Meeting called to order by Chairman Wiese at 9:00 a.m. It was certified that the requirements of the open meeting law have been met. Present were Zowin, Lehman, Wiese, Bernien, and Cassity from the Committee; Peterson-WDS; Norgard-FSA; Brereton-NRCS; Van Berkel and Pohle-LCD. Craker was absent.
Adopt Agenda: Motion by Cassity/Bernien to adopt the agenda. Motion carried, all in favor.
Adopt Minutes of Previous Meeting: Motion by Bernien/Zowin to adopt the minutes of the previous meeting. Motion carried, all in favor.
Appearances: There were none.
Training events: Motion by Zowin/Cassity to approve the list of training events. Motion carried, all in favor.
Bills: Bill summaries were distributed to the Committee members. Motion by Cassity/Lehman to approve 2002 bills in the amount of $10,193.16. Motion carried, all in favor.
Motion by Bernien/Cassity to approve the 2003 bills in the amount of $46,083.12. Motion carried, all in favor.
Correspondence: Van Berkel distributed copies of the latest Thursday Notes.
Van Berkel forwarded an invitation to Committee members to attend the DNR Annual Open House on February 19 in Spring Green on the deer herd status and CWD.
Reports: Norgard received notice of national training for CRP. They are busy with the new Farm Bill. Milk program is going smoothly.
Brereton reported that no funds have been received for EQIP yet. This is a new program which has the proposed rules published and is open for comment. After the comments are finalized, they hope to receive funding. The funding for technical service providers was initially set to be taken from a separate account. Now it is being proposed to take the funds out of the NRCS operating budget, which is mainly staff costs and would reduce funds available for other program implementation. The technical service provider rules are also open for comment. There was discussion regarding the Purchase of Development Rights and the Farmland Protection Program.
Van Berkel made the Committee aware of installation concerns in the Narrows Creek Watershed Program. A concrete installation was done under winter conditions without temperature protection. The Department is withholding payment until compliance with concrete specifications can de tested in the spring. No action was required from the Committee.
Bids were sent out for a sport utility vehicle to replace the 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Proposals may be presented at the next LCC meeting.
Review and Approval of 2002 Wildlife Damage Program Claims: Peterson informed the LCC that all of the participants complied with all the program requirements except three owners that did not meet shooting permit minimums. He blamed the shortfall on problems correctly identifying the location of deer shot because of new registration requirements and recommended that all claims be approved. A waiver form was signed for them. Motion by Lehman/Zowin to approve all the claims as follows for a total cost of $12,805.81: Scott Crawford-$986.28, Harold Emerson-$600.27, Harold Engel-$820.63, Bernard Hirst-$723.04, Durlin Knuth-$1,008.65, Duane Lins-$2,092.83, Dennis Plantenberg-$3,256.25, Edward Reimer-$2,206.34, Jeffrey Sprecher-$1,111.52. Motion carried, all in favor.
Peterson reported that they will be flying transects in the CWD eradication area to get a better handle on the deer numbers. Sauk County has less deer than three to four years ago. Even with the expanded seasons this year, the deer harvest was basically the same as last year because of reduced hunting pressure due to concerns about CWD.
Review and Approval of Operational Agreement with USDA:To serve as a governmental Technical Service Provider the County has to sign an updated Memorandum of Understanding with the United States Department of Agriculture. However, the standard forms are outdated and some components irrelevant to Wisconsin. Van Berkel recommended tabling this item until a future meeting to allow him time to research alternatives. Committee agreed to table.
Review and Approval of Proposed EQIP Project Ranking Sheet: Brereton stated that the LCC needs to formally adopt a ranking sheet system for applications for EQIP funding. Staff developed a proposed system for Committee review. It is very similar to the LWRM ranking that has been used for three years and is working well. The system follows the priorities established in the LWRM plan. The concern may be having enough staffing time to do the project designs and installations so some priority was given to practices that take little staff engineering assistance. Motion by Bernien/Cassity to approve the ranking sheet as presented. Motion carried, all in favor.
Result of Reclassification Request for Education/Fiscal Coordinator:Van Berkel updated the Committee on the reclassification issue resulting from a Department reorganization. This is an adjustment that the Committee has been supporting since 1998 but it has been delayed in part because of the Teamster's reclassification process. The study reclassified the Administrative Assistant position and placed it in a paygrade of G with a new position title of Land Conservation Paraprofessional. However, during this study process the Natural Resources Educator position was eliminated and additional educational responsibilities were assigned to this position. Because of these increased duties, the new job description needed to be submitted as a part of the appeal process. The job's educational responsibilities increased from 25 percent to 60 percent of the workload. The appeal result recommended changing the title to Education/Fiscal Coordinator and placing the position in a Grade H. This is the top paygrade within the Teamster pay structure. This only amounted to an increase of $.50/hour or approximately $1,000 per year over the previous job evaluation. Van Berkel presented evidence that this pay rate is not adequate compensation for this position's responsibilities. He included comparisons from other counties with similar positions and the fact that the previous contracted position was paid approximately $39,550 for similar responsibilities. Pohle and Van Berkel have registered a further appeal to this determination and will appear before the Personnel Committee tomorrow. The LCC reaffirmed their support for appealing this. Some Committee members stated they would contact the Personnel Committee members to express their support.
Schedule Date for Conservation Technician Interviews: Van Berkel informed the Committee that 75 applications were received for the position replacing Matt Bremer. He would like to affirm that all applicants are interested in the position despite the potential short-term nature. Van Berkel will respond to the best 27 applicants, inform them of the funding issues and ask them to respond to a few essay questions to determine their strengths. After these are reviewed, we will interview the most qualified ones in March. Wiese is interested in being involved with the interviews.
Request for Engineering Assistance on Lake Redstone Lot: Van Berkel received a request from the Lake Redstone Protection District for LCD engineering assistance. The District is participating in a cooperative demonstration project with DNR to have people plant native grass and flower buffer strips around the shoreline to prevent lawn runoff pollution and provide habitat. One site needs engineering design to address some shoreline erosion problems. The site design would take about two to three days of staff time. Because this is outside our normal work, Van Berkel agreed to present the request to the Committee to see if they were willing to provide the assistance. Motion by Cassity/Wiese to support this effort at the discretion of the County Conservationist. Motion carried, all in favor.
Possible CLOSED SESSION: The Agenda item on White Mound relocation payments was dropped because information was not yet available. No closed session was needed.
Possible Resolution on Relocation Payment as Part of White Mound Dam Rehabilitation: No action was taken because materials were not available. The issue may be on the next LCC agenda.
Motion to adjourn until March 12, 2003 at 9:00 a.m. by Bernien/Zowin at 11:17 a.m. Motion carried, all in favor.
Kathy Zowin, Secretary
MEETING DATE HAS BEEN MOVED TO MARCH 5, 2003 AT 9:00 A.M. TO ACCOMMODATE THE NEED FOR AN EARLIER APPROVAL OF THE RELOCATION PAYMENT FOR WHITE MOUND DAM REHABILITATION.