Home

Present:                                                                                                                             SWCD Personnel:
David Ellison, Chairman                                                                                                       Norma Duckworth (Absent)
Les Nunn, Vice Chairman (Absent)                                                                                      Bonnie Bittner
Lauren Preske, Member
Wayne Fehd, Member (Absent)                                                                                           NRCS Personnel:
Holly McCutchan, Member                                                                                                  Darrell Rice
Tom Niksch, Associate Member
Bill Jeffers, Associate Member
Fred Padget, Associate Member

GUEST: Ray Chattin, South, Southwest Region Director, IASWCD Board Member, Knox County SWCD Chairman
                Brian Herr, Daylight Farm Supply (Tillage Plot Partner)

The minutes of the April meeting were mailed to each member prior to the meeting. Bonnie reported she deleted one sentence that was not pertinent to the subject under discussion at the request of Bill Jeffers; board approved.

            Lauren Preske made a motion to accept the April minutes,
            second by Holly McCutchan, and carried.

The minutes were passed for supervisor signatures.

Dave Ellison asked the board to refer to the April financial report. The previous balance on 4-1-06 was $25,408.68 Receipts, $52.92, Debits $400.71 and the balance as of 4-30-06 was $25,060.89.

            A motion was made by Holly McCutchan, second by Lauren Preske, and carried,
            to approve the treasurer’s report as presented.

Holly McCutchan checked the claims saying they were in order.

            Lauren Preske made a motion to approve the claims, second by
            Holly McCutchan, and carried.

Holly passed the claim registers for the supervisors’ signatures.

Chairman, Dave Ellison said guest Brian Herr requested to be on the agenda first. Brian passed a copy of the No-Till Field plot map and gave a brief explanation of the five year study project on which Daylight Farm Supply is partnering with the Vanderburgh County SWCD. The plot shows the benefits of no-till corn, wheat and soybean rotation. Brian reported everything is planted for this spring and the board needs to set a date for the field day. They discussed getting Berry Fisher, NRCS No-Till Specialist. There was a discussion on explaining the economics of No-Till. Tom Niksch suggested contacting Check Mansfield, Economist from Vincennes University. After some discussion they decided to have the field day the week of August 21^st depending on when the speakers could present. Dave thanked Brian for coming to update the board on the No-Till Plot.

Chairman, Dave Ellison introduced Ray Chattin and asked supervisors, associates and staff to give their name and how they are connected to the District. Ray gave a little background; he is South Southwest Regional Director for the Soil and Water Conservation Districts and is a board member on the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD). Ray explained he was in on the ground level of the District Visits Program as co-chair of the task-force. They did the program in 4-5 counties with good responses from the districts. There will be a panel discussion at Annual Conference on the program. He explained a group from another region of the state would come down for 1 and ½ days, interview each partner, staff member and supervisor, then the group meets at the hotel and puts together a report (assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the district) to present to the district the next morning. Bonnie passed a copy of the power point Judy Brown gave at the Area Meeting on the Visits Program. Dave told Ray the board is looking at possibly January or February to participate in the District Visits Program.

Ray said the IASWCD will be hiring an Executive Director within the week and an announcement will be coming by e-mail. IASWCD will be asking districts for a wish list to take to the legislators and they are hoping they can get some dollars for districts. Ray said he feels without the National Association of Conservation District lobbying there would not be a 2007 Farm Bill.

Dave skipped down to the agenda item Regional Forester and asked Ray to explain his plan. Ray reported he thought there was a need for a Regional Forester and Knox County has it in their business plan, but with the climate of budgets in the state and counties he thought it best be put on hold right now.

Darrell asked Ray to explain how he has increased his staff in Knox County. Ray said they have a full time Executive Director/Watershed Coordinator, two technicians full time and one part time. They also have a full time Educator and Secretary. He said it takes a huge investment of time working with your county officials. His Executive Director has taken a lot of this commitment off his shoulders.

Dave thanked Ray for coming and invited him to come whenever it works in his schedule.

