Home

Minutes of Regular Meeting
VANDERBURGH COUNTY SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
(SWCD) Office, Evansville, Indiana
7:00 p.m., Thursday, January 26, 2010

Present: SWCD Personnel:
David Ellison, Chairman                                         Norma Duckworth (Absent)
Davie Sue W Litov, Vice Chairman                       Bonnie Bittner
Laura Lamb, Secretary
Maurice Berendes, Member                                  NRCS Personnel:
Wayne Fehd, Member                                            Darrell Rice
Scott Wininger, Associate Board Member          Lindsay Martinez (Absent)

GUESTS: Bob Dodd, Retired/Interested Citizen
Steve Helfrich, Facilities Director, USI

The minutes of the December Vanderburgh Co. SWCD board meeting were mailed to each member
prior to the meeting.

Dave asked the board to refer to the December financial report. The previous balance 12-01-09
$37,585.65, Receipts, $1,951.79, Debits, $9,249.59, balance as of 12-31-09 $30,287.85.

                    A motion was made by Laura Lamb, seconded by Wayne Fehd,
                    and carried, to approve the treasurer’s report as presented.

Maurice Berendes reviewed the claims reporting they were in order.

            Maurice Berendes made a motion to approve the claims,
            seconded by Wayne Fehd, and carried.

OLD BUSINESS:
Natural Resource Committee – David Ellison - Chairperson
The district received a letter from DNR stating the changes in the payments of the LARE grant. They are requiring invoices on the SWCD’s letterhead with the contractor’s original invoices, and cost-share work completion form from the landowner. The money will come to the SWCD and they will write the checks to the landowner.

The Tillage Plot data is back on the yields. The part of the plot that had the gypsum yielded one bushel less and they are trying to figure out why.

Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for a flyer on the Pond Pro Day. They were asked to take them to lake associations and post in businesses. Mark Wilson put an article in the Evansville Courier Press. We have a contract from Camp Reveal. Bonnie is still working with a law firm to get someone to speak on Pond liability and insurance issues. We have a certificate of insurance from the county firm for the workshop.

BUSINESS PLAN
ACTIONS 2010
Urban Soil Erosion:
Continue developers’ workshop
Continue SWCD’s level of involvement with MS4’s
Develop education programs
Continue existing watershed initiatives and establish new one by 2012
Agriculture Soil Erosion:
Field Day/No-Till workshops
Continue Locust Creek Core IV projects
Establish a priority watershed TBD in Vanderburgh County utilizing Core IV principles
Locate and promote programs that provide incentives to adopt conservation practices (Newsletter)
Water Quality:
Partner with Health Department to address water quality concerns
Continue septic information in newsletter & informative materials from other sources
Continue conservation programs on Ag lands that improve water quality
Continue water quality monitoring
Locate & Identify
Preservation of Farmland:
I. Create additional wetlands, forest & wildlife areas
SWCD becomes knowledgeable about federal, state & local programs related to natural areas
Preservation, Educate & promote programs to general publ
Promote native plant species
Work with partners to eradicate invasive
Educate the public
II. Preserve existing wetlands, forests & wildlife areas
SWCD becomes knowledgeable about programs to aid in the creation of natural areas
Educate/promote programs to the public through workshops and partnerships
Urban Initiatives
I. Encourage the utilization of "green spaces" in subdivisions & urban
Educate SWCD on zoning & related "green space" issues
Remain involved in influencing zoning ordinances related to "green space"
Partner with city Arborist to promote Tree City USA programs
Partner with City Beautiful to promote relevant programs
Partner with City/County parks department to preserve/create parks & related areas

Land Use Committee – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
The district has another Eagle Scout Project in progress that will blaze a new trail around the Westside of the lake at the back of the Eagle Slough Natural Area property. Members explained the whole Eagle Slough Natural Area from the beginning to our guests.

The district received the final CWI 2009 payment after the fourth quarterly report went in. A final report is due in March to complete the project.

Members were asked to refer to copies that were passed on Norma’s meeting with Dr. Batema. The report explains the reasons for the delay of a report.

Members were advised that an e-mail came from Jennifer Boyle Warner (IASWCD) letting districts know the Clean Water Indiana grant money for 2010 was released and they will be getting it to districts very soon. Districts will also receive the $10,000 statutory distribution for their budgets.

The Invasive Species workshop is on schedule for June 19, 2010. University of Evansville will host it at no cost as long as the registration fee goes to the district for their Native Planting program in the Backyard Conservation Program. We are in need of one more speaker and Darrell volunteered to contact Purdue to get a speaker from the Weeds Science Department. Sharon Sorenson at 1:00 and the speaker from Purdue will follow her. Doug Tallamy will speak at 4:00 p.m. with a book signing afterwards.

