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HomeMy WebLinkAboutL & W Unapproved Minutes March 04_2014GRANT COUNTY LAND & WATER CONSERVATION COMMITTEE MEETING March 4, 2014 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; Dwight Nelson, Lester Jantzen, Vince Loeffelholz, Roger Guthrie, Dale Hood and Chuck Raisbeck. Others present were; Joe Schmelz, Lynda Schweikert, Kevin Lange, Annette Lolwing, Larry Wolf, Randy Chambers and Jared Reuter. 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 an agenda to Bob Middendorf, WGLR, and was posted in the front of the Ag Service Center Building. Media notices were sent to Karla Schwantes, Herald Independent, Tri County Press, Platteville Journal, and the Muscoda Progressive. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Lester Jantzen to approve the agenda as printed. Motion carried. Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Dale Hood to approve the February 4, 2014 minutes with the corrected spelling of Reddy under the FSA report. Motion carried. Bills: Annette Lolwing Motion by Vince Loeffelholz, seconded by Dwight Nelson to approve the bills. Motion carried. County Cost Sharing Requests: Lynda Schweikert Lynda presented final approval request for county cost sharing on a well decommissioning for Kieler Farms, Louis and Ann Kieler, Harrison Twp., $500.00. Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Dwight Nelson to approve payment. Roll Call: 7 Yes, 0 No, 0 Absent. Motion carried. Lynda presented tentative approval request for county cost sharing on a Closure of Waste Impoundment for Bryan Kauffman, Watterstown Twp. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Roger Guthrie to approve Bryan’s request. Motion carried. SWRM Cost Sharing Requests: Lynda Schweikert No SWRM cost sharing requests to report. Approval to Administer Deer Donation Program Lynda reported that Greg Cerven stated at the February LWCC meeting that an approval of the committee to administer the 2014 Deer Donation Program is to be completed at the beginning of the year. In the future Lynda will get this approval process completed during our budget preparation time. Motion by Dale Hood, seconded by Lester Jantzen for the approval to administer the 2014 Deer Donation Program. Motion carried. Reassess and Possible Action to be Taken on Minimum Storage Size for Animal Waste Storage Ordinance Lynda reported that a year ago the committee updated the minimum size from 3500 cubic feet to 7000 cubic feet of the Animal Waste Storage Ordinance to construct a facility without a permit. After the increase was approved there were some questions and/or concerns regarding the change. It was recommended that after a year the change would be revisited. Randy Chambers, county technician, who works with the manure storage ordinance, was in attendance of the meeting to share his experiences and to help answer any questions regarding the increased size. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Roger Guthrie to leave it at the minimum size of 7000 cubic feet and to revisit this in another year to see if there have been any repercussions. Motion carried. Southwest Badger RC&D Dues Increase Lynda reported that she received a request from Southwest Badger RC&D for our yearly dues. Dues have increased from $100.00 to $200.00. Had $100.00 dues already in the budget. Motion by Mark Stead, seconded by Vince Loeffelholz to pay the increased dues of $200.00 and to allow Lynda to decide what account she wishes to take the funds from. Motion carried. Land and Water Conservation Board Vote Lynda reported that each committee member should have received a packet of the 4 individuals that are running for the Land and Water Conservation Board. The committee as a whole gets to submit 1 ballot. Took an internal vote for the top 3 individuals. Motion by Lester Jantzen, seconded by Dwight Nelson to submit a vote for Joe Piechowski, Dale Hood, and Charles Wagner. Motion carried. Land & Water Conservation Report Lynda reported that she and Kevin held a Farmer Written Nutrient Management Plan Update Class. There were 15 landowners that came in to update their NMP’s. Another 5 landowners are scheduled to come in at a later date. The last 2 landowners from the last class that have larger farms came in and finish their NMP’s. Lynda reported that next week, March 10th – 12th, is the WLWCA conference in Appleton at the Paper Valley Hotel. Vince received a tractor as a donation from the Grant County Fair Committee. Vince collected some BBQ sauce, and M&M’s; Mark Stead donated 1 bottle of wine, 1 bottle champagne, and 2 wine glasses; Lynda collected