Tualatin SWCD
Board Meeting Minutes
March 14, 2017
Board Members Present: Matt Pihl Eldon Jossi Steve VanGrunsven John McDonald
Jerry Ward Thomas Dierickx
Others Present: Lacey Townsend, TSWCD Aaron Shaw, TSWCD
Jeehye Lee, NRCS Anil Devnani, CWS
John Goetz, CWS Kelly Dawes, TSWCD Bookkeeper
Juli Waarvik, TSWCD Kellyn Baetz, CWS
Judy Marsh, TSWCD
The meeting was called to order by Chair John McDonald at 6:37 pm.
Steve VanGrunsven moved to adopt the agenda with changes. Matt Pihl seconded. Passed unanimously.
Jerry Ward moved to adopt the February 14, 2017 Board Meeting Minutes. Steve VanGrunsven seconded. Passed unanimously.
Eldon Jossi moved to adopt the March 3, 2017 Personnel Committee Meeting Minutes. Steve VanGrunsven seconded. Passed unanimously.
No public comment.
Financial Report
Kelly Dawes reviewed the financial reports with the Board. Jerry Ward moved to pay the unpaid bills as of March 14, 2017 in the amount of $6,612.63. Steve VanGrunsven seconded. Passed unanimously. John McDonald moved to ratify the pre-approved bills in the amount of $67,873.93. Eldon Jossi seconded. Passed unanimously. Matt Pihl moved to receive the financial reports as presented for February 2017. Eldon Jossi seconded. Passed unanimously.
Kelly asked the Board if it would be possible to pay the employee health insurance by auto-deduct from the District’s bank account each month instead of having to write the checks. Steve VanGrunsven moved to authorize an automatic clearinghouse debit for the monthly employee health insurance bill. Jerry Ward seconded. Passed unanimously.
Kelly and Lacey Townsend attended the Oregon State Budget Law Training. The law states that the bookkeeper can only discuss the budget with the chair while she is creating the budget. The Chairman authorized the bookkeeper to also meet with the Treasurer while creating the budget.
Kelly Dawes would like to have a CPA to assist the District. Jerry Ward moved to have the District utilize Ginger McDonald, CPA, as a financial consultant to the District as needed. Eldon Jossi seconded. Yes votes were Jerry Ward, Thomas Dierickx, Eldon Jossi, Matt Pihl, and Steve VanGrunsven. John McDonald abstained. Motion passed.
Reports from Agencies and Special Groups
Anil Devnani, Clean Water Services (CWS)
· Nothing to report on the new CREP agreement.
· Abby Rhode was hired as the new instream engineer.
· Rich Hunter, with Aaron Shaw’s assistance, is documenting the use of public conservation dollars.
· CWS will be using the same consultant they used last year to monitor projects. The consultant will be taking photo points while monitoring the projects.
John Goetz, Clean Water Services (CWS)
· CWS will be hiring a Water Resource Specialist.
· There will be an upgrade to Terra Trak. It will be able to track and report herbicide usage. Terra Trak will also be able to create the NPDES report.
· Terra Trak reports that a little over 772,000 plants have arrived at the cooler. 772,624 plants have been planted this year. The District has planted 190,000 plants this year with 37,200 plants are left in the cooler to plant.
Reports from Hillsboro Office Staff
NRCS – Jeehye Lee distributed her report.
· Third sign-up for RCPP is May 19, 2017 for the Dairy and McKay Creeks.
· Jeehye brought the Board up to date on the number of applications that have come in.
· On her report, Jeehye showed that Washington County had a low rate of uncompleted projects.
· Jeehye will contact landowners with projects that are due in 2017 to see where they are in completing them.
· District Conservationist position is currently not filled. The hiring freeze is still in place.
· Kim Gray is Acting District Conservationist until March 28.
District Manager – Lacey Townsend’s report was mailed.
· She has nothing further to add to her mailed staff report.
Restoration Program Manager – Aaron Shaw’s report was mailed.
· The Restoration Team has 70% of the projects planted.
· The RCPP project plans are near completion. They should be done within the next week.
· Juli Waarvik will be doing some outreach for the next round of RCPP and ECREP.
· The Restoration Team will be introducing a new outreach program for the Dairy-McKay area.