OLD BUSINESS:
Natural Resource Committee – Dave Ellison, Chairperson
Dave asked members to refer to a copy in their packets of a letter from RC&D on the YS6600. Bonnie reported the letter was to keep them in the loop but has since become obsolete. She read Norma’s comment from a list she left with Bonnie before leaving on vacation. Norma’s comment: RC&D purchased the YSI 6600 on 5-24-06. Therefore request for funds to purchase it are no longer on the table. The equipment has the advantage of doing some of the testing faster than the Hach kit. It’s read out gives more decimal points than Hach. This could be useful in certain situations, but not ordinarily in watershed trend data. IDEM does not put any more weight on or prefer trend data from the YSI 6600 versus the Hach method. IDEM does not use the YSI 6600 for TMDL studies. In future matters regarding water monitoring I would suggest the rental of this equipment be evaluated on a case by base basis.

Darrell reported on the multi-county field day August 5^th on Dr. Dean Beckman’s Farm. Vanderburgh County SWCD is partnering with Pike County SWCD for the field day. It will be from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. ending with lunch. The agenda is Timber Management, Value of Trees, Wildlife Habitat, Filter Strips, Warm Season Grasses and Fee Hunting. For more information call the office (812) 867-0729.

Bonnie read Norma’s report on Camp Gallahue. It was an excellent workshop; certainly worth my time. The class on doing education in the outdoors and the soil experiment were especially useful. Supervisors and staff please put your thinking cap on for teachers we can send next year.

Holly reported the Floating Garbage Barge was coming to Evansville next year and she wanted staff to call to see what SWCD can do.

Different items in the Business Plan were discussed. Holly brought the EVSC Link video and DVD and asked Bonnie to put it on the website. A possible Rain Garden at Garvin Park was discussed. Staff should contact Jim Morgan UNOE. Tom Niksch relayed his concern with the Kudzu (approximately 20 acres) on Helfrich Park across from the Mesker Amphitheatre and the approximately ¼ acre behind Scott Ellison’s Jewelry Shop. The Farm Tour action plan was discussed and a meeting was scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on June 27, 2006 in the conference room.

Preservation/Creation Natural Areas Committee – Lauren Preske, Chairperson
Lauren reported she will talk to Ken Eck and then tweak the Clean Water Indiana (CWI) Grant for Howell Wetland tie it into the SWCD Business Plan and resubmit it in August. Bonnie passed a copy of the grant that was submitted. She asked that all CWI grants be in by the July board meeting and on the agenda.

The CWI grant that was submitted by Posey, Vanderburgh and Gibson was accepted and Bonnie passed a copy of it and the letter from the Posey County SWCD talking about this grant and the 205j that will be submitted.

Bonnie passed a copy of the 205j Water Quality Planning grant that was submitted and reported Norma sent letters to the Vanderburgh County Surveyor, Area Plan, Health Department and County Council asking for letters of support. Mr. Jeffers, Surveyor, already submitted a letter of support (thank you) and Norma wrote one from the supervisors.

Norma’s comments on the ORSANCO Meeting:
I attended the ORSANCO hearing on changing water quality standards for the Ohio River. There is a copy of the proposal available in our office. Very little information was provided by ORSANCO and they admit they cannot scientifically back up all their reasoning. Since this was a public hearing, they did not answer questions. Only public comment was allowed. ORSANCO does not recognize the Ohio River as a recreational body of water. They want to make the standards for e coli and other pollutants less stringent in ‘wet weather’. They propose the standard for wet weather to be based on 2 mile per hour flow. Their reasoning was that no one would be on the river if the current was that swift. They do not believe this will lead to more e coli being deposited in the river. It will allow cities and towns not to be out of compliance and not be liable for fines. Most of the citizens present disagreed with the proposal. Boater and fisherman present stated a 2 mile an hour flow would not keep people off the river. Jim Daniels spoke and stated he did not agree with making the standards less stringent or the 2 miles an hour flow criteria. He went on to make the point that e coli and other pollutant were the responsibility of everyone. He clarified by stating that CSOs are only part of the issue. Impervious surfaces and the volume of water passing through the watershed contribute extensively to our current situation. He didn’t get any applause for that statement but I thought it was an excellent point.

Farmland Preservation – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
Darrell reminded members that the Smart Growth (Planning with Power) meeting will be June 7, 2006 from 11:30 to 1:00 p.m. at the CK Newsome Center in Room 118 A & B. Bring a brown bag lunch on your own.

