CALL TO ORDER:
A meeting of the Fremont Soil
& Water Conservation District
PRESENT:
Commissioners: Mark Kilpatrick, Maurice King, Harold
Mitchell, Sheryl Sanders, Phil Wing
Staff: Kevin
Brannen, Lucas Forney, Marvin Freed, Tammy Grebert
ADOPT AGENDA:
The
agenda for the April 7, 2009 meeting was approved with the addition of:
Message from Suzanne Hickey
CDI
Region 8 Meeting Update
A-200 Watershed Maintenance
APPROVAL OF MARCH 3, 2009 MINUTES:
23-09 Mitchell
made a motion to approve the minutes of the March 3, 2009 meeting of the
Fremont Soil & Water Conservation District Commissioners. The motion was
seconded by Sanders and approved with all in favor of the motion.
APPROVAL OF TREASURER’S REPORT:
24-09 It was moved
by Sanders and seconded by Mitchell to approve the Treasurer’s report of the
Fremont Soil and Water Conservation District. Motion carried unanimously.
BOARD DEVELOPMENT
Conquest of the
Land Through 7,000 Years was given to the Commissioners for reading.
Ø
Two Rivers
Quarterly Report
Forney
reviewed the Two Rivers Quarterly Report. A motion was made by Sanders to
approve the Two Rivers Quarterly Report with corrections. Kilpatrick seconded
the motion that showed all in favor.
Ø
Farm Bill VIII
Agreement – District/DSC Initiative Agreement – Farm Bill VII Work Products
1/2009 – 9/2009
25-09 The
Revised Farm Bill VIII Agreement in the amount of $10,143.70 was approved in
the amount of $6,723.70. An agreement was received from DSC/IDALS for $3,361.85
of the agreement. CDI will pay $3,361.85. Mitchell made a motion to accept the
Farm Bill VIII agreement with DSC/IDALS in the amount of $3,361.85. Sanders
seconded the motion that carried unanimously.
Ø
Personnel –
District Conservation Technician
26-09 An advertisement for a District Conservation Technician was published with Iowa Workforce Development March 23, 2009 – March 27, 2009. Sanders made a motion, seconded by Mitchell to hire Brian Laughlin as the District Conservation Technician to work on the Farm Bill VIII Agreement work products at $9.50 per hour. Motion showed all in favor.
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REAP Projects
- Leffingwell
Carl Leffingwell was in the office on June 10, 2008, with his
operator, Shannon Smith indicating that he had purchased the property (T2099)
owned by Greg Pullman. Mr. Leffingwell wanted to sign-up for state cost-share
to do terrace work on field 6. The Maintenance Agreements were checked to make
sure there were no obligations on field 6 and discovered from the map attached
to the Maintenance Agreement that there is a REAP Maintenance Agreement on
field 6 for a tree planting/site preparation project completed with state
cost-share in June, 1991. Later that day, Mr. Greg Pullman was in the office
stating that he had talked with Mr. Leffingwell. Mr. Pullman said there were
never trees planted on field 6. He was aware of several tree plantings on his
property, but none on field 6. Fred Bolton, Lucas Forney, Kevin Brannen, and
Tammy Grebert reviewed the file, the Conservation Plan, and the Maintenance
Agreements. There are several REAP projects on the property each with a 20 year
Maintenance Agreement. Cathie Graves, Field Rep, IDALS-DSC was contacted. She
asked that copies of all the documents be sent to her for review. She also
suggested that if the technicians felt comfortable they could look at the site
and make a determination.
After discussion, it was decided to table any decision until Jeremy Cochran has had a chance to meet with Leffingwells. Grebert is to send a letter to Leffingwells suggesting they contact Jeremy Cochran.
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EQIP
Incentives
Freed gave an overview of the EQIP summer incentive program. Summer construction – This scenario will occur in a row crop field. It requires planting a temporary cover crop for erosion control purposes for a planned summer construction site. No crop harvest is allowed. Construction must occur between June 15 and October 15. Payment may not be made for any associated contract items until all associated practices are installed. It is a one time incentive. There is also a payment rate of $19.50 per acre for planting cover crop.
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State
Incentives
IDALS-DSC is offering a summer construction incentive program. The incentive offers up to $200 per acre for the establishment of a conservation cover crop and to offset income lost from cropland acres taken out of production during the growing season. Summer construction incentives are only available in conjunction with state-funded conservation practices. Payment will be made upon completion of the permanent conservation practice. Qualifications are:
1. The field being treated must have been in row cropland during the previous growing season in which the permanent conservation practice is being constructed.
2. The construction area shall be protected to prevent soil erosion before and after construction.
3. The construction of the permanent conservation practice must take place between June 15 and October 15. Work must be started and completed between these dates and verified by the technician prior to receiving the incentive.
4. Only the land needed for the construction is eligible for the incentive. The work area will be determined by the technician.
5. No crop can be harvested from the construction area.
6. The funds come from the districts IFIP allocation and can be used with the IFIP practices, REAP Practices, conservation practices through the No and Low Interest Loans and with practices that are not cost shared from any program, but all practices have to meet NRCS standards and specifications.
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Time of
Meetings
Sanders requested that the Fremont SWCD monthly meetings be held at 7:00 p.m. except for the months of April, May, October and November. After discussion it was decided the schedule for monthly meetings will be as follows:
January, February, March – 7:00 p.m.
April, May – 8:00 p.m.
June, July, August, September – 7:00 p.m.
October, November – 8:00 p.m.
December – 7:00 p.m.
A suggestion was made to
schedule the
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June Meeting
Date
Brian Gross tentatively plans to be on leave June 2, 2009, the scheduled Commissioners’ meeting date. After discussion, it was decided to change the June meeting to Monday, June 8, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
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Message from
Susanne Hickey
A message from Susanne Hickey,
Nature Conservancy, was shared. She wanted to share that on her drive to her
home from
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CDI Regional
Update
Wing gave an update of the CDI
Regional Meeting he attended in
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The concrete work for the portal is complete.
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A200
Rod Finnell contacted the office regarding clearing trees from A200 Hamburg Watershed. This item was tabled to the May meeting.
SIGNED APPROVALS
Conservation Plans
Carroll Aistrope
Verlin Holt
Contracts/Contract
Modifications
Cost-share
Certification
Olson Investments LP
Maintenance
Agreements
Olson Investments LP
LWPP
Application/Amendment
Buffer
Initiative
Stewardship
Initiative
Cooperator
Agreement
Statement
as to Soil Conservation Refund
Application
for Impoundment Structure Property Tax Exemption
Information
Items
MEETING ADJOURNED: 9:40 p.m.
/s/ /s/
Secretary Chairperson
Date Approved May 5, 2009