· He will be researching how the District is tracking payment to improve the process in the restoration program.
Outreach and Enrollment Specialist – Juli Waarvik’s report was mailed.
· Staff members have been doing outreach at several events around the area.
· The District has a Memorandum of Understanding with the Oregon Zoo to use their new Education Center.
· Juli has been working with Jeehye Lee, NRCS, and the FSA team to learn the enrollment process.
Office Coordinator – Judy Marsh’s report was mailed.
· Judy invited the Board to attend the 2017 Connect. OACD will be having their annual meeting during Connect. The Connect’s early bird registration period ends March 31. Action Item: Judy Marsh will send an email with the draft agenda to all Directors.
John McDonald said he was very impressed with the Annual Report that the Restoration Team presented to Clean Water Services. He urged the Directors to read it.
New Business
“A Celebration of People and Water” event – Lacey Townsend read a request from Bobby Cochran, Willamette Partnership, asking the District to be a sponsor for this event. The event will be held on May 11. Thomas Dierickx moved to have the District sponsor the “A Celebration of People and Water” event for $2,500. Matt Pihl seconded. Passed unanimously.
Conservation Easement Policy – The Board reviewed the easement policy. Steve VanGrunsven moved to adopt the Conservation Easement Policy. Jerry Ward seconded. Yes votes were Jerry Ward, John McDonald, Thomas Dierickx, Steve VanGrunsven, and Eldon Jossi. No vote was Matt Pihl. Motion passed.
Reserve Fund Resolutions – Kelly Dawes discussed with the Board about how much money they would like to see in the reserve fund. The resolution does not need to be created until the budget is passed.
Tax anticipation loan through SDAO – Kelly Dawes explained to the Board about the SDAO loan. She would like to apply for the amount of money that we would need to have to operate until the tax base money is available. Jerry Ward moved that the District authorize Kelly Dawes to procure the loan. Thomas Dierickx seconded. Passed unanimously.
OACD Officer Nominations – Jerry Ward would like the District’s support as he runs again for OACD Treasurer. John McDonald moved to nominate Jerry Ward for OACD Treasurer. Eldon Jossi seconded. Passed unanimously.
Hire a Conservation Education Program Assistant – Lacey Townsend explained that Juli needs help to attend at all the events that are coming up. Lacey said she as the job description created and would like to advertise the position immediately. John McDonald moved to have the District hire a Conservation Education Program Assistant. Eldon Jossi seconded. Passed unanimously.
Open a Purchasing Account – Kelly Dawes said that the Restoration Staff would like to open a purchasing account at Pacforest Supply Company. It has always been the District’s policy that staff bring to the Board purchasing accounts that they would like to open. Steve VanGrunsven moved to open an account at Pacforest Supply Company with a credit limit of $2,500. Thomas Dierickx seconded. Passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
Budget Committee – John McDonald said that the Budget Committee needs to consist of all seven Directors and seven people from the public. The Directors created a list of people they felt would best represent the public. There will be letters sent to the top seven to see if they accept a position on the committee. The committee term would be one to three years. The people that have accepted need to be voted on at the April 11, 2017 Board Meeting. The first Budget Committee will be held on April 25.
Program Development Update – No update was given.
BBQ – Judy Marsh would like to know what the Board expects the 2017 Conservation Tour and BBQ to look like. It was discussed that the event should be a celebration with all the partners that helped us get our tax base, landowners and public. The Board said to plan for 300 people.
Recreational Immunity – Judy Marsh mentioned that SDAO would like to have the District pass a resolution that would recommend restoring recreational immunity rights. If the District passes it, SDAO would like us to talk to our representative in Salem about it. The Board would like Judy to look into if our insurance company thinks we have enough coverage if an accident happens at the BBQ. It was suggested that an attorney might look at it as well. Action Item: Judy Marsh will research this issue more and bring the information back to the Board.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 pm.
The meeting was reconvened at 9:30 pm.
The meeting was reconvened to amend the motion for the Conservation Education Program Assistant to include a starting salary of $36,000 a year. John McDonald moved to amend the motion to include “a starting salary of $36,000 a year”. Eldon Jossi seconded. Passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 pm.
Respectfully submitted by Judy Marsh, Office Coordinator.
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Attested by: Matt Pihl Date
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