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Home My WebLink AboutLand & Water 12-04-01 ~ ST. 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: December 4, 2001 TIME: 9:00 a.m. LOCATION: Ag Center, Baldwin CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING: January 8, 2002(Tentative) ACTION ON PREVIOUS MINUTES NEW BUSINESS: WLWCA Conference - Resolutions discussion CREP(Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program) - Final Contract/Resolution Hudson - Storm Water Plan report Ag Building maintenance issues Subdivision Review - 10:00 a.m. Vouchers * Farmland Preservation - Afdahl Family Trust Application UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Staff Reports: Education Activity - Venison Program - I & E Coordinator * Priority Watershed Projects Glen Hills Watershed - Relocation update - Structure #8 Ag Issues - Ordinance update Homestead Park 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: November 16, 2001; amended November 30, 2001 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA/NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS * ADDITIONS/CORRECTIONS/CHANGES X UNOFFICIAL Convened: 9:00 a.m. Adjourned: 11:40 a.m. ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION/RESOURCE & EDUCATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI December 4, 2001 Members Present: Leon Berenschot(arrived late), 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; County Technician-Kyle Kulow; I & E Coordinator-Ruth Stern; Program Assistant-Jonna Fedie; Secretary-Arlene Lier Others Present: Jay Custer-NRCS; Bob Hendrickson-FSA Meeting called to order by Chairman Art Jensen. Cody made motion to adopt agenda. Raymond seconded. Carried. Bethke made motion to approve November 6, 2001 meeting minutes. Seconded by Burn. Carried. Next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 2, 2002 at 9:00 a.m. WLWCA CONFERENCE - RESOLUTION DISCUSSION Heise presented and discussed resolutions with committee. Berenschot, Bethke, Cody and Heise will represent St. Croix County at the WLWCA conference, December 5-7, at Wisconsin Dells. CREP (CONSERVATION RESERVE ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM) Final Contract/Resolution - Heise informed committee on the status of CREP contract. Committee discussed workload issues and fees for service to administer the program. Heise was directed to work with DATCP to negotiate amendments of the CREP contract. TOWN OF HUDSON - STORM WATER PLAN REPORT Heise informed the committee that there are two U.W.R.F. students interested in developing base maps and land use layers on GIS for the Town of Hudson. These base maps will provide the foundational information required for future storm water management studies or smart growth planning efforts for the town. AG BUILDING MAINTENANCE ISSUES Heise informed the committee on the service provided to the Agricultural Center on maintenance issues. A number of requests submitted to Building Services Department have not been completed. Discussion. Chair Jensen will discuss this issue with Administrative Coordinator, Chuck Whiting. ` o EDUCATION ACTIVITY Venison Program - Jonna Fedie gave a report on the Venison Program. Total deer donated in St. Croix County to date is 82. This number is down from last year. I & E Coordinator - Ruth Stern reported on Conservation Education activities. A $5,000 grant application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been submitted and a second $5,000 grant application to the Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) will be completed by mid-January. The 2002 St. Croix County Conservation Speaking Contest will be held in early February. Since this a schedule change from previous years, teachers have been notified of this change so that they can plan ahead. Information on all of the 2002 Conservation Education Programs is being compiled and will be distributed to the school districts in early January. Approximately 500 St. Croix County students received environmental training from LWCD and DNR staff this fall through their participation in conservation field days, stream ecology workshops, the fall speaking contest, and classroom presentations. LESA (LAND EVALUATION AND SITE ASSESSMENT) Heise presented an update on the LESA work group sessions and progress of the Land Evaluation factors. The goal is to wrap up the (LE) Land Evaluation factors by the end of December and begin the (SA) Site Assessment factors in January 2002. SUBDIVISION REVIEW Kling presented: Mist View - (In part of the SE 1/4 of the SE 1/a and part of the NE 1/4 of the SE 1/4 of Section 11, T29N-R19W, Town of Hudson, St. Croix County, Wisconsin; including lot 1 of CSM recorded in volume 2, page 551) - 43 acre development, 17 lots total. 