Gallatin County Weed Board
Regular Monthly Meeting
August 3, 2006
Board members present were Linda Vrooman, Chair, Jeff Littlefield, Craig Morgan and Fred Bell. Bob Hofman and Joe Skinner were excused. Others present were Dennis Hengel (Coordinator), Fred Tubb (Farm Bureau) and Keith Mainwaring (Property owner).
Minutes. Fred Bell moved to accept the Minutes of the July meeting as mailed, Jeff Littlefield seconded and the Minutes stood approved.
Claims. Linda Vrooman reviewed the Claims and they were approved as presented.
OLD BUSINESS
Linda Vrooman read to the Board a statement she had written regarding the Board prioritization of Weed District duties set at the Board Executive Session in June. Vrooman had written the statement due to a later discussion with Hengel regarding the Board's decision at the July meeting requesting that he initiate the legal process for some enforcement actions. Hengel had questions regarding the decision because the Board had just completed three months of discussion on setting priorities and workload. Previously, the Board had decided that enforcement was lower on the priority list. Hengel feels that the Board is resetting priorities. The enforcement process is lengthy and inefficient at best. Therefore, any enforcement is time consuming and labor intensive. For best results the enforcement process needs to be organized and structured and
initiated in a timely manner, especially due to the lack of staff to coordinate the process. Vrooman stated that she felt that the Weed District should hold off on the enforcement program until the new FTE starts in January as the Board had previously decided.
This started discussion on Agenda Item #5 under new business – Enforcement.
5. Enforcement. Hengel passed out copies of letters that are required by State Law to initiate the enforcement procedure. There are four (4) steps (a) Notification, (b) Notice of Voluntary Compliance, (c) Property Inspection, and (d) Notice of Noncompliance. Hengel chose seven (7) complaints from last year. He conducted field inspections and found that weed control was not evident so issued Property Inspection Notices. At this time four (4) of the property owners have responded. Hengel also stated that as part of the process for compliance he has developed a Weed Management Plan to be filled out by the property owner. Margie Taylor, Heart of the Valley manager, had a meeting with Hengel and they conducted a field inspection of the new property adjacent to I-90. Taylor will complete a WMP for the
Heart of the Valley property. Hengel informed the Board that the MWCA Weed Law Committee is meeting in Helena tomorrow, Friday 4th. Hengel went through a letter that he has written to the Weed Law Committee addressing six (6) issues that he feels are important. Hengel is of the opinion that the Weed Districts should be able to levy civil penalties in noncompliance cases. Hengel stated that he would also like to be able to quarantine gravel shipments from gravel pits that are contaminated with noxious weeds. According to state law, sellers of property need to inform buyers of any noxious weeds present on the property. Hengel feels that a title attachment would help with compliance. Vrooman read some quotes from an article addressing the weed law from the April issue of the MWCA Weed Times. The article stated that the weed law is adequate. Hengel disagrees and will be attending a weed law committee meeting in Helena on August 4th to discuss his concerns.
1. Bylaws. There was a miscommunication over the preparation of the final draft. The Weed Office will make the changes addressed at the July Board meeting.
2. Subdivision Review Fees. Hengel informed the Board that last year the Weed District reviewed 102 subdivisions and 8 gravel pits. Hengel is developing a form to estimate cost of reviews. The costs include equipment costs, both office and field equipment, on site review, office time, etc.
Coordinator Review. Linda Vrooman stated that she has met with the Human Resource Director and County Commissioner Skinner and this year the Weed Coordinator's Performance Evaluation will be conducted by a 360 Review process. Various people from other departments, other agencies and the public that interact with the Weed District will be sent questionnaires and the responses will be evaluated by Human Resources and the results will be submitted to the Weed Board for final review.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Fred Tubb remarked that there was an article in the Belgrade News addressing noxious weeds. Tubb was impressed by comments in the article and he felt the article gave the public a lot of good information. Tubb also asked what the Board thought people would be spraying for at this time of year in pasture areas. Craig Morgan stated that they were most probably spraying with Roundup to get ready for fall seeding.
Linda Vrooman asked who was responsible for weed control in Right-of-Ways along irrigation canals? Hengel informed her that landowners, not the ditch company, are responsible for weed control.
2. Commissioner Report. No report.
3. Coordinator Report. Hengel reported to the Board that the crews were out spraying gravel pits and county parks. Most County roads have been sprayed twice. The crews are now spraying for Canada thistle. Linda Vrooman brought up the subject of the gravel pit in Park County that was sending gravel to sites in Gallatin County. Hengel reported that he had done an onsite inspection and found a heavy infestation of Spotted knapweed on the property and all around the equipment. This gravel pit is what started Hengel thinking about Weed Districts having the ability to quarantine gravel pits that do not have an active WMP.
4. Frog Rock Mapping Update. Hengel presented the noxious weed maps that Toni Ipolyi, the GPS Technician, had developed. The weeds mapped are Spotted knapweed, Canada thistle, Houndstongue, Oxeye daisy and St Johnswort.
5. Enforcement. Already discussed in Old Business.
Coordinator Report. Hengel informed the Board that there is a strong interest in developing a WMA in West Yellowstone much in the lines of the Big Sky project.
Purdy Grant Field Evaluation. Hengel reported that an Intern from the Department of Agriculture had inspected the Purdy Grant area. The Weed District received an excellent evaluation. Funds from the grant had also been used to purchase a Portable Vehicle Undercarriage Wash Station. Linda Vrooman mentioned that her husband had ridden up into the Purdy area and there are new weeds growing in the fire area. She will call after the meeting and get exact locations.
There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 2.55PM.
The next meeting will be September 7, 2006.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary.
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