WALCE BOARD
MEETING MINUTES
Schmeeckle Reserve
Stevens Point,
Wisconsin – June 14, 2001
Board Members Present: Dale Olson, Marcia Hartwig, Shawn Stocks, Gaylord Olson, Pat Sutter, Dale Konkol, Paul Tollard, Rick Mechelke, Mark Jenks, and Dan O’Connell
Advisors
Present: Pat Murphy, Andy Yencha
Vice
President Dale Olson called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m.
Minutes:
Dale Konkol made a motion to change the minutes from the April meeting to say
Walce Board Meeting Minutes and disregard Annual Meeting.
Marcia Hartwig seconded – motion carried to change the minutes and
accepted the April meeting minutes. Motion carried on a voice vote.
Treasurer’s
Report: Marcia
Hartwig reviewed Register Report dated April 4, 2001 to June 13, 2001.
1.
Board
members review the Register and Cash Flow Reports.
2.
Marcia
Hartwig answered any concerns from committee members.
Membership
Update: 244
members for WALCE as of June 14, 2001.
Motion
to approve treasurer’s report was made by Pat Sutter – seconded by Dan
O’Connell. Motion carried on a
voice vote.
Committees:
Dale Olson
explained the update on appointments from Troy Kuphal’s handout. Joe Van Berkel is no longer our representative on the NACD Ag
Resource Committee. Pete Van
Airsdale from Winnebago County has filled the NACD – Environment and Resource
Policy Committee. For the Ag
Resource Committee there will be no longer a representative from WALCE. The
representative should be a member of WALCE.
Troy Kuphal needs to send a letter on the guidelines on representing
WALCE for NACD.
1.
Conservation
Hall of Fame Committee - Dan O’Connell - Portage County.
2.
WALCE
Professional Improvement Conference Planning Committee is Sauk, Adams, Columbia,
and Juneau County. Volunteers
needed for 2002 Conference in Wisconsin Dells.
3.
Quality
Steering Team (QST) - Troy Kuphal - Washington County.
4.
WLWCA - Dale Olson - Sawyer County.
5.
State
Interagency Training Committee (SITCOM) - Dale Konkol, Chair - Door County.
6.
State
Technical Committee
7.
Standards
Oversight Counsel (SOC)
8.
WALCE
Legislative Committee: New members
needed
Bill
Hafs – Brown County
Jean Schomisch – Eau Claire County
Jeff
Hastings – Vernon County
Cathy Cooper – Richland County
Perry
Lindquist – Waukesha County
Joe Van Berkel – Sauk County
Dan
Masterpole – Chippewa County
Bill Schuster – Door County
Diane
Handson – Lincoln County
Troy
Kuphal – Washington County
Tom
Sweeney, Chair – Rock County
9.
Wisconsin Land & Water Conservation Board -
Troy Kuphal – Washington County
10.
Wisconsin Agricultural Stewardship Initiative Coordinating Counsel (WASI)
(One representative needed)
Dale
asked if anyone was interested in the WASI.
The announcement has not been out long enough. We will wait until the next meeting for any volunteers.
It is difficult to get together with all the WLWCA Committee members.
The next Joint Committee Meeting will be on August 24, 2001.
We
will contact Sauk County on the next WALCE Committee Meeting.
An agenda will go out to them.
SITCOM:
Dale Konkol, Chair.
Dale had a meeting to pick upcoming training topics.
Everyone was happy with the 1st training.
65 people have signed up already. It
would be nice to get younger staff to be involved.
Certification would be an option. We
need to look at the process of certification on Erosion Control and Sediment
Control. Rick Mechelke brought up
the question up of at what point do you need to be certified at the State Level.
Dale explained that certification would help out in the field and office.
Training in the field would be needed with three references and then the test
would be given for certification. A
$125.00 registration fee is needed also. Paul Tollard has mentioned that this is
just for construction and fertilizer applications.
Qualifications
are a must especially with Nutrient Management Plans. Paul Tollard send an e-mail to Troy on concerns for
certification in general conservation. A
copy of the memo was reviewed by the committee.
Paul suggested that certification be done though WALCE or inter agency.
