HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved MINUTES_SEPTEMBER 4 2012 GRANT COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION
COMMITTEE MEETING
September 4, 2012
9:00 a.m.
Ag Services Building
Lancaster, Wisconsin
The meeting was called to order by Chairman, Mark Stead at 9:00 a.m. Present in addition to Chairman
Stead were; Lester Jantzen, Dwight Nelson, Roger Guthrie, Marvin Kettler, Dale Hood, and Vince
Loeffelholz. Others present were, Larry Wolf, Rick Lange, Lynda Schweikert, Kevin Lange, and Annette
Lolwing.
Certification of Open Meeting Law: Annette Lolwing
Annette Lolwing sent the agenda to Karla Schwantes to post in the Administration Building and at the
Courthouse, also sent agenda to Bob Middendorf, WGLR, and was posted in the front of the Ag Service
Building. Media notices were sent to Karla Schwantes, Herald Independent, Tri County Press, and the
Platteville Journal.
Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Dwight Nelson to approve the agenda as printed. Motion carried.
Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Roger Guthrie to approve the August 7, 2012 minutes. Motion
carried.
Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Dwight Nelson to approve the bills. Motion carried.
Opening /Approving the Sealed Bids on 2002 Polaris Ranger & Triton Trailor
Opened and recorded all the sealed bids that came in on the ATV and Trailor. Motion by Dale Hood,
seconded by Marvin Kettler to accept Grant Loy’s bid of $1,328.00 on the trailor and if he declines then
offer to Howard Sanborn for the next highest bid of $859.99. Motion carried.
Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Roger Guthrie to accept Todd Fischer’s highest bid of $5,850.00
for the Polaris Ranger. Motion carried.
County Cost Sharing: Lynda Schweikert
Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing of $466.84 on a well decommissioning
project for Mary Brandemeuhl, Liberty Twp. Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Dwight Nelson to
approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion Carried.
Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing of $291.38 on a well decommissioning
project for Stan & Judy Henry, Ellenboro Twp. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Lester Jantzen to
approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion carried.
Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing of $ 500.00 on a well decommissioning
project for Mark & Janna Bader, North Potosi Twp. Motion by Dale Hood, seconded by Roger Guthrie to
approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion carried.
Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing of $450.12 on a well decommissioning
project for Jim & Pam Moore, East Beetown Twp. Motion by Roger Guthrie, seconded by Marvin Kettler
to approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion carried.
Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing of $3,500.00 on a Manure Storage Facility
project for Runde Farms, Hazel Green Twp. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Lester Jantzen to
approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion carried.
Lynda presented final approval request for DATCP cost sharing of $5,155.48 on a Grade Stabilization
Structure, Waterway, and Cattle Lane project for Gerald Pitzen, Paris Twp. Lynda also reported that
Gerald’s project came in under cost so he did not need the $3,500.00 county cost sharing that was
tentatively approved for him. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Lester Jantzen to approve the
$5,155.48 DATCP cost sharing and to cancel the $3,500.00 county cost sharing. Roll Call; 7 Yes, 0 No, 0
Absent. Motion carried.
Lynda presented 2 tentative approval requests for county cost sharing on well decommissionings for Dustin
Kopp, South Lancaster Twp., $112.50, and Lynn Harb, Castle Rock Twp. $500.00. Motion by Dwight
Nelson, seconded by Roger Guthrie to approve both requests. Motion carried.
Lynda reported that she, Kevin, and Matt Schwalenberg attended the National Manure Expo in Sauk
Prairie. They were demonstrating floating agitators, and other modern manure handling equipment.
Approval of Animal Waste Storage Permits
Lynda reported that Gerald Weaver will be constructing a round concrete manure storage structure with a
push off ramp. Ralph Hemling, DATCP engineer, was not able to design a round facility so Gerald was
required to go with a private engineer. Gerald had paid his $176.00 permit fee. Lynda tentatively approved
the permit on August 8, 2012. Motion by Marvin Kettler, seconded by Dale Hood to approve the manure
storage permit fee. Motion carried.
Lynda reported that Roling S Farms will be constructing a concrete manure storage structure through a
private engineer, Daniel Myer. Ralph Hemling, DATCP engineer approved the design. Roling S Farms
has paid their $140.50 permit fee. Lynda tentatively approved the permit on August 8, 2012. Motion by
Roger Guthrie, seconded by Dwight Nelson to approve the manure storage permit fee. Motion carried.
Lynda reported that Majestic View Dairy will be constructing an earthen manure storage facility with a
reception pit on the Clements Farm in South Lancaster. Majestic View Dairy has paid their $150.00 permit
fee. This facility is WPDES permitted and received approval from the WI DNR. Lynda tentatively
approved the permit on August 29, 2012. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Lester Jantzen to
approve the manure storage permit fee. Motion carried.
Approval to Apply for Contribution Agreement
Lynda presented an opportunity to apply for a $12,904 contribution agreement from the NRCS. The
LWCD may be eligible for 75% as opposed to 50% as in the past. This is for the design and installation of
EQIP practices. Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Dale Hood to approve Lynda to apply for the
contribution agreement. Motion carried.
Approval to Apply for Nutrient Management Farmer Education Grant
Lynda reported that the LWCD has an opportunity to earn $12,000 to continue training farmers to write
their own Nutrient Management Plans. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Roger Guthrie to
approve Lynda to apply for the money. Motion carried.
Approval to Bid Out Office Equipment
Lynda reported that 11 years ago the LWCD purchased office cubicals for $4,000 a piece. Will be moving
filing cabinents into that cubical space. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Roger Guthrie to bid
out the cubical to other county departments. Will bring it back to the October meeting. Motion carried.