Education Outreach Committee – Lauren Preske, Chairperson
Norma will be visiting an interested client for a rain garden this week. Steve Helfrich reported USI is building a small parking lot this summer and has incorporated a rain garden in the designs. They will partner with the district on this project.

Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for information on the county insurance and district insurance policy regarding hiring an intern. Norma also sent some information on why she wanted an intern. After some discussion the board wanted a job description and application form.

Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for two SWCD marketing pieces. After some discussion it was decided to use the brochure for Annual Meeting and send the other piece to the media.

District Operation Committee – Maurice Berendes, Chairperson
Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for the County Commissioners meeting dates and the procedure for requesting to be on the agenda. Also included was a form that needs to be completed and send in before the meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:
Soil and Water Resource Committee – David Ellison - Chairperson
No New Business This Month

Land Use Committee – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for the local ranking meeting report. We had excellent feedback at the meeting. The Environmental Quality Inceptives Program (EQIP) and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) require a local group to meet and set priorities.

Education Outreach Committee – Lauren Preske, Chairperson
Members were asked to refer to copies in their packets for three pieces on districts that was in our packets at Annual Conference. We had all our legislators at the Legislators breakfast except Vaneta Becker; which was unusual because she always attended in the past. Our Chairman Dave Ellison received the Supervisor of the Year award for South Southwest Indiana. Our Vice-Chairman Davie Sue Litov and Bonnie Bittner received a certificate from the Lt. Governor for completing the Leadership Program.

Bonnie passed copies of the Water Quality Specialist report to supervisors for review.

• Completed Riverwatch training with Central High School Students 8 of 10 completed courses. Jan 19^th.
• E.coli training in conference room. Certified 1 individual. Worked on volunteer site choices.
• Met with Dr Don Batema at his office. Jan 22^nd. Please see attached report.
• Prepared outreach material for KEB Garden Workshop on Jan 22nd.
• Backyard Conservation – Two new sites have requested evaluation. Briefly viewed UE while waiting for Dr Batema
• Request for bio- retention information from two engineering firms. Biagi and BLA. The request from Biagi is in regards to USI parking lots.
• Reviewed amendment to SWP3 for University Parkway Extension.
• Reviewed SWP3 for downtown project- part of arena work.
• The poster contest flyer is ready and has been put on our web site. It has been sent to Vic Chamness to be posted. Stewardship materials have ordered. Outreach to the schools will be started when that material arrives

District Operations Committee – Maurice Berendes, Chairperson
Bonnie asked for a motion to rent 10 potted palms for Annual Meeting. They are $15 each; Zeidler
Floral delivers them morning of and picks them up the following morning.

                Maurice Berendes made a motion to rent 10 potted palms for approximately
                $150, Seconded by Laura Lamb and carried.

Members were made aware that the district voice mail would no longer be under Spalding Communication. Answer-Phone will take it over and Bonnie requested a fax with the monthly rate in writing which will remain the same at $10 per month.

Maurice reported the petty cash is in order and passed the report for supervisors to initial. He reported we need a motion to replenish Petty Cash back to the $50 level.

                Wayne Fehd made a motion to replenish petty cash for $23.64
                Seconded by Maurice Berendes and carried.

Darrell reported we have two new EQIP and two new CRP projects. The CRP projects are an additional 160 acres. The new funding for EQIP was approved. After the legislative breakfast Representative Gail Riecken met with Jane Hardisty to talk about bring more federal dollars to match state dollars to southern Indiana. Jane said the timing is perfect. Goose Pond will have a dedication ceremony next month; it is the largest wetland in the nation under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP).

County employee time sheets were passed for review and signature by the supervisors.

Maurice Berendes said since this was his last official board meeting as a supervisor he wanted to thank the board for partnering on the Mater Dei Project. It is working perfectly and everyone involved is very pleased. He explained the project for our guest.

The February meeting will be the Annual Dinner Meeting set for February 23, 2010 at 6:00 p.m. in the Exposition Hall at the 4-H Center. There will be a short business meeting following the Annual Meeting

                    Davie Sue Litov made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8.15 p.m., seconded by
                    Wayne Fehd and carried.

Respectfully Submitted
Bonnie Bittner

Minutes approved on 2-23-10

David Ellison ___________________________________

Davie Sue Wallace Litov___________________________

Laura Lamb _____________________________________

Maurice Berendes________________________________

Wayne Fehd __________________________________

                                                                Top of Page     Minutes        Home