Agriculture and Extension Education Committee

DATE: August 24, 2006

Members present: Borleske, Cassity, Lehman, Wiese

UWEX Staff present: Dietmann, Erickson, Nagelkerk, Olson

Advisory members present: Clavadatscher, Neuwirth

Call to order

The meeting was called to order at 9:02 AM by Chair Wiese

Certification of Open Meeting Notice

Requirements of the open meeting law were met.

Approval of Agenda

Motion by Lehman, second by Borleske to approve agenda.
Motion approved

Approval of Minutes of Last Meeting

Motion by Cassity, second by Lehman to approve the minutes of the last meeting.
Motion approved.

Correspondence

Paul Dietmann read a thank you note that was received from Amanda Sandmire on receiving one of the Alice in Dairyland scholarships.

Bills and Financial Report

Motion by Borleske, second by Cassity to approve the July bills in the amount of $1,848.96.
Motion approved.

The department is over projected revenues due to the drinking water testing program that John Exo and Jenny Erickson administered in Towns of Franklin and Spring Green earlier this year and the reimbursement that the department receives from the Water Basin program for clerical support given to John Exo. The Educational Supplies line item is the offsetting expense line for the drinking water testing program, which is also over the projected budget.

Discussion and Action Approving Reimbursement of Expenses for Lester Wiese to Attend the State WACEC Meeting in Oshkosh

Official committee action is required in order to allow Lester Wiese to be reimbursed for personal expenses to attend the state WACEC meeting in Oshkosh that he attended in June, 2006. Motion by Borleske, second by Lehman to approve reimbursement of Lester Wiese's expenditures to attend the state WACEC meeting representing the Sauk County Agriculture and Extension Education Committee.
Motion unanimously approved.

Discussion and action on the Ag Diversification and Development Grant

As Paul Dietmann reported last month, Sauk County UW Extension will be receiving the transfer of a $10,000 Ag Diversification and Development grant from Columbia County. A resolution will be required by the Sauk County Board to amend our budget to accept and spend the grant funds, which will delay the processing of expenditures by a month or more. Paul also reported that the Dairy Grazers group would now like to utilize approximately $6,400 of the grant funds to contract with VandeWalle and Associates to conduct a feasibility study. Sauk County financial policy requires three (3) bids before awarding a contract of this size. Paul suggested that this item be tabled until the group decides whether they want to move forward or even possibly move the grant funds to another county to expedite the payment process.

Bob Cassity brought up the situation that if the committee tabled the issue at this time, it would then delay administration of the grant even further. Motion by Cassity, second by Wiese to accept the reassignment of the Ag Diversification and Development Grant funds and have the 2006 Sauk County UW Extension Department budget revenue and expenditure lines changed to reflect the grant amount, with the stipulation that if the Dairy Grazers group wants to take the grant money elsewhere, they are free to do so.
Motion approved.

Discussion and Action on UW Extension Agent Contract for the Period July 1, 2006 - July 1, 2007

Kerry Beghin contacted Paul Dietmann to say that due to the size of the contract between UW Cooperative Extension and Sauk County for agents' salaries, a resolution needs to be drafted and taken to the full County Board for approval. This is the first time that this process has been requested.

Paul requested information from other UW Extension Department Heads as to how their counties handle the agents' contracts with the indication that most counties have the contract approved only by their oversight committee. Paul also looked up the Wisconsin State Statute that deals with Cooperative Extension contracts. Paragraph 59.56(3)(c) 2 states that "the committee on agriculture and extension education may enter into joint employment agreements with the university extension or with other counties and the university extension if the county funds that are committed in the agreements have been appropriated by the board. Persons so employed under cooperative agreements and approved by the board of regents shall be considered employees of both the county and the university of Wisconsin." The committee's understanding of this paragraph is that the contract only needs to be approved by the Agriculture and Extension Education Committee since the contract amounts have been appropriated in the approved departmental budget. Paul will contact Kerry Beghin for further clarification.

Motion by Borleske, second by Lehman to approve the agents' contracts for July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007 with the stipulation that if a resolution is required, it can be drafted and signed at a short meeting before the September County Board session.
Motion unanimously approved.

Discussion and Action on 2007 UW Extension Department Budget

Paul went through the department's line item request for the 2007 budget with the committee. Major changes that were pointed out are an increase in the agents' contract line item of 6.4% and the increase in printing costs to have the Sauk County map reprinted next year, which would cover the usage of the map for two years. Motion by Borsleke, second by Cassity to approve the budget line item request as presented.
Motion unanimously approved.

Advisory Committee and Citizen Comments

Norma Clavadatscher:

• Norma complimented the committee on the thorough job they do when discussing the items on the committee's agenda
• HCE has a great program year planned for next year
• We had a short discussion on the Hmong and Hispanic populations in the area
• Norma reported that the Living Flag was very active this year walking in parades in Witwen, Plain, Reedsburg, Loganville and at the Sauk Prairie Cow Chip parade.

Donna Neuwirth:

• The Puppet Festival was a big success again this year with more than 100 puppets being made and paraded
• The Home-Grown Culture program is moving forward
• Donna is involved in presenting a series of art exhibits in Reedsburg
• Another mural will be going up in Reedsburg depicting the hops boom and bust period from 1865 - 1868 in Sauk County within the next month or two

The committee was presented with a draft copy of the Advisory Committee Policies from 2003 and also a copy of the guidelines used by DATCP regarding advisory groups to be used as a guide for coming up with structure for our own group. Committee members are encouraged to read these documents and be prepared for discussion and action on them at the September Ag & Extension Committee meeting.

Department Update

• Lester and Sue gave a report on the WACEC District Meeting in Dane County
• Jenny reported that SCIL is ready for fall with 19 members of the class. There are also four new board members on the SCIL Executive Board and the emphasis once again will be leadership development.
  • Bob Cassity stated that he would like to see SCIL teach management principles; Jenny gave her philosophy that leadership is different from management, but she will discuss the issue with the board and with Bob
• Jenny is also working with a group creating a map of the Baraboo River corridor. This map will be provided in conjunction with the cities of Reedsburg and Baraboo as well as the Chambers of Commerce. Jenny stated there are five different sources that are providing the funding for this map to be printed.
• The Nonprofit Network will be having a series of four presentations geared toward marketing this year
• Jenny received word that she has been accepted into the first class of the Leadership Academy. The committee had given her their approval in a previous meeting.
• Sue let the committee know that UW Extension utilizes and likes having access to the West Square Building. There are many collaborative programs done between Extension and other departments as well as the fact that being in one location makes it easier for our clientele.
• Sue is presenting "Connecting with Families" with Human Services participating
• Sue will also be teaching "Strengthening Families" this fall
• The next Pature Walk will be September 16th at the Borleske farm. Linda invited everyone to attend
• Bob Cassity would like a return pasture walk to his property to follow-up on the Multi-Flora Rose

Date for Next Regular Meeting

The next regular meeting will be Thursday, September 28, 2006, at 9:00 AM in the ETN Classroom.

Adjourned

Motion by Borleske, second by Cassity to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at
10:52 AM.

Respectfully submitted: Paul Dietmann