Gallatin County Weed Board
Regular Monthly Meeting
May 1, 2008
Board members present were Jeff Littlefield (Chair), Bob Urich, Bob Hofman, Craig Morgan and Fred Bell. Commissioner Skinner was excused. Others present were Keith Mainwaring, Dennis Hengel (Coordinator), John Ansley (Enforcement/Education Coordinator), and Rosemary Perry (Secretary).
Minutes. Hengel brought up discussion regarding the changes that the Board had made to the Cost Share form at the last Board meeting. He asked about the addition of grazing to the eligible weed treatments. During the discussion at the April meeting the Board had expressed some concern regarding how to document grazing and possible abuse of the program. The Board would like a chance to review the Minutes of the meeting where the grazing program was discussed. This discussion will be revisited at the June Board meeting.
Craig Morgan moved to approve the April Minutes as submitted, Bob Urich seconded and the April Minutes were approved.
Claims. The Claims for April were listed in the Monthly report. Littlefield asked about the claim to the Belgrade News. This was for a display ad that was run during Ag Appreciation Week. The purchase of grass seed was also questioned. In response to complaints for the previous three years the Weed District has sprayed the county property behind the County Rest Home. The area was previously farmed and is now stubble field and weeds (Canada thistle). The Weed District reseeded the area in an effort to keep weeds out.
OLD BUSINESS
1. Bob Urich had some questions regarding follow up on the Big Sky weed control billing
issue that has been discussed at prior meetings. Hengel informed him that he has discussed the situation with the Sheriff Department and was informed that it does not appear that a crime was committed.
NEW BUSINESS.
1. Public Comment/Other. Keith Mainwaring stated that he and Hengel would be doing a radio show on Saturday, May 10th from 10-11am. The radio station is 1450AM. He has been asked by one of the producers to do a monthly radio show addressing weeds. Mainwaring and Mohler were on a show last month and it was very successful.
2. Weed District Budget FY ’09. Hengel informed the Board that he had received the preliminary weed budget the day before (Wednesday, April 30th). There has been an overall decline in county revenues. Therefore, there will be no increases in department budgets. In fact, to meet baseline projections, most department budgets will be reduced. To meet our department baseline projections the Weed District will have to decrease our budget by $15,000. Hengel said that there are possibly two
(2) ways to meet the baseline budget:
a. Personnel had calculated the position of subdivision reviewer/crew foreman into our budget. However, revenue from subdivision review has dramatically decreased this past year and cannot cover the cost of the proposed position. Eliminating the position will reduce personal costs by $13,000. The remaining decrease could occur by reducing the cost share program by $2000.
b. In 2003 grant expenditures that were being run through the Weed District budget were taken out of the 2140 regular budget fund numbers. The grant funds received for reimbursement were deposited into the 2840 account. This left the 2140 in arrears and a surplus in the 2840. This has only recently been discovered. There is a possibility that balancing the budgets will leave a small surplus in the regular 2140 account.
Jeff Littlefield asked if revenues can be rolled over into the next budget year. Hengel informed him that they can but there needs to be a request submitted.
There were also two (2) deposits that were made into the weed district revenue budget that need explanation. The deposits were made into the Weed District budget but the Weed District was not notified of the deposit. Perry is investigating the situation.
Department budget requests need to be finalized by Friday, May 22nd. Hengel suggested that the Board have a special meeting regarding the budget on May 15th if the Board wanted additional input into the budget process. The Board recommended that Hengel and Littlefield discuss the budget prior to that date and resolve the issues. The May 15th Board meeting would only occur if the issues could not be resolved.
5. Enforcement/Education Coordinator Report.
· Ansley reported that he had sent letters out to the respondents that were contacted last year.
· Letters have gone out to the Frog Rock and Upper Madison WMA participants. The first meeting for Frog Rock will take place tonight.
· Ansley set up the Realtor training on April 17th and was one of the presenters. The program received good reviews.
· Last fall the Weed District sprayed county owned property behind the Rest Home. There was not much ground cover once the weeds were removed so Ansley reseeded the property this spring and was fortunate enough to get it done right before a moisture front came in.
· Ansley performed a site inspection of the Falcon Hollow subdivision.
· Ansley manned a booth at the Rocky Mountain Supply Customer Appreciation Days. Littlefield asked what the status was on the new display booth.
· Conducted a field inspection of the Mill Town Plaza subdivision and some sites around Four Corners and Belgrade
· He has been conducting complaint site inspections for follow-up.
· On April 30th he attended a “What’s in Your World” training program and gave a weed ID presentation
· Next week he will be participating in the annual Farm Fair at Brainard’s Ranch near Manhattan.
· Ansley worked on the Frog Rock Grant Agreement
· Worked on PowerPoint for Realtor Training, What’s In Your World Training, and Frog Rock Meeting
3. Gravel Pit WMP’s.
There has been a lot of publicity regarding three (3) proposed gravel pits in Gallatin County. The developers and the DEQ are involved in lawsuits regarding permitting, and the County Commissioners will be addressing road impact criteria. All three (3) pits have approved WMP’s on file. Hengel reported to the Board that the Weed District, in cooperation with the GYCC and the Forest Service, has hired an individual (Patrick Lawrence) to inspect gravel pits in the GYCC area this summer. Lawrence has an extensive background in mapping, GIS systems and noxious weeds. The Big Sky Weed WMA will also utilize his GPS abilities for their mapping program.
4. Chairperson Report. Littlefield had nothing extra to add.
6. Coordinator Report.
· Hengel stated that Ansley and Perry put together the Commercial and Private Applicator trainings and the Realtor Training.
· He did not approve the MOU for the Mill Town Plaza development. The development is at Four Corners west of Yellowstone Gateway Sports. The developer has paved and landscaped around the building, but there are large soil debris piles and noxious weeds on other parts of the property that have not been addressed as according to the approved WMP.
· He informed the Board that he will be on crutches for another 2 to 3 weeks.
· The seasonal crew has been hired. Due to budget reductions we will not have a foreman this year. Six spray technicians have been hired. Ansley will handle the sprayer rental program and Hengel will be more hands on with the crew this year.
· The Big Sky Weed Coordinator, Mike Jones, has been hired.
· Hengel has ordered a 500 gallon sprayer for the new 1-Ton truck. The bigger trucks with the larger sprayer tanks will help with the fuel budget as the crews will not need to keep returning to the shop to fill up.
· Hengel is amending the current budget to add the grant funds (Frog Rock and Upper Madison WMA) to the FY 08 Weed District Budget.
General discussion: Fred Bell asked if the county required gravel pits to have a WMP. Hengel informed Bell that the DEQ requires new gravel pits to have WMP’s on file with the local Weed District prior to obtaining their permit. Gravel pits older than 15 years of age do not necessarily have a WMP. The Weed District will contact the major active gravel pits as part of the GYCC gravel pit inspection program. Bell also asked if there was a charge for inspecting gravel pits such as the subdivision review fee. He felt that this was something that needs to be addressed.
Hengel informed the Board that he has a meeting with the County Commissioners at 4.00PM to go over the Weed District Budget.
Craig Morgan asked if the herbicide bids were out yet. Hengel informed the Board that we do not put out requests for bids as our purchase is under $50,000. However, the Weed District does send out requests for price quotes from local suppliers. Hengel will place out price quotes this month.
As there was no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 2.20PM. The next meeting will be June 5th.
Respectfully submitted,
Rosemary Perry, Secretary
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