Crook County Natural Resource District

Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD)

February 4th Regular Board Meeting Minutes

CALL MEETING TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 12:17 pm by Chairman Wayne Garman at the USDA Service Center, 117 South 21st Street, Sundance, Wyoming.

ATTENDANCE

Board: Wayne Garman, Wanda Burget, Lily Altaffer

Employees: Sarah Anderson, Bridget Helms, Carmen Horne-McIntyre (Call in)

Guests: NRCS District Conservationist Keela Deaton. FSA Executive Director Sarah Hanlon, Board applicants: Keith Haiar, Ed Chatfield

OPEN ISSUES TO DISCUSS

NRCS Update Ms. Deaton gave an update on the farm bill training her staff attended. NRCS is still taking applications as no batch date has been set yet. Conservation plans were signed by the board; 4 HEL plans, 2 CSP-GCI plans.

FSA Update Ms. Hanlon and her staff been asked to do specific outreach for ARC and PLC; letters have been sent and phone calls have been made. She will be sending letters to wool producers as they need to see her before they sell any wool. She is trying to identify wool producers in the county. Community outreach will continue once a quarter for the rest of the year in Sundance. Ms. Hanlon will be looking for space in other communities in the county to hold her outreach events.

Water Quality

Ms. McIntyre gave an update on the joint water quality meeting in Gillette. Coordination with CCCD monitoring schedule will continue. Data collection areas may change to sample above and below BMP project areas to check effectiveness of the practices. Between March and April Ms. McIntyre will follow up with board on the BMP program so she is ready to move forward in May. Workshops will need to be done this year; she will work with Ms. Deaton on this. Ms. McIntyre spoke with UW and will be meeting in the spring. A reimbursement request will be submitted soon.

2020 Wyoming Integrated 305(b) and 303(d) Report Comments Due on 2/21. Ms. McIntyre will be sending her comments out to the board to review next week.

BMP Reimbursements Ms. McIntyre explained the motion made last month was made with the wrong NRCS figures. The motion was made to use the 2019 NRCS rate. The board recognizes the figures are different will use the correct 2019 rate. Motion to approve the two project applications in the amounts of $15,809.00 and $6986.80 was made by Ms. Altaffer and seconded by Ms. Burget. Motion carried. Checks were issued and signed.

TA Position Update/MOA

The position and work were described to the Board. The position will do field work for the district and NRCS. The match required will be covered with WDA funds and District Operations funds. Ms. McIntyre and Ms. Anderson would like to fund one full time position for two years, with a temporary employee for field season. Ms. McIntyre could fulfill the full-time position as she is already in place and trained; the temporary seasonal position will need to be filled. Signing the MOA will help us acquire future funding due to ranking criteria. Ms. Burget made a motion to sign the MOA with NACD and update Exhibit 1. Ms. Altaffer seconded. Motion carried.

Local Issues Ms. McIntyre contacted the city of Gillette but hasn’t heard anything back yet. She suggested to anyone interested to sign up on the DEQ website for updates.

Ms. Anderson discussed the Moskee Land acquisition letter she prepared and submitted last month. The SLIB Board meets February 6th.

Forest Health

Ms. Anderson has 10 current CAFA project contractors still working. She is currently working on fire mitigation plans.

Trails expansion grant update Ms. Anderson met with the USFS on February 3rd. She discussed the current status and challenges due to the timber sale in the area. t

Bark beetle update The MOU has not been received.

Financials

Budget Line Item Change A motion was made by Ms. Burget to approve the line item changes to increase 201.2 Payroll Expenses. Ms. Altaffer seconded. Motion carried.

Financial Voucher Ms. Altaffer made a motion to pay the bills as presented and verify correspondence with the financial voucher for January expenses. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried. All checks were signed. The Quickbooks account was reconciled with the bank account. Ms. Burget opened the sealed bank statements and verified the reconciliation reports.

Approve Minutes Ms. Altaffer made a motion to approve the January 7, 2020 meeting minutes. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried.

NEW ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Board Applicants Mr. Garman gave some district history and answered any questions the applicants had. The Board reviewed the applications and votes were taken. Ms. Altaffer makes a motion to nominate Mr. Kim Fundaun, Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried. Mr. Fundaun’s appointment will be sent to the WDA Board for approval.

Throckmorton Subdivision Review was discussed. Motion to approve the subdivision review was made by Ms. Burget and seconded by Ms. Altaffer. Motion carried.

Wyoming Association of Special Districts Mr. Garman suggested joining the WASD.

Ms. Burget made a motion to join for $25 in dues. Ms. Altaffer seconded. Motion carried. Ms. Helms will prepare the membership form and a check will be issued at the next meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Due to employee training. Next month’s meeting will be held on March 2nd.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:08 pm.

Office Manager Signature:

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Chairman Signature:

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