Gallatin County Weed Board
Regular Monthly Meeting
July 6, 2006
Board members present were Linda Vrooman, Chair, Jeff Littlefield, Craig Morgan, Bob Hofman and Joe Skinner, Commissioner. Others present were Dennis Hengel (Coordinator), Fred Tubb (Farm Bureau), and four representatives working with the Montana Conservation Corps, Walt Nitcher (Kansas), Kevin Olson (Kansas), Lyn Steinbrecher (WA), and Crystal Bright (North Carolina).
Minutes. The Minutes of the June meeting and the Executive session had been mailed to the Board. Bob Hofman moved to approve the both sets of Minutes, Craig Morgan seconded and the motion carried.
Claims. There were no Claims presented as they are being submitted for payment as the invoices arrive in order to close out the financial year.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Bylaws. Hengel asked about combining the Fair Board Bylaws with the draft of the Weed Board Bylaws. Littlefield stated that he had a copy of the Fair Board Bylaws and they were pretty similar. Littlefield recommended to the Board that he would like to change some wording regarding making changes to past actions of the Board. At the moment the Bylaws read that to change a past Board action or to make a change to Bylaws there would need to be approval by the majority of the Board present at a meeting. Littlefield felt it should read that changes need to be made by the majority of all Board members. Littlefield also brought up the verbiage of the sections that were quoted from the Montana Weed Control Act. Some areas are confusing. There was discussion regarding whether or not it is legal to
change the verbiage. It was decided that as it is written State Law it should not be changed. Commissioner Skinner moved to change the draft of the Bylaws to read that any changes made to previous Board decisions or the Bylaws needs to have the consensus of all Board members and not just those present at a meeting. Bob Hofman seconded and the motion carried. Hengel commented that once the draft was completed it would be sent to the County Attorney and the Commissioners for approval.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Linda Vrooman welcomed the Conservation Corps members and asked them to introduce themselves and give an overview of why they are here. They have been working with a weed program mapping weeds in Big Sky for RC&D and also for Tall buttercup in the Cottonwood/19th area south of Bozeman. Next week they will be moving on to Idaho.
Hengel informed them that he had received a call from a research coordinator at MSU looking for people to assist in a program to evaluate search dogs that have been trained to seek out knapweed. The Conservation Corp group will be moving on so will not be available.
Fred Tubb reported that there is a new Chairperson for the Farm Bureau Weed Committee. He is still planning for a weed workshop at the Farm Bureau Fall Convention to be held here in Bozeman.
2. Commissioner Report. Commissioner Skinner informed the Board that in the preliminary budget the Commission had approved a new FT employee for the Weed District. The new position will start at the beginning of January.
3. Coordinator Report. Hengel reported that the crews have sprayed most county roads once. The Regional Park is looking good. This is the third year that the crews have treated the weeds in the Regional Park. The weeds within the park are Musk thistle, Canada thistle, Poison hemlock and Houndstongue. Commissioner Skinner asked if the crews had sprayed the Whitetop on Spalding Bridge Road. Hengel will check to see if crews have been out there. He informed the Board that the Weed District has sprayed approximately 2 acres of Whitetop for the MDT. Hengel also reported that he recently inspected Highway 191 in the Gallatin Canyon and the Spotted knapweed is expanding. Hengel felt that there has been no effective management of Spotted knapweed within the Canyon since 2004 when the MDT assumed
responsibility of weed control. Hengel stated that he will coordinate with MDT and the Forest Service to address the problem this winter. The Frog Rock mapping project is under way and Hengel expressed appreciation for Allen Armstrong of the GIS Department for his assistance with the project.
The subject of complaints was discussed. There are individuals that are upset that the Weed District is not enforcing the weed law. Linda Vrooman brought up a recent article in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle addressing a City of Bozeman Municipal Code regarding the control of nuisance vegetation in the city. She asked if this was an action that could be utilized by the Weed District. Hengel informed her that the county has to abide by State Law and there is no provision for this in the state law at this time.
Hengel brought up the revised Weed Management and Revegetation Plan that he would like to start using (Agenda Item # 5) for the subdivision approval process. Copies had been mailed earlier to the Board for review. Two versions were presented, a Long Form for regular subdivision development and a Short Form that would be used for lot splits where there is no planned disturbance. Hengel also requested another change on the back page to address the issue of property being sold in the middle of the development process and the new owner not knowing what is on the WMP. He also added a clause that the Cooperator/Landowner submit a year-end report of weed control or revegetation work done by December 15th each year. A question was raised regarding the ability of the Weed District in December, being able to verify that weed
control had been done during the previous field season. Commissioner Skinner asked if when it comes to final plat application if the reports are not done would this hold up the process. Hengel said it would but that it is the responsibility of the developer to complete and document the work completed.
Discussion then went back to enforcement. The Board discussed options that are available to the Weed District for enforcement. A decision was made that the Weed District should follow the legal steps and start with one or two small cases where the weed treatment would be within the budget. This would set the program in motion.
Discussion returned to the Subdivision Weed Management and Revegetation Plan revision. Jeff Littlefield moved to approve the Weed Management Plan revisions, Craig Morgan seconded and the motion carried.
Hengel then initiated discussion regarding bonding requirements or improvements agreements. Commissioner Skinner said that the standard Improvement Agreements are set at 150% of cost.
Hengel then brought up discussion regarding civil penalties. Currently, the weed law does not address civil penalties. Hengel would like to see the state law revised to include civil penalties or changed to allow County Commissioners to set penalties.
Hengel also informed the Board that he has been notified that gravel is being brought into Gallatin County from a gravel pit in Park County that is highly infested with Spotted knapweed. Joe Skinner asked Hengel to talk to the Park County Weed Board to see if they can stop it.
Linda Vrooman stated that the Weed Board should get started on the Subdivision Review Fee Increase process. Hengel will get the numbers put together so the process can move ahead. There was discussion regarding some options such as:
- Charge a basic fee for major and minor subdivisions plus a per lot fee
- Major basic fee plus per lot fee
- Minor basic fee plus per lot fee
The consensus was that whatever process selected it should recover the total cost of review.
Linda Vrooman brought up the fact that at the Gallatin/Big Sky WMA meeting, the topic of the Leafy spurge at the "M" was brought up. The USFS has a sign up there and is aware of the problem. A question was raised about whether the Weed District has any jurisdiction over the Forest Service. Hengel informed the Board that Weed Districts are required to work cooperatively with Federal Agencies, that normally federal law supercedes state law, and that Weed Districts cannot force the Forest Service to control it’s noxious weeds.
4. "TIPS" Small Acreage Handbook (DNRC). Those present were given a copy of this booklet. The first print out of the booklet was 5000 copies. DNRC is asking weed districts if they will assist with co-pay for a second printing of 10,000.Craig Morgan moved that the Weed District contribute $500 from the advertising budget towards the cost of printing "TIPS". Jeff Littlefield seconded and the motion carried.
There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 2.45PM. Linda Vrooman excused herself from the August meeting.
The next meeting will be August 3rd, 2006.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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