Executive Committee Meeting
March Quarterly Board
March 5, 2007
Northfield Inn & Suites-Onyx Room
8:00 a.m.
Terry Davis, President, NACD Delegate
Jim Todd, Vice President, NACD Alternate
Aaron Ferguson, Secretary
Rollie Spaniol, Treasurer
Mark Besse, Area I VP
Wayne Enke, Area II VP
Steve Stierwalt, Area III VP
Nobert Rider, Area IV VP Josh Joseph, ISWCDEA RC Co-Chair
Annyce Winters, ISWCDEA AC Co-Chair
Richard Nichols, AISWCD
Erin Pate, AISWCD
Stacy Stremsterfer, AISWCD
Jim Nelson, AISWCD
Sarah Dillman, AISWCD
Meeting was called to order by President Terry Davis at 8:02 a.m.
Roll call was taken by Secretary Aaron Ferguson.
Approval of Agenda
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Steve Stierwalt; Wayne Enke seconded the motion. MCVV.
Committee/Taskforce Updates
Communications
Chairman Wayne Enke stated he had nothing to report.
Terry Davis discussed districts concerns with the ICCI program. Terry turned discussion over to Rich Nichols. Rich stated after talking with Chicago Climate Exchange he learned districts cannot be paid for filling out contracts, but contracts made that are not verified will be reimbursed at $10 a contract, this money will come from the ICCI revenue that was not paid to districts. Districts that do participate in verification are reimbursed for mileage, expenses, and $20 an hour. Rollie Spaniol stated his RC & D has been hosting workshops to help teach landowners how to fill out the ICCI paperwork. Rich stated RC’s on the Indiana border will verify thirty contracts in Indiana. Rich spoke with retired Department of Agriculture workers and some would be willing to verify if districts have a conflict with verifying contracts. Rollie suggested Rich not rush into this. Rich stated he felt those people might be needed in case a district employee has a contract in need of verification that was related to the employee. Mark Besse stated one problem his district is having involves the time associated with filling out the paperwork. Rich stated this is why he wishes to pay $10 a contract to repay the districts for their work. Discussion held.
Rollie brought a letter on file with EPA for soil erosion to the attention of the group. Annyce Winters stated her county has an agreement of work with Department of Agricultural for CREP. Discussion was held on possible development of such an agreement for the ICCI program.
Terry Davis stated districts would volunteer and help out as much as possible but do not wish to get involved in a regulatory process in regards to ICCI. The districts also feel incentives are important to their time. Discussion held. Terry asked if AISWCD wanted to impose responsibility to assist other state agencies and expand our role beyond statutory responsibility which could lead to significant funding from agencies. Terry stated he wondered if our core values are the same now as they were in the past, will they need to change in the future, or are fine now. Discussion held. Steve Stierwalt stated his district feels assistance from AISWCD might lead to better negotiating leverage than each individual district and make the program available but that districts should be able to choose if they will or will not participate. Rollie wished to continue employee education opportunities for districts to better serve the landowners.
Committee/Taskforces Reports:
Education Focus Area Committee
Chairman Steve Stierwalt gave report. Steve attended new director training and thanked Rich Nichols and Department of Agriculture. Steve stated Stacy Stremsterfer is working on doing on site director training. Stacy gave update on new director training, which is occurring at the same time as our meetings. Stacy also stated LUCs have asked questions about Envirothon in regards to asking for funds, questions can be directed to her.
Terry stated Department of Agricultural is looking into teleconferencing for upcoming training. Aaron Ferguson stated Department of Agricultural is willing to come to LUC meetings to do training.
Josh Joseph arrived at 8:41 a.m.
Stacy stated regional reps need to be trained and have a unified message at LUCs. Terry stated most recent spring workshop director training was the best he had attended since he became a director.
Financial Management Focus Area Committee
Chairman Rollie Spaniol gave report.
Rollie stated his idea of a budget is money that has come in and expenses that go out for a balanced budget. Rollie stated dues are reported for January 1 if they were received before the first of the fiscal year. Deposits are re-entered to show the first of the year date. Rollie asked for questions about figures shown on financials or the processes used for accounting purposes. Rollie stated approving budget in December for two years out, is premature. Rollie added the problems this year occurred because this was done prematurely. He stated looking at a budget early is great, but his recommendation is to not approve them so early in the future. Terry stated budgets are a work in progress, and amendments can be made on a case-by-case situation when the budget needs to be changed.
Legislative Focus Area Committee
Chairman Jim Todd gave report. Jim stated Legislative Day is set for March 21, 2007 and minutes are in the QB packet that highlight the work that went to get this accomplished. Jim asked Rich about white papers, Rich said they have been sent to districts and will be changed after the Governor’s budget address and resent to districts. Mark Besse asked if Association has called any budget staff, which Jim replied we have not done. Mark inquired about collar counties and the amount of pull we have there, Rich stated after a discussion with Will-South Cook, not many legislators from Will-South Cook will be in attendance. Jim raised the question about creating an award for urban counties to go along with the Farm Family award.
Resolutions
Josh Joseph discussed changes that have been made since he submitted his resolution in December 2006. Rollie Spaniol moved to approve the resolution 2007-1, seconded by Mark Besse, MCVV. Terry asked for an update on the resolution for obtaining legal guidance, Rich stated this resolution is still in the developmental stage. Jim Todd asked Terry Davis for an update on employees participating in Legislative activities. Terry explained he discovered ethics law prohibits anyone who receives state money to work on a campaign, but the individual boards have authority to approve employees to be able to participate in legislative informational education activities by changing policies. Terry has been working on getting an opinion and has contacted many agencies and has yet to receive an official opinion. Rich added Speaker Madigan’s office contacted the AISWCD office about what legislation AISWCD wanted to add to the legislative agenda. Rich gave a brief synopsis of the conversation. Discussion held.
Insurance Task Force
Nothing was reported. Terry Davis received a letter from LUC 14 about short/long tern disability insurance. The letter requested the AISWCD look for a provider.
Annual Meeting Task Force
Aaron Ferguson stated this group would meet later in the day.
Urban Community & Conservation Task Force
Norbert Rider gave an update. Jim Nelson stated he and EPA are working on the white paper which will be ready tomorrow. Jim met with EPA for the urban manual and updates needed.
District Optimization Taskforce
Terry stated FSA will give a presentation at the board meeting tomorrow (March 6, 2007) on the closing of offices. Mark Besse raised questions. Discussion held.
Terry Davis explained a letter received from Pope-Hardin SWCD requesting assistance in keeping Dixon Springs open. Discussion held.
Terry asked Sarah Dillman about dues, she explained Pope-Hardin paid only $500 of their dues. Also, Sarah explained questions were raised about late dues, and Rollie recommended we accept those dues received after December 31, 2006 and let them be. Terry asked if we should accept the dues from Pope-Hardin and questioned what benefits they would receive. Decision made to let full board make decisions on letter and membership of Pope-Hardin.
Terry asked Mark Besse to give Area I report. Mark gave a synopsis of his Area I V.P. report.
Terry asked about teleconferences in relation to Quarterly Board Meeting- do we need to continue teleconferencing with QB’s going on? Board feels it is important to have mid-meetings in between QB meetings but that it might not be necessary for the entire state to be on the conference call.
Norbert Rider made a motion to approve December Quarterly Board minutes, seconded by Steve Stierwalt, MCVV.
Meeting adjourned at 10:19 a.m.