Natural Resources Conservation Council

 

Natural Resources Conservation Council

Attendance; Fred Humphrey*, Marli Rupe, Daniel O'Brien, Ed Lewis*, Mike Domingue*, Jolene Hamilton, Phil Benedict*, Christen Kaiser, Marshall Read, Pauline Pare*, Roger Rainville, Dave Matchel*, Art Webb*, Dave Stevens*, "Shorty" Stone, Doug Lantagne*, Henry Robinson. (* Voting Council member)

Chair Humphrey opened the meeting at 9:38 am.

The minutes of the September XX, 2003 and November XX, 2003 were moved to be accepted, as corrected, by Art Webb, seconded by Mike Domingue. The motion passed.

Phil Benedict explained that he could not give specifics on the Governors budget because it will not be released until this afternoon. He said that we could expect that grants to Districts ($138,800) and the Executive Secretary's salary would be level funded. (Editors note, the Governors budget does have the Council budget level funded). The Governor will bring out his "Clean and Clear" program in his budget announcement. This umbrella program will address numerous environmental concerns. In the Agency of Agriculture is will fund the BMP cost share program, CREP for Lake Champlain and the CT River, the District ARS program, Alternative Manure Management, Conservation District watershed planning and ICM funding. It is a multi-year program with some programs not starting until the 2006 budget.

The Executive Secretary gave and overview of the administrative and organizational structure of Council, the roles and responsibilities of Council members and Supervisory unions.

Council representatives and other District supervisors discuss the current state of representation on the council and how it is or is not working. There were comments that the current representation is not working. The Union rep does not always represent it member Districts. Communication between the Council rep and the member districts does not take place. There are not clear responsibilities for Council members and little accountability. There is not feedback system among supervisors and Council repress. The Newsletter has been a great help in getting information out to Districts and supervisors. It was suggested that the VACD board and Council meet on the same day. All Districts can attend Council meeting but meetings times and locations are not advertised well. Many Supervisors don't want to or can't make the time commitment to the Council meeting let alone communication with other Districts between meetings.

Finding supervisors for Districts is often difficult, especially with the communication skills.

A Council representative should represent no more that 2 Districts; with 4 Districts, there is no time to visit member Districts.

The Chairs should be the members on the Supervisor Union Board.

There is a lack of communication between Council and Districts.

There is no communication from reps to Districts.

Districts need to be at the table to feel part of the process.

What is the value for supervisors to attend Council meetings? If Council was making important decisions than Supervisors would attend.

A list of ideas that was generated

• Keep the Newsletter published.
• Have joint NRCC and VACD board meetings.
• Have regular conference call between meeting, with Council members and District Chairs.
• Have special large meetings, where all Districts should attend, around specific topics such as budget or programs.
• Have Council members only represent 2 Districts.
• Have clear Council member job description and responsibilities.
• Provide training to council members on communication skills.
• Council needs a reason to meet
• Individual Districts need to express their concerns to Council reps.
• "Tentative" or "Draft" minutes of Council meeting need to be districts soon after a meeting.

Art Webb made a motion that draft council meeting minutes be on the VAAF&M web within 7 business days. The motion was seconded by Phil Benedict and passed.

The Council broke for lunch from 11:55 am to 12:25 pm. The Council reviewed the draft District Standards that was developed by the District Standards committee. The Council appreciated the amount of effort that the committee made. In general, there was agreement with most of the items the committee has developed. There was much discussion on how this document will be used. Will this be used as an evaluation tool or just as guidelines? The Chair reminded Council members that the Administration is looking for greater accountability for the expenditure of state dollars. That is one of the major reasons that that the standards where developed. Other Council members were concerned about Districts having to meet all of the standards to receive full funding. Some of the requirements would be very difficult for specific Districts to meet. All Districts don't have the same opportunities. They're where a number of suggestions and edits that Council members recommended. It was also suggested that Districts review the edited document. I was agreed that the Executive Secretary would make editorial changes and Districts the DRAFT document to all Districts and staff for their comments. It was also agreed, by consensus, that the Council would review comments and finalize the document at their meeting in March. The Council will also at that meeting decide how the document will be used.

Partner Updates

NRCS Pauline Pare NRCS is still operating on a continue resolution since Congress has not passed a new budget. This gives then the same budget to work with as last year. The EQIP committee is working on modifying the farm ranking sheets for financial assistance. The draft rules for the Conservation Security Program are out for comment. These are available on the NRCS web site and comments can be made either in writing or on the web. They are planning on implementing the program only in selected high priority watersheds due to the cap on funding. They are looking to fill three soil conservation positions in Middlebury, Newport and St. Albans.

ANR/Rick Hopkins DEC is offering a grant program that would offer free lab services, water quality testing, to organizations. Conservation Districts are eligible for these grants. DEC will be releasing its "Assessment and testing metrology for water quality assessment" for 2 weeks for public comments. This is required as part of the 305(b) water quality assessment. The methods are not new they are just combining them into one document for public document. Stormwater plans within impaired watersheds are being debated at the water resources board. This may need to be decided in the legislature.

VAAF&M Phil Benedict Important issues that the Agency will be addressing in the Legislature are; "Right to Farm", Genetically Engineered Organisms (GMO) legislation and ag water quality permitting LFO. The Agency has been having meetings on GMO issues and co-existent. There will be information available at the Farm Show and in AgRiview.

UVM Extension Doug Lantagne Their budget, like NRCS's, is also running on a continuing resolution. They receive $ 1.3 million in federal funding from USDA and $ 4 million from the State of Vermont. They have 130 personnel with 20 administration and 110 program positions. They have hired Heather Darby PhD as an agricultural agronomist and forage field agent. They are looking to continue and expand their education and extension alliance. A review of their programs shows that last year they provided over 800 workshops of three (3) hours or more to over 1500 individuals.

The next Council meeting was scheduled for March 8, 9:30 at the Berlin field office.

Art Webb made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Mike Domingue seconded this and the motion passed.

Respectfully submitted,

Jon W Anderson, Executive Secretary NRCC