Holly reported she brought the wrong video. She brought the EVSC Community Link Video and DVD that the Bosse High School students did on the district. She will bring the Farmland Protection video to the next board meeting.

Brown Field and Urban Land Use Committee – Les Nunn, Chairperson
Bonnie read Norma’s comments for the supervisors on The Pigeon Highland Watershed Plan Implementation Meeting. We have a two fold mission in relation to the Highland Pigeon Watershed Committee. We are working to find ways to make our grant applications more attractive to IDEM. Bonny Elfritz and Staci Goodwin both from IDEM are trying to assist in whatever way possible. Staci Goodwin is director of the TMDL program. If the board requests a TMDL for Locust Creek, IDEM will most likely perform the TMDL testing very soon. This would improve our chances at monies for Locust Creek. I would like a motion requesting the TMDL for Locust Creek.

            Holly McCutchan made a motion to request a TMDL for Locust
            Creek, second by Lauren Preske and carried.

The second part of the Highland Pigeon Watershed project pertains to reforming a steering committee. IDEM would look favorably on the counties working together to improve water quality in the watershed. Also the plan needs updating. If it is not updated and priorities revisited the plan will eventually lose its use in applying for grants. The steering committee would not require a great deal of time or commit- ment. They would oversee deciding what needed to be done and how to delegate the needed tasks. Holly McCutchan and Lauren Preske volunteered to be on the steering committee.

Legislative Committee – John Hahn, Chairperson
No Business This Month

Finance Committee – Holly McCutchan, Chairperson
Bonnie passed the picture of the sign we want to order for the CWI Project at the zoo. Attached was a quote Diana Barber sent by e-mail. Bonnie asked for a motion to purchase the signs.

            Holly McCutchan made a motion to purchase the CWI Project signs
            for the Mesker Zoo Project ($280.00), second by Lauren Preske and
            carried.

Bonnie reported the Rule 5 payment ($11,175) for approving plans that came into the office was direct deposited into the district checking account.

District Operation Committee – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
Ray Chattin covered the district visits program in the beginning of the meeting.

Bonnie passed a thank you from EVSC Community Line students, thanking Nick Fellows and Rob Brown for taking the crew to film and interview Gary Rexing and Kent Rexing on their farms about how the district assists them.

Natural Resource Committee – Dave Ellison, Chairperson
Chairman, Dave Ellison asked members to refer to copies in their packets of an e-mail from Ken Eck concerning the Transect Tillage Survey (Optional Year). There was some explanation, discussion and questions but the board decided to pass on the optional year.

Bonnie reported Norma obtained Soil and Water Stewardship Proclamations from the County Commissioners proclaiming April 30 to May 5, 2006 Soil and Water Stewardship Week and the Mayor proclaimed May 5, 2005 Soil and Water Stewardship Day. She passed the Proclamations for supervisors to view. Holly suggested Bonnie put them on the website.

The Tillage Plot field day was discussed by Brian Herr at the beginning of the meeting.

Bonnie read Norma’s comment for the
River Watch Workshop - We have several signed up for the Riverwatch Training on June 29, 2006.
Project WET Workshops - We have a Project WET scheduled for August 29 & 31, 2006 after school. We will be doing part of the workshop at Howell Wetland again.

Preservation/Creation Natural Areas Committee – Lauren Preske, Chairperson
Lauren asked members to refer to copies in their packets on the Southwest Brine Coalition Field Day Tour. It will be held on June 15, 2006 at the Union Community Church, Meeting Center, Town of Union from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. Dinner is included, make reservations before June 13^th.

Bonnie read Norma’s comments for Rain Gardens: I would like to promote the Rain Garden idea. Amy Brown suggested doing a video of how to establish one. It has also been suggested putting one in Garvin Park. I would like you to consider allocating funds to get both those projects off the ground. I would like to propose the Garvin Park Rain Garden to Gail Riecken with some financial backing. Please let me know what you would like to me to present in order to get this funding. Board asked for Norma to present a cost estimate for the project.

Farmland Preservation – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
Dave Ellison asked members to refer to copies in their packets of the e-mail from Larry Caplan on the Farmland Protection Seminar which will be held by video in his office on June 15, 2006. Since it is the same night as the Brine Tour, members ask Bonnie to call Larry to see if he could tape the seminar or get us a copy of the video.

