Rice Soil and Water Conservation District



left00016929100Rice Soil and Water Conservation District1810 30th St. NW Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: (507) 332-5408 00Rice Soil and Water Conservation District1810 30th St. NW Faribault, MN 55021 Phone: (507) 332-5408 RICE S.W.C.D.REGULAR BOARD MEETING MINUTESWEDNESDAY – March 14, 2018 - 9:30 AMBOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Mike Ludwig, Tim Little, Jim Purfeerst, Dick Peterson (entered at approximately 9:50 am)Others in attendance: Steve Pahs, Justin Fuchs, Emmie Peters, Teresa DeMars, Paula O’Connell (RC CFO), Jenny Mocol-Johnson (BWSR), Jeff Docken (RC Commissioner).ABSENT: Richard CookSecretary Tim Little called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. A quorum is present. Vice-Chairman Dick Peterson took over duties upon his arrival.MINUTES: Motion by Jim Purfeerst, seconded by Mike Ludwig to approve the February 14, 2018 board minutes. Ayes: Michael Ludwig, Tim Little, Jim Purfeerst, Dick Peterson. All aye. None opposed. Motion carried. FINANCIAL/BILLS PAYABLE: Steve reviewed the financial statements for January and February. Motion by Mike Ludwig, seconded by Jim Purfeerst to approve the January Program Summary and bills payable subject to audit. Ayes: Michael Ludwig, Tim Little, Dick Peterson and Jim Purfeerst. All aye. None opposed. Motion carried.Motion by Jim Purfeerst. Seconded by Tim Little to approve the February Program Summary and bills payable subject to audit. Ayes: Tim Little, Jim Purfeerst, Dick Peterson and Mike Ludwig. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.OLD BUSINESS: AL KRAUSE with CRWP to discuss Rice Creek Cover Crop project: Al was unable to make it to this meeting. NEW BUSINESS:2017 FINANCIAL REPORT: The 2017 Annual financial report is due to BWSR on March 15th. Sue has worked long and hard, with the help of Chris Wagner from Goodhue County and BWSR staff, to complete this report. This report is subject to audit.Motion by Jim Purfeerst, seconded by Tim Little to approve the 2017 Annual Financial Report for BWSR. Ayes: Jim Purfeerst, Mike Ludwig, Tim Little and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.2018 LOCAL CAPACITY AMENDMENT: ADD $14,400: We qualified for an additional $14,400 by exceeding the matching money to Rice County. Motion by Mike Ludwig, seconded by Jim Purfeerst to accept the additional grant money of $14,400. Discussion: Steve said this money will be used for additional cover crop incentives.Ayes: Dick Peterson, Mike Ludwig, Jim Purfeerst and Tim Little. All ayes. None opposed. Motion PUTER PURCHASE FOR USDA NETWORK, $1129: a new workstation needs to be purchased for Emmie Peters. We currently have two computers connected to the USDA network for GIS work. Current computers will no longer be compatible with USDA upgrades and it’s too expensive to put the GIS program on our own server. The computer will be purchased thru a government contract. Motion by Tim Little, seconded by Mike Ludwig to approve the purchase of a new desktop computer for Emmie Peters.Discussion: Steve added that the computer will come with a keyboard and mouse but Emmie will need a new monitor, about $100, soon.Ayes: Tim Little, Mike Ludwig, Jim Purfeerst and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.TRUCK PURCHASE: Steve has looked in to replacing the Dodge Truck. He has gotten a bid of $13,000 from CarTime in Northfield for the purchase of the 2011 Dodge. This money, along with the sale of the oldest No-Till Drill will offset the expense of a new Truck purchase. He has gotten bids for a Chevy ($27,158), and Ford ($28,808) and a Dodge ($26,975), all under a state contract. Commissioner Docken added that the County doesn’t always purchase vehicles under State Contract. He suggested that Steve take the State bids to the local Automotive Dealership and give them an opportunity to bid.A motion was made by Jim Purfeerst, seconded by Tim Little to purchase a new Dodge at best price with trade-in locally, or State contract price with selling of old truck outright to highest bidder. Ayes: Jim Purfeerst, Tim Little, Mike Ludwig, and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.A motion was made by Mike Ludwig, seconded by Tim Little to sell the oldest No-till Drill at a price to reflect its value using research by board members and District Manager. Discussion: Steve will provide year and model information and work with board members to determine a price. May list on craigslist.Ayes: Tim Little, Jim Purfeerst, Mike Ludwig and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.WCA PROGRAM STATUS: FUND SHORTAGE: Jenny from BWSR explained that the WCA money given to the county has been frozen since May due to discrepancies. Currently we have enough WCA money left over to fund the work for two more months. A corrective action plan to BWSR was received from the county but was denied. A second deadline of March 22nd was imposed for a corrective action plan. The corrective action plan was received and is under review. More information was requested from the county by the March 22nd deadline. The corrective action plan is very close to being approved pending the additional information that has been requested. An additional updated report from BWSR will be sent to Steve in April.RETURN OF 2018 BUFFER COST SHARE MONEY TO BWSR: $23,776 We received $25,000 late in 2017 and were required to return any unencumbered money to BWSR by March 1st. We do not have any contracts in place but we do have a couple applications in process in the amount of $1,224. A motion by Mike Ludwig, seconded by Tim Little to return the remaining unencumbered $23,776 to BWSR, after the fact. Ayes: Mike Ludwig, Tim Little, Jim Purfeerst and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.TREE PROGRAM UPDATE: Steve showed our current tree inventory and explained we will keep selling until we run out. The trees should