913 Minutes Herkimer County Soil and Water Conservation District Herkimer County USDA Service Center 5653 State Route 5, Herkimer, NY 13350 Regular Meeting June 12, 2018 5:00 p.m. I. Call to Order: Chairman Zaleski called the meeting to order at 4:55 p.m. Directors Present: Bill Zaleski, Chairman Mitch Hooker, Grange Peter Campione, Legislator Linda Coffin, Member at Large SWCD Staff Present: Gerry Smithson, District Manager Rachel Radicello, Soil and Water Resource Con. Katie Whitcomb, Natural Res. Conservation Technician Debra Michael, Secretary-Treasurer Absent: Bernie Peplinski, Vice-Chairman II. Approval of the minutes from May 8, 2018: Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione that the minutes of May 8, 2018 meeting be approved as written. Motion carried. III. Cooperating Agencies: A. Farm Service Agency Mary Snider, County Executive Director No report received. B. Abby Gulseth, NRCS District Conservationist, provided a written update. (Appendix 1) C. NYSSWCC: Written report provided. (Appendix 2) IV. Treasurer s Report: A. Financial reports for May 2018 were presented: Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione approving the Financial Reports for May 2018. Motion carried. (Appendix 3) B. Abstract #6-18: Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione approving the payments on Abstract #6-18. Motion carried. (Appendix 4 ) C. Time and Attendance Reports for Pay Periods 10 and 11 were reviewed and signed by Director Hooker. D. Bank Reconciliation statements for May for all District and Grant accounts were reviewed and initialed by Chairman Zaleski.
V. District Employee Reports: A. Rachel Radicello, Soil and Water Resource Conservationist, reviewed her written report. (Appendix 5) 1) Agricultural Environmental Management (AEM) program an update was provided on accomplishments in Tier 1 and 2 assessments, Tier 3 planning, Tier 4 implementation projects and the AEM Year 13 close out. 2) Grants worked with Gerry on Plan of Work for Climate Resilient Farming Program, Round 22 and Round 23 Ag non-point source grants. 3) Educational Events packed trees and presented the tree station with Gerry at Conservation Field Day, assisted with safety day, and presented at Farming Your Future. 4) Other Recent Activity Updated the engineer list, performed 3 perc tests, submitted photos for the GIS storyboard project, went on a site visit to review county highway stream stabilization projects, attended WQCC meeting, provided water test kits, soil, topo and location maps. B. Katie Whitcomb, Natural Resource Conservation Technician, presented her written report. (Appendix 6) 1) Envirothon Was a volunteer at the State Envirothon held at Hobart & William Smith Colleges. West Canada Valley represented Herkimer County and had the highest Soils score in the state. i.director Coffin would like a letter of congratulations and a certificate sent to West Canada Valley. 2) Farm & Home Safety Day held on Tuesday, June 5 th, was very successful. Thirtyone fifth grade classes for a total of 626 students attended. 3) Family Day at Raycliff Farm will be held on Saturday, August 25 th. 4) Japanese Knotweed Inventory Update attended the Black River Watershed Conference today and gave a presentation. Landowner interest is being shown. She and Gerry plan to become certified pesticide applicators. 5) Grass Carp received a total of 11 orders for a total of 49 fish. 6) Pond Site Assessments & Perc Testing - receiving training from Gerry and Rachel to eventually take over both of these programs. 7) Other continue to make GIS maps, distribute water test kits. 8) Mohawk River Coalition attended a recent meeting. 9) Conservation Field Day helped pack trees. 10) Website and Facebook Update and visitor numbers provided. 914
V. District Employee Reports: (Cont d) C. Gerry Smithson, District Manager, presented his written report: (Appendix 7) 1) NYS Ag Non-Point Source Grants: i. Round 22 Waste storage structure with a cover and flare. We are waiting on paid bills to schedule final closeout. ii. Round 23 Concrete waste storage facility, excavation is near completion. iii. Round 24 Announcement released, we will be submitting an application for a concrete waste storage. The application is due August 20 th. A formal resolution is needed to participate. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, and seconded by Director Campione that a resolution be approved and signed by Chairman Zaleski authorizing District Manager Gerry Smithson to represent the District in all matters related to State Assistance under Round 24. Motion carried. 2) Climate Resilient Farming (CRF) Cover and flare for existing farmstead waste storage. He and Rachel worked on the Plan of Work that was submitted. 3) CAFO Waste Storage Funding The next round of funding has been announced. Applications are due August 6 th. Work will begin on an application as soon as possible. 4) Tree Program final net profit $16,275.36. 