Gallatin County Weed District
Regular Monthly Meeting
March 06, 2008
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chair), Bob Urich, Bob Hofman, Fred Bell and Commissioner Joe Skinner. Craig Morgan was excused. Others present were Dennis Hengel (Coordinator), John Ansley (Enforcement/Education Coordinator) Rosemary Perry (Secretary), Keith Mainwaring (Property owner), and Betty Biggs (Farm Bureau).
Minutes. The Minutes of the February meeting had been mailed to the Board and were approved as read.
Claims/Budget. The Board reviewed the list of Claims on the Monthly Report. There were two (2) big ticket items; the Gran Tree for the Weed Summit and the invoice for new springs to upgrade the new spray truck. The truck expense will allow the Weed District to put a 400 or 500 gallon spray tank on the truck, thus saving travel time for the crews.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Addition of Weeds to County List. At the December Board meeting the Board approved the addition of six (6) new weeds to the County Noxious Weed List. The Resolution was not signed at that time. Hengel submitted the Resolution to the County Attorney for Commission approval and has been informed that Commission signature is not required for this. The Board signed the Resolution.
2. Littlefield informed the Board that Hengel’s performance evaluation is due. He asked the Board if they wanted to address this at today’s Board meeting or postpone it till April. The Board decided to go into executive session after the meeting.
3. Bob Urich asked about the status of the complaint from Big Sky regarding bills being sent to people for 2008 weed control. Hengel remarked that he had talked to detectives on this issue and at this time no crime has been committed so they will not be doing an investigation. There was discussion regarding the necessity to distance the Weed District from this billing. Bob Urich moved that Hengel contact the County Attorney and apply to put notice in the Big Sky papers to say that these billings are not authorized by the Gallatin County Weed District Board. Bob Hofman seconded and the motion carried. Hengel will contact the County Attorney for information on the proper procedure for this.
4. North Star condos variance request. Hengel has inspected the properties in question and took photos which he presented to the Board with a letter stating recommendations to the County Planning Department and the Commissioners. Hengel stated two (2) points: (a) the subdivision weed plan is titled “Noxious Weed Management and Revegetation Plan” and (b) the Weed Control for the condo lots is not covered by the North Star WMP. There has been no revegetation done on the lots. The recommendation from the Weed Board is to not approve the variance.
NEW BUSINESS
1. There was no Public Comment.
2. Commissioner Skinner had no report.
3. Chairman Littlefield had no report.
4. Enforcement Coordinator Report.
· Ansley reported that he has been driving Road Traces and is now waiting for snow cover to melt so that he can get onto some of the outlying roads.
· He has been working on developing power point presentations for grant applications and educational programs
· Developed mitigation for the Endangered/Threatened Species sections of the grant applications for submittal
· Ansley attended the Invasive Species Conference in Missoula
· He is working with the MWCA and the Board of Realtors to set up the Realtor Trainings coming up at the end of March and the middle of April. The Helena and Butte Board of Realtors have put the information out to their members, however the Gallatin Board of Realtors does not promote agendas from outside entities. As soon as the office receives word from the Board of Realtors in Helena our office will send out the notices to local real estate companies. Ansley is putting together a power point presentation for Weed ID that he will be presenting at the Realtor Training.
· Ansley and Hengel attended the Noxious Weed Trust Fund hearings and presented the Upper Madison and Frog Rock grants for the Weed District
· Ansley is working with the County GIS Department towards getting new trace maps set up for the seasonal crew to work from. Littlefield asked about roads that are not being maintained by the County Road Department. Ansley informed him that there are a few, Kyd Road is one and Nixon Gulch Road is another.
5. Coordinator Report.
· Trade Shows. The Weed District had booths at four (4) trade shows in January and February. The Wild West WinterFest booth and the Spring Home & Garden Show were manned on Friday and Sunday only whereas the KBOZ Home Show and the Sports Show were manned the entire time and were by far the busiest.
· Weed Summit. The Department has received a lot of positive feed back regarding the program. Keith Mainwaring was awarded the Weed Fighter of the Year at the Summit. At this time Hengel presented the Agency Award to Betty Biggs in honor of Fred Tubb’s years of service and dedication to the weed program through the Farm Bureau.
· GYCC. Hengel informed the Board that the GYCC has approved the $6000 dollar grant for hiring a gravel pit inspection intern. He felt that the Weed District could combine that position with some seasonal temp funds and have that person also monitor the West Yellowstone area.
· NWTF Hearings. Hengel felt that the hearings went well. He presented the Upper Madison Grant application and also presented the “What’s in your World” grant application for Carla Hoopes who was not able to attend. One question that came up regarding the Upper Madison application was if helicopter application had been considered. Hengel informed the review committee that the noxious weed infestations in the area were not large enough to warrant the use of helicopter application.
· Ditch Companies. Hengel informed the Board that we have been approached by several ditch companies this year for assistance with weed control. One company had requested information on cost share. There was discussion regarding this but the topic was deferred to the next meeting as the Board wanted to move on and address the Strategic Planning for FY ’09.
· County WMP. Hengel stated that the County WMP has been revised and will be submitted to the Department of Agriculture by the deadline at the end of March.
