August 2011 Meeting
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 11:54AM MINUTES OF THE LINN COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS MEETING
Marion, IA
August 2, 2011
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Sue Ellen Hosch called the August 2, 2011 meeting of the Linn Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioners to order at 5:25PM at the USDA Service Center, 3025 7th Avenue, Marion, IA.
Present:
Present:
|
Commissioners |
Staff and others |
|
Sue Ellen Hosch |
John Bruene, District Conservationist |
|
Robert Broulik |
Mark Bienemann, Soil Conservation Tech |
|
Larry Jons |
Jon Gallagher, County Soil Conservationist |
|
Dan Abel |
Donna Walton, District Employee |
|
|
Mary Hepker, State Secretary |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Guests
Gene Jahncke
ADOPT AGENDA
11-72 Jons moved to adopt the agenda. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the July meeting were presented for approval.
11-73 Jons moved to approve the July minutes. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer’s Reports were presented for approval
11-74: Jons moved to approve the July reports. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
BILLS
The following bills were presented for approval:
Bills – To be Paid
|
Truax Co, Inc. |
Parts for Drill Repair |
$ 41.97 |
|
CDI |
Membership Dues |
$ 850.00* |
Bills – Paid, already approved
|
John Huntington & Minger Mowing/Landscaping |
Donation for Rain Garden at Green Space Field Day |
$ 250.00 (Cargill) |
Bills – Paid, but not approved
|
Truax Company, Inc. |
Parts for Drill Repair |
$ 83.15 |
|
NACD |
Erasers |
$ 106.10* |
|
Treasurer-State of Iowa |
2nd Quarter Sales Tax |
$ 138.00 |
|
SquareSpace |
Web Development |
$ 240.00 (Cargill) |
|
Farmers State Bank |
Checks |
$ 97.25* |
*Reimbursable through 1M
Dry Creek Expenses
|
Donna Walton |
Salary 06/10/11 – 06/23/11 |
$ 317.97 |
|
IPERS |
Reporting 06/01/11 – 06/30/11 |
$ 68.70 |
|
University of WI-Extension |
Rain Garden Kits |
$ 24.00 |
|
ISWEP |
Rain Garden Manuals |
$ 190.00 |
|
Donna Walton |
Salary for 06/24/11 – 07/07/11 |
$ 298.63 |
|
Donna Walton |
Mileage |
$ 2.34 |
|
Koppenhaver & Assocs |
Quarterly Reports/Payroll |
$ 240.00 |
|
Treasurer-State of Iowa |
Iowa Withholding Quarterly |
$ 1.00 |
|
Iowa Workforce Development |
Contribution & Payroll Report |
$ 1.49 |
|
U.S. Treasury |
Federal Quarterly Tax |
$ 200.01 |
|
IPERS |
Reporting 07/01/11 – 07/31/11 |
$ 152.83 |
11-75: Abel moved to approve the bills. Jons seconded the motion. Motion carried.
COST SHARE
Bills
|
Renaissance Group, Inc. |
Pervious Asphalt |
$ 3,500.00 |
|
Renaissance Group, Inc. |
Bio-Retention Cell |
$ 3,000.00 |
|
Sharon Murray |
Rain Garden |
$ 622.57 |
11-76: Abel moved to approve the bills. Jons seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Plans and Agreements
There were 21 plans presented for approval.
11-77: Jons moved to approve the plans. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Guest
Gene Jahncke stated that he attended the Field Day and he felt it was a great day with a great turnout. He also reminded the District that the Environmental Task Force of Peoples Church is available to help anytime we need it. All they ask is that we give them plenty of notice.
STAFF/COMMISSIONER REPORTS
Commissioner and Assistants
Nothing to report at this time.
NRCS – DC & Others
Bruene had nothing to report at this time.
Gallagher talked about the recent Cedar Rapids Farmers Market Green Day. He felt our location this year was not very good and traffic seemed to be a lot lower than last year due to that. People did stop by but didn’t spend a lot of time in the Conservation Station. Laura has put together a list of items that should be purchased for future events.
Gallagher talked about the new city council in Palo. Tom Watson, City of Palo, has stated that the new council doesn’t like the new bio-cells that have been installed near the ball diamonds. They are unhappy with how they look and would like to take them out. Gallagher stated that maybe a letter should be put together from both Linn County and the District explaining the implications of removing these practices. Gallagher took a look at the bio-cells today and for the most part, they are looking pretty good. One of them has some compaction issues which happened at the time of installation. Due to this issue, this may be the reason that they are not working properly.
11-78 Abel moved that Jon draft a letter to the City of Palo stating that the District and Linn County are not in agreement with the removal of the bio-cells. Jons seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Gallagher will send the draft letter to the commissioners and the Linn County Board of Supervisors for their review and approval prior to sending it.
District Employee
Walton discussed the new Rain Garden which was just completed in Palo. AmeriCorps assisted in the installation of the Rain Garden and was a great group to work with. Walton then shared photos that she took that day.
District Secretary
Nothing at this time.
OLD BUSINESS
Dry Creek Watershed
Walton talked about the Dry Creek Development Grant final report that is due to be completed by August 31st. At this time, she is pretty much done with it. She will forward her summary to the commissioners to review prior to completion.
CDI Annual Conference
Hepker talked about the upcoming Annual Conference and reminded the commissioners that if they haven’t done so, they need to send in their registrations. Proxy cards will be handed out at the September meeting.
Resolutions
Hepker shared the email received from CDI on the Resolutions tabulated results. Discussion followed.
Scholarship Auction
Jons provided a handmade afghan for the auction.
Audit
An audit date and time was set up. Jons and Abel will come to the office on August 10th at 9:00 a.m. to work on the audit.
Soil Loss Complaint
Bruene presented a District letter regarding the Lillie soil loss complaint received on June 16, 2011.
As stated in the letter, on July 7, 2011, the Linn SWCD and local office staff met with the operator of Lillie’s ground. The neighboring landowner and his tenant have repaired tile and have reshaped waterways on the areas of concern. The site has not been seeded yet but their plan is to seed the waterway areas this fall after harvest and also apply a straw mulch for protection over winter. They will continue to monitor the areas next spring for seeding establishment.
The District feels that with these plans in place, the issue will be addressed adequately.
Other
Nothing at this time.
NEW BUSINESS
Nothing at this time.
OTHER
Hosch talked about her recent trip on RAGBRAI. The NRCS tent was good. She also talked about how beautiful SW Iowa is and their abundance of terraces.
Abel would like to attend the Iowa Drainage School and was wondering if the District would be willing to pay for registration fees. It was felt that it may be a good seminar for him to attend.
11-79 Broulik moved to pay up to $75.00 for registration fees. Jons seconded the motion. Motion carried.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence was reviewed.
NEXT MEETING DATE – ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 6:20PM. The next meeting of the Linn Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners will be held at 5:30 PM, Tuesday, September 6, 2011.
11-80 Jons moved to adjourn. Abel seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned.
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