Agriculture & Extension Education Committee

Date: August 25, 2005

Members present: Borleske, Cassity, Lehman, Wiese, Zowin

UWEX Staff present: Dietmann, Exo, Jens, Nagelkerk, Olson

Advisory members present: Clavadatscher, Neuwirth

Call to Order

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 AM by Chair Wiese.

Certification of the Open Meeting Notice

Requirements of the open meeting law were met.

Approval of Agenda

Motion by Borleske, second by Zowin to approve the agenda.
Motion approved.

Approval of Minutes from the Last Meeting

As a follow-up to the minutes from the July meeting, Bob Cassity asked if Jenny would present the findings of the Labor Skills Survey done for the Baraboo School District to the committee. He also asked whether the letter to the Sauk County Fair Board was written. A copy of the letter was presented to the committee as part of the Correspondence section of the meeting.

Motion by Cassity, second by Borleske to approve the minutes from the July 21, 2005, regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee.
Motion approved.

Correspondence

A copy of the letter that Paul drafted to the Sauk County Fair Board commending them for the changes seen at the 2005 Sauk County Fair.

Bills and Financial Report

Motion by Zowin, second by Borleske to approve the July bills in the amount of $934.26.
Motion approved.

The financial report shows that the department has received 93.5% of anticipated non-property tax revenues and has spent approximately 56% of budgeted expenditures.

Approve Reimbursement of WACEC Conference Expenses for Lester Wiese and Jerry Lehman

The members of the Ag and Extension Committee historically have been reimbursed for their expenses to attend WACEC State Conferences. Lester Wiese and Jerry Lehman attended the WACEC State Conference in Ashland this year representing Sauk County.

Motion by Zowin, second by Borleske to approve the reimbursement of expenses for Lester Wiese and Jerry Lehman for attending the WACEC State Conference.
Motion approved.

Discussion and Possible Action to Approve the Amendment to Agents' Contracts

The contract amendment amount of $1,169 included a promotion for 4-H and Youth Agent Jessica Jens and a change in the fringe benefits rate during the most recent state fiscal year, and payout of unused leave for former CRD Agent Liz Nevers that was incurred in the previous fiscal year. Paul reported that the unused leave should have been reflected in last year's contract amendment when it could have been covered without exceeding the line item budget for contracts.

Motion by Cassity, second by Borleske to approve the amendment to the UWEX agents' contracts.
Motion approved unanimously.

Update on 2006 Budget Process

Paul reported that UWEX was the second department to submit their budget materials to Accounting. The Staff Review is scheduled for August 29th and the review with the Finance Committee is scheduled for September 15th.

Agent Presentation

Jessica Jens talked to the Committee about youth development in Sauk County. She asked for ideas from everyone at the meeting and handed out cut out keys. She then asked that everyone write down some things that they see as "key" to youth development. A couple of the ideas were presented and discussed. Jessica then presented three ideas that she sees as key in her programming.

Advisory Committee and Citizen Comments

Donna Neuwirth:

The Reedikulus Days Puppet Festival was held and was featured in the Country Today newspaper. She reported that there was a huge turnout of children and adults that took recycled materials and created human-size puppets from these materials and then showcase them during a parade. This event goes in conjunction with statements made during Jessica's presentation regarding having youth involved with adults in a fun, informative manner.

Norma Clavadatscher:

HCE sponsored a tour to Madison on which 40 people participated.
The HCE Annual Picnic was held and honored the First Book readers from the 2004 - 2005 year.
Cow Chip fundraiser is coming up over Labor Day weekend.
The WAHCE Convention is going to be held at the Kalahari in September.
Norma shared the recognition plaque that she received from the Ag & Extension Committee from several years back.
The Living Flag will be performing at the Cow Chip parade and at the Wo-Zha-Wa parade in September.

Department Update

Arlen Leholm is sponsoring a "Trust and Transformation" conference at Monona Terrace at which it is expected 700+ UW Extension personnel will be in attendance. The Sauk County staff will be attending.
The office will be going through a Civil Rights Review in October.
Sue has been invited to a leadership training paid for by Dick Pederson in Columbus, Ohio, with expenses being covered by Uw Extension. Paul had attended this same training several years ago when it was held in Vail, Colorado.
Room reservations were submitted for the 2006 Gardening Seminar back in July and Sue reported to the committee that it took seven weeks to get approval for County Board Room usage from the Personnel Department.
The next CPAG meeting is scheduled for September 8th at UW Baraboo/Sauk County with a pasta supper being served.
Lester presented Jerry Lehman his five-year participation plaque that was presented at the WACEC meeting.
Clean Sweep will be held September 23 & 24 for household and VSQG waste at the Sauk County Landfill.

Date for Next Regular Meeting

The next regular meeting of the Ag & Extension Committee will be held Thursday, September 29, 2005, in the ETN Classroom at 9:00 AM.

Adjournment

Motion by Cassity, second by Zowin to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 10:50 AM.

Respectfully submitted: Paul Dietmann