Andy Yencha – UWEX – Robin Shepard had been working on this with the
DNR a whole series of training and certification.
It all fell back on the job approval.
Pat Sutter wondered how SITCOM and NRCS are working together?
Pat Murphy would like to do this and have different certifications for
WALCE and SWCS and get the training going.
Dale Konkol will put forth and meet again on this.
Paul Tollard suggested that it should be called Professional Improvement
Conference Training. Gaylord
mentioned that the farmers should be involved in training also.
This would make the Agencies and the Farmers very responsible in
different ways. Then the farmer
would also know the programs that are available for them with cost sharing.
All area reps will be contacted by e-mail on certifications.
Terminology would be Professional Improvement.
The certifications would run with joint agencies.
Pat Murphy wanted to start it with WALCE.
Annual
Conference: WALCE
Annual Conference for 2003 and 2004. Shawn
Stocks will be contacting different conference centers in the west and east for
2003 and 2004.
Strategic
Plan:
1.
WALCE/WLWCA
Joint Committee Update: No Update at this time. Pat Murphy talked to Jim Bauman from the DNR for long term
goals. Rebecca Baumann needs to make sure we are going forward and keep the
board fully informed.
2.
Newsletter
Update: Marcia Hartwig will be collecting information on the newsletter.
Suggestions on speakers on the upcoming conference.
3.
Open
Discussions: We have been sticking to the strategic plan.
Paul mentions it hasn’t directly included the certification curriculum.
Pat Murphy made a note that all around we have been making good decisions
at that time of making the strategic plan.
We just need to train the younger staff to allow them to be aware of
issues that develop. Is
certification going to make a difference for liability in the county?
4.
Thursday
Note: We need to submit one paragraph to Marcia from the county for
informational purposes. Have
information submitted by October 1, 2001.
Legislative:
1. Status of ATCP 50: Dale Olson handed out information regarding ATCP-50.
They’re may be additional pages missing. The committee reviewed the comments and revisions that had been e-mailed to Dave Jelinski from Rebecca Baumann and Troy Kuphal.
Agency Reports:
DATCP: No report at this time.
NRCS: Pat Murphy position is no longer field operations. He has taken a position as State Resource Conservationist. The WALCE Committee would like to see Pat stay on the WALCE Board. Congress is talking about money for conservation. But who knows what and how much. Pat will keep us informed on this issue.
CREP update will be on Monday, June 18, 2001. It is looking like this fall. Pat participated with a group on Ag Waste Ordinance. No set criteria at this time. Tomorrow he will be attending another meeting. Gaylord Olson made a motion to have Pat Murphy remain the representative for NRCS. Rick Mechelke seconded – motion carried on voice note. Troy should send a letter to Pat Leavenworth regarding this.
Reorganization of area offices in the state of Wisconsin. They will keep four area offices that will be centralized in the state. Dale Olson talked about Spooner area that they might combine with Chippewa. The staff is looking at service. A decision will be made next week. Originally there were five area offices.
Pat talked about how we should have a written report from Russ Rasmusson of the Department of Natural Resources. We will add them to our agenda and make sure they get on our list for e-mail and mailings.
UWEX: Andy Yencha talked about the certifications and would inform UWEX on the workshops. Erosion control workshop would be a great opportunity to learn without certification. Andy handed out the multi agency grant program. Everyone has the opportunity to come free of charge to the grant writing training on Wednesday, June 20, 2001. It will be at the Schmeeckle Reserve in Stevens Point.
The budget was cut. Solid and Hazard Waste Program took a cut. Small effect on the clean sweep and recycling. Money for grazing available for the next 5 years.
A booklet will be send out sometime late this summer on Shoreland Management. There are publications available on Urban Management Practices and Erosion Control “Run – Off”.
Other Business:
Pat Murphy mentioned the relationship between agencies. Pat believes that Jim Harsdorf is more of a visionary leader. Try to blend everyone together. Rick emphasizes on the terminology and make sure everyone is on the same page.
Next Meeting Date:
August 16, 2001 at the Schmeeckle Reserve, Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
Adjourn: Dan O’Connell made a motion to adjourn. Marcia Hartwig seconded – motion carried on voice note.