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Gallatin County Weed District
Regular Monthly Meeting
January 3, 2008
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chair), Bob Urich, Bob Hofman and Commissioner Skinner. Craig Morgan and Fred Bell were excused. Others present were Keith Mainwaring, Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau), John Ansley (Enforcement/Education Coordinator), Dennis Hengel (Coordinator) and Rosemary Perry (Secretary).
Minutes. The Minutes of the December Board meeting had been mailed to the Board for review. The Minutes were approved as submitted. There was discussion regarding the attachment to the Minutes.
Claims/Budget. Hengel reported that the unit heater has been installed in the shop and is up and running. We have not yet been invoiced for the project.
OLD BUSINESS
1. MWCA Annual Meeting. Jeff Littlefield and the entire office staff will be attending the annual meeting this year. The MWCA meeting will be held in Great Falls at the Heritage Inn on January 15th, 16th and 17th.
2. Weed Summit. The date for the GCWD Weed Summit is set for Tuesday, February 12th, 2008. A “Save the Date” announcement has gone out to prior participants.
3. KBOZ Home Show. There was discussion regarding times for the Board to monitor the booth.
4. Great Rockies Sport Show. Rosemary Perry needs to submit the names of those who will be monitoring the booth to the organizers of the show as this show requires admittance fees and those working the booth will need name badges to get in.
5. Littlefield announced that Craig Morgan and Fred Bell have both been reappointed to the Board.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Public Comment/Other.
o Keith Mainwaring stated that he has contacted the Belgrade News and they thought they could send a reporter at the Weed Summit. He also reported that he had spoken to Jeff Krauss (City of Bozeman) on the radio talk show regarding weed control in the city. Krauss stated that the county is responsible for noxious weed control within the city of Bozeman.
2. Commissioner Report. Commissioner Skinner had nothing new to report.
3. Chairperson Report. Jeff Littlefield reminded those present that the January meeting was set up to appoint a new Chair. Bob Hofman moved to retain Littlefield as Chair, Bob Urich seconded and the motion carried.
4. Enforcement/Education Coordinator Report.
o Ansley reported that he had sent out thank you letters to all people who have cooperated with the enforcement process during the 2007 field season. He has also sent out thank you letters to people who wrote letters of support for our grant applications.
o Ansley is currently driving the county road traces in order to get accurate road mileages and estimates of right-of-way acreages. The trace maps that the crews have been using are out of date, some road names have been changed, some county roads are now within the cities, and some are not even on the maps. The major changes will be completed in time for the 2008 summer spray season. Hengel said that he has contacted Allen Armstrong with the county GIS Department to
determine the cost of purchasing the required GPS mapping software and an adequate Trimble GPS unit so the Weed District would be able map noxious weeds on an annual basis. Armstrong said that a suitable system (GPS unit and mapping software) could be purchased for around $6000.
o Becky Kington (MWCA Executive Director) has been contacted regarding the upcoming realtor trainings sessions. Kington is licensed to conduct the accredited training sessions. The proposed dates for the sessions are in the third week of March and the third week in April. Exact dates will be determined after the annual MWCA meeting is completed next week.
o Ansley will also be starting some educational programs in the near future. Littlefield suggested that he contact Carla Hoopes (Education & Awareness Committee) as she already has some quality programs in progress.
5. Coordinator Report.
o Hengel reported that the revision of the subdivision WMP/MOU review program is almost complete. He also reported that Ravalli County is in the process of updating their subdivision review program as well. Ravalli County is updating their program based on the Gallatin County Weed District’s subdivision program. The Ravalli County Weed Board has asked Hengel for a presentation on the subdivision review process in February or March.
o Hengel had an office meeting with Joby Sabol and Jerry Perkins working out the details of the revised Weed Management Plan and Letter of Credit regarding the approval of the Memorandum of Understanding for the PT Land subdivision.
o The Certified mail billing for the enforcement action done on the Maxey property was returned unclaimed. However, the bill sent by regular mailing was not returned. As this is our first enforcement action, Hengel will resend the bills before attaching the invoice to the taxes on the property as per state law.
o Hengel has been talking to the middle managers of the municipalities in Gallatin County regarding their participation in the upcoming Weed Summit. We have commitments from Belgrade and Three Forks to attend the Weed Summit.
o The Weed District is currently setting up the SW Area MWCA commercial applicator training session (April 2nd) and the private applicator training
session (April 9th). The training sessions will be held at the Headwaters Livestock Auction Yards, Three Forks.
o Hengel attended the County Department Head trainings held on Dec 6th, Dec 20th, and January 3rd.
o In cooperation with Yellowstone National Park, the Weed District has submitted a grant application ($6000) to implement a gravel pit inspection program for next field season. The grant will be through the Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee (GYCC). The grant will provide funding for a seasonal intern gravel pit inspector and fuel costs. The Weed District will manage the intern position and provide office space and a vehicle. The
inspection program will focus on the gravel pits in the Greater Yellowstone area.
o Weed Summit. Hengel felt that the Weed District should continue to sponsor the cost of the conference room and in addition, this year, sponsor the cost of the lunch buffet. The Weed Summit has proven to be tremendously successful and has brought together the various agencies involved in noxious weed control throughout the county. Hengel did not want to jeopardize the success of the summit by charging a lunch fee. Commissioner
Skinner concurred and thought that was a good idea. Hofman suggested that the Weed District pay the costs this year and then solicit other trade groups to help offset costs in preparation for next year.
o Strategic Planning. The focus of the next (February) Board meeting will be planning and discussing the upcoming year’s work schedule. Hengel passed out three (3) handouts for review before the next meeting.
The handouts were:
1. Strategic Issues for FY 08
2. FY 08 Strategic Goals as determined by the Board
3. FY 08 End of Year Report
The Strategic Issues for FY 08 handout listed the issues facing the Weed District last year. The FY 08 Strategic Goals handout listed last year’s proposed issues/goals as determined by the Board. The End of Year Report listed this year’s accomplishments. The three handouts were to assist the Board in the initial discussion on setting this year’s goals at the February Board meeting.
Betty Biggs of the Farm Bureau Weed Committee informed those present that a tentative MSU Extension Forestry workshop has been set up on April 4th at the Comfort Inn. This project includes a weed program.
The next meeting will be on February 7th. The meeting adjourned at 2.15PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary.
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