Minutes I. Call To Order: None

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January 22, 2008 7:00 P.M.

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT


MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, Indiana 46614
574-291-7444, ext. 3
MINUTES

I. CALL TO ORDER
A meeting of the Board of Supervisors of the St. Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation
District was called to order by John Dooms at 7:07 PM at 5605 U.S. 31 South, South Bend, IN
46614.
PRESENT ABSENT
John Dooms, Chairman Jerry Dominiack
Paul Williams III, Vice Chair. Jim LaFree*
Jan Ivkovich, Mem. Chuck Lehman
Carol Riewe, Mem. Joe Long
Rick Glassman Dave Craft, Mem.*
Debbie Knepp Gene Myers
Melvin Kulwicki
Troy Manges
Richard Schmidt
Dale Stoner
Rafael Vega
Dru Wrasse PUBLIC
John Kulwicki
Jenny Davis
EX-OFFICIO
Mike Hoskins, FSA
Phil Sutton, Purdue Extension

LEGISLATIVE LETTERS
None.

II. ADDITIONS TO AGENDA


The recruitment meeting and administrative assistant position were added to old business.

III. BUDGET
John went over the past three years ending balance and deficits. The 2007 year ended with a $71,700.90
balance, which is at the top of the 2008 budget sheet. Our deficit for 2007 was $31,117.35. The total
income for 2008 is projected to be $86,525.00. The total expenses are projected to be $118,010.44. This
results in a deficit of $31,485.44, which would give us an ending balance of $40,215.46. He noted that
our total balance is slowly decreasing as the years pass. Troy had changed the budget slightly from the
one sent in the mail by changing the Supervisor mileage from $800 to $1,000. Also, he had to add the
annual meeting speaker fee of $2,500 and the cost of $150 for a new computer printer. Jan reported that
the recently approved $2,000 grant is not in the budget. Rick added another $1,500 grant. So grant income
is up to $13, 500. The total loss for 2008 is now projected to be $27,985.44. Richard asked about the
$4,500 for the Homeowners Guide. Rick explained that the guide has been planned for many years and is
just now near completion. Rick explained that it was an estimate for printing and we would look for the
best price for printing. Debbie said that the guide would be distributed mainly at banks. John summarized
the budget with the income change and asked for any more concerns or questions. Richard recommended
that we approve the proposed budget with the minor income changes, which was seconded by Dale. The
recommendation carried. Paul moved and Carole seconded that we approve the 2008 budget with the
addition of $3, 500 to the grant income. Motion carried.

IV. REGULAR BUSINESS


A. MINUTES: The minutes were reviewed from the December meeting. The minutes were filed as
presented.

B. TREASURERS REPORT: John asked when the rent for NRCS would be paid. Debbie
explained that we will send in a report in March and we will receive a bill in April. Troy stated
the newsletter printing of $681.01 should be placed under State Distribution Expenses making
that total $2,276.09. The Treasurer’s report was filed with the one correction.

1. Claim Approval
Troy explained that the per diem checks and the mileage checks are separate. Claim numbers 9303 - 9339
had a recommendation to approve by Melvin and a second by Dale, which carried. Motion to that effect
was made Paul and seconded by Carole. Motion carried.

V. OLD BUSINESS
A. WRITTEN REPORTS:
1. Field Office Report: John asked what was in the letter that was written to the St. Francis Convent.
Debbie and engineers walked the land and they wrote up what needed to be done. The amount of work is
over $100,000 so must be completed by a private contractor. It will take a lot of time and will have to be
maintained every year. It will cost up to $200,000. The area in question is very steep area, covered with
trees, and has sheer cliffs. There is a lot of water running down through the property. Fort Wayne Diocese
will pay to make the improvements. On another topic, Gene Meyer’s farm was the first one in St. Joseph
Co. to protect farmland in the Wood – Land – Lakes Conservation Easement Program. You do not have to
be part of the RC&D to take part in this program. Debbie suggested we recognize Gene for this at the
Annual Meeting. Dale spoke in favor of preserving farmland.

2. Rule 5/Rule 13 Report: John asked about the one complaint at Northwood Hills. Jenny said that
this has been going on since October.

B. COMMITTEE REPORTS:
1. Education: Dale stated that Science Alive needs volunteers to work at our booth on Saturday,
February 2. The booth will be in the basement of the library. There are three time slots that need two
volunteers for each period. Rick will be presenting a Reptiles and Amphibians program. We reach many
people at this event.

Rick asked for a recommendation and a motion to purchase a printer since the old one has stopped
working. Dale recommended that we spend $150 for a printer and Dru seconded it. Recommendation
approved. Paul moved to spend $150 for a printer and Carole seconded it. Motion carried.
2. Forestry: The forestry committee met just prior to the meeting. Richard reported that our tree orders
so far are 48 orders of 2,270 trees, which is 1 order less than last year at this time and about 1,500 trees
less, 450 pachysandra and 34 wildflower seed packets. Richard thanked all who put out posters, Carole,
Jan, Gene, and Bernie. The committee would like to give Gene and Bernie a plaque at the Annual
Meeting to thank them for the many years of distributing the tree posters. The committee would like to
put an advertisement in the South Bend Tribune (SBT), from January the 27th through February 2, which
will cost $742.50. There would also be two weeks of our tree add on the SBT website for $75. The
forestry committee recommended that we spend this money. Dale recommended that we spend $817.50
for add in SBT, and Melvin seconded. Recommendation carried. Carole so moved and Paul seconded.
Motion carried. There will be a tree seminar 2/5/ 2008 from 6:30 to 9:00 PM here. John Scheetz will be
speaker. Carole will be our representative at the seminar. Richard reminded us to keep the posters
supplied with flyers.