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. Bum seconded. Carried. VOUCHERS Reviewed vouchers. Bethke questioned two vouchers: Owens Brothers, Inc. - $25,322.34 (barnyard runoff management - Kinnickinnic Watershed Cost Share $21,325.34 and EQIP $3,997.00) and Deer's Food Locker - $1,260.00 (venison program). Motion by Bethke, seconded by Raymond, to approve vouchers. Carried. FARMLAND PRESERVATION Afdahl Family Trust Application (Town of Pleasant Valley, Section 18, 120 acres) - Kulow presented application for a new 10-year contract. Stated that they were in compliance with a farm plan on all acreage included. Discussion. Motion by Bethke, seconded by Raymond, that LWCC recommends approval of the contract application to county board and forwarding to state. Carried. PRIORITY WATERSHED PROJECTS Popple reported: For all three projects, update provided as to the status of completed projects and of upcoming projects to be designed this winter. In all projects, conservation easements are receiving a lot of attention. The new federal Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program is being looked at as a possible option for these projects. 'w A state work group has been assembled to determine an allocation method for distributing cropping practice funds to eligible watershed grantees. Tim Popple will serve as the northwest region representative. GLEN HILLS WATERSHED Heise reported: Relocation update - The Finance Committee accepted the bid submitted for the purchase of the house. Brettingen is to have her new house delivered to site by the end of the week. Heise was encouraged by committee to keep the process moving forward. Structure #8 - The emergency spillway of structure #8 has been completed. The costs of repair are well below estimate. Heise passed around photos of the "before" and "after" pictures of the repair of structure #8. AGRICULTURAL ISSUES -UPDATE Sander gave an update on the animal waste ordinance. A meeting was held with Greg Timmerman, Ellen Denzer, Rod Eslinger, Bob Heise, Jonna Fedie, and David Sander to discuss the Attorney General's opinion on whether or not counties can be more restrictive in an ordinance than the state when dealing with livestock operations. Mr. Timmerman commented on the Attorney General's opinion and feels that some clarification is needed. Mr. Timmerman has also suggested that we put the ordinance rewrite on hold until clarification has been received. Reported on progress of construction projects (Lofty Acres and Emerald Dairy). Discussion followed. HOMESTEAD PARK Kling reported: • Fund raising for the Learning & Reception Center has begun. • Bid documents for completion of the capital improvements for phase II and phase III should be ready in the next 2-3 weeks. FARM SERVICE AGENCY Bob Hendrickson reported: • There has been some discussion on CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) sign up dates, perhaps as soon as late spring or early summer. • Staff had to complete preliminary work to prepare for the next CRP sign-up: review cost share rates, look at Wetland Reserve Program acreage and total cropland acreage to make sure that the CRP acres did not exceed 25% of the total cropland in the county. Producers continue to request payments for (PFC) Production Flexibility Contracts. 24 commodity loans were disbursed for $1,656,957.94 with 12 pending. Interest rate is 4.125% for the month. • We have paid out 525 LDP (loan deficiency payments) for $1,250,826.00, mostly on soybeans and corn. We expect another 300-400 LDP applications. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE Jay Custer reported there were many requests for CREP contracts that have been serviced and are awaiting the county's signature of the CREP contract. Several more large dairy operations have expressed interest in seeing how CREP may benefit them. GIS and GPS technologies are being used to assist planning in the CREP process. Owens Bros. EQIP demonstration project has been completed and a spring field day will be held jointly with the Kinnickinnic Watershed Project nutrient management field day. C ~ DNR No report. RC&D Berenschot reported: He attended a hearing on December 2 regarding a complaint filed with U.S. Congressman Ron Kind on the prairie seed bulk order program. He plans to attend the North Central RC&D meeting at Springfield, IL in January 2002. The state RC&D meeting is scheduled for January 13. WEST CENTRAL AREA Heise reported that there is a West Central business meeting scheduled for February 20, 2002 at the Ramada Inn, Eau Claire. The business meeting is in conjunction with the spring speaking contest. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE Heise informed the committee that he has received an approved contract from the DNR on the Conservation Aids submittal for Homestead Park phase H. Committee recommended Chair Jensen to sign contract. Bethke made motion to adjourn meeting at 11:40 a.m. Seconded by Raymond. Carried. Jim Cody Secretary