 |
Wisconsin Association
|
Minutes WALCE Board Meeting Room 1, Portage County Courthouse Annex
Tuesday, October 30, 2007 Stevens Point, WI
1. Called to order by Dale Hanson at 9:38 a.m.
Present were; Dale Hanson, Ed Hernandez, Joe Van Berkel, Greg Leonard, Keith
Marquardt, Dan O’Connell, Penny Pohle, and Tom Sweeney of WALCE, Pat Murphy
- NRCS, Terry Lohr - DNR, Coreen Fallat - DATCP, Julian Zelazny - WLWCA
2. Motion for approval of minutes of July 17, 2007 Board meeting by
Leonard/O’Connell. Carried.
3. Treasurer’s Report was presented by Hernandez. Highlighted items include: fees for the County Conservationists’ meeting are still flowing in, NCDEA has reimbursed WALCE for Baneck’s expenses as regional representative, one CD rollover will come due in December, and the grant funds for the transect survey update will only show in the budget footnotes as the checks were never deposited in the WALCE accounts. Motion by Leonard/O’Connell to accept report. Carried.
4. Approval of expense vouchers. Most were handled through the normal review process. The Hernandez voucher was reviewed by Board and motion to approve by Van Berkel/Leonard. Carried.
5. Administrative Committee referrals and updates. No formal report. Committee will meet November 28.
6. Discussion of potential revisions to NR151 and ATCP 50. DNR will be looking at focus sessions in December, January and February to propose revisions for submission to the WALCE Board in March. DATCP is now looking at waiting until after the March DNR Board decisions regarding changes to better coordinate the final products so expect their process to start in April with a likely conclusion in 2009.
Discussed appointments to the NR151 Rule Revision Committee (Agenda Item #11). Board commented that care should be taken to assure that the appointments are representative of WALCE and not selected just by agencies. It was also suggested that some technical staff be added to provide more field experience to the discussions. Hanson said he would send a request to all employees to recruit interested parties - not just county conservationists. The proposed list will be presented to Administrative Committee for review and input.
Hanson updated Board on discussion from County Conservationists’ meeting regarding the desired revisions to NR151 and ATCP50. Suggested focus areas were: mandatory cost-sharing requirement especially as it relates to nutrient management, the lack of any local control regarding animal waste or livestock siting ordinance requirements above state standards, the need to address carbon sequestration in our practice evaluations and eligibility determinations, should we allow pollutant load trading between point and non-point sources, TMDL determinations, issues with the TRM program, staffing grant funds and their use for special projects, the need for time limits for compliance with NR151 and ATCP50, requiring identification of non-point funding needs as part of the LWRM plan, nutrient management as a state goal and whether it relates to priorities of all counties, and the implications of the phrase ‘lost opportunities’ and what that may entail.
7. Professional Improvement Committee (PIC) referrals and updates. Pohle presented the preliminary agenda for the WALCE Professional Improvement Conference. Board discussed the ‘informal policy’ of not holding conferences at casino hotels and recommended that a guideline be drafted by the PIC that would prohibit contracting for a conference at a facility that does not pay local taxes.
8. Review and approval of proposed revisions to Scholarship Guidelines. Pohle reviewed the changes proposed for the Scholarship Guidelines. Board agreed to the changes for two years to see how they would work. No formal action by the Board was necessary as this is a guideline not policy.
9. Technical Committee referrals and updates. O’Connell reported on the Fall Tour (40 staff attended), that the Transect Survey was moving forward, that a new streambank erosion appraisal form was being developed and that Corey Schuelke had been appointed to the Manure Storage Safety Subcommittee.
10. Review of proposed By-laws changes. The by-law changes discussed at the July Board meeting were reviewed and several additional minor changes were proposed. Van Berkel will work in the changes and redistribute the document for final approval by the Board at a January meeting. Proposed changes will then be distributed to all members immediately after to allow for a vote on the revisions at the conference.
11. Review and approval of proposed appointments to NR151 Advisory Committee on Rules Revision. This item was discussed as a part of item #6. No further discussion.
12. Agency and Association Reports.
Murphy - NRCS reported on Farm Bill proposals to continue support payments, EQIP, CRP and the CSP with modifications.
Zelazny - WLWCA reported on the state budget, internship program, WFLGP, poster and speaking contests, and the December convention.
Lohr - DNR reported on the DNR budget, available NOD funds, EPA concerns regarding implementation of construction site erosion control requirements, the Karst report and the formation of NR151 advisory groups.
Fallat - DATCP reported on funding for establishing a manure spreading weather alert system, the rule revision process and the animal waste ordinance survey.
13. Update on officer nomination process. Van Berkel will send out nomination forms for the new slate of officers. All positions, President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer are up for nomination.
14. Discussion of redesign of WALCE website. Sweeney explained some of the proposed revisions that have been requested. He has had one proposal from a consultant to address these at a cost of $1,400. A benefit of the changes would be to allow people to do their own updates to e-mail addresses and such rather than relying on a web manager. This update was not budgeted for in 2007. The suggestion was made that the issue be delayed until the January meeting to allow the Treasurer to evaluate whether this could be done with budgeted funds. There was also discussion of assigning decisions regarding the website to a Committee rather than the Board. The suggestion was it be under the Technical Committee as they are already dealing with similar items. Hanson will ask each Committee for input on what they think would be most appropriate and postpone any decisions regarding contracting for the upgrade and future oversight until the January Board meeting.
15. Establish next meeting date and location. Next meeting was set for January 22, to be held in Stevens Point. Agenda items for this meeting will include:
Decisions regarding the website
Final By-law approval
2008-2009 budget
Business meeting agenda for the conference
16. Adjourn. Motion to adjourn by O’Connell/Leonard. Carried.