arrive the third week in April. A few varieties are sold out.ZUMBRO WATERSHED MOA: District managers are getting together to discuss applying for the 1W1P grant. No memorandum has been sent yet but Steve will have for April board meeting. Approximately 8% of the Zumbro watershed is in Rice County. We don’t have to participate at all or at a limited level. The Zumbro plan should not overlap the Cannon River Watershed Plan. The Minnesota Watershed Plan will most likely begin in 2019 or 2020. Jenny said BWSR is recommending that counties remain consistent from one plan to the next regarding their participation levels. Participating in these watershed plans could result in more grant money coming to the district.SWCD CREDIT CARDS FOR EMPLOYEES: Steve has been exploring the idea of getting credit cards for staff members so they don’t have to make purchases with their own personal cards and then submit receipts for reimbursement. The question was asked about spending limits and other controls. Steve will gather more information to be presented at the April meeting.NITRATE TESTING REPORT: Justin spoke about the recent Nitrate Testing done on wells in 4 townships in Rice County. These townships were targeted based on geologic information and the potential for higher levels. The landowners were very positive about having this done. A total of 478 wells were tested. Northfield township had the highest amount of Nitrates in the wells tested. This information will play into future water planning practices. EMMIE PETERS 6 MONTH PROBATIONARY PERIOD COMPLETION AND WAGE INCREASE EFFECTIVE APRIL 2: Emmie Peters will reach the end of her 6 month probation period on April 2nd. Steve stated he has been pleased and satisfied with her work. He recommends that she come off probationary status and be moved to Step Two on the range 24 wage scale effective April 2nd.A motion by Jim Purfeerst, seconded by Tim Little to approve the wage increase and end of probationary status for Emmie Peters effective April 2nd. Ayes: Jim Purfeerst, Tim Little, Mike Ludwig and Dick Peterson. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried.1ST UNITED SECURITY RELEASE, FYI: The money in our bank accounts is insured under FDIC but sometimes the amount in the account exceeds FDIC limits and we need to get more coverage. This statement shows we are currently okay under standard coverage.SUPERVISOR REPORTS: Jim Purfeerst: provided a reminder that complimentary board packets should be available for guests attending. He also spoke about a meeting he attended last week and an upcoming meeting in LeCenter. He attended the Legislative briefing at the Capital on Monday and also met with each of the 4 legislators representing Rice County on Tuesday, along with Steve Pahs. He felt the meetings were positive. Between meetings they had time to sit in on a couple of committee meetings.Dick Peterson: also attended the Legislative briefing on Monday. He was amazed at how well organized and how well it was presented. Legislatures were complimentary to the work of the SWCDs.Mike Ludwig: nothing to report.Tim Little: Tim also attended the Legislative Briefing on Monday. He mentioned a problem with Ramsey County SWCD and that the board has made a proposal to dissolve the SWCD due to disfunction. So now what happens? Steve said he is hoping to get more information and guidance on how to handle this potential situation in our district. Tim also mentioned a number of upcoming meetings that he will be at as part of a panel. LeSueur, Zumbrota, are two of them.Dick Cook: absentActing D.C. REPORT by Nicole Schaffer: Nicole was not able to attend the meeting but did present a written report.DISTRICT MANAGER’S REPORT by Steve Pahs: no reportRESOURCE SPECIALIST REPORT by Justin Fuchs: CREP meeting with landowners and Emmie.BWSR Hydrology training in Mankato.Meet with a couple landowners about wetlands and spring 2018 wetland boundary flagging.Bridgewater Township Central storm water pond TEP meetings and review.Wagner Trust wetland mitigation.WCA reviews for upcoming growing season and 1026 reviews.NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT SPECIALIST REPORT by Travis Hirman: No report but we watched a video on Soil HealthDISTRICT TECHNICIAN REPORT by Emmie Peters: Have been working on estimates and existing cost share projects. Waiting for snowmelt to get out and finish up some projects for Spring construction. CRP is still not opened up for the next enrollment period. There has been a number of people interested in CREP from the letters sent out, however no new applications have been submitted yet. Richland 9 site meeting is scheduled for March 14th at 1pm with all the landowners involved and Joint Powers Board. ?TERESA DEMARS: Teresa provided all with statistics regarding her outreach efforts. She also showed us what she has been updating and working on regarding our website. COMMISSIONER JEFF DOCKEN: reported he had been at the Capital a couple weeks ago and found our legislators were pretty accommodating.PAULA O’CONNELL, RICE COUNTY CFO: introduced herself and explained she will be taking over handling the Ditch information. She will be meeting with Annette to get up to speed.JENNY MOCOL-JOHNSON (BWSR): February 1st was a big reporting deadline so she has been busy reviewing. The Cannon 1W1P has also been very busy. There is an open meeting tomorrow night at Cabela’s in Owatonna regarding the 6th and final water conversation. The last meeting was held in Northfield during one of our snowstorms yet they still had 24 people in attendance.UPCOMING EVENTS: listed on our website.ADJOURN: Motion by Tim Little, seconded by Mike Ludwig to adjourn. All ayes. None opposed. Motion carried. Time: 11:25 a.m.Submitted by:_____________________________ Sue Erpenbach – Admin. Assistant_____________________________ Board Member – Dick Peterson ................
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