Land Conservation Committee

October LCC 2010 Minutes (27 KB)

Meeting called to order by Chair Wiese at 9:00 a.m. It was certified that the requirements of the open meeting law have been met. Present were Borleske, Murray, Puttkamer, Wiese and Zowin from the Committee; Norgard-NRCS; Van Berkel and Pohle-LCD. Kriegl was absent.

Adopt agenda:

Motion by Borleske/Murray to adopt the agenda. Motion carried, all in favor.

Adopt minutes of previous meeting:

Motion by Murray/Borleske to adopt the minutes of the regular LCC meeting on September 9. Motion carried, all in favor.

Public comment:

None.

Request for adjustment on Health Care Center (HCC) cropland rental rate for 2010: 

Marty Pertzborn rents the HCC property, and his planting was delayed due to the sludge spreading this spring. His bid was $150.01/acre; Pertzborn asked for $100/acre reduction; LCC had offered $75/acre reduction. Pertborn outlined for Committee the impacts of the lagoon sludge disposal to his operation. Motion by Borleske/Murray to reduce the rent for 2010 by $100/acre on the 59.7 acres used for spreading. Motion carried, all in favor. LCD will help reinstall the buffers and will work adjustment out with the final rental payment.

Review proposals for Clark Creek Watershed Study: 

Van Berkel reported ten firms submitted proposals by the October 11 deadline. Review panel, Mike Dreschmeier-NRCS Engineer, John Vosberg-NRCS Engineer, Joe Van Berkel, Mark Steward, Kathy Schauf and Todd Liebman, met on October 12 and scored proposals. Tom Kriegl also attended part of the meeting and provided input into the selection. Panel certified four firms for Committee consideration.

Consider resolution to award contract for Clark Creek Watershed Study:

Motion by Borleske/Zowin to approve signing a contract with Montgomery Associates Resource Solutions for $49,970 for the Clark Creek Watershed Study. Motion carried, all in favor.

Consider request for cost sharing of Johnson manure storage abandonment:

Van Berkel explained details of a manure storage abandonment at the Dennis Johnson farm. Due to a number of factors, including the delayed return of application materials, there was no cost sharing available from the traditional sources. However, learning from this situation the Committee has dedicated some county cost-share funds for this practice. Motion to pay Dennis Johnson $5,000 out of county cost-share funds and include a deadline for application returns in the future by Zowin/Murray. Motion carried, all in favor.

Update on 2011 budget:

Van Berkel informed the LCC that Finance approved the original budget as submitted. They also put $20,000 into the Parks budget for a continuing dam maintenance fund. This fund can be used for dams under both Parks and LCD jurisdiction.

Consider resolution to approve attendance at Southern Area Association of Land Conservation Committees fall meeting:

No LCC members were able to attend so resolution will be withdrawn.

Review and approval of vouchers:

Voucher summaries were distributed to the Committee members. Motion by Zowin/Murray to approve bills in the amount of $11,071.48. Motion carried, all in favor.

Legislative updates:

None.

Communications:

1. Thursday Note(s)-Highlighted discussions regarding the possible merger of WLWCA and WALCE.
2. Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) spending authority amendment- Statewide allocations were adjusted based upon performance to make funds available for the Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easements. Sauk County's spending authority of $1 million was not adjusted because we have used the highest percentage of allocated funds of any county in the state. Van Berkel credited this to the decision by Committee to provide staff for the program and explained how this relates to the current staff shortfall and the critical need for filling the vacant positions included in the 2011 budget.
3. Wisconsin Land & Water Conservation Association annual conference-conference will be held at Chula Vista on December 9-10. Pohle will check later in month on LCC availability and interest. The registration deadline is November 5.

Reports:

1. Land Conservation Department (LCD)report-There was good participation at October Clean Sweep in Plain with 175 participants. Van Berkel estimates there will be approximately $30,000 remaining to carryover for 2011 Clean Sweep, and hopefully we should be able to have an annual Clean Sweep from here on. The survey showed a strong participation level from the southwest part of the county and indicates the need to move the event around the county.
2. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) report-None.
3. Farm Service Agency (FSA) report-Norgard commented on the River Valley Youth Conservation Day he presented at and the importance of this program. Their Farm Loan Manager is being pro-active on conservation loans, and there are low interest loans available. Final payments will be made in October for Direct and Counter-Cyclical Program/ACRE (DCP) and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Farmers can presently sign up for 2011 DCP.
4. Foresters' report-None.
5. Economic Development Committee report-Murray stated that at their last meeting there was a presentation from Reedsurg Utility regarding provision of fiber optic high speed internet to the area. He also distributed the latest draft of recommendation for use of the old HCC land. Changes are being made, and it will go back to Economic Development Committee at their next meeting and then to County Board. The Committee also held some discussion about the Spring Green flooding area.
6. Mirror Lake District report-Zowin noted there was good progress on the dam repairs. Work on the Dell Creek projects has also been going well.
7. Lake Virginia Management District report-Murray reported the following discussion topics that came up at their recent annual meeting. The annual budget was approved for approximately $63,000. They own the dam so they need to do their own inspections. They kept all three of the commissioners. They are having problems with spraying the lake. They also discussed concerns about junk vehicles and other trash on properties around the lake. They are anticipating the revisions being made to ordinances by Planning and Zoning will help deal with the problem.
8. Lake Redstone Management District report-Borleske reported they met on October 12. They are starting to work with the Juneau County Land Conservation on brown sediment plume coming from across County F.
9. Restructure Committee report-Borleske reported that they met on October 4. Van Berkel and Mark Steward presented on their department's positions and duties. Next meeting is October 25 where they will have other counties present about their merging experiences. Borleske has spoken with five counties, and they stressed the importance of the lead position. She suggested many of the merged departments are from more urban areas than Sauk County, and we need to find examples similar to ours.
10. Report on Resource Conservation & Development (RC&D) conference-Wiese reported on the conference and noted it was mostly related to renewable energy.

Motion to adjourn until November 11 at 9:00 a.m. by Borleske/Puttkamer at 11:35 a.m. Motion carried, all in favor.

December 16 was tentatively set as a future meeting date.

Respectfully submitted: Linda Borleske, Secretary