President Steve Oetting welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. with a quorum established. Introductions were made around the room. Beverly Dometrorch is attending the Soil & Water Commission Meeting.

The minutes from the September 6, 2006 meeting were approved as mailed. The motion was made by Fred, seconded by Kenny. Motion carried unanimously.

Steve Oetting reported he had received a resignation letter from Ernie Calvert, Area VII Director. The Board accepted his resignation letter and appointed

Sharon Gifford, Area VII Alternate as Director to complete his term.

A treasurer report was given by David Dix. He stated that 105 Districts have paid their dues in full, and 1 District has paid partial dues. A copy of the breakdown of the districts paying MASWCD dues was distributed so Area Directors would have this for the business meeting. There were also financial reports for the MOCREP funds and the CRP-BOB funds. A motion was made by Steve Radcliff, seconded by Don Hicks, to approve the Treasurer Report as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

MDC REPORT: Bill White reported there was a near record deer harvest. They hope to get close to the record or over with the remaining hunting seasons remaining. He stated the funds have been released for the new MOCREP agreement. The CP-33 Bob-white Buffer practice has reached the maximum of 22,600 acres. A request has been submitted asking more acres be released to Missouri

NRCS REPORT: Roger Hansen is attending the Soil & Water Commission meeting, no further report was submitted.

COMMISSION REPORT: Jim Plassmeyer stated there was no additional report due to the Joint Commission Meeting being held earlier today.

DISTRICT EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION REPORT: Ben Reed is working on set-up for the Trade Show and was not able to attend. There was no additional report submitted.

Tom Lambert joined the meeting. Steve Oetting stepped out to attend discussion at the Soil & Water Commission meeting and turned the meeting over to Fred Feldmann.

Peggy reported on the actions since the September 13 Commission meeting concerning the additional funds for District Assistance. The Commission requested $538,134 at their September 13 meeting, however, DNR reduced that to $271,567 saying they could not agree with an 8% increase in 1 year. They stated they could agree with a 4% this year and next year. There is going to be a more detailed report given at the business meeting for the District Employee Association on Tuesday morning and anyone wanting more information should plan to attend that meeting. Bill Foster, the DNR Ombudsman who is looking at the Soil & Water Program Office for the next 6 months is attending the conference. Mike Wells indicated Doyle Childers, DNR Director, is very interested in looking at the program, possibly setting up a task force, to see what improvements can be made.

Peggy reviewed the plans for the Training Conference, and the duties assigned each of the Directors to see if any changes need to be made. Steve Radcliff agreed to do the duties assigned George Engelbach and Tom Lambert agreed to cover Bruce Biermann’s duties. There will be door prizes given on Monday evening, Tuesday evening and Wednesday lunch. The Board decided to give the $100 gas card on Monday evening. The Directors

were also reminded about the Area Meetings planned for Tuesday morning prior to the business meeting.

For the past several years MASWCD has sponsored the Warm Season Grass Award at the State Fair. A motion was made by Kenny and seconded by Tom to approve sponsoring this award again this year. Motion carried unanimously.

Harry Robbins reported he had met with Peter Becker to discuss forestry issues in his area. A request is being submitted to the Commission to re-instate the pilot forestry practices.

Kenny said his Districts are very interested in how the Commission decision on District Assistance funds ends up.

Tom indicated contractors are working again in his area.

Fred stated his area is still dry.

Steve Oetting had not returned from the Commission meeting yet, so the Board decided to go ahead and discuss the Education Seminar for 2007. They decided the meeting needed to be held earlier than in the past, late January or early February. The Capitol Plaza Hotel is the preferred location with donuts and coffee at the Capitol Building the following morning. The speaker should be a legislator, they did not feel that this year we needed the budget review but needed to concentrate on the communication with the legislators.

Gerald Bryon of Cape Girardeau SWCD expressed thanks to the MASWCD Board for the support they received on the Hubble Creek project and the issues they were experiencing. He explained the tile irrigation practice they are using in the project.

Steve Oetting returned to the meeting and assumed control.

Correspondence: Steve indicated he had received the invitation to the Farm Bureau Ag Leaders Luncheon and would pass it on to the new President. He also stated he had received notice that Missouri is in the top ten quota contributors for NACD and will be receiving an award at the NACD Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. He stated that we need to continue to work with Congress on the NRCS budget, He emphasized that Roger Hansen had reported his budget could be $9 million less if Congress approves the lowest budget amounts currently in the various versions of the budget. This could mean less NRCS employees for Missouri.

Other Business: Steve indicated that last year the MASWCD board had approved increasing the salary of the Executive Director by the same percentage as the federal pay increases. He indicated that in Missouri the increase is 2.1% and nationally it is 2.8%. A motion was made by Fred, seconded by Tom, to approve a 2.8% increase effective January 1, 2007. Motion carried unanimously.

Steve Oetting talked about the pros and cons of topsoiling. He asked Livingston SWCD about their issued on topsoiling and the background of the resolution. Steve Radcliff stated that their issue is that no matter how good or bad the first 6 inches of the soils is, it is still the topsoil, is where the fertilizer, etc., is, and does not need to be covered up.

Auction items are needed for the NACD Annual Meeting in Los Angeles. Suggested ideas should get to Peggy. In the past hunting trips have been one of the best selling items.

The next regular meeting will be held at the Education Seminar in Jefferson City, and will be set as soon as time and location for the Seminar are confirmed. There being no further

business the meeting was adjourned at 2:40 p.m. Motion for adjournment made by Tom, seconded by Kenny. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,