CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT 220 Fluvanna Ave, Suite 600, Jamestown, NY 14701 District Board of Directors' Regular Meeting September 23, 2015 I. Meeting Called to Order: 8:30 A.M. A. Present: Dave Spann District Field Manager Allen Peterson Vice Chair Debra Kelley Secretary/Asst.Treas. Bruce Kidder - Treasurer Rob Halbohm District WQ Tech Frank Gould, III - Director Jason Firster NRCS, Resource Con. Lisa Vanstrom Director Dave McCoy Watershed Coordinator II. Minutes of the Previous Meeting: MOTION by Gould seconded by Vanstrom to approve the minutes of the August meeting. III. Treasurer's Report: MOTION by Vanstrom seconded by Gould to accept the Treasurer's report and pay current bills. A. The following bills were approved for payment: SEE ATTACHED IV. Correspondence: A. Thank you from Roswell Park for the donation in memory of Charlene Kidder. B. Thank you from Paul Andrews (The Cabins, Goose Creek) for our help with the streambank restoration on their property. C. Email from Jennifer Clifford at Ag & Markets regarding an upcoming webinar on Invasive Species, September 28 th at 10 AM. V. Reports: A. Other Agencies 1. NYS Soil & Water Committee Victor DiGiacomo - See Attached 2. Dave McCoy We have been quite busy with the dredging in the north and the integrated sewer for Chautauqua Lake. We have completed the preliminary engineering for this 70 million dollar project. Now we will be looking for funding. B. Committees - none C. District Conservationist Jason Firster 1. Program Updates See Attached. D. District Field Manager Dave Spann 1. Ag Grants a. Round 18 1. Chautauqua Lake Country Ayre is negotiating the terms of the contract with Boulder Construction. 2. French Creek Four Jacks Dairy A letter was mail to Four Jacks Farm reminding them of the contract deadline and the possibility of canceling their contract. Rhonda has been working to see if they are still interested in completing their contract. Scott Wallace is looking really good, Rob has been out there on construction inspection. The farm is pleased with the progress and the contractor is doing a really good job.
District Minutes (Dist. Field Manager Cont.) Page 2. b. Round 19 Chad Schofield is still looking for a location for his chemical mixing station. Dave Mobilia has completed his cover crop for the year and Rob has certified it. c. Round 20 1. Ron Reed, Jason, Rob and Dave will be going to the farm to see if he can qualify for some EQIP Funding. 2. Country Ayre, Bunk Silo, they are still waiting for funding through FSA. d. Round 21 the ranking list has been released and Chautauqua County will get funded for one project in the Cassadaga Watershed. 2. 2% Projects a. Silver Creek is started, but is moving very slow, we are the construction inspector on this job. b. Findley Lake Camp will be the next job we will start. c. Darby Switch (2009 2% Project) We received special funding from the 2% money to repair this project and we hope to start it soon. 3. Fish & Wildlife Project, Chautauqua Creek the first phase has been completed. There is a second phase to be completed next year. 4. Cassadaga Lake & Bear Lake, Local Assistance Grant This Grant is from Senator Young $100,000.00 per lake. This was presented to us as a reimbursable grant, but the associations are not able to upfront the money and then get reimbursed. Jessica June is working with the DEC to see if we can make other arrangements. 5. Lake Erie Watershed Protection Alliance (LEWPA) - Did get funding this year for the three counties. Chautauqua County will be doing some water sampling in order to complete the Nine Element Plan for Lake Erie. This will allow us to apply for more Federal Grants for the Lake Erie Watershed. 6. Watershed Alliance has appointed the permanent board member for the organization. I have been appointed as a permanent board member and I think we will be having a meeting here in October. 7. Rails To Trails I had a meeting with Mark Geise regarding the stone culvert in Portland. He asked us to put together a watershed calculation together and size the culvert. The Planning Dept. would like to try and get some funding to repair the culvert. 8. Frewrun Creek Cassie is working on a final report for this project that will be sent to the DEC s Law Department and hopefully this project will be all done. 9. County Landfill has 70 acres of woods that they want to clear cut for expansion. I have been working with Kelly Rhinehart and Pantelis to try and make this happen. 10. Personnel MOTION by Gould seconded by Vanstrom to put Ashley on an as needed basis.
District Minutes Page 3. E. District Water Quality Technician Rob Halbohm 1. Updates See Attached F. District Secretary - Deb Kelley 1. Fall Fish Stocking will be October 2 at the Ag Center and the order forms have been mailed out and we have received a few back. 2. Credit Application for Buffalo Crushed Stone MOTION by Vanstrom seconded by Gould for the District to apply for a line of credit from Buffalo Crushed Stone. VI. Old Business A. Farmer Neighbor Dinner has been scheduled for April 5, 2016 at the Celoron American Legion. The Commissioner of Agriculture has agreed to attend and be our main speaker. We are also working on our donation letters. B. NYACD Annual Meeting is scheduled for October 20 22 at the Radisson in Utica, NY. Jay and Dave will attend this meeting. C. Ag Discovery Tour, J-High Acers was held on September 12 and was sponsored by the Jones Family. They had about 350 to 400 people in attendance and Cathy Young was also in attendance. D. 2015 Joint Annual Meeting - Farm Bureau, Soil & Water and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County have joined together for the annual meeting. October 21 will be the date for the meeting at Noble Winery in Westfield, NY. We will be presenting the Farmer of the year award and the Conservation Field Day Essay Winner as well. VII. New Business A. 2015 Farmer of the Year MOTION by Gould seconded by Vanstrom to approve J-High Acres (the Jones Family) as the Conservation Farmer of the Year. VIII. RC&D Clear Creek We have been out to Clear Creek helping RC&D with the Streambank Restoration Project that they sponsored. IX. Water Quality - none X. Cooperators none XI. Next Meeting - Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 8:30 A.M. at the Northcrest Business Center, 220 Fluvanna Ave, Suite 600, Jamestown, NY XII. Meeting Adjourned MOTION by Gould seconded by Vanstrom to adjourn at 10:45 A.M. Debra A. Kelley Secretary Fred Croscut Chairman