Strategic Planning
Hengel had put together a list of programs and requested that the Board prioritize the work load for this year. The items were categorized as Long term - Priority III, Ongoing (O), Priority 1 and Priority II.
The Board Categorized Long term items as projects that would not be in place for at least 5 years:
v Construction of a new Shop/Office complex is most probably at least 10 years in the future.
v Interagency coop positions: Discussion regarding the need for a small acreage person, a cooperative mapping person and an education person who could fill positions to work with each agency. Funding would be supplied from coordinating agencies.
v Legislation – Weed Law. Commissioner Skinner asked if there was anything the Board wanted the County to address. Hengel stated that he would like to see fine penalties imposed for serious weed violations but that would have to be a move through the MWCA. There is currently not much support within the MWCA for the process.
Ongoing items were listed as:
o Weed Shop Repairs. The repairs are on target. As an old building there will always be ongoing repairs to be addressed. The freezing pipe situation has been dealt with by the installation of the unit heater in the shop area. The women’s bathroom has been remodeled with the completion set for April. Hengel would like to initiate the construction of a car port type structure to house the sprayers in the summer and thus protect them from the elements and thus extend their length of service.
o The truck replacement is already on schedule.
Priority I items include:
ü Scope of spray work. Priority should be given to county road systems, county parks, county gravel pits and miscellaneous county owned properties. The cooperative projects that have been proposed through the Weed Summit will have to be carefully prioritized in order to ensure that county projects are completed.
ü Municipalities. Working with the municipalities within the county is good PR. A suggestion was made to check the weed law and see if it stated that weed districts control weeds or manage weed control in municipalities.
ü Enforcement Coordinator. The new Enforcement Coordinator position was implemented in May of 2007 and was very successful. During the 2007 field season 130 enforcement actions were processed with only one non compliance enforcement treatment necessary.
ü Subdivision Review Fees. Commissioner Skinner was not at the Public Meeting when the Commissioners rejected the request for subdivision review fee increase and he asked Hengel why the request had been denied. Hengel informed him that it was felt that the cost of the individual lot fee was too high. Another comment that was made was that the Weed District is requesting the fees at preliminary plat and if the subdivision is not approved would there be a refund. Fred Bell suggested that there should be an initial pay base for a Major and for a minor as the Weed District had already invested staff time, then at final plat application the lot fee should be set.
ü Weed Technician Position. Hengel would like to upgrade the Admin Assistant position to a weed technician position. With training the weed technician would be able to assist the public with the more basic technical questions and thus free up more time for the Education/Enforcement Coordinator and the District Coordinator. This would be another upcoming budget issue.
ü Upper Gallatin/Big Sky WMA Intern. This program was very successful in 2007 and will continue this year in coordination with the Big Sky Weed Committee.
ü Gravel Pit Certification program. The Weed District is currently working with the GYCC to hire a person to run this program. The Weed District will supply office space and a vehicle.
Priority II items include:
Ø WMA’s and Grants. These are actually ongoing programs. The Upper Madison WMA and the Frog Rock WMA have already been formed and the Weed District is currently waiting to hear back from the NWTF regarding grants that have been applied for.
Ø Educational Activities. Hengel reported that there are eight (8) weekend activities already scheduled. The Board felt that the Weed District did not need to participate in some of the large commercial events and also questioned the impact of manned booths versus unmanned booths. There is a need to prioritize events.
Ø Seasonal Crew Foreman Wage. It is becoming increasingly difficult to hire seasonal staff at the wages that we offer. Hengel would like to include in the Budget process for FY’09 a request for an increase in wages for the foreman and the seasonal crew. Discussion resulted in a recommendation that if the budget could not be increased we hire fewer people at a higher wage.
Ø Undercarriage Wash Station. The county insurance requirements make this program difficult to maintain. The wash station was purchased for the SW Area Weed Districts with grant money from a pass through federal “After the Fires” grant. Other agencies have been slow to use it because of the insurance problems. There was a lot of discussion regarding the use of the wash station and the Board felt that it may pay to lease it out if at all possible or pass the equipment on to another SW Area weed district.
Ø Boom Spray Program. We now have three (3) trucks set up with this capability, however the program is dependent upon the herbicide budget. Boom spraying will take care of many nuisance weeds as well as noxious weeds. The program could save money as there would not be a need to cover every road every year. Littlefield questioned asking for a larger herbicide budget when spraying nuisance weeds and not just noxious weeds.
Hengel then listed some budget items that will need an increase for the FY’09 budget year. With the new education/enforcement program up and running the need for extra office supplies and educational materials has become important. The Ag Center rent may be increased as the cost of operations increases. Fuel costs are predicted to increase dramatically. The boom spray program will require the herbicide budget to increase.
Bob Urich asked about the status of the Maxey LTD enforcement billing. A copy of the Invoice and cover letter will be sent to the Clerk and Recorders office with a request that the charges be attached to the taxes for the property.
Hengel will be out of the office on medical leave for 2 weeks starting March 18th.
Spring Coordinator training is the 2nd and 3rd of April so the April Board meeting will be on April 10th.
The Regular meeting adjourned at 3.35PM.
The Board then went into executive session to do Hengel’s performance evaluation.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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