MASWCD MINUTES

USDA Service Center

Jefferson City, Missouri

September 6, 2006

Present Steve Oetting, President Eli Mast, Past President	Not Present George Engelbach, Area V Ernie Calvert, Area VI
Bruce Biermann, Area I Tom Lambert, Area II	Fred Feldmann, Area VI Harry Robbins, Area VIII
Kenny Lovelace, Area III Beverly Dometrorch, Area IV
Richard Hoelscher, Area V Alternate David Dix, Treasurer
Peggy Lemons, Executive Director
Bill Wilson, DNR Program Staff
Brad McCord, MO Department of Conservation
Steve Wilson, MO Department of Conservation

President Steve Oetting welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. with a quorum established.

The minutes from the August 10, 2006 meeting were approved as mailed. The motion was made by Tom, seconded by Kenny. Motion carried unanimously.

A treasurer report was given by David Dix. 105 Districts have paid in full and 1 has paid partial state dues with 8 Districts not paying MASWCD dues. There were also financial reports for the MOCREP funds and the CRP-BOB funds. A discussion on the interest from the MOCREP and CRP-BOB funds resulted in the need for a clarification on the interest and percent administration allowed on these funds. Brad McCord stated he will get clarification on this. A motion was made by Beverly, seconded by Kenny, to approve the Treasurer Report as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

MDC REPORT: Brad McCord and Steve Wilson were in attendance. Steve gave a brief background of his career, he is now the Private Land Services Chief replacing Lisa Allen. Brad stated there has been a lot of interest in streambank work. Pilots are being implemented on public land. This is a big issue for the Department right now. The last meeting of the group of agencies working with streambank issues there was a discussion on consolidating all of the information

on streambank work and corps permits (what you can and can’t do in the streams) and put this information in the SWCD offices. Hopefully this will be a 1 page fact sheet. He gave out copies of a streambank news release and the new MDC strategic plan. MDC is actively seeding input on the plan. CREP activities originally were based on public drinking water reservoirs. A new program will start October 1, training is being given to agency staff at the end of September. This will be in an expanded area around the state. The CREP program allows a state to modify CRP practices to target specific areas. MDC is allocating $2 million for wildlife habitat and field borders. There are still the 29 county pilot areas for deer hunting this year. There are also youth hunts which have been very popular and hunts are available for handicap individuals as well.

NRCS REPORT: Roger Hansen was not able to attend. Steve Oetting reported on the Listening Session held last week on Cooperative Conservation. He stated there were in excess of 150 people in attendance. Some of the issues discussed were the Missouri river and endangered species. There were people there from several states. The Building Association was there and requested input on rural land use issues.

COMMISSION REPORT: Bill Wilson reported that the next Commission meeting is next Wednesday. Dr. Rikkoon will be there with his report on the issues affecting Districts including salary issues. The information is not final yet, but will be ready for the meeting. He stated there have been no changes or appoints on the Commission. He also stated that Dean Martin is retiring near the end of September and moving to the state of Washington. Some changes going on in the Program Office include creating a Watershed Conservation section which will be temporarily headed up by Kenny Struemph. The cost-share unit was moved to the District Assistance section. There will be a person appointed to temporarily replace Dean. Jim Plassmeyer was selected for the position vacated by Rose Marie Hopkins, they are hoping to fill the Public Information position soon.

DISTRICT EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION REPORT: Ben Reed was not able to attend, however Peggy reported that the Employee Association Board met last week. They are working on the plans for the Training Conference, their scholarship program and their awards. They are also involved in the Salary Committee working with MASWCD on District employee salaries.

Old Business:

The District Employee Salary Committee met last week and has provided information to MASWCD on suggested salary ranges for the district positions and the additional funds needed to fund the district employees at these suggested salaries. Peggy explained the background of the salary committee and the information and figures that were presented. A draft letter to possibly be sent to the House Appropriations Committee was reviewed. The letter is available if it is needed, this will depend on what happens at the Commission Meeting next week. The first step is to have a proposal to present to the Commission next week. After considerable discussion a motion was made by Bruce to accept the Salary Committee recommendation and report this to the Commission. This was seconded by Kenny. Motion carried unanimously. The Board did emphasize that they will be available to help the Commission in whatever way necessary to decide how to fund the recommendation.

New Business:

Bill Wilson and Peggy reviewed the continuing planning for the Training Conference. Bill stated there will be 16-18 workshops. The speaker for the Opening Session will be Krysta Harden from NACD. The lanyards for name-tags will be different colors so people can recognize employees, supervisors, etc., from a distance. There will be 1 workshop on Tuesday morning following the MASWCD business meeting. The banquet on Tuesday night will be a 50’s theme. After discussion about entertainment, speaker, etc., a motion was made by Bruce, seconded by Kenny, to spend up to $5000 total for some entertainment for the banquet, approximately 45 minutes. Motion carried unanimously. The joint meeting with the Commission will start at 10:00 a.m. on Monday concluding with a joint lunch. At the last meeting it was discussed to have Area Meetings. There are strong feelings for continuation of the Chairman’s Breakfast. After discussion a motion was made by Beverly to use the first half-hour of the MASWCD business meeting as Area Meetings and continue with the Chairman’s Breakfast on Tuesday morning. This was seconded by Kenny. Motion carried unanimously.

The resolutions received so far were reviewed. Some Districts have requested additional time to allow their board to meet in September and discuss possible resolutions to submit. A motion was made by Bruce, seconded by Tom, to extend the time for submission of resolutions to September 22. Motion carried unanimously.

Award nominations for Teacher of the Year, Grassland Farmer, and Cooperator of the Year were reviewed and winners selected.

Area Reports:

Tom stated his area had received some rain and the contractors were all working. Beverly reported she had contacted all the Districts in her area to see what their top issues and concerns were. She stated they were all in favor of additional District Assistance funds. Pettis County had a concern about the DSP-3 program. There was a concern from one District about approval of Info/ED grant applications. Jackson County stated they were waiting for the new Envirothon DVD to mail out to their schools.

Correspondence: A letter was received from the Central Region of the Junior Science Academy asking for support. After discussion a motion was made by Bruce, seconded by Tom, since this was not a state-wide request we would decline. Motion carried unanimously.

Other Business: The most recent NACD quota report was distributed. Missouri is a little ahead of last year, but still running about 60% of quota paid. Steve Oetting reported that at the recent NACD Board Meeting the budget for the new year was approved and it is a bare bones budget, they are depending quite a bit on the quota payments.

There is a Leadership Meeting in Nashville scheduled for November 29 and 30 which overlaps with the days of the Training Conference. Fred Feldmann will attend and will leave the Training Conference on Tuesday following the business meeting to head to Nashville for this meeting.

The next regular meeting will be the Joint Meeting with the Commission scheduled for November 27 at 10:00 a.m. at Tan-Tar-A. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m. Motion for adjournment made by Tom, seconded by Bruce. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Peggy Lemons, Executive Director

Steve Oetting, President