MINNEHAHA CONSERVATION DISTRICT SUPERVISORS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
DATE – TIME – LOCATION
October 15, 2012, USDA Service Center, 9:30 am
CALLED TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Minnehaha Conservation District Supervisors was called to order by Chairman Oyen.
SUPERVISORS PRESENT
Jeff Oyen, Tom Wolles, Ronald Johnson, Reid Christopherson, Jim Pfeifer
SUPERVISORS ABSENT
OTHERS PRESENT
Amy Van Dam, John Parker, Deron Ruesch, Gordon Heber, Jim Jackson
AGENDA
The agenda was mailed out prior to the board meeting.
MOTION by Christopherson; seconded by Johnson to approve the agenda as printed along with the additional items. Five ayes.
OCTOBER 5TH MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting were emailed or mailed out prior to the board meeting.
MOTION by Pfeifer; seconded by Johnson to approve the minutes of the October 5th board meeting. Five ayes.
MINUTES
The minutes of the regular September meeting were emailed or mailed out prior to the board meeting.
MOTION by Johnson; seconded by Christopherson to approve the minutes of the regular September board meeting. Five ayes.
TREASURER’S REPORT
MOTION by Johnson; seconded by Pfeifer to accept the Treasurer’s Report as printed. Five ayes.
SEPTEMBER BILLS APPROVED
MOTION by Pfeifer seconded by Christopherson to accept the bills as presented. Five ayes.
ACTIVITIES REPORT
WETLANDS:
- To date, we have 258 outstanding requests for determinations on file.
- Separation of duties is in effect. District Conservationist cannot work on comopleting Cerified Wetland Determinations, Potential Violations, and Appeals.
- The Agency Experts for Minnehaha County are Nathan Blankers and Eugene Preston.
CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM (CRP):
- We are at a standstill at this time.
- There may be potential to have FSA allocate additional SAFE (Pheasant Habitat) acres.
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY INCENTIVE PROGRAM (EQIP):
- We are accepting new applications (continuous signup) and those that were not funded for FY-2012 have received their deferral letter.
- Need to complete four payment applications.
- Need to complete twelve Annual Status Reviews.
WILDLIFE HABITAT INCENTIVES PROGRAM (WHIP):
- Need to complete three payment applications.
CONSERVATION STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM (CSP):
- We are accepting new applications (continuous signup).
UPCOMING EVENTS:
- October 15, 2012: Meeting with SDACD and Barry Berg at 1:30 pm.
OLD BUSINESS
5525 TRACTOR: Specialty Ag offered to try to sell the tractor for a $400 finder’s fee. The board said to make posters and put it on the website.
EMPLOYEE MANUAL: The changes will be approvded at the November board meeting.
WETLAND DETERMINATION STATUS: There was a lengthy discussion about what to charge for wetland determinations.
MOTION by Wolles; seconded by Pfeifer to charge $700 per tract plus $2.00 per acres. Five ayes.
It was talked about having a workshop possibly in January to explain the process of the determinations. We could ask Hefty to advertise and possibly get Milborn Seeds to sponsor the meal. Oyen suggested having a packet or information sheet as a handout to new and potential customers.
GEVIK TOUR/SIGNS: The signs will be installed before the ground freezes. The tree roots need to be removed and can possibly be sold. The islands need to be built also.
LAND JUDGING: The regional land judging competition was October 2 at Phil Kastens. McCook Central was the winner of the contest.
GEVIK DRAIN TILE: John and Brian met at the Gevik site the day the tile was to be installed. The tiler had already started and it was installed in the wrong place and had to be moved.
NEW BUSINESS
EMPLOYEE REVIEWS: Reviews will be done at the December meeting.
EMPLOYEE JOB DESCRIPTION: The job descriptions for John and Amy need to be updated.
CHANGE CHECK SIGNERS: Reid will put a procedure together on how the board wants check signatures to be handled.
PAYROLL COMPANIES: Amy checked with several companies and the fees vary. She will check with KMWF to see what they would charge.
WATER QUALITY MEETING: There will be a meeting today at 1:30 with SDACD and the District. There may be possible work for the district.
AL KUEHL: Al has been helping with grass seeding. He has shown an interest in full-time employment next spring.
WRP PAYMENT: We have not received our payment from SDACD for the work John did on WRP spotchecks. John will email Fran Fritz as we have gotten no response from Angela. An invoice, statement, and email has been sent and we have not received a reply.
NEWSLETTER: We may possibly place an ad in the papers rather than send out a newsletter. We need to put information about our workshop in the paper also.
OTHER BUSINESS
We will receive $2000 from Minnehaha County in 2013.
We owe $170 in membership dues to the Chamber of Commerce.
ADJOURN MEETING
MOTION by Pfeifer; seconded by Christopherson to adjourn the meeting. Five ayes.
Amy Van Dam, Recording Secretary
