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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLand and Water 04-07-09 NOTICE OF MEETING AND AGENDA ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE April 7, 2009 —10:40 a.m. Agricultural Service & Education Center 19608 th Avenue, Baldwin, WI CALL TO ORDER ROLL CALL APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING ADOPTION OF AGENDA DATE OF NEXT MEETING — May 5, 2009 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT Agency reports FSA NRCS DNR RC &D West Central Area NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Vouchers County Farm — plan Amended Animal Waste Ordinance 2010 Soil & Water Resource Management grant application OLD BUSINESS: 2008 Strategic Initiatives PARKS DEPARTMENT NEW BUSINESS: Director's report Bills /vouchers OLD BUSINESS: 2008 Strategic Initiatives ANNOUNCEMENTS & CORRESPONDENCE ADJOURN SUBMITTED BY: Robert Heise DATE: March 25, 2009; amended April 1, 2009 COPIES TO: COUNTY BOARD OFFICE NEWS MEDIA /NOTICE BOARD COUNTY CLERK COMMITTEE MEMBERS (Items may be taken in different order) *Additions /Changes /Corrections DRAFT ST. CROIX COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE Agricultural Service & Education Center, Baldwin, WI April 7, 2009 Members Present: Ken Graf, Linda Luckey, Buzz Marzolf, Bill Peavey, Dan Raebel, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director Bob Heise, Administrative Assistant Arlene Lier Others Present: Steve Pernsteiner -NRCS, Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting Ruetz called the meeting to order at 10:44 a.m. Action on Previous Minutes: Raebel made motion, seconded by Graf, to approve the amended March 3, 2009 meeting minutes (under Parks — Bid Award — Electrical work - Glen Hills camp rground - after Killmer Electric Company, the lowest responsible bidder.) Carried. Adoption of Agenda: Motion by Marzolf, seconded by Peavey, to adopt the agenda. Carried. Date of next meeting: May 5, 2009 LAND & WATER CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT FARM SERVICE AGENCY (FSA) Graf reported that Bob Hendrickson - County Executive Director has retired. Jeffrey Myers- Chippewa Falls has been working at the Baldwin FSA office for 1.5 days /week. NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE (NRCS) Steve Pernsteiner- District Conservationist reported: Report of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) practices accomplished and payments made in 2008 was passed out to committee. A total of $374,000 was paid to producers for conservation work in 2008. Most common practices were nutrient management, pest management, and Comprehensive Nutrient Management plans. Applications for the 2009 EQIP program are being taken until April 17. We currently have 15 applications for about $120,000 and 2 applications for manure storage for $200,000. An EQIP program for activity plans for forestry, grazing, and organic farming will start the end of this month. This program will assist producers in getting private consultants to develop management plans for their specific activity. NRCS just ended sign up for flood plain easements. This program was funded by the federal stimulus package. We did not have any applications from St. Croix County but southern Wisconsin had many applications. DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (DNR) — No report. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT (RC &D) Ruetz reported: • Plans for Osceola and also Bugle Lake - Independence /Elk Creek watershed. • Controlled grazing is continuously being promoted. • RC &D has funding available due to grants being received. • The local food program with hospitals is going well. • They are trying to get a food coop started and a former restaurant kitchen will be used for cleaning the produce. There is no trouble getting beef and pork. WEST CENTRAL AREA Heise reported that Dunn County will be hosting the summer tour on Friday, June 12. NEW BUSINESS Director's report Heise reported: • Commented on copies of the letter sent to Senator Mark Miller -Co- Chair, Joint Finance Committee and also the letter sent to both Senator Miller and Representative Mark Pocan -Co- Chair, Joint Finance Committee. He and Dave Fodroczi provided oral testimony at the Joint Finance meeting on March 27 regarding specific items in the Governor's budget that have impacts on our local program delivery. The major issues were LWCD staff funding reduction in our Soil and Water Resource Management Program and the Clean Sweep program funding. • The LWCD and Parks Department reports will be given to County Board on April 21. Two Farmland Preservation agreement applications will also be presented for approval. • This month we held a drinking water program with the town of Emerald. Out of about 40 samples, 6 came back positive with bacteria. We also had DNR test some water samples which detected manure in some of the samples. We will be conducting a public informational meeting with the town people on April 14 and will be following up with the town of Forest on May 9 to conduct an informational meeting on groundwater. We worked with the Colfax lab for testing the town of Emerald water samples. • We have received some requests from developers, who already have land improvements in, to convert back to agriculture for growing crops. The public improvements are already in and we do not want those destroyed, and we want to protect those improvements from erosion and sedimentation. What requirements would we want in place for protection? Staff will provide some recommendations to the LWCC next month. Vouchers Reviewed the voucher list. Raebel questioned the postage meter expense reimbursement process. Discussion. Peavey made motion, seconded by Ruetz, to approve the April LWCD voucher list (total $7,904.42). Carried. County Farm — plan Reviewed a county farm map which showed the proposed management activities that may take place on the farm this year. All of the wetlands will be buffered by a 50 -foot buffer. Staff collected perimeter points using a GPS device. If seeded to prairie, we would have until June 15 to seed. We are attempting to set an example to protect the wetlands and do the right thing by not farming the steep slopes. The two vegetated connectors shown are not waterways; they just connect one wetland to another wetland. An erosive road has to be repaired for access to fields. We are working with the renter and a crop consultant on a nutrient management plan. More soil tests will have to be done. Next month we will discuss the costs involved on the county farm. Amended Animal Waste Ordinance Heise reported that in recent years we have attempted to amend our animal waste ordinance several times. It was first adopted in 1985. We did a total re -write of the ordinance. An updated zoning ordinance was handed out. Next month we will review and discuss the DRAFT amended animal waste ordinance and zoning amendments. A proposed "timeline — Animal Waste Ordinance /Applicable Zoning Amendments" was presented. 2010 Soil & Water Resource Management grant application The grant application was presented for approval for staffing dollars and cost -share dollars. There are two specific targeted resource management projects: Goodrich Dairies - Highway 64, YMCA Camp -south of Hudson - total cost $178,000. The grant application was signed by Chair Ruetz. OLD BUSINESS 2008 Strategic Initiatives County Board goal setting session is scheduled for Friday, April 24. PARKS DEPARTMENT Members Present: Linda Luckey, Buzz Marzolf, Bill Peavey, Dan Raebel, Gene Ruetz Members Absent: None Staff Present: Director Bob Heise, Administrative Assistant Arlene Lier Others Present: Administrative Coordinator Chuck Whiting NEW BUSINESS Director's Report Heise reported: • All of the seasonal staff have been hired for the park season • Electrical contract for Glen Hills Campground has been signed by the contractor. Work will begin shortly. • Dahn Borh -DNR Forester informed us that there is bark beetle in some of the red pines at the Kinnickinnic Forest. • Complaints regarding the receding water level have been received from citizens regarding the Bass Lake boat landing. Power loading boats on boat trailers cause big scour holes. DNR Regional Field Office crew will come on April 27 to do some of the work on the boat landing. Discussed "No Power Loading" sign. • Committee approved free admission for county park entrance on the weekend of June 13 -14. Vouchers The April bills list for Snowmobile and Parks was presented. Motion by Peavey, seconded by Raebel, to approve Snowmobile bills in the amount of $9,680.55 and Park bills in the amount of $7,939.16. Carried. OLD BUSINESS 2008 Strategic Initiatives No report. Chair Ruetz adjourned meeting at 12:21 p.m. Buzz Marzolf Secretary Arlene Lier Recording Secretary