WORTH COUNTY CONSERVATION BOARD

MINUTES

DECEMBER 4, 2008

 

 

President Vansteenburg called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.  Board members also present were Randy Sime, Troy Christiansen, Justin Faber and Matt Smith.  Others present were Dan Block and Dean Mueller.

 

Smith moved to approve the agenda.  Second by Sime. Motion carried.

 

Faber moved to approve the minutes.  Second by Smith.  Motion carried.

 

Director’s report:

  1. We have the parks closed, but still need to get the pit toilets pumped.  All the aerators are up and running.
  2. There is only one cygnet left as the others have flown away.  There was one dead cygnet found at the Shell Rock area but no way to know if it is one of ours.  DNR is not sure that we will catch and move the last one to Arkansas this spring.
  3. The roof on the cabin is covered with the new shingles but the trim for the gable ends and the ridge is not on.  I do not think it will hurt the roof to wait until spring.
  4. Started to put the railings on the handicapped fishing pier and they look good.  Will finish the project in the spring.
  5. We have black dirt spread around the new shelter and have tilled it.  Will do the seeding this spring as soon as the snow is off.  There are spots that may need more fill but we may need to worry about that next fall.  Still need to move in some boulders to define the parking area, which we should consider extending.
  6. We were not able to get as much work done with the wet blade mower as I wanted.
  7. The area we cleared at Panicum Prairie as been seeded with a mixture of meadow fescue, brome, timothy and red clover.  If this does not grow we will need to consider using plugs of blue joint and cord grass or plant the area to woody species that we want.
  8. The areas that we hayed look good but did not have the growth we wanted due to the dry fall.  Mecham did not pay for his hay yet and I sent him a letter today asking for payment.
  9. There was a drainage hearing on the tile main that runs through Kuennen’s and Roger Dahlby was there to protest closing the main.  Falk had told the Supervisors and Hyde that we would allow them to outlet the main into the quarry.
  10. There is going to be (????) a campground with cabins built in Silver Lake Twp., I don’t know if this should change our plans.  I have sent the final report to the Office of the State Archaeologist so we should know where we stand on the project by the first week of January.

Christiansen moved to approve the director’s report.  Second by Sime.  Motion carried.

Naturalist’s report:

3-Nov

NK 5

Atl Atl

3-Nov

NK 1

Soils (2)

5-Nov

NK Ecol

Timber Cruise

6-Nov

NK 4th

Manatees (2)

6-Nov

St An 6

Cell model (3)

18-Nov

NK 6

Australian animals

20-Nov

NK KG-2

Turkey (6)

21-Nov

NK 5

Lewis and Clark

24-Nov

CS KG

Indian corn (2)

24-Nov

CS 2

Turkey (2)

25-Nov

NK 4th

Oystering on the bay (2)

26-Nov

NK Ecol

Timber Cruise

 

 

 

 

 

24 programs

 

 

NAI conference was very good.  These conferences usually yield benefits for many years.  Looking above, you will note the manatee and oystering programs, both came from NAI conferences, so for instance the Oystering program has been presented at least 60 times since the DC conference.

 

Started hunter safety at Nora Springs.

 

Mammology program scheduled for NK high school starting in January. 

 

Smith moved to accept the naturalist’s report.  Second by Faber.  Motion carried.

 

The Director presented the guidelines that the Supervisors issued and then discussed possible expenditures for next year.  The Board asked the employees to leave the room while they discussed salaries.  The employees were called back into the room and the board presented their decision on salary increases.  Sime moved to have the Director complete the budget form with the following changes in salaries: Mueller $49,067; Backhaus $38,682; Block $38,842; Hanson $21,692 and an increase of 2% overall.  Second by Smith.  Motion carried.

 

The idea of using TIFF to fund a building was discussed.  The Director was asked to discuss the idea of a new building at the next department head meeting called by the Supervisors.

 

Several ideas were discussed for a WCDA grant.  The Board asked the Director to design a playground that would have a good possibility of being funded.  The park where the playground is to be installed will be picked later.

 

The Director reported to the Board on the ADA presentation from the ISAC meeting and recommended that they review the transition plan this winter.

 

The Board asked the Director to prepare a letter to the Board of Supervisors requesting that Troy Christiansen be reappointed to the conservation board.

 

Smith moved to pay the following bills:

 

Worth County Conservation FD

 

 $1579.97

Worth County Engineer

 

 $ 929.10

Northwood Lumber

 

 $ 740.43

Visa

 

 $ 494.75

Alliant Energy

 

 $ 354.05

Dan Block

 

 $ 203.94

Heartland Power Coop

 

 $ 183.27

Alltel

 

 $ 132.34

Manly Junction Signal

 

 $ 100.00

Northwood Anchor

 

 $ 100.00

Pritchards of Northwood, Inc.

 

 $   87.03

Mediacom

 

 $   79.95

Dean A Mueller

 

 $   72.60

Northwood Welding

 

 $   38.35

City of Northwood

 

 $   17.00

Ver Helst Snyder Drug

 

 $   14.84

Carquest Auto Parts

 

 $   14.48

Skogen Systems Inc

 

 $     8.45

Fallgatters Market

 

 $     2.89

 

Total

 $3,573.47

 

Second by Sime.  Motion carried.

 

President Vansteenburg adjourned the meeting at 9:00 PM.

 

 

 

Submitted by:                                                             Approved by:

 

 

____________________________                            __________________________

Dean A Mueller                                                          Jeff Vansteenburg

Director                                                                      President