will set a date of work group meeting. RC &D Berenschot reported: • He attended the State Conference at Baraboo on October 17-18. He chaired the conference because the president had other commitments. He was highly impressed with the coordinator from Illinois. • Speaker spoke on growing hybrid hazelnuts (produce filberts). After 3 years can start producing nuts (worm, bug, and disease resistant). Machine is being developed for harvesting. Talked about the Value Added conference that will be held in January. Hosted the National Grazing Association conference in Eau Claire on October 25 and 26. Toured Huntsinger Farms where horseradish is grown (biggest in the world). Grazing is done for 3 years after which time horseradish can be raised. Horseradish cannot be planted behind beans and corn. • Board of Directors meeting will be held November 6 in Eau Claire. • RC &D office has moved to a Federal building in Altoona. WEST CENTRAL AREA Raymond stated that the WLWCA meeting is scheduled for December 4 -6 at Holiday Inn in Manitowoc. Greg Erickson (Eau Claire County) is a candidate for the State Conservation board. Area board meeting will be held in January or February. Need to get more activity here in West Central area. ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE Heise reported that the Structure #7 alarm system in near completion. The concrete conduit is installed and the telephone line needs to be installed to the manhole. Heise reported that the Highway department has begun construction on the Glen Hill pipe separation project. The number of dams repaired this fall is dependent upon weather conditions. Heise was requested from the Red Cedar Lakes Association to write a letter of support for an EPA Watershed Initiative Grant — Phosphorus Reduction Project for the Red Cedar River Basin. Heise stated that a portion of the Red Cedar Watershed is located in St. Croix County. Heise agreed to write the letter of support with the chairman's signature. Committee concurred. Berenschot made motion to adjourn meeting at 11:45 a.m., seconded by Raymond, carried. Jim Cody Secretary