Vaswcd Board of Directors Quarterly Board Meeting

VASWCD BOARD OF DIRECTORS QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING

December 8, 2013 · 9:30AM-12, 1PM-3PM

December 9, 2013 · 6:30PM

Kingsmill Resort & Conference Center

VASWCD President Lou Ann Wallace called the meeting to order at 9:30am. Members were welcomed. Introductions of those board members/representatives in attendance were as follows: Richard Street, Bill Worrell, Rick Weeks, Ricky Rash, Jack Bricker, JC Berger, John Peterson, Wilkie Chaffin, Steven Meeks, Don Wells, Ed Overton, Richard Chaffin, Lou Ann Wallace, Kendall Tyree, Chris Simmons, Beth Sokolik, Suzie Brown, Jim Christian, Mike Altizer, Ward Robens, Jerry Ingle, E.B. Watson, Linda Terrell, Richard Hoover, Mike Lovitt, Alyson Sappington, Greg Wichelns, Pete Farmer, Bob Lund.

Motion to approve minutes from September meeting by Wells. Second by Christian. Motion approved.

Don Wells presented the Treasurer Report and explained expenses and income through the end of FY13. The FY14 budget was also included in board packets with income/expenses shown from July 1 thru November 11, 2013. Motion to accept treasurer report and file for audit by Wells, second by Peterson. Motion approved.

The FY15 budget was next presented by Don Wells. The proposed budget will go before the membership on Tuesday at the annual business meeting. Don Wells asked that board members consider and discuss increasing the VASWCD support service fee for FY15 if the General Assembly budget provides an increase to essential operations.

Area II Chair, Jim Christian, asked for an explanation of need for increased support service fees. Wells explained that board travel, rent, staff expenses are all increasing at the VASWCD level. Altizer asked for further clarification on reserve funding available at the VASWCD level. Wells agreed to present details on the State Farm CD at the next board meeting.

Richard Chaffin made a motion to advance a $100 increase in support service fees for FY15 and FY16 contingent upon increasing operational funds at the General Assembly level. The motion was as follows: “That annual district support service fees be increased by $100 for fiscal year 2015, and again in FY16. Implementation of these increases shall be contingent upon operational funding, from DCR, being increased by at least $500,000 in each of those fiscal years.”

Area Chairs were requested to discuss this at their area meetings on Monday afternoon. Peterson seconded the motion and it was approved.

Don Wells made a motion for the VASWCD to join VirginiaForever. The fee costs $500 and provides an opportunity for VASWCD growth and networking. Information on VirginiaForever was included in meeting materials. Rash seconded the motion. Motion approved.

Committee Reports:

• Ag Committee –The committee is currently vacant. The VASWCD, per Ward Robens recommendation at the September board meeting will have a committee sign-up table at the Association registration desk. Area Chairs please encourage individuals at the Monday area meeting to sign-up for more information.
• Marketing Committee – Chris Simmons presented the report. Based on personal experience this year, he would like to see marketing training provided to districts and will be working on this effort in coming months.
• Forestry Committee - The forestry committee held its first organizational conference call this quarter. The committee reviewed the Forestry BMP and Urban BMP award winners. Ideas on how to adjust the award application were presented. Additional marketing for these awards will need to be handled in 2014.
• Urban Committee – Brian Wagner presented the urban committee report. The VCAP manual is officially completed and is a living document. It is available for all districts use. The VASWCD will post this on the VASWCD website. Sixteen rain gardens, four pet waste stations, and twenty-three turf-to-native projects have been implemented, many others are underway. Another grant has recently been received for $9k from DOF to expand efforts. The committee worked on a grant opportunity in partnership with theAlliance for the Chesapeake Bay to NFWF but unfortunately did not receive this grant. The committee will re-submit the application in the future. The urban committee is also looking to team with the James River Association on a number of grant projects. The committee will assist with urban program legislation during the 2014 GA.
• IT Committee –George Lamb presented the IT committee report which was included in board materials. Looking forward to 2014, the committee is looking to build tools and training to benefit districts. Particularly this year, communications have been expanded to a wiki – vaswcdshare.org. The committee has utilized anymeeting.com to reduce conference call costs and will begin recommendinguse of this software to other committees.

Hardware and software grants have been provided to many districts to upgrade needed infrastructure. The next bulk of the grant will be distributed for QuickBooks training as well as other training needs requested by districts. The committee is working closely with DCR to assist with the next generation of tracking tools for districts. The committee is appreciative two new positions are being brought on board at DCR and thanked the Department for providing an IT Committee member an opportunity to serve on the interview panel.

The board took a 10 minute recess at 10:30AM and reconvened at 10:40AM.

