Gallatin County Weed Board
Regular Monthly Meeting
June 07, 2007
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chair), Linda Vrooman and Bob Hofman. Fred Bell, Craig Morgan and Commissioner Skinner were excused. Others present were Keith Mainwaring (Property Owner), Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau), Dennis Hengel (Coordinator), John Ansley (Education & Enforcement Coordinator) and Rosemary Perry (Secretary).
Minutes. The Minutes had been sent to the Board and were approved as written.
Claims. There were a number of Claims presented. There was discussion regarding the expansion of the flat bed on the new 1-ton truck. Hofman moved to approve the Claims as presented, Vrooman seconded and the motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Bylaws. There was discussion addressing Article 4 Section 4 and Section 6 – Removal of Directors from the Board and Liability. The Board members present decided to table the vote until all Board members were able to vote.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau Weed Committee Rep) stated that the State Farm Bureau Meeting would take place next week in Red Lodge. She would like to show the participants the Gallatin County Weed District Subdivision Weed Management Plan. The revised version is not back from the County Attorney’s office yet but she will present the current one and inform people that it is being revised. Biggs also took some of the “Why Should I Care” booklets for distribution. She complimented John Ansley on his presentation at the Farm Fair. Biggs informed the Board that there was a series on noxious weeds being run in the paper as part of the Zero Spread Campaign.
2. Subdivision Requirements/Enforcement. Hengel has reviewed the subdivision Weed Management Plan (WMP) form with Greg Sullivan (current Planning Director, former Deputy County Attorney). Sullivan will revise language within the WMP form to be consistent with legal standards for enforcement of the addition of an Improvements Agreement clause. Hengel also informed the Board that during a department staff meeting the procedures to document all complaints and reports that come into the office was reviewed. Enforcement priorities will be given to written complaints. Littlefield asked for information regarding a complaint on Grandview Heights I subdivision that was mentioned in the Staff Monthly Update. Hengel stated that the property had been inspected and the problem was not as
severe as originally thought. He will be attending the Homeowners Assn meeting on the 20th of this month and will address the problem.
3. Commissioner Report. Commissioner Skinner is involved with county budget meetings and was excused.
4. Chairperson Report. Littlefield reported that MSU has a new publication “Revegetation Guidelines for Western Montana Considering Invasive Weeds. The booklet sells for $3 and he feels it would be a good tool. He also attended an International Bio-Control meeting in Europe and found the vegetation management process very interesting over there.
5. Coordinator Report.
a. Hengel announced that the Weed District and Big Sky Weed Committee have hired an Education Coordinator, Keith Blewett, for the Big Sky area. The Big Sky Resort Fund will cover salary; the Weed District is providing office space and equipment. The Big Sky Weed Committee will meet with Fagan, Hengel, and Blewett to discuss work schedule and set priorities for the field season.
b. The Frog Rock WMA program is up and running. News of the program has neighboring areas requesting education and assistance. A meeting of Bear Canyon area residents was held resulting in a number of field inspections in that area.
c. West Yellowstone residents have requested that the Extension Service set up a weed management program in their area as they have done in the East Gallatin Area. However, the Weed District has already been setting the groundwork for a NWTF grant in West Yellowstone area. Several hundred data points have been mapped for noxious weeds and over 50 landowners want to be involved in a WMA. The stalling point to activation of a WMA has been lack of staff and administrative fees. Management of a WMA from Bozeman would be extremely difficult. The best approach would be to create a WMA similar to the program set up in Big Sky in which the local area supports a coordinator position through the local resort tax. Regarding administration fees the County grant process requires payment of
administrative fees (5%) to the County Fiscal and Grant Departments. As the NWTF no longer allows administrative fees to come out of grant funds the admin fees will have to come out of the already strapped Weed District budget. For example, a $40,000 NWTF grant would require the Weed District to pay a $2000 administrative fee to the Fiscal/Grants Departments.
d. Special County $6200 Grant annual disbursement from the NWTF. There was discussion regarding purchases to come out of the FY’08 disbursement. There were two (2) options discussed. Option 1: Spend $5000 on a sprayer with the balance going towards parts.
Option 2: Spend $5000 on a sprayer and the balance towards a tabletop educational display. The Board decided in favor of Option 2.
e. FY’08 Budget. The Weed District requested $110,000 in funding for the upcoming Budget year for operating supplies, Capital Reserves and Capital Expenditures. Yesterday (06/06/07) the County Commissioners approved $75,000 of requests. The Commissioners allocated distribution of the funds to be decided by the Weed Board. The Commission also approved the Weed Boards request for restructuring of the seasonal Crew Foreman position. The restructuring is dependent upon the increase in subdivision review fees. The Board elected to distribute the $75,000 in funding as follows:
i. Enforcement $15,000
ii. Mapping Software $ 1,200
iii. Chemical Supplies $10,000
iv. Cost Share $ 2,500
v. Other Supplies $ 6,300
vi. One Ton Truck $15,000
vii. Capital Reserves $10,000
viii. Building Insulation/Repair $15,000
$75,000
f. Herbicide Cost Quotes. Hengel had requested Cost Quotes for Herbicide from a number of local businesses. Only three businesses responded. Only one business fulfilled the requirements (provided Labels, MSDS sheets, and signature on the document) of the Cost Quotes. Linda Vrooman moved to accept the Cost Quote from Ag Depot, Bob Hofman seconded and the motion passed.
g. Hengel reviewed the estimates for the replacement of the overhead door at the shop. The Board decided to go with the estimate of $2743 for the vinyl insulated door. The cost of
h. insulation of the shop was also discussed. The estimate ($21,000) was for the entire building. It might be possible to only insulate the garage parking area within the shop. This would reduce the overall insulation cost.
The meeting was adjourned at 3.15PM. The next meeting will be on July 5th.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary.
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