Gallatin County Weed Board
Regular Monthly Meeting
February 1, 2007
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield, Chair, Linda Vrooman, Craig Morgan, Fred Bell and Joe Skinner, Commissioner. Bob Hofman was excused.
Others present were Sam Rogers, Keith Mainwaring, Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau) and Dennis Hengel (Coordinator).
Minutes. The Minutes of the January Board Meeting had been mailed to the Board and were approved as read.
Claims. There were no Claims to present. The County Auditor's Claim Authorization Form and Related Party Form were passed around for the Board to sign.
OLD BUSINESS
Jeff Littlefield, Chairman, stated that he would like to change the Agenda format, as Craig Morgan had to leave the meeting early. First order of Business was:
1. Weed Summit Review. Joe Skinner felt that the meeting went very well. The level of cooperation was good. Linda Vrooman informed the rest of the Board that she had talked to Josh Kellar (RC&D) and he had received positive feedback on the meeting. Hengel stated that he felt the round robin sharing session went too long, however other agencies felt that it was a good session. Next year Hengel will request a one-page review from each agency ahead of time so that others can read it as the agency representative is summarizing. The three main issues of discussion were mapping, agency coordination and small acreage. The agency coordination was direct and good programs came out of the discussion group, the small acreage group made good progress with the goal of hiring a small
acreage specialist for the county, educational programs set up for watershed groups (e.g. "Welcome to the Neighborhood", and the Zero Spread campaign). Linda Vrooman brought up the Montana Challenge Program and felt that this would also be a good educational tool. The mapping group has more of a challenge as agencies map for different data and they need to establish a central data processing point. They will meet again in a couple of months. Next year the Board would like to expand the Summit meeting to include municipalities and possibly school districts. Rosemary Perry (Secretary) asked the Board to review the summary notes that she has put together on the Summit and let her know if there are any changes or additions. Perry would like to get the summary out to the participants next week.
2. Position Description. Jeff Littlefield asked about the progress on this item. Hengel replied that HR has reviewed the Job Description and has attached a salary band of Grade 7. There was discussion regarding the salary and budget. Joe Skinner stated that he would like to see a time line set for the advertising and hiring and move forward. Hengel will recheck with HR regarding the budget questions. Linda Vrooman made a motion that a subcommittee be formed to handle the review and interview process consisting of Jeff Littlefield, Dennis Hengel, Joe Skinner, Fred Bell and a representative from HR. Craig Morgan seconded the motion and it passed.
3. Strategic Planning - Strategic Thinking. Hengel had sent the Executive Session Minutes to the Board with a Memo summarizing the Board's prioritizations for 2006. Hengel then brought up a few items for consideration by the Board for prioritizing the program for 2007 at the next Board meeting in March:
a. Interagency cooperation: Weed District needs to prioritize the numerous proposed cooperative projects. If not, the spray crews will be over-extended and county work will not be completed.
b. Municipalities: One of the upcoming issues that needs to be addressed is implementation of more effective weed control within city boundaries. State law was changed and added the requirement of noxious weed management within municipalities to the County Weed Districts. However, no funds were provided from the State to complete the work. The work will have to be accomplished through the Weed District budget. Accomplishing the weed management for West Yellowstone, Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan and Three Forks without additional budget monies will be one of the biggest challenges for the Weed District.
c. Missouri River Fund grant: Commissioner Skinner felt that the Weed District had a good chance of receiving grant funds if a new complete application was submitted by the August deadline. Hengel felt that to be successful in the area, we would need to have a local coordinator, much as the Gallatin/Big Sky group has in Big Sky. Hengel has visited with other agency officials (USFS) in the area to ask them for recommendations. Hengel would like to have a base in West Yellowstone and have rental sprayers available for the public to rent. Bell asked if the sprayers would be backpacks or larger. Hengel would like to have slide-ins, ATV sprayers and backpacks available in the area. Skinner felt that Madison County would also be involved in the Madison River Corridor project.
d. Weed Shop (insulation): The Weed Shop is very poorly insulated and some areas are not insulated at all. Hengel asked Skinner what he felt the time frame would be for moving from the shop. Skinner replied at least 5 years. Vrooman brought up the heating bills listed in the monthly report to the Boards attention. Hengel said that insulation of the shop should be considered for the upcoming years to reduce heating costs.
e. Weed Shop (bathroom): The bathroom and shower facilities need to be upgraded. As a safety issue the spray crews need to shower at the end of the day’s work. However, the crews are reluctant to shower due to the age and condition of the showers.
f. Vehicle Replacement: The District needs to continue putting funds aside for vehicle replacement. At this time we are running with two (2) 1984 trucks that need to be immediately replaced. The other spray trucks are from the early 90’s and will require replacement within 5 years. One spray truck will be replaced this year with the FY'07 Budget. Dave Fowler (Foreman, Road Department) has found a 1998 One (1) Ton Crew Cab Dually with a flatbed that will replace one of the old (1984) spray trucks. This truck will be capable of carrying a 400-gallon tank and enable the crew to spray longer before having to return to the shop. This truck would increase the efficiency of the crew. Skinner asked if Hengel had thought of using a tender for water, Hengel stated that he had been told that
the tender driver would need to have a CDL and our crews usually would not qualify. Skinner asked if the Weed Budget had savings set aside for the vehicles or if this was new money being requested. Hengel replied that the money was savings in the Capital Outlay 940 account.
g. Weed Mapping: Hengel said that there is a need for a countywide noxious weed mapping specialist. Possibilities would be a shared position in cooperation with other agencies. Skinner asked if Extension was heading up the proposed Weed Management Area on the East Gallatin. Hengel confirmed that Extension was the agency coordinating that WMA.
h. Subdivision review program: Hengel said that last year he conducted 107 subdivision reviews. He conducted 97 WMP reviews and 30 MOU reviews. There were a total of 3,066 lots created by the subdivisions. 741.5 hours (92.7 work days) of work were dedicated to the review process. An additional 489.5 hours (61.2 days) of work would have been required if the District included a monitoring component to the review process. A comprehensive program (initial review + monitoring) would have required a total of 154 work days to complete the process. (Note: There are 250 work days in a year for one full-time employee). The large work load dedicated to subdivision review means less time for grant administration, education programs, spray crew management, etc. The current review fee reimburses 50%
of the cost involved in the current review process. The review fee does not include additional monitoring necessary for a complete process.
Discussion was lengthy and Littlefield asked Hengel to consolidate information for presentation at the next Board meeting. The March meeting will consist of a short business meeting followed by Board discussion regarding direction for the Weed District in 2007.
NEW BUSINESS
2.55PM Craig Morgan had to leave the meeting.
2. Commissioner Report. Joe Skinner had to leave the meeting but stated that his comments had been covered in the Strategic Planning discussion.
3. Chairperson Report. Jeff Littlefield did not have anything to add.
4. Coordinator Report. Hengel brought the Board's attention to the fact that he has changed the format of the monthly report that is mailed to them. He also thanked Mainwaring for attending the Weed Summit.
5. Public Comment/Other.
a. Keith Mainwaring told the Board that he and Don McAndrew are going to do a radio show addressing the Weed Summit.
b. Hengel told those present that he would be doing a presentation for the Pony Club on Monday 5th February and another to the Bridger Women's Club on February 14th.
c. Sam Rogers brought a handout from the Gardiner Ranger District regarding the rehabilitation of 155 acres recently acquired from the Royal Teton Ranch. The handout was passed around to those present.
The meeting was adjourned at 3.20PM. The next meeting will be on March 1st, 2007.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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