a bottle of Martha’s mustard, and a scarf to create a gift basket. All proceeds from the Silent Auction go towards the Youth and Education within the state. Lynda was asked to collect information on the Envirothon. There are only 5 to 8 counties that donate money to the envirothon. There were 10 high schools and 3 middle schools that participated, but don’t know what counties that they are from. They advertise on WI education websites and work with DPI (Department of Public Instruction) to circulate the information out to the schools. In 2014 they will be asking the counties to also send information out to the schools as well. Lynda reported that the Annual Report is complete and was submitted to the paper last week. Should be ready to send out at the end of March for publication. FPP Report: Kevin Lange Kevin reported that he and Lynda have been working on NMP’s. Kevin reported that he is receiving lots of phone calls from taxpayers regarding FPP tax credits. Kevin presented 2 Certificates of Compliance with Conservation Standards for FPP Tax Credits for Louis and Ann Kieler, Harrison Twp. Kieler’s bought 2 new farms and have met all the FPP requirements. Kevin reported that the tree sale ended on February 21st. We have 117 customers and a little over 9,000 trees. In 2013, there were 141 customers, with over 12,000 trees. In 2012, we had 119 customers with a little over 9,400 trees. Kevin reported that he has 21 schools that have requested an Arbor Day Tree for their Arbor Day Celebration. In 2013, there were 22 schools requesting an Arbor Day Tree, and 2012, there were 17 schools requesting an Arbor Day Tree. There are 11schools requesting 645 Conservation Activity Booklets, in 2013, there were 10 schools requesting 661 Activity Booklets, and in 2012, there were 12 schools requesting 618 Activity Booklets. Kevin reported that he had 13 Churches request 1,950 Litanies, in 2013 there were 10 churches requesting 2,100 Litanies, and in 2012 there were 9 churches that had requested Litanies. NRCS Report: Joe Schmelz Joe reported that we finally have a Farm Bill. There is going to be some significant changes to the conservation provisions. It is the first time that the conservation provisions are a title 1. The biggest change is going to be that the crop insurance will be tied to compliance. There are 2 provisions; The HEL, with not many changes for this, and the Wetland, that will be having some changes. Joe reported that the EQIP and CSP applications are all put on hold until the Farm Bill releases more information. We have some initial allocation estimates, but are down compared to the past few years. Joe reported that there is a Pollinator Habitat sign up going on at this time. March 21st is the deadline date to sign up. There have been 5 to 6 individuals that have contacted the NRCS Office inquiring about the program. This is a National sign up. Joe reported that there is rumor that there will be a cover crop sign up. It is a management practice to get landowners interested in planting cover crops. Not eligible to sign up if you’re already planting cover crop on that field, and also will need to be planted on new land. In 2012, was the last cover crop sign up and that was due to the drought. Joe is telling the customers that they must be patient the first year of the new Farm Bill, FSA Report: Jared Reuter Jared reported that he has a state wide teleconference the first Tuesday of the month which also falls on the LWCC meeting date.  Jared also mentioned that it is going to take time to have the Farm Bill start releasing program information.  Have hired 2 internal technicians. The program technicians share duties with the Farm Loan Office. Marjean Addison transferred from Iowa County, and Jeanna (Burggraf) Hampton transferred from Columbia County. They will both be starting on March 11th. Jeanna will be at the front counter desk, and Marjean will be at Beth’s old desk.  There have been a few building projects that have been getting done. The IT room at FSA is tiled, started laying carpet squares in the front of CSZD and NRCS Office.  Had a flooding issue at the East side entrance of the CSZD and NRCS Office.  Jared reported of how many cropland acres in the state of WI that we have now as in the past. In 2007 there were 922 million acres and in 2012, acres were down to 914 million acres. The average farm size grew by 4%.  Jared introduced Chuck Raisbeck as the FSA Representative for this meeting. Motion by Dwight Nelson, seconded by Lester Jantzen to adjourn until, Tuesday, April 1, 2014 at 9:00 a.m. Respectfully Submitted by Annette Lolwing for Lester Jantzen