June 2011 Meeting
Tuesday, September 20, 2011 at 10:15AM MINUTES OF THE LINN COUNTY
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT COMMISSIONERS MEETING
Marion, IA
June 7, 2011
CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Sue Ellen Hosch called the June 7, 2011 meeting of the Linn Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioners to order at 5:15 PM at the USDA Service Center, 3025 7th Avenue, Marion, IA.
Present:
Commissioners Staff and others
Sue Ellen Hosch John Bruene, District Conservationist
Dan Abel Mark Bienemann, Soil Conservation Tech
Larry Jons Jon Gallagher, County Soil Conservationist
Donna Walton, District Employee
Mary Hepker, State Secretary
Assistant Commissioners
Bruce Frana
ADOPT AGENDA
11-52 Jons moved to adopt the agenda. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the May meeting were presented for approval.
11-53 Abel moved to approve the May meeting minutes. Jons seconded the motion.
Motion carried.
TREASURER’S REPORT
The Treasurer’s Reports were presented for approval
11-54 Jons moved to approve the May reports. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
BILLS
The following bills were presented for approval:
Bills – Paid, Already Approved
|
Jordan Neighbor |
Scholarship Winner |
$ 500.00 |
|
Calvin McBride |
Scholarship Winner |
$ 500.00 |
|
Polly Carrico |
Scholarship Winner |
$ 100.00 |
|
Dan Abel |
Mileage – 1st Quarter |
$ 81.12* |
|
Laura Krouse |
Mileage – 1st Quarter |
$ 72.93* |
|
Bruce Frana |
Mileage – 1st Quarter |
$ 20.28* |
|
Larry Jons |
Mileage – 1st Quarter |
$ 70.20* |
|
Butch Neumeyer |
Tree Pick-Up |
$ 125.00 |
|
Maura Frana |
Brochure Work |
$ 100.00 |
|
Cassidy Steines |
1st – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 20.00 |
|
Samantha Smith |
2nd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 10.00 |
|
Mackenzie Smith |
3rd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 5.00 |
|
Nathaniel Marti |
1st – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 20.00 |
|
Rachel Reimann |
2nd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 10.00 |
|
Lynaea Kiefer |
3rd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 5.00 |
|
Mikayla Raue |
1st – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 20.00 |
|
Jenna Casey |
2nd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 10.00 |
|
Connor Moyle |
3rd – Poster Contest Winner |
$ 5.00 |
Bills – Paid, but not approved
|
Iawisil Nursery |
Payment for late tree order |
$ 262.44 |
|
Postmaster |
Postage to mail Posters |
$ 5.20* |
|
Linda Fischer |
Wildflower Refund |
$ 10.70 |
|
Mark Ogden |
Wildflower Refund |
$ 42.80 |
|
Mike Steffeck |
Wildflower Refund |
$ 10.70 |
|
Maurita Krotz |
Wildflower Refund |
$ 21.40 |
|
Kate Hawkins |
Wildflower Refund |
$ 10.70 |
*Reimbursable through 1M
Dry Creek Expenses
|
U.S. Treasury |
Quarterly Fed Tax Return |
$ 176.09 |
|
Treasurer-State of Iowa |
IA Withholding Quarterly Return |
$ 5.00 |
|
Iowa Workforce Dev. |
Contribution & Payroll Report |
$ 1.23 |
|
Koppenhaver & Assocs |
Payroll Processing |
$ 238.00 |
|
IPERS |
Reporting for 04/01/11-04/30/11 |
$ 46.80 |
|
Donna Walton |
Salary for 04/15/11 – 04/28/11 |
$ 202.16 |
|
Donna Walton |
Salary for 04/29/11 – 05/12/11 |
$ 226.11 |
|
Donna Walton |
Mileage-CR Watershed Mtg |
$ 62.40 |
11-55 Jons moved to approve the bills. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
COST SHARE
Amendments
|
Mickey Alsager |
Grassed Waterway |
$ 280.80 |
11-56 Jons moved to approve the amendment. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Applications
IFIP
|
*None at this time |
|
|
REAP
|
*None at this time |
|
|
Low Interest Loan
|
*None at this time |
|
|
Bills
|
Winnie Henderson |
Grassed Waterway |
$ 5,135.62 |
|
Mary Lu Robinson |
Grassed Waterway |
$ 3,249.56 |
|
Brian Nowak-Thompson |
Conservation Cover |
$ 711.00 |
|
Mickey Alsager |
Grassed Waterway |
$ 2,568.70 |
11-57 Jons moved to approve the bills. Abel seconded the motion. Motion carried.
