Gallatin County Weed District
Regular Monthly Meeting
April 10, 2008
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chair), Bob Urich, Bob Hofman, Craig Morgan and Fred Bell. Joe Skinner (Commissioner) and Dennis Hengel (Coordinator) were excused. Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau) was the only other attendee.
There was discussion regarding Hengel’s sick leave application. Littlefield signed the HR form as required.
Minutes. The Minutes of the March meeting had been mailed to the Board and were approved as submitted.
Claims/Budget. The Claims were listed on the Monthly Report. No discussion.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Subdivision Review Fees. This was tabled until the May Board meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Betty Biggs reminded the Board of the Forestry Stewardship workshop and stated that the weed ID workshops will take place on April 24th and 25th, with a field study taking place the following week.
2. Cost Share Priorities. There was discussion regarding the program and the level of funding in the budget. We have increased the value of the line item and this should make it available to more people. Copies of the current Cost Share program were passed out to the Board. There was discussion regarding ditch companies using the Cost Share program. Morgan stated that if the Weed District assists the canal companies they are also helping landowners downstream. After discussion it was decided that canal companies are an acceptable landowner user group. Bell felt that the word applying needed to be deleted from the first sentence. Fred Bell moved to delete the word “applying” from the first sentence on the document and replace it with “purchasing”. Craig Morgan seconded and the
document was approved with the correction.
3. Chairperson Report. Littlefield alerted the Board to the changes made to the State Noxious Weed list. There are new listings and some category changes. He also asked if the county should provide another calibration workshop. Ansley said that he would discuss this with Jen Mohler. Perry is currently working on updating weed lists on all the Weed District documents.
4. Enforcement/Education Coordinator Report.
Ø Ansley reported that he and Hengel attended a HOA meeting for the Lake subdivision on March 7th. There were 12 people present.
Ø Ansley has received a complaint from a resident regarding property next to her. This is an ongoing problem, however the property has changed hands and the complainant would like to make sure that the new owner will continue with weed control.
Ø Ansley and Hengel met with Jen Mohler regarding the Spooner Ditch company
Ø The Realtor Training that was scheduled for March 25th was cancelled due to lack of response. The training that is scheduled for the 17th at the Gran Tree will go ahead. Ansley brought up comments the department received from a realtor regarding the education program that is in place for realtors. They pay for ongoing credits when they pay their dues and this program is extra. Fred Bell suggested that we approach the Realtor Association education committee now to get set up for next years educational program and the fees would be set up ahead of time.
Ø Ansley asked Fred Bell if he was still on as a presenter for the training on the 17th. Bell said he was.
Ø Ansley stated that he had received a complaint of whitetop on Corbly Gulch Road. He will go and check it out and alert the foreman of the problem.
Ø Ansley did a field inspection of the Jacobs 2 Lot Minor subdivision. The WMP was approved with conditions.
Ø He is already receiving complaints from the public.
Ø He is preparing to send out reminder letters to people he contacted last year regarding complaints. He is checking for property ownership as a couple of properties have changed hands.
Ø Ansley and Perry attended a retirement workshop.
Ø Ansley and Perry assisted the Broadwater County Weed Coordinator with preparation and attended a Commercial Applicator Training at the Headwaters Livestock Pavilion at Three Forks. There were about 30 applicators in attendance.
Ø Ansley and Perry assisted the Broadwater County Weed Coordinator with preparation and attended a Private Applicator Training at the Headwaters Livestock Pavilion at Three Forks. There were 27 applicators in attendance.
Ø Ansley attended the Spring Coordinator Training in Choteau on April 2nd and 3rd. The spiral bound weed ID booklets from MSU will be available from the MWCA at a cost of $1.50/booklet. To order from MSU they will be $3.00/booklet. Also the coordinators were informed that the Special County Grant has been increased to $7,500 for FY’09.
Ø Ansley has resubmitted the budget for the Upper Madison WMA Grant as we were awarded half of the original application and the budget needed to be revised to reflect that.
Ø Ansley will have a booth at the Rocky Mountain Supply Customer appreciation days on April 26th.
Ø Ansley informed the Board that Ag Depot had called regarding the Weed District herbicide order for the 2008 field season. He was informed that the cost of herbicide was increasing by about 2% a week.
Betty Biggs asked about the viability of 2,4-D herbicide that has been frozen over the winter. Members of the Board told her it should still be viable but would need to be shaken up really well.
The Board had a discussion regarding the North Star Condos status but did not make any recommendations until Hengel has a chance to review the WMP’s.
The meeting was adjourned at 2.35PM. The next meeting will be May 1st.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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