DRAFT MINUTES

CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT

Frank W. Bratt Ag Center, Jamestown, NY 14701

District Board of Directors' Regular Meeting

May 24, 2001


 

I.  MEETING CALLED TO ORDER: 1:15 P.M.

    A.  Present:

         David Sturges - Chairman     Debra Kelley - Secretary

         Robert Thompson - Co-Chair   David Wilson - Manager

         Fred Croscut - Director     Leon Beightol - Treasurer

         Robert Anderson - Director   

 

II. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING:

MOTION by Beightol seconded by Anderson to approve the minutes of the April meeting.Carried.

 

III.TREASURER'S REPORT:

    MOTION by Anderson seconded by Beightol to accept the Treasurer's report     and pay current bills. Carried.

    A.  The following bills were approved for payment:

              SEE ATTACHED

 

IV. CORRESPONDENCE - none

 

V.  REPORTS:

    A.  Other Agencies

    B.  Committees

C.State Committee - Fred Croscut

         1.  NYACD Meeting - I attended the meeting on May 23rd in Rochester and we covered a lot of things.

              a.  New York State Envirothon - NYACD voted to make a contribution of $1,000.00 to this program.

              b.  Northeast Regional Meeting - Will be in Fishkill, NY on August 5 - 8, 2001. Information on this will be mailed out soon.

              c.  NRCS - Reported on the progress of combining the Areas and moving their office. This will create some savings in their budget.

              d.  Promotions - The NYACD and NYSCDEA are working together to try and come up with a logo to be use for all Districts.

              e.  NYACD - Is going to change their Divisions from 9 to 8. They are still working on what counties will makup each Division.

              f.  Hoof and Mouth Disease - Has created a real concern for Bio-Security on farms. NRCS and the State Committee will be coming out with some standards to address this concern.

District Minutes                                                   Page 2.

State Committee (cont.)

              g.  New Directors and New Employees - Less Travis is working

on a program to educate New Directors and New Employees. They have prepared a Training Needs Survey for each district to fill out. MOTION by Anderson seconded by Beightol to complete the Training Survey. Carried!

              h.  State Reimbursement - Should pass, Joe has met with Hillary Clinton and she is behind the Soil & Water Conservation District.

    D.  District Conservationist - Rob Halbohm

         1.  EQIP - See Attached Report

         2.  WHIP - See Attached Report, MOTION by Croscut seconded by Anderson to approve and sign the WHIP contract for the Jamestown Audubon Society. Carried!

         3.  WRP - See Attached Report

         4.  Conewango Creek - See Attached Report

    E   District Field Manager - David Wilson

         1.  Trees & Shrubs - We are officialy done with the tree and shrub program. The program generated $38,335.11 of income, $25,418.46 of expenses for a net profit of $12,916.65 for the 2001 program.

         2.  Envirothon - The Envirothon was held on May 2, 2001 here at the Ag Center. We had twelve schools with twenty teams participate in the event. Mark Thomas gave the Welcoming Address and Judge Stephen Cass presented the Awards. Lt. Matthew Pestinger, from the New York State Department of

Environmental Conservation, performed a lunch time show on Raptores. Team I from Falconer Central School was the First Place Winner and Frewsburg Central school, Team I & II were the Second and Third Place Winners. The First Place Team will go to the State Envirothon on May 30 & 31.

         3.  Hydro-Seeder - The Sales Representative from Finn Corporation has been out to show us how to operate the Hydro-Seeder. We are also in the process of entering into an agreement with Chautauqua County for Hydro-Seeding. The contract between the Chautauqua County SWCD and the Chautauqua County DPF is in Mayville for the Law Department to review and sign. We already have jobs to do for the County but until the contract is signed we cannot do them. We were also contact by a private Landscaper to do Hydro-Seeding at the New State Trooper’s Barracks.

         4.  Living Snow Fence - The District, in conjunction with the Town of Stockton Highway Department, planted a living snow fence in the Town of Stockton on Cummings Road. Cable 8 News Reporters and the Post Journal were there when we were planting, so we should get some good publicity from this.

         5.  Work Load - We have been laying out a lot of tile in the county. Bob Sheldon is doing the trenching, so we are trying to stay ahead of him getting the jobs laid out.

District Minutes                                                   Page 3.


    F.  District Secretary

         1.  Grass Carp - Delivery was May 14th here at the Ag Center. We had 45 pond owners order 284 Grass Carp. This program took in

$4,395.00 of income, $3,468.80 of expenses for a Net Profit of $926.20 for this program.

         2.  Blanket Certificate of Insurance - Richard Smith our Insurance Agent has recommended that we change from individual Certificates of Insurance to a Blanket

         3.  Audit District Books - David Sturges and Bob Thompson will audit the District Books after the regular Meeting.

 

VI. OLD BUSINESS

    A.  Appointments to the Board - We have received the Appointments to the Board of Directors, they are as follows: Legislative Appointments are Robert Anderson and Fred Croscut Term to expire on 12/31/01. The Member at Large Appointment is David Sturges his Term to expire on 12/31/04.

    B.  Election of Officers - Election of Officers was held. MOTION by Beightol seconded by Croscut to reelect the same officers as last year, they are as follows: David Sturges - Chairman; Bob Thompson - Vice-Chairman; Leon Beightol - Treasurer; Debra Kelley - Secretary/Asst. Treas. Carried!

    C.  2000 Cooperator of the Year - Tabled

    D.  Committee Assignments - The Chairman Made Committee Assignments. See Attached.

    E.  Personnel Appraisals - Tabled

    F.  New York State Association Conservation District - Pay Dues - Tabled

    G.  Dewey Pit - David Wilson, Rob Halbohm and Perry Dewey met with the Engineer to talk about the bids and making changes to the Plans. The recommendation to the Board is to throw out all of the bids. The Engineer will make some changes to the Plan drawings and specs for the pit and then put it out to bid again. MOTION by Croscut seconded by Beightol to accept the recommendations from Wilson, Halbohm and Dewey. Carried!

 

VII.NEW BUSINESS

    A.  Division Directors Meeting 2001 - Chautauqua County will host the meeting this year. MOTION to hold the meeting on June 13, 2001 at the Breezewood Links Country Club and have 3C’s Cater the lunch. Carried!

    B.  Mosquito Dunks - The District is considering selling Mosquito Dunks as a public service to help control the mosquito population. MOTION by Beightol seconded by Croscut to check into the legal ramifications of selling this product and if it is ok, go ahead and sell them. Carried!



District Minutes                                                   Page 4.


VIII. R&D


IX. WATER QUALITY

         A.  Water Week - A water tasting contest was held at the Chautauqua Mall on May 12, 2001. Cassadaga was the winner of the contest and will go on to the state contest.

         B.  Chadakoin River Study - Mike Wilson is working with Eve Gaus, a student from Jamestown High School on a project entitled “Quantification of The Chloride Content of The Chadakoin River as it Enters, Passes Through and Leaves Jamestown, NY”. The WQTF has provided funding in the amount of $300.00 to help pay for the lab testing fees.

 

X.  COOPERATORS - none

 

XI. NEXT MEETING - Wednesday, May 13, 2001, 1:15 P.M. at the Breezewood Links Country Club

 

XII.Meeting Adjourned

MOTION by Croscut seconded by Anderson to adjourn at 2.45 P.M. Carried!



Respectfully Submitted,




Debra A. Kelley

Secretary




David J. Sturges

Chairman