Brown Field and Urban Land Use Committee – Les Nunn, Chairperson
Darrell asked supervisors to sign farm plans for:
            Michael Gries – Tract 8980
            Todd Thomas – Tract 9006
            Todd Thomas – Tract 1686
            Michael Gries – Tract 8979

Legislative Committee – John Hahn, Chairperson
No Business This Month

Finance Committee – Holly McCutchan, Chairperson
The petty cash report was reviewed by Holly McCutchan and passed for supervisors to initial.

            Lauren Preske made a motion to replenish Petty Cash for $22.21
            to bring the total back to $50.00, second by Holly McCutchan
            and carried.

Holly passed the budget letter asking the commissioners for a 3% Cost of living increase for our 2007 budget which would increase our budget from $15,820.00 to $16,295.00 for the year 2007. The board agreed by consensus to submit the letter to the commissioners.

Bonnie asked for a motion to purchase all four ink cartridges for the HP 3500 which would run approximately $550.00.

            Lauren Preske made a motion to purchase the four ink cartridges
            for the HP 3500, second by Holly McCutchan and carried.

Bonnie asked for a motion to pay Norma’s 2006 dues ($80.00) in the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS).

            Lauren Preske made a motion to pay Norma’s SWCS due, seconded
            by Holly McCutchan, and carried

Bonnie reported Norma would like to purchase an Enviroscape for the district. Bonnie gave a report on the cost of several different options depending on how many different top she would use. Bill Jeffers suggested that John Stoll’s office pay for it since Norma is doing programs to help him meet the MS4s education program. Bonnie asked the board to let Norma check out the options and decide which tops she would use in her programs.

Bonnie reported the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) requires district employees who are on their network, internet, etc have a background check and be fingerprinted. The cost of the background check is $97.00 and $20.00 for finger printing.

            Holly McCutchan made a motion to pay the cost of the background checks
            and finger printing for Norma and Bonnie, second by Lauren Preske and
            carried.

District Operation Committee – Wayne Fehd, Chairperson
Bonnie reported on the awards for 2006:
                    Joe Steinkamp - River Friendly Farmer
                    Wesselman Nature Society & Shirley James – Urban Conservationist
                    Environmental Stewardship Award – Scott Twp. Park
                    Conservation Education – Connie Waltz and EVSC Community Link (Bosse High School)
                    Master Farmer – to be decided
                    Conservation Farmer – to be decided

Bonnie reported the two associate supervisors she sent a second letter to asking if they wanted to remain on the board for another two years did not respond by May 24, 2006. The letter stated if we did not hear from them by that date they would no longer be listed as associates.

Dave asked members to refer to copies in their packets of the National Association of Conservation Districts North Central Region meeting in Cleveland, Ohio on July 9, 10 and 11^th. Bonnie asked members that are going to make their own hotel reservations and mark the sessions they want to attend on the copies in their packet and get it to her before June 15^th so she can make their reservations for the conference. Bonnie asked for a motion to send supervisors and staff if their schedules allow.

            Holly McCutchan made a motion to send supervisors and staff if
            their schedules allow to the NACD North Central Region Conference
            in Cleveland, Ohio, second by Lauren Preske and carried.

Dave asked members to look over Norma Duckworth’s report and direct any questions to Norma via e-mail or phone.

Darrell reported he has a new Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) approved for Angel Mounds and some new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). He asked members to check out the report Rob Brown, ISDA put in their packets on the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP). He can start making state payments. He has 46.1 acres currently under Farm Service Agency contract in the CREP program.

County Employee time sheets were passed for review and signature.

Dave Ellison set the date for the next board meeting on June 27, 2006, 7:00 p.m. in the Vanderburgh County SWCD conference room. Meeting was adjourned at 10:00 p.m.

                                                                                                                                            Bonnie Bittner
                                                                                                                                            Executive Assistant

MINUTES APPROVED ON June 27, 2006

David R. Ellison __________________________ Holly McCutchan __________________________

Les Nunn ___________________________________ Lauren Preske ____________________________

Wayne Fehd _____________________________

                                                                               Home                   Top of Page