C. NRCS TALKING POINTS: Debbie reported that the House resumed their business last week
and the Senate resumed their business this week. So the House-Senate conference committee can
continue Farm Bill negotiations. NRCS does not expect the Farm Bill until after March 15. The 2002
Farm Bill was extended to March 15, 2008. Preliminary results from the Indiana tillage transect are
completed. Corn no till went from 19% in 2004 to 27% in 2007 while Soybeans went from 61% in
2004 to 69% in 2007. The specifics will be sent to the county soon. There are three District
Conservationist and three agriculture engineer positions being advertised in the state now. We
received work that EQUIP Indiana was first in the nation. We have five million dollars in backlog.
Some of our applications are backlogged as well. Jane is trying to get that money for Indiana.

D. ANNUAL CONFERENCE REPORT: Jan Ivkovich reported on the Annual Conference held in
Indianapolis. She said it was an excellent conference. Dale and Jan were able to contact all but two of
our Representatives and Senators. We gave them the notebook and talked to them about or activities.
We were unable to meet Representative Timothy Neese because he was absent, but Representative
Jackie Walorski took his notebook and said she would see he gets it. The secretary for Speaker B.
Patrick Bauer took his notebook. Jackie Walorski came to the Legislative Breakfast but was not able
to stay long due to a committee meeting. Dale spoke about the importance of having the notebook.

At the business meeting all the Resolutions that we wanted to pass did. Two that we voted to reject,
Consecutive Term Limits for SWCD Supervisors and Name Change resolutions did not pass. The
No-Till/Strip Till Resolution did pass, but Jan did speak against it for the Board. The SWCD
Participation in Cooperative Weed Management Areas passed. Jan voted for it after hearing the
discussion. The officers elected were Jim Droege, President, Paula Baldwin, Vice-President, Ray
McCormick, Secretary, and Jeff Meinders, Treasurer. . Jan passed out her notes for the Supervisor
meetings she attended and the presentation by Janet Ayres. They contain many excellent ideas we
can use in our District. She said Supervisors should consider attending a Cornerstone for Leadership
Institute, as it is very worthwhile. The one on communications will be at Amish Acres on September
6. The notes covered sessions about Supervisor recruitment, marketing, and leadership. Dale added
some positive comments about these sessions.

E. ANNUAL MEETING: Paul reminded us that the Annual Meeting is February 22 with our
speaker being Dr. Hanson. Troy passed out the tickets and Annual Report. The deadline for
reservations is February 15. Dale asked about security at the hall and Troy said that there was
security there. John said we all have to get out and sell the tickets. He said we have an excellent
speaker and meal so it should be easy to sell tickets. We should take the Annual Report calendar with
us when we sell tickets. We have to promote ourselves.
F. CLEAN WATER INDIANA GRANTS: We will get our $10,000 state grant. We will get $1,500
grant for training. We received a marketing incentive grant of $1,000 for meeting and $1,000 for
follow-up. We will have a meeting on sediment and nutrient management. It will be in a round robin
format, starting at 8:00 AM and ending around noon. We will receive the money in May and have
meeting in January or February of 2009. The money has to be spent by April 30, 2009. There is
money to go out and talk to people that went to the meeting. The staff will begin working on this
around the beginning of the summer.

G. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT POSITION: We had two choices before from the


interviews and neither one accepted the position. The day after New Years we contacted Phyllis
Emmons with Human Resources and the position was posted. We received 27 applications. The
Supervisors will meet after this meeting and discuss the applicants and set up interviews for about
six. Hopefully, we will have a new assistant soon.

H. RECRUITMENT MEETING: In March we will have a recruitment meeting followed by our


monthly board meeting. It will start at 6:00 PM with the board meeting at 7:00 PM. Rick will put together
a power point presentation about our district. He will have it for February Board meeting. There was a
discussion about how to advertise this meeting. Should we send a flyer to tree sales people? Should we
ask Louie Stout, the Outdoor Writer for the SBT, to put it in his column since many people read his
column? We could also put it in volunteer section of paper and television stations. Rick will explore each
of these options. Dru said we need a banner, which is all weather, to promote St. Joseph County SWCD.
Dru will find out Stanley Clark School uses and get a price. We can take out an ad in Farmers Exchange
as well. We can check on other newsletters such as Audubon. The consensus was we should get it out as
much as possible using the above ideas. The committee will meet before the next February Board meeting
to decide on the format for the meeting. Jan suggested everyone read the notes on Supervisor Recruitment
Tools that she just passed out to the Board.

VI. NEW BUSINESS

A. SCHEDULES: In folder

VI. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR


Dale asked us to take some time to thank those in the office who are doing extra work. John said
he appreciates all of the staff has done while we were without an administrative assistant. Dale
thanked Debbie for all she does and her work with us.

VII. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM

Respectively submitted,

Janice M. Ivkovich
Supervisor

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