Partner Reports:

-NRCS – Jack Bricker presented the NRCS report. Bricker predicted that a Farm Bill may not cease to exist and instead the agencyoperate under an annual appropriation/program items. However, a two year extension of the Farm Bill may be likely in the interim. More information will be available in coming months. NRCS received a budget this past week and took a $4 million salary shortage. More than $17.1 million in EQIP was received this federal fiscal year. The Chesapeake Bay watershed initiative ended with the Farm Bill. Last week Secretary Vilsack visited Virginia to announce the Conservation Effects Appraisal Program (CEAP)– the value of voluntary conservation practices. A 26% reduction of nitrates and also a significant drop in phosphorus was evident in the recent report on how voluntary conservation practices have helped improve the Chesapeake Bay. Bricker expressed uncertainty on how this report mirrored up to the Chesapeake Bay model. Bricker discussed the issue of functional equivalents – good work that isn’t being counted into the model as it fails to meet NRCS specs. Bricker made mention that NACDwill be surveying SWCDs on Farm Bill and other district needs/activities.

-Soil & Water Board – Herb Dunford, chair presented the report. The first part of 2013 proved a busy time for the board with stormwater issues taking significant time. With the GA transitioning stormwater programs to DEQ and the State Water Control Board, theVirginia Soil & Water Conservation Board will work to focus and assist district issues better.

-DCR – Rick Weeks presented the report. Discussion focused on Resource Management Plans and the recent state soil and water conservation board meeting where action was taken to delay implementation of the program previously set to become effective December 6, 2013. The board will discuss a new timeline of implementation at their first quarterly board meeting in 2014. In the meantime, two positions at DCR are being hired to assist with this effort. Rick stated, “It is evident DCR needs to develop its own engineering capacity.” Likewise, the agricultural engineer position set to be hired through VT is to be announced this week. This additional position will help alleviate issues and assist with approvals currently necessary while developing a state program that mirrors NRCS programs. DCR additionally noted thatengineering training is certainly recognized as a needed growth opportunity – especially as NRCS capacity decreases and VA work expands.

The SWCD budget template will be an important item of discussion on Wednesday at the Virginia Soil & Water Conservation Board meeting when the VASWCD Board and the VS&WC Board meets together.

-DEQ – David Paylor provided an update on DEQ priorities and how to best collaborate with districts. DEQ recently took over responsibilities for stormwater which include Bay Act and erosion and sediment items. DEQ believes there needs to be enhanced implementation and communication among these programs. Paylor’s goal over the next four years is to streamline the program - not necessarily changing the goals of the statutes. Additionally, it was noted that the Coastal Aquifer is oversubscribed. A plan is being developed to address this issue as current levels of use cannot be sustained.

As for 319 grants, Paylor noted thatboth DCR and DEQ should be working together with EPA in order to better understand the expectations of those grant dollars. Paylor’s goal is to ensure collaboration when applying for grants so joint expectations are clear.

Paylor stated that throughout the series of public meetings on the role of SWCDs he was made aware that the relationship between stakeholders needs improvement. Thanks to these meetings, it was learned that in areas where DEQ has a presence the agency seems to be well received and respected while this is not the case in other areas of the state where a presence is lacking. A relationship with districts is critical and this culture shift will need some attention. The agriculture community is a different constituent that DEQ will be working to better serve and improve relations with, despite where SWCD management is located – at DCR or DEQ.

Lou thanked Director Paylor for his comments and asked board members if we needed to address the issue of consolidation further. Paylor added that the General Assembly membership is still very divided on the issue. Paylor informed the board that if a bill is introduced to move SWCDs to DEQ then most likely a competing bill to move SWCDs to VDACs will be introduced. Paylor also clarified that the outgoing administration will not pursue a transfer of SWCD programs and that he would be surprised to see the issue readdressed during the 2014 GA session. David Paylor said from a business perspective while it makes sense to be under one agency, it is clear there is a significant DEQ perception issue revealed throughout the public meeting process and there would be hope to shift that thinking and improve collaboration before another attempt to move SWCDs was made. In the meantime, the partnership between SWCDs, DEQ and DCR can work better than it has previously and is a positive result of the past year of legislative work. R. Chaffin asked if this is a “now or never”issue of moving SWCD management from DCR to DEQ and Paylor commented that such mentality is not necessarily true.

Lou Wallace commented that she is heartened to see that relationship building with SWCDs across the Commonwealth can grow, strengthen and improve.

Simmons asked if our position statement from the December 2013 annual meeting to support a move to DEQ still stands or did it die with the legislation that failed during the 2013 General Assembly. As this will be discussed at all Area Meetings, Simmons pointed out thatit is an important issue to clarify. Ricky Rash stated that policy usually stands for three years and recommended that we allow the position taken in 2012 to remain policy of the VASWCD with the caveat that we will not actively seek legislation to move SWCDs.

