Gallatin County Weed District
Regular Monthly Meeting
December 04, 2008
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chairman), Bob Hofman, Bob Urich and Fred Bell. Craig Morgan and Commissioner Skinner were excused. Keith Mainwaring (Property Owner) was also present.
Minutes. There was not a quorum present at the November meeting so the Board was asked to review the Minutes of the October meeting and also the Minutes of the November meeting.
Fred Bell moved to approve the Minutes of the October meeting, Bob Hofman seconded and the October Minutes stand approved.
Bob Hofman moved to approve the November Minutes as presented, Fred Bell seconded and the November Minutes stand approved.
Budget/ Claims. Fred Bell asked about the increase in cost of Ag Center rent. Hengel informed him that the increase was due to increased electrical/heating/maintenance costs. The costs are based on the square footage used by the Weed District.
Jeff Littlefield had a question about per diem for the seasonal crews who are working off site (West Yellowstone). Hengel informed him that the crew members purchase lunch from Ernie's Deli in West Yellowstone and the Weed District is billed for the meals. In previous years they have stayed in Forest Service cabins and received per diem for dinner and breakfast however for day trips they do not.
OLD BUSINESS
1. ATV Trailer Purchase. Hengel showed the Board photos of ATV trailer options from Valley Trailer Sales, Steer Inn Trailer Sales and Murdoch's. The most desirable trailer is a three (3) spot trailer that would allow two (2) ATV's with sprayer units to be carried comfortably with some extra supplies. The double ATV trailers are tight on room when the ATV's have sprayers mounted on them. Fred Bell moved to purchase the three (3) place, 14foot
trailer from Valley Trailer Sales for the $1800 price. Bob Urich seconded and the motion carried. The Board gave authorization to Hengel to purchase the trailer from the Steer Inn Trailer Sales if Valley Trailer Sales was out of stock of the chosen model.
2. Mechanic Position/Road Department Agreement. Hengel reviewed the information on this position for those who were not at the November Board meeting. The Weed District has previously been able to use the services of the Road Department mechanics for maintenance and repairs of the vehicles with no cost for labor, just the cost of parts. As requested by the Board at the November meeting, Hengel contacted the Road Department to
ask if this was an ongoing option. The service will still be available to the Weed District. However, the Road Department will now be charging $26/hour for labor plus parts. We will also be responsible for delivering trucks to the shop and picking them up, which would be expensive if towing was required. Hengel has discussed options with Sue Shockley (Fairgrounds Manager) as the Fairgrounds also utilized the Road Department services. The
Fairgrounds plans to hire a half-time year round mechanic. The Weed District could enter into an agreement with the Fairgrounds to share the mechanic services. Hengel estimated that $5000 could be taken from the seasonal temp wage line item and would cover the use of the mechanic part time from mid May to mid September. There was a lot of discussion from the Board. Bob Hofman recommended that the Weed District start using a lube shop for oil
changes. Fred Bell agreed noting that with the price of oil, the service would not be much more expensive than buying the oil, filters etc and would place the trucks on a regular maintenance program. Littlefield asked where the mechanic would be working from and who would supply the tools. Hengel informed him that the mechanic would be working out of the old Road Department Shop that is now part of the Fairgrounds property and would supply his own tools. The Board directed that Hengel contact the Fairgrounds manager (Susan Shockley) for further details on the position
before making a financial commitment in regards to services.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other. Keith Mainwaring is a member of the Big Sky Weed Committee and reported on the mapping project that was conducted in the Gallatin Canyon. While mapping in the Gallatin Canyon St. Johnswort was discovered and control measures will be addressed in the 2009 field season. He also reported that the Belgrade City/County Planning Department has initiated a new requirement for developers in that they now must
clean equipment to Forest Service standards before starting a new project and again when leaving a site.
2. Commissioner Report. Commissioner Skinner is out of town.
3. Chairperson Report. Littlefield brought up a suggestion to add a Board Round Table discussion to the Agenda. This would give each member of the Board an opportunity to voice anything of concern or interest to them. A decision was made to add the Agenda item and see how it works.