Plans and Agreements
There was one plan presented for approval.
11-58 Abel moved to approve the plan. Jons seconded the motion. Motion carried.
STAFF/COMMISSIONER REPORTS
Commissioner and Assistants
Nothing to report at this time.
NRCS – DC & Others
Bruene stated that he has been working on compliance reviews/status reviews. He has found low residue levels in many areas. Bruene has also been working on the EQIP annual reviews. He also stated that spring work is wrapping up.
Bruene also discussed the current budget situation.
County Soil Conservationist
Gallagher stated that he has been working with NRCS staff doing field work and status review work with John.
Gallagher also discussed the progress the Downtown District is making on the bio-retention cell. The planting is complete and Gallagher stated that he will continue to monitor the progress over the summer.
He continues to work with Springville on planning the park area discussed at the May meeting. He will follow-up with the group on possible funding options. He suggested that maybe some of the Cargill funds could be used for this educational and native area. The District felt that this may be a good fit for these funds. Discussion followed.
Gallagher informed the commissioners of the engineering work he assisted the area engineer with in Palo. They surveyed 2500 feet of streambank in that area.
District Secretary
Hepker discussed the recent Wildflower fundraiser. She will have a better idea of what the profit was at the July meeting.
District Employee
Walton informed the commissioners that the tour for the Cedar River Coalition scheduled for June 16th in Charles City has been cancelled.
Walton informed the commissioners of the calls from Palo residents that herself and Gallagher received after the spring rains this year. There were quite a few calls from residents experiencing a high amount of water in their yards. Some were looking for assistance to put in Rain Gardens. Gallagher and Walton will get the applications going to possibly get them approved before July 1.
OLD BUSINESS
Dry Creek Watershed
Walton discussed the Dry Creek Development Plan Report that she has been working on. Jeff Tisl has been working with her to get this completed. Approval was granted from DSC to extend the agreement another three months and also to amend the line items to include educational materials.
Walton suggested that we order one of the Rain Garden kits from Wisconsin to take a look at before purchasing several for public use. Gallagher suggested that he take a look to see if these kits would be useful in Iowa. Hepker will get together with Walton and prepare an order or do more research online to take a look at these kits.
Resolutions
Tabled until next month.
Audit
There was further discussion on the completion of the audit. Abel and Jons volunteered to assist Krouse and Hosch to complete the audit.
District Website
Hepker discussed the progress being made on the District website. Previous issues with securities have been worked out and she was able to make changes to the page without any problems. Hepker stated that she will share more information at the next meeting.
Other
Abel discussed the recent Ag in the Park Day at the Linn County Fair Grounds. He stated that he ran out of items to hand out to the children. Would need a lot more erasers or something else to hand out next year. He suggested that maybe the District could put together a coloring book or something more educational to hand out or display.
NEW BUSINESS
Jesh Harbaugh-Williams/Green Iowa AmeriCorps
Jesh discussed what Green Iowa AmeriCorps does. Their main focus is on environmental education. Areas in which they work include energy efficiency, residential weatherization and energy audits. They are currently involved in additional activities in community outreach which includes a community garden and Meals on Wheels Garden.
Jesh also talked about the group’s recent Rainscape Training. They are interested in residential rain gardens, rainscaping and water management. All services are free. He asked if there was anyone interested, that we knew of, that wanted to put a rain garden in. They could provide the labor for those who may not have the resources to put one in. Discussion followed.
A new crew of AmeriCorps volunteers will be coming in September. Gallagher asked if the crew would be interested in doing streambank assessments. They could do water quality assessments in specific watersheds. Jesh felt that this would be of great interest to the new crew. He stated that they would need to get the proper training but that shouldn’t be an issue. He will pass the word on to the next crew leader. They will be in contact with us.
Green Day-CR Farmers Market, July 16th.
Hepker stated that the Green Day event will be here before we know it. She wanted to give the commissioners time to check their schedules to see who could work the event. The new Conservation Station will also be at the event. Hepker and Gallagher will work out the details on what is needed for the District booth for handouts. More discussion will be held at next month’s meeting.
OTHER
Nothing at this time.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence was reviewed.
NEXT MEETING DATE – ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 6:23 PM. The next meeting of the Linn Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners will be held at 8:00 AM, Tuesday, June 28, 2011.
11-59 Jons moved to adjourn. Abel seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned.
Presented Approved
Secretary Date Chairperson Date
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