Chip Jones, of Northern Neck SWCD, asked the board to keep in mind that VASWCD interest needs to be to ensure the most effective implementation of our SWCD programs. Wells responded that if the board would like to edit current policy in order to address the issue of best implementation of SWCDs the current policy this could be accommodated prior to the Monday evening board meeting.

Peterson noted that leaving the policy passively intact as Ricky Rash suggested may be a viable option. Area Meeting feedback will be important on this issue and will be received on Monday evening. All area chairs were asked to speak to this issue at Monday afternoon area meetings and be prepared to provide feedback to the board at the Monday evening board meeting.

Linda Campbell, Director from Shenandoah Valley SWCD,requested that the current policy stand until further change be made by the membership.

The board recessed for lunch at 12 noon and reconvened at 1PM.

Gavin Sanderlin presented the Employees Association report. Reports were included in board packets. Sanderlin announced that the annual Graves Mountain Employee training will be held August 19-21, 2014.

Staff shared information about the VASWCD Annual Meeting schedule.

John Peterson presented,for information purposes only, the nominating committee report. This report was included in meeting materials. Lou Ann Wallace, Chris Simmons, Richard Chaffin, Don Wells were recommended for reelection. This report will be presented to the full membership at the Tuesday business meeting.

Don Wells presented the Legislative Committee Report. Members were directed to the legislative report included in board meeting binders. The highest priority item of the VASWCD continues to be a need for increased essential operational funding. Other items in the legislative agenda included engineering support, assistance on shoreline erosion, dam maintenance, IT support, among other needs as indicated in the legislative agenda. The legislative agenda will be up for final approval at the Tuesday business meeting.

Lou Ann Wallace asked Don Wells to readdress the earlier discussion on consolidation of water quality programs for those who had just joined the audience. Wells provided a summary of earlier discussion on this topic. Motion to approve legislative agenda and take to the VASWCD membership on Tuesday by Wells and seconded by Peterson, and approved.

Don Wells also spoke about the proposed uranium mining policy to be voted on during the Tuesday business meeting. This is included in board packets.

Three legislator of the year awards are being given to Delegate Bulova, Senator Ruff, and Delegate Scott. All three legislators will be in attendance at the meeting.

Finally, Don Wells reminded individuals that legislative day is January 13, 2014. In the meantime, please make contact with your members of the General Assembly related to our legislative agenda.

At this time, John Peterson presented the NACD and federal legislative report. Peterson informed attendees that NACD provides monthly urban and community webinars at no cost. Additionally, monthly conference calls take place with the Southeast NACD region where information about the dissolution of SWCDs in Florida has occurred. Peterson brought attention to the issue and stressed it is important that SWCDs recognize their value and fill a niche where needed in their community.

The Association Board recessed until Monday evening at 6:00PM.

The Foundation board meeting was called to order at 2:03pm by Dr. Chaffin.

New attendees in the audience were introduced – Bob Kane, Derwin Booker, and Libby Norris.

With no suggested changes to the minutes, motion to accept the minutes was made by Berger. Seconded by Peterson. All approved.

JC Berger presented the Foundation Treasurer Report. Information on FY13 financials was presented. Additionally, income and expenses for FY14 budget to date were shared.

The FY15 budget was presented for approval. Motion by Berger, second Peterson. Motion approved.

Guidance was asked of the board on whether to support a staff member of theShenandoah Valley SWCD in furthering his degree through the Virginia Tech masters program on natural resources. Rash recommendedthat funds be pulled from the Beals Fund to support educational efforts of the staffer. Rash made a motion that $1000 be approved from the Beals fund to support Jonathan Lipinski. Simmons amended the motion to provide support at a level of $1500. Amendment to increase to $1500 approved unanimously. Motion to approve $1500 in support approved unanimously.

The VMI Environment Virginia conference is to be held in April. JC Berger notified members that the VASWCD and Foundation is committed to being a part of this great meeting. Registration costs and exhibit fees have been paid in order to receive the reduced rates.

Suzie Brown presented the Education Committee report.

Staff shared details on fundraising efforts including the May 7, 2014 golf tournament, contributions to the Foundation for purchases made through Amazon Smile, the Annual Meeting auction, Wine & Win raffle and the CVC Campaign.

Mr. Moore of Moore Financial spoke to investment items of the Foundation. Within the portfolios we are holding what is known as an American Fund. The market is poised for upward market mobility and Moore Financial suggests selling to purchase new recommendations with cash at hand. Moore asked what is the liquidity needs of the endowment account. This information is important to our funding choices. Berger recommended a committee be appointed to confer further on investment options with Ray Moore. The investment committee comprised of JC Berger, Steven Meeks, Wilkie Chaffin and Ed Overton will work with Moore Financial on this effort. Altizer made a motion that the financial committee/executive board of the Foundation make needed investment changes as long as it falls within the parameters of our investment policy. Motion seconded and carried.