4. Enforcement/Education Coordinator Report.
v Ansley reported that he had inspected a piece of property for an ERA Landmark Realtor to do a weed inventory for a prospective buyer. He mapped the weeds and wrote a report with control guidelines for the Realtor to present to the prospective buyer.
v At Steve Saunders (DOW Agro) request Ansley conducted a site inspection for a subdivision Saunders is planning.
v Ansley and Perry attended the SW Area Council meeting in Butte. One agenda item of interest is that three (3) weeds have been nominated for the State Noxious Weed List. The weeds are Russian Olive, Curly leaf pondweed and Hydrilla. Those present at the meeting felt that if Russian Olive is listed it should be a Category 4 – Watch List. Jack Eddie, however felt that it would most probably be a Category 1 with an emphasis on control in
riparian areas. The SW Area is also hosting a Board and Commissioner training in Butte in February.
v Ansley inspected the Nuss gravel pit area and also the area where they will be expanding. He called Dynamecc Property Services and was informed that the area had been sprayed in July.
v He also inspected the Two Springs Minor subdivision in Big Sky. The WMP stated that there was CT and TA, Ansley also found OD. The property has been sprayed, however Hengel did not approve the WMP as a pond and a septic system will be constructed and revegetation of the disturbed sites was not addressed in the WMP.
v The Bangtail Addition MOU was presented, however the map for the East Bangtail Development was in the Bangtail Addition folder and Ansley inspected the wrong piece of property. Ansley discovered a serious Whitetop infestation and noticed that no weed control had been done on the property. He will send out survey letters in the spring. Hengel went out and inspected the Bangtail Addition property and did not approve the MOU as
there has been no visible weed control done.
v Ansley and Perry have written a grant for the Lower Madison WMA requesting $21,748. Ansley sent out letters requesting support from landowners in the area and has received letters back from the City of Three Forks, Headwaters Trail System, BLM, Montana FW&P, Tailfeather Ranch, Larry Wilcox and the Madison River Ditch & Dike Company.
v Ansley and Hengel met with an MSU marketing student who is preparing a presentation on weeds and weed law.
v Ansley met with another MSU student who requested weed id pictures and information for an interactive display project that will be in the EPS Building. When the project is done it will also be available on a web page and she will send access information to Ansley.
v The Gallatin Association of Realtors has responded to Ansley's request to have a Realtor Training session put on their education committee agenda. Fran Brooksher, Ansley's contact, informed him that the Education Committee had other plans for the upcoming year, but will see if Ansley can get on the Agenda for some of the member meetings to do presentations.
v Ansley went to six (6) of the major Realty Companies in town and asked if he could put brochures in their offices. He was able to leave brochures at all the offices visited. Ansley also informed the Realty Companies that the Weed District is available to give short noxious weed presentations at Staff Meetings.
v Currently, Ansley is catching up with data entry from the summer field inspections and enforcement issues.
5. Coordinator Report.
o Hengel passed out a list of Workman Comp Claims for the last three (3) years for the Board to review. We have not had a serious injury reported.
o He is currently working with the County Planning Department and the City of Bozeman to set up new requirements for subdivision review. They are requiring a one (1) year contract with a commercial applicator.
o The draft Agenda for the MWCA Annual meeting in Billings was passed around. A State Weed Summit has been scheduled for Thursday 15th
o The Tentative Agenda for the Gallatin County Weed Summit has been set up and the "Save This Date" notifications are ready to be emailed out. The cooperative projects are going well, the education project should take off in 2009 with the new position at the Conservation District, and Hengel has hopes that the mapping program will take off as Frank Dougher (formerly of MSU) is now working for the county.
o Hengel came in for a half day while he was on vacation to take part in a public meeting regarding the Black Bull Run development. George Durkin (County Road Department Engineer) is working on this. Currently the Weed District and the Road Department are waiting for a response from the developer to requirements from the county.
o Another development that the Weed District is working on with the Road Department is the Spanish Meadows Estates (Sharber). An Improvements Agreement is in place with the County Road Department and the Road Department is requiring a paid contract before releasing the funds. Final plat will not be approved until these conditions are met.
o The Beneficial Use Permit for the contaminated soil from the June accident has been completed. The soil was spread on the top of the sound berms that surround the motor sports area on the Fairgrounds on Tuesday December 2nd and Hengel has reseeded the area.
o Hengel congratulated Ansley and Perry for the excellent job they have done on the Lower Madison WMA Grant.
o Hengel will be meeting with a representative from Big Look tomorrow morning to try and get the new educational display finalized.
Jeff Littlefield asked about awards for the Weed Summit program. Hengel nominated Tom Greason (MT FW&P) for the Agency Award and Don McAndrew (Big Sky Weed Committee) for the Weed Warrior award. Littlefield asked Perry to add this to the January Agenda for further discussion.
Hengel is also trying to contact Scott Sales to do the introductory remarks, however he is hard to reach and the Legislature should be in session at the time of the Summit.
The next meeting will be on January 8, 2009. The meeting was adjourned at 2.45PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary.
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