Budget Approval
Lynda mentioned that at the August committee meeting the budget was approved with a 4.63% increase
that was based on a 7% increase in health insurance. Health Insurance has now been increased to 9.3% for
Dean, and 10.3 for Medical Associates. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Marvin Kettler to
approve the revised 2013 budget with a 5.9% increase over last year due to health insurance costs. Motion
carried.
Climb Environmental Theatre
Lynda was asked by Lauren Diesch, the outreach conductor for the CLIMB Theatre, Inc. The CLIMB
Theatre visits schools and provides environmental plays and classes to students in K-8th graders. The cost
to have them come to the schools range from $578 to $598 per day + travel expenses. CLIMB Theatre, Inc.
is looking for sponsors to bring them to the community. Committee was not in favor to add that expense to
the budget.
Land and Water Conservation Department Report: Lynda Schweikert
Lynda reported that the County Conservationist/WLWCA Meeting is on October 4 & 5 at the Hotel Mead
in Wisconsin Rapids. Lynda, Dale, Vince, Mark, and Dwight plan to attend both days. They will be voting
on Resolutions: 1. Increased funding for AIS (Aquatic Invasive Species) and 2. To Fulfill Wisconsin’s
Land and Water Quality Commitment. There will be an election to vote on 3 of these individuals to be on
the Land and Water Conservation Board: Joe Piechowski, Waushara County; Tom Rudolph, Oneida
County; Charles “Chuck” Wagner, Kewaunee County; and Leon Wolfe, Lafayette County are the 4
individuals running for the LWCB. Vince will be the supervisor voting from our county.
Lynda has checked with US Cellular for their cost for wireless internet. US Cellular offers a 2 GB/$25.00
option and a 10 GB/$50.00 option per month. Lynda checked with Jeff Anderson to make sure that the
2GB/$25.00 per month would be sufficient for our use. Jeff will include this request through Public
Property. If approved, it will be installed after the 1st of the year.
Lynda reported that the new computers are here and are waiting for the NRCS IT department to configure
them. The monitors should be here by the end of the week.
Lynda reported that the Photo Copy Machine Lease was fulfilled August 8, 2012. Will be purchasing it for
a cost of $1.00.
Lynda reported that all the reusable grocery bags were handed out at the fair. We partnered with NRCS &
RC&D, Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator, Don Barrette.
Lynda asked for comments from the Southern Area Association Summer Tour. Consensus was that it was
an excellent tour. The Standards Process Inc. Plant owns a farm which produces nutritional whole food
supplements that are offered through health care professionals: chiropractors and dentists. Visited the
National Weather Service: Milwaukee/Sullivan, Wisconsin Weather Forecast Office. It was interesting to
see that 1 person monitored 12 different models for the day.
Lynda reported that she is going through the existing ag waste storage ordinance along with other county’s
ordinances. She is hoping to have a new draft of the Ordinance Rewrite Update for next month’s meeting
for review.
Lynda reported that she is working on the final touches on a workshop for “Women Caring for the Land” to
be held on Monday, September 17th. Will be using ADRC’s bus to tour Majestic View Dairy Farm,
Lancaster Ag Research Station and the Grant County Farm.
Lynda and Dale Hood hope to be present at the next Farm Bureau Meeting on September 25th. Farm
Bureau is to discuss their platform for the year and LWCD funding is one of those items.
Annette gave an update on the Poster Contest. Posters are due in our office on September 28th. Will do the
Local Level poster judging at the October 2nd LWCC meeting. The 1st place winners in each category will
go on to the Southern Area Level to be judged by October 26th. The 1st place winners at the Southern Area
Level will go on to the State Level to be held in Wisconsin Rapids on November 3rd.
FPP Report: Lynda Schweikert
Lynda reported that Kevin became grandpa of a little girl in the early morning hours.
Lynda also reported that Kevin has been working on the continuous CRP contracts that are expiring in
September and rolling them over into the CREP contracts and is also working on the FPP spot checks.
NRCS Report: Rick Lange
Rick reported that in 1979 he completed his student training in this office.
Rick will be the acting D.C. for August and September.
Rick reported that the DALCI (Driftless Area Land Conservation Initiative) EQIP sign up consisted of 23
counties. Wisconsin received $16 million to put toward the DALCI EQIP sign up. Grant County received
$70,000 to be put toward: 1 Cold Water Stream practice, 2 Forestland practices, and 3 Prairie Savannah
practices. These practices will be contracted and approved today, September 4th.
Wisconsin was granted $400,000 EQIP funds for cover crops in 32 drought affected Wisconsin
Counties. Cover crop sign up ended August 24th. There were 27 applications taken and will
probably be more applications than funding. Landowners were able to sign up for Legume cover
crops, paying $28.27 per acre, and for Non Legume cover crops, paying $19.49 per acre.
Additional points were given in the ranking process if the cover crop was left over the winter.
Cover crops are not to be harvested for grain, but can be harvested for forage, grazed or left as a
cover crop.
CRP contracting has been completed for the general sign up. Had 45-50 CRP contracts. There
were smaller acreages per contract.
The continuous CRP sign up is still available.
2012 CSP applications have been approved, but have not been funded.
There is a District Conservationist vacancy in Lafayette County.
Melissa will be back to work November 1st.
NRCS Report Jared Reuter
None to report
Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Vince Loeffelholz to adjourn until October 2, 2012. Motion
carried.
Respectfully Submitted by
Annette Lolwing for Lester Jantzen