Call to Order: Chairman Jim Hutchison called the meeting to order of the Stephenson Soil and Water Conservation District Board at 8:11 am on December 16, 2020.  The board met in the heated garage at the Klinger Farm, 3901 S. Farwell Bridge Road.

 

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

Not in attendance – Dan Diaz, Abby Mielke, Josh Franks, Hannah McWhirter and Luke Tweeten

 

Approval of Minutes: Jim Hutchison moved to approve minutes of the October SWCD board meeting, seconded by Seth Wenzel. Voting aye: all. Motion passed. Our meeting in November was cancelled; there will be no minutes.  

 

Bills to be Paid: Seth Wenzel moved to approve the bills as listed on the monthly budget sheet for November and December; seconded by Matt Schlachter. Voting aye: all. Motion passed.

 

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

 

Action Items:

Stephenson County Board Report:  William Hadley

• Chairman Hadley was not in attendance, but the following information was given to Lorna Chezem to share with the board members. Starting in January Garrett Miller will be the new SWCD representative from the County board. Garrett will also be a member of the Planning and Development committee. Chairman Hadley is to get contact information to Lorna for future communications.
• Chairman Hadley also mentioned that he would like each of the 4 county district seat positions to be filled with someone with a rural background. He is encouraging the SWCD board members to encourage anyone they know to run for these seats.

 

Freeport City Council Report:  Randy Bukas, City Manager/ No report

 

Conservation Plans & CPO’s:  Aaron/Lorna – None this month

 

Contribution Agreement:  Lorna/Abby – No update

 

CRP Update:  Aaron

• Continuous sign-up 55 waterways, filter strips and wetlands announced. Signup incentives were added back in on rental payments.
• Status Review/CRP meeting was held last week for continuity in the process within Area 1 counties. FSA will be sending out a wake-up letter to participants that are not in compliance.
• There are over 140 contracts that will expire in 2021.

 

EQIP Update:  Abby – No update

 

CSP Update:  Abby – No update

 

 

Programs / SWCD Updates:  Lorna/Aaron

• Election Updates from IDOA and Election paperwork
  • The guidelines for holding a general election that were sent by IDOA and AISWCD were shared. Due to COVID-19 restrictions they are recommending Districts hold a general election in place of an annual meeting.
  • Petition for holding a general election was passed for signatures.
  • Notice of Election of Directors was passed for Chairman Jim Hutchison’s signature.
  • Certification of Eligibility was passed for Jim Hutchison and Barb Klinger to fill out and sign.
• Well Testing Summary – fifteen people bought testing kits; 2 tested multiple wells totaling 3 additional wells. Sixteen nitrate kits, 11 pesticide kits, 9 metals and 16 bacteria kits were sold. The numbers were down as expected since the program was held later than usual and rescheduled due to our office being shut down due to COVID.
• Poster Judging – posters were judged by those present picking first, second and third places in 4 age categories. Lorna will have a summary for the next meeting.
• CPP Projects – Aaron is waiting for bills to come in to pay the final project using FY19 money it is a waterway project with 2 structures with Lena School. There are two waterway projects that will use all of the FY20 funds.

 

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

 

Informational Items:

Correspondence:

1. Thank-you from Extension for sponsoring 4H awards
2. NACD contribution request – last payment was 1/7/2020; $100.00.
3. Christmas card from Fair Board
4. Christmas card from RSVP

 

Other Business:

• Aaron talked about the IDOA cover crop program that was offered starting Dec. 15; there were 50,000 acres available and were most likely dedicated/used by early that day.

 

Adjournment:

Having no other business, Chairman Hutchison adjourned the meeting at 9:12 am.

Barb Klinger, Treasurer/Secretary                      Notes recorded by Lorna Chezem