Call to Order: Chairman Jim Hutchison called the meeting to order of the Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District Board at 8:00 am on August 18, 2021. The board met in the Blackhawk Room at the Stephenson County Farm Bureau.

Roll Call: Present at the time the meeting was called to order were board members Jim Hutchison, Barb Klinger, Dan Diaz, and Matt Schlachter; District employees Lorna Chezem, Administrative Coordinator; and Aaron Dinderman, Resource Conservationist; NRCS employee Josh Franks, District Conservationist.

Not in attendance – Seth Wenzel, Abby Mielke, Hannah McWhirter, Luke Tweeten

 

Approval of Minutes: Barb Klinger moved to approve minutes of the July SWCD board meeting, seconded by Dan Diaz. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

 

Bills to be Paid: Matt Schlachter moved to approve the bills as listed on the monthly budget sheet for August; seconded by Dan Diaz. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

 

Review and Approval of Employee Time Sheets: Employee time sheets were passed around. Barb Klinger moved to accept the employee timesheets, seconded by Jim Hutchison. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

 

Action Items:

Stephenson County Board Report:  Garrett Miller

• Nursing home buyer pulled out. Former Administrator final day was Friday, August 13. A temporary administrator has been flown in from Florida but is very costly. The nursing home has incurred a $135,000 fine: (State COVID fine and neglect). Audit firm was hired to see if the nursing home is still a viable business.
• Resurfacing of Walnut Road is complete, will start on Lamm Road to Montague Road. 2 bridge projects were on hold due to material shortages.
• Water and Sewer lines will be run to Mill Race Crossing.
• Budget planning is in process; Garrett will e-mail the SWCD and let us know when the request for funding needs to be submitted and when the Planning and Development meeting will take place.

 

Freeport City Council Report:  Randy Bukas/No Report

 

CAP/Ag in the Classroom:  Bruce Baumgartner

• Amy Schultz has resigned as the CAP/Ag in the Classroom coordinator. The board has decided that they will not rush into hiring a replacement. Since the past two people in the position have not lasted for more than a couple of years the board will be looking at qualifications, benefits and pay.
• The board also discussed removing “CAP” from the position title as it is outdated, and most people do not understand what that is. Bruce was looking for the approval of the SWCD board since the position/title was started by Stephenson SWCD. He will be going to other partners and explaining the changes and reason behind it as they do not want to jeopardize any funding.
• Barb Klinger made a motion to approve of the name change to Stephenson Ag in the Classroom as long as no programs are impacted; seconded by Matt Schlachter. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

 

PF Farm Bill Biologist:  Jared Tricky

• Jared introduced himself and gave some information about his background. He is the PF farm bill biologist serving Winnebago, Stephenson, Boone, Ogle and Lee counties. He will be writing burn plans and helping NRCS and PF with habitat related programs/projects. He could be involved with burn clinics and possibly timber burns.
• He is currently making his way around to various SWCD meetings, and other groups to introduce himself and see how he can be involved.

 

CRP/Conservation Plans & CPO’s:  Aaron/Lorna

• List was passed to those present of CRP projects – renewals and new for August; the list represents about ½ of the continuous sign-up workload. No news about the general sign up. All 2022 expiring status reviews are complete.
• Barb Klinger made a motion to approve the projects on the August list; seconded by Matt Schlachter. Voting aye: all. Motion carried.

 

CRP and Other NRCS Updates:  Josh

• Due to the drought conditions most CRP practices can be mowed/hayed. Some practices can be grazed for up to 90 days. There is a sheet in the offices that needs to be completed.
• FSA deadline for signed CRP paperwork is September 15.
• Winnebago has hired a new Soil Conservationist.
• New COVID requirements were discussed.

 

Contribution Agreement:  Josh

• CRP rates going up for FY22 agreement.
• Initial plan of work for FY22 was sent to AISWCD on August 5^th.

 

EQIP Update: (From Abby’s board report)

• 4 out of 5 preapprovals were obligated. The remaining application chose to cancel. All new contracts are for forestry implementation.

 

CSP Update: Abby

• 2 out of 19 applications were funded and went to contract. As applications are cancelled throughout the State additional projects may get funded.

 

Programs / SWCD Updates:  Lorna/Aaron

• Employee Reviews/Contracts – a brief discussion was held with employees and remaining directors after the meeting. No other details were discussed.
• Well Water Testing Updates – Lorna has compiled a list of 6 possible labs; but has not made phone calls to date. Heidelburg has said they will re-evaluate pesticides screen and possibly offer again next year.
• Scholarship payment was included in the monthly bills and letter was passed to Jim Hutchison for signature.
• Audit/FMP – reports and data was collected; tote was dropped off at Freidag’s office on 7/29/2021.
• County Board Request – Dan Diaz sent out a list of possible projects/ideas to consider. Some of the ideas included engagement of youth groups/community programs for scholarships. Jared Trickey and Dan will get together and discuss. Dan will then schedule a Zoom meeting for a proposal for the County Board.
• CPP Projects – no update
• Local Work Group/Climate Change Discussion -All
  • Jim Hutchison – 234 countries came together; scientists evaluated and discussed the issue of climate change and found the situation to be much worse.
  • As a group we discussed what this all meant for northern Illinois and what we can do; NLRS and cover crops were both mentioned/discussed.

 

Approve Reports as E-Mailed: Barb Klinger moved to approve the reports as e-mailed from: Lorna Chezem, Aaron Dinderman, Abby Mielke, and Luke Tweeten; seconded by Dan Diaz. Voting aye: all. Motion carried.

 

Informational Items:

Correspondence:

• Thank-you e-mail and letters that each board member received from our scholarship recipient McKenzie Riemer.
• Letter from IDOA about expansion of enterprise zone for Acciona for solar project.

 

Other Business:

·     Matt Schlachter asked if Stephenson SWCD could get involved with Lake Le Aqua Na and put in buffers or other practices along the lake to help with silting issues.

 

Adjournment:

Having no other business, Chairman Hutchison adjourned the meeting at 10:10 am.

Barb Klinger, Treasurer/Secretary                     Notes recorded by Lorna Chezem.