St. Lawrence County Soil and Water Conservation District
1942 Old DeKalb Road, Canton, NY 13617
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING MINUTES
For September 19, 2013, 7:30 P.M.
Board Members Present: Robert Andrews, Jr. (Chairperson), Ben Stauffer (Vice Chair), Fred Morrill (Treasurer), Tom Nichols (Secretary), Clark Decker, Dan Parker, and Ed Hadlock.
Board Members Excused: None
Staff Present: Raeanne Dulanski (Technician), and Liz Gallup (Secretary/Treasurer).
Dawn Howard absent due to back injury
Guests Present: Kent Frary, NRCS.
I. Call to Order
II. Minutes of the Previous Meeting: Motion to approve the August minutes, made by Nichols, seconded by Decker, approved by all.
III. Treasurer’s Reports: Motion to approve August Treasurer’s report, made by Nichols, seconded by Stauffer, approved by all.
IV. Reports
A. NRCS – Kent Frary
1. Frary announced that the sign up deadline for 2014 programs is October 18, 2013. This is the earliest date ever. Deferral letters went out today for landowners who did not get funding this fiscal year but may want to opt in for fiscal year 2014. The only two programs under EQIP available are livestock waste and forestry.
2. Frary reported that Dulanski has submitted a conservation tillage project to be considered for the special program fund. This hopefully will help to increase the use of the SWCD No till as a by product.
3. Frary reported on the new Contribution Agreement with the SWCD which will cover the EQIP, CRP and WRP programs and is for 100 hours of labor for a total of $29,500.00. He praised Howard and Dulanski’s efforts to coordinate everything needed to complete the agreement. Andrews related that Howard had contacted every Board member to get their approval for this proposal. Every member had agreed.
Motion to approve the Contribution Agreement with NRCS and to authorize Howard to sign such agreement, made by Decker, seconded by Morrill, approved by all.
i. Roll call vote as listed below:
1. Chair: Robert Andrews, Jr. Yes
2. Vice-chair: Ben Stauffer Yes
3. Treasurer: Fred Morrill Yes
4. Secretary: Tom Nichols Yes
5. Member: Edwin Hadlock Yes
6. Member: Daniel Parker Yes
7. Member: Clark Decker Yes
Motion is so passed.
B. NYACD – Tom Nichols & Clark Decker
1. Nichols told the Board about the annual meeting in October and reported that there will be emphasis on Board Member duties and responsibilities because of the recent problems that have been discovered in three of the County’s SWCD.
2. The Governor has been encouraging the addition of term limits for Board Members. The State Committee is opposing this and will be discussing ways to fight it.
3. Nichols reported that the three Resolutions put forth by Andrews at our last meeting have been submitted and will be discussed at the meeting.
4. Dulanski asked the Board to approve sending Howard, Gallup and one Board Member to the NYACD conference October 16 & 17th. Motion to approve the attendance at the NYACD Conference by Howard, Gallup and one Board Member , made by Nichols, seconded by Stuaffer approved by all.
C. AFPB – Bob Andrews
1. Andrews reported on the Ag Tour which took place on September 13th. The tour itself went very well with Sandy and Ben Stauffer acting as tour guides in the vans. It was somewhat disappointing that few County and State Legislators attended.
2. Andrews reported that all 2,400 acres did get admitted into the Ag Districts and that the one problem was resolved and that property was also admitted.
V. SWCD Reports
B. Technician’s Report – Raeanne Dulanski
1 Andrews informed the Board that Howard had most likely herniated a disk in her back and may be out for an extended period of time. Andrews requested that Decker (at 8:10 p.m.) leave the room so the Board could discuss a matter concerning Dulanski. He then proceeded to propose that Dulanski’s Assistant Manager Position be accelerated to cover the period of time that Howard may be out of the office because of her back injury. It was unsure how long Howard would be out but the need to have the office covered in her absence was discussed. Motion to have Dulanski, in her position as Assistant Manager, cover the office in Howard’s absence for an increase of salary of $100.00/week effective September 22, 2013, made by Nichols, seconded by Parker approved by all.
Roll call vote as listed below:
Chair: Robert Andrews, Jr. Yes
Vice-chair: Ben Stauffer Yes
Treasurer: Fred Morrill Yes
Secretary: Tom Nichols Yes
Member: Edwin Hadlock Yes
Member: Daniel Parker Yes
Member: Clark Decker Absent
Motion is so passed.
Motion to have the Assistant Manager’s job description amended to reflect the ability to sign checks and other necessary documents in the event that the Manager is unavailable due to ?????, made by Morrill, seconded by Nichols approved by all.
Roll call vote as listed below:
Chair: Robert Andrews, Jr. Yes
Vice-chair: Ben Stauffer Yes
Treasurer: Fred Morrill Yes
Secretary: Tom Nichols Yes
Member: Edwin Hadlock Yes
Member: Daniel Parker Yes
Member: Clark Decker Absent
Motion is so passed.
8:17 p.m. Decker re-entered meeting
1. Dulanski reported that a letter has been sent to the Snowmobile Association detailing deadlines about auditing reports and requesting that all clubs update the designated user of the system by Novermber 18, 2013. It is also being proposed that the last date to enter data into the system will be May1st. After that day, the system will be locked. This is to allow enough time before the State deadline of May 31st to audit the material submitted.
2. Dulanski was involved in a Dairy Acceleration telecom but has determined that there is not much of a role for the SWCD.
3. The SWCD will have an intern for seven weeks who will work 30hours/week. Ashley Genero is from SUNY Potsdam and will be working on an infrastructure improvement grant with the SLC Housing Council. She will be gathering information on wells and septic around Black Lake and then will prepare the grant to help correct any problems found with either.
4. Motion to approve the AEM Year 9 Contract and to authorize Andrews to sign such contract, made by Parker, seconded by Stauffer, approved by all.
5. Dulanski gave a report on Chamber’s manure pit that she has been working on under the NPS 18 Grant. It is for a 3.2 million gallon pit which has a diameter of 184’ with 16’ high walls.
6. Dulanski has also been working on file maintenance and doing deferral letters for Frary.
C. Forester’s Report – Matt Brown was at training
D. Secretary/Treasurer’s Report – Liz Gallup
1. Gallup requested that monies be moved in the budget to cover another purchase of marking paint for the tree marking that Brown has been working on. Another transfer required is the normal monthly transfer from the Money Market Account to the Checking to cover operational costs for the month of October:
Motion to authorize a transfer from the Money Market Account to the Checking Account to cover operational costs for October in an amount not to exceed $20,000.00, made by Decker, seconded by Morrill approved by all.
E. Manager’s Report – (Attachment A) Dawn Howard was absent due to a back injury.
VI. Old and New Business:
A. Andrews asked about the Retirement bill which was $6,000 more than anticipated. Gallup explained that it was more than budgeted for because the State is calculating the bill as if Martin was still on our payroll. This is because the State takes a “snapshot” as of March 31st and calculates the bill based on active staff at that point in time. This will result in an “overpayment” for the December 2013 bill which will mean we will pay $6,000 less in December 2014. The budget shortfall is a timing issue and will resolve itself.
VII. Correspondence: Mail was available for the Board’s review. (List of items in Appendix B)
VIII. Announcements: None
IX. Time and Date of Next Meeting: October 17, 2013, 7:30 PM at the SWCD Office
X. Meeting Adjourned: 8:40 PM
______
Robert Andrews, Jr., Chairperson Date
______
Elizabeth J. Gallup, Secretary/Treasurer Date
Attachments: Appendices A-B-C-D
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