Call to Order: Chairman Jim Hutchison called the meeting to order of the Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District Board at 8:05 am on March 17, 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, Seth Wenzel, and Matt Schlachter; District employees Lorna Chezem, Administrative Coordinator; and Aaron Dinderman, Resource Conservationist; NRCS employees Abby Mielke, Soil Conservationist.

SWCD board member Dan Diaz came in at 8:20.  

Not in attendance – Barb Klinger, Hannah McWhirter, Luke Tweeten, Josh Franks, and Randy Bukas

Reorganization of the Stephenson SWCD Board: Board Members

• Dan Diaz made a motion to nominate Jim Hutchison as Chairman, no other nominations were cast. Matt Schlachter closed the nominations and seconded the nomination. Voting unanimously. Motion carried.                Jim Hutchison was elected Chairman.

• Jim Hutchison made a motion to nominate Seth Wenzel as Vice-Chairman, no other nominations were cast. Dan Diaz closed the nominations and seconded the nomination. Voting unanimously. Motion carried.                  Seth Wenzel was elected Vice-Chairman.

• Dan Diaz made a motion to nominate Barb Klinger as Secretary/Treasurer, no other nominations were cast. Seth Wenzel closed the nominations and seconded the nomination. Voting unanimously. Motion carried.                Barb Klinger was elected Secretary/Treasurer.

Board and Committee Assignments: Board Members and Associate Board Members

• 2021 Committee Assignments were completed an updated copy is included with these minutes and will be sent to each director with their April board packet.

Approval of Minutes: Jim Hutchison moved to approve minutes of the February 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 March; along with the addition of the Alpha Nursery bill seconded by Dan Diaz. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

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

Action Items:

Stephenson County Board Report:  Garrett Miller

• Road repairs from Baileyville road to Lamm are planned along with repairing/resurfacing 5 bridges.
• Todd Welch was named the County’s Coroner.
• District I will have an opening; this is in the Waddams Grove area if the SWCD knows of anyone that may be interested.
• Stephenson County board is once again in talks about the future of Walnut Acres nursing home; now that the administrator has left. The board is seeking public opinion about closing, selling, or turning all or half of the building in County Board offices.
• Kent monument will be refurbished at the cost of $65,000. A gentleman from Peoria is coming up to do the work; he will be living in his camper at the KOA, while completing the project.

Freeport City Council Report:  Randy Bukas/ NO Report

Conservation Plans & CPO’s:  Aaron

• CRP continues to be in a holding pattern; FSA still uncertain about which incentives are changing.

Contribution Agreement:  Aaron/Lorna/Abby – Nothing new/no update

CRP Update:  Aaron/Abby

• Producers are voicing concerns to SWCD and NRCS about not being able to get ahold of FSA to get answers about cost share etc. and having a person actually get back to them. Producers are actually cancelling new contracts because they have not gotten answers about their previous contracts.

EQIP Update:  Abby

• Ranking must be completed by Friday, March 19. There were 26 applications submitted; Abby’s suspects only 3 or 4 will get funded. If a producer only completes one practice it does not usually rank high enough to be funded.

CSP Update:  Abby

• 2 applications for re-enrollment got funded due to extra acres being added. Only 2 out of 8 have been funded.
• Letters for re-enrollment of about 20 applications needed to go out while NRCS was out of the office for remodeling. Abby received assistance from other counties to get these sent. Applications for those wishing to re-enroll need to be returned by March 26.
• In 2012 Abby had the highest number of contracts in the State, these are the ones coming up for a second re-enrollment.

Office Remodel:  Abby

• Abby, Hannah, Terry, and Aaron’s offices along with Luke’s area; lactation room and storeroom are complete. Lorna’s area which ended up being a staging area will be carpeted today.
• FSA has been chomping at the bit to have NRCS/SWCD unpack and get the boxes to them.
• Restrooms, kitchen, FSA consultation room, Carlee’s office and conference room work will begin on Monday, March 22.
• Abby also spoke about the administration guidelines of working at 25% capacity due to COVID. This means that only 3 NRCS employees and 4 FSA employees can be in the office on any day.

Programs / SWCD Updates:  Lorna/Aaron

• Election paperwork had been completed prior to the March meeting with the exception of the organization of the board. Statements of Economic Interest will be taken to the County Clerk after the meeting.
• Grant Update – Fy21 Grant Paperwork was reviewed, signed, scanned, and submitted to IDOA on 3/2/2021. Stephenson is projected to receive $40,721.65 for Operations and $23,917.35 for CPP.
• CPP Projects – no update

Approve Reports as E-Mailed: Seth moved to approve the reports as e-mailed from: Lorna Chezem, Aaron Dinderman, Abby Mielke, Hannah McWhirter, and Luke Tweeten; seconded by Jim Hutchison. Voting aye: all. Motion carried.

Informational Items:

Correspondence:

• Letter from HCC Foundation asking if the SWCD would donate for their annual Legacy Gala. In the past we have donated a rain barrel or one bat and one bluebird house. After a discussion by the board members about possibly donating PF seed. It was expected that this would go over very well but could be problematic if the person buying the seed expect help in planting and establishing etc. The SWCD board members decided to donate 1 bluebird and 1 bat house this year.

Other Business: None

Adjournment:

Having no other business, Chairman Hutchison adjourned the meeting at 10:00 am.

Matt Schlachter completed Barb Klinger’s duties as Treasurer/Secretary.  Notes recorded by Lorna Chezem.