Gallatin County Weed District
Regular Monthly Meeting
September 1, 2005
Board members present were Fred Bell, Chairman, Craig Morgan, Linda Vrooman, Jeff Littlefield and John Vincent, Commissioner. Others present were Craig Campbell (DNRC), Dennis Cash (MSU), Tom Greason (FW&P), Fred Tubb (Farm Bureau), Sam Rogers, Phil Mooney and Dennis Hengel, Coordinator.
Minutes. The Minutes had been mailed to the Board and were approved.
Claims. The only Claims presented were for the Board's travel.
OLD BUSINESS
None presented.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Phil Mooney presented a plant for ID. He thought it was Russian knapweed but it was identified as purple aster. Mooney asked who was responsible for spraying weeds on highways. Hengel informed him the MDT was in charge of state roads and the County is in charge of county roads.
Fred Tubb asked if the Weed Calendars were available for pick-up yet. He had received one in the mail and passed it around for the Board to see. The Weed District has not received one yet.
2. State Agency Biennial Performance Reports. The Dept. of Agriculture has requested that all State Agencies return their Biennial Reports by September 30th, 2005. It was acknowledged by those present that this is a really bad time of year for these reports to be due. Fred Bell asked if this was something the Weed District participated in every two (2) years, Hengel replied that this is the first time that the MDA has involved the Weed Districts.
ü FW&P – Tom Greason. Greason informed those present that he has 16 Fishing Accesses, 2 State Parks and 1 Wildlife Management area in Gallatin County. He has 8 counties to file reports for. The form he has completed for Gallatin County was presented already signed by the FW&P Regional Supervisor. There was discussion regarding some of the fishing accesses. Hengel felt that goals had not been met for Cobblestone, the Four Corners Fishing Access and Erwin Bridge. Erwin Bridge is an insectiary and perimeter control has been done. FW&P collects insects from the area. MDT will be installing a new access to the area and that will change the
management program. Hengel also noted that there were no acreage figures for biologicals. Greason replied that was difficult as the biologicals do affect acreage but it is hard to measure. He will make the changes to the form and return it to the Weed District Office.
ü MSU – Dennis Cash. Cash has just been delegated to coordinate this program for five (5) MSU properties consisting of 1900 acres. Cash has updated the Weed Management Plans for the MSU properties. The properties have all been mapped and there was discussion regarding property in the Bozeman Trail Road/Fort Ellis area. The County spray crew has sprayed Common tansy in a draw on MSU property near Fort Ellis in response to a complaint in the area. Cash asked Hengel if he would be able to meet at the problem site and help set up a weed management plan for the area. Hengel questioned the figures for weed control, as labor hours are not included.
Cash stated that grounds maintenance employees supply labor. Hengel requested an addendum to the Report submitted before signing.
ü DNRC – Craig Campbell. Campbell reported that he has not yet done the report as he has just stepped into a position that has been vacant for 8 months. He has been touring DNRC properties and has noted problem areas and is currently identifying which areas he has funds to treat and other options with lessees. Campbell would like to set up a time to meet with Hengel and get a weed program set up. There was discussion regarding the Theisen property, as this is a problem site. The lessee does not have access to the property and therefore DNRC may have to control weeds there or find another lessee. Vincent mentioned that there has been discussion
regarding turning the property into a Conservation Easement. The Hyalite Reservoir was also an item of discussion. The land is all Federal, however, the water is State property. Campbell gave Hengel contact names to get information. Ron Roman in Helena is the Project Director and Scott Compton is the local contact. Vincent remarked that the Commissioners have been working with Compton and other government agencies regarding water codes etc. Campbell remarked that his office is currently creating a database of lessees and can add in a section for weed inventory.
ü Linda Vrooman commented that many people she has talked to feel that pooling all government entities and budgets and creating one active entity to control noxious weeds in the state would be a far better use of public funds than the current programs. Those present thought that this was an excellent idea but idealistic. The idea of creating a weed management area for Gallatin County was discussed. Commissioner Skinner is working on a weed Summit and the Commissioners are meeting with RC&D at this time.
ü There was no representative available from MDT.
Hengel was given permission by the Board to sign off on the Biennial Reports when they are submitted.
3. Complaints. Hengel passed around a fact sheet summarizing weed activities for the year. There was a break down of phone calls, subdivision reviews, rentals, cost shares and attachments listing complaints and notifications. There have been 43 written complaints acted upon and 245 notification letters have been sent out. There was discussion regarding MDT properties. Hengel noted that at a recent meeting MDT officials announced that they have purchased 140 backpack sprayers for their field crews and are currently fitting six (6) spray trucks.
4. Subdivision Reviews. Hengel has reviewed six (6) WMP's since the last meeting:
ü Newman Minor Lot Split off Lake Drive, clean property
ü Beauchamp Minor Lot Split also off Lake Drive
ü Rapp 3 Lot Minor Gateway Area where the old Fifth Ace Saloon was
ü DeHaan 2 Lot Minor Cameron Bridge Road area
ü Garden Center 2 Lot Minor Four Corners Area
Hengel approved the WMP's for these properties. The Buck's T-4 Minor subdivision he requested that the covenants better address weed control. The Board approved the WMP with the covenant changes.
5. Meetings/Seminars/Field Inspections. Hengel has done 4 property inspections as a result of complaints filed and 1 property inspection as a follow up of a notification letter. As a result of an inspection on Carpenter Lane it was discovered that the county road had an infestation of Spotted knapweed. A crew from the detention center was taken out to dig and pull the weeds.
ü UGWMA Big Sky meeting. RC&D has been directed to become more active in weed programs. The topic of a weed summit came up again. Hengel announced that he would be attending a GYCC meeting in West Yellowstone on October 11th and 12th.
Linda Vrooman brought up the subject of the Gallatin Valley Land Trust creating trails and not maintaining them. She specifically mentioned the Bozeman Linear Trail.
Dennis Cash returned to the meeting with the changes made to the MSU Biennial Report.
The meeting was adjourned at 3.00PM. The next meeting will be on October 6th.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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