5) BOCES Conservation Class Proctored and graded tree ID exams. The class harvested 200 willow stakes for NYS DOT. Preliminary arrangements for the Fulmer Creek floodplain planting have been made. The class will conduct this planting in the fall. 6) Ag District Administration: i. Gerry attended a meeting on May 9 th with County Personnel, Ag and Markets, and Herkimer-Oneida Planning to discuss merging all Ag Districts. ii. This was taken to the full Farmland Protection Board for approval. iii. Initially this will take a lot of time to review the full list of landowners, but then only one review will be needed every 8 years instead of staggered reviews of 5 different districts. 7) Farmland Protection Plan He has made all final corrections/additions to the grant proposal. The narrative and budget has been forward to Sheri Ferdula at the County to enter the information into Grants Gateway. 8) Conservation Field Day Held on May 23 rd at the KOA Middleville. Staff packed trees for the students. He and Rachel gave the tree planting presentation and Deb coordinated the refreshments. 9) NYS DOT Culvert Heather Pritchard of NYS DOT assembled a team to assess a culvert on Lynch Road in the Town of Fairfield. Our staff will be involved to help provide any resources we can to help get this culvert approved by US Army Corps. 915
916 V. District Employee Reports: (Cont d) 10) District Vehicles I The request to purchase a truck with Part C funds was approved. Ii. The necessary forms have been completed for OGS. iii. Our mini bid for a 1 ton 4x4 pickup has now been released. We will know later this month what the bids are and can proceed with purchasing the Part C truck. iv. 2016 Dodge Ram is due for replacement. Replacement of this vehicle will be a ½ ton extended cab truck. This is an eligible Part A expense. 11) Conservation Aide Position - i. The updated job spec was approved by Civil Service. ii. The announcement was advertised via numerous outlets. iii. Two application packets received so far. June 14 th is the application deadline. iv. The Board asked Gerry to rank the applications, narrow down to 3 or 4, and email them once this has been completed. 12) Hydroseeding Program - Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Hooker, that as long as Part C funds remain at the current level, hydroseeding will be offered to municipalities free of charge. Motion carried. Regarding seeding on private lands, Gerry was asked to look into what other Districts are doing about hydroseeding on private lands and what they are charging if providing this service. 13) WQCC - i. County Stream Projects FLLOWPA funds have been allocated to pay for materials for 3 stream projects presented by Stephanie Tyoe, County Highway. ii. Bellinger Brook Project MMI has completed the hydrologic study. Final paid bills were received and payment was made. iii. FLLOWPA closeout was submitted prior to the June 30 th deadline. iv. The next WQCC meeting will be July 7 th at 9 am. D. A list of landowners assisted during the month of May 2018 was provided for review. (Appendix 8) VI. Old Business: A. FOIL Request Gerry spoke with Attorney Charlie Crandall on this issue and received very useful information. We followed our policy and mailed the requested information. No further contact has been made. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione, that our FOIL policy be amended to state that only fees that total $5 or more will be charged. Motion carried.
917 VI: Old Business: (Cont d) B. D. Michael Salary & Schedule i. D. Michael explained to the Board of Directors that she would like to begin working 35 hours per week, Monday thru Thursday, effective July 1, and because this is considered full time employment for County employees, she would like to keep her health insurance benefit and her SEP/IRA retirement intact. She also provided the amount of the increases for Gerry, Rachel and Katie approved at last month s meeting in terms of hourly rates. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione, that an Executive Session be called to discuss this personnel matter. Motion carried. Gerry was asked to attend the Executive Session. Employees were asked to rejoin the meeting by Gerry. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione to come out of Executive Session. Motion carried. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, seconded by Director Campione to increase D. Michael s hourly wage by $0.83, to maintain health insurance and retirement benefits, and allow her to work 35 hours per week effective July 1, 2018. Motion carried. Motion: Moved by Director Coffin, second by Director Hooker to rescind the former motion increasing Gerry s salary by $2500 and replace with this motion to increasing Gerry s salary by $3000, effective July 1. Motion carried. VII. New Business: None VIII. Correspondence: None IX. Next Meeting: The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 at 5 p.m. Chairman Zaleski will be unable to attend. X. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned by Chairman Zaleski at 6:30 p.m. Submitted by: Debra Michael, Secretary-Treasurer June 14, 2018 Approved by: William Zaleski, Chairman
918 Attachments: Appendix 1: NRCS Report May 2018 Appendix 2: NYSSWCC May 2018 Appendix 3: Financial Reports May 2018 Appendix 4: Abstract of Audited Vouchers No. 6-18 Appendix 5: Rachel Radicello, SWRC Report Appendix 6: Katie Whitcomb, NRCT Report Appendix 7: Gerry Smithson, District Manager Report Appendix 8: Landowner s Assisted May 2018