VASWCD Quarterly Board Meeting Minutes

VASWCD Quarterly Board Meeting Minutes

April 3, 2014 ∙ Old Dominion Electric Cooperative Bldg

Official Meeting Minutes

The Association meeting was called to order by President Lou Ann Wallace at 9:35. Invocation provided by Richard Chaffin, 2nd Vice President followed by pledge of allegiance and introduction of guests.

In attendance were: Lou Ann Wallace, Chris Simmons, Richard Chaffin, Don Wells, Ed Overton, John Peterson, Wilkie Chaffin, Steven Meeks, Ward Robens, Jim Christian, Charles Carter, Pete Farmer, Ricky Rash, Margie Davis, JC Berger, Russ Baxter, Jack Bricker, Darrell Marshall, Matt Poirot, Lonnie Johnson, Neil Zahradka, Clyde Cristman, Rick Weeks, Stephanie Martin, Darryl Glover, Blair Krusz, Gary Moore, Jim Echols, Mike Fletcher, David Dowling, Linda Cronin, Herb Dunford, Jerry Ingle, Joan DuBois, Daphne Jamison, Gavin Sanderlin, Suzie Brown, Barbara Teeple, David Ball, Kelly Snoddy, Sherry Ragland, Greg Wichelns, Monira Rifaat, Bob Brame, Alyson Sappington, Rene Moring, Carl Thiel-Goin, LaVerne Calhoun, Michelle Carter, Derwin Booker, Chip Jones, Lindy Durham, Sharon Conner, Linda Terrell, Brian Noyes, Ellen Ford, Katie Frazier, Brad Copenhanver, Matha Moore, Katie Hellebush.

Don Wells moved to approve minutes, seconded by Ricky Rash. Motion carried.

Review and approval of treasurer’s report. Report provided through March 11. The FY15 budget is included in the report as approved at the December meeting. Don Wells explained income from a State Farm CD which was closed in recent days and is noted as income.

Recommendation to set aside funds from the CD and an additional $24,000 - therefore a total of $50,000to be pulled - and moved to Moore Financial Services. Motion by Don Wells to approve, seconded by Margie Davis. Motion passed.

Treasurer’s report to be filed for audit. Motion by Wells, second by Peterson. Motion approved.

Richard Chaffin asked for clarification on the budget. Chaffin asked where income is reflected for the IT Committee grant. Staff noted that income for the IT Committee grant,a total of $300,000 was received in fiscal year 2013.

John Peterson presented the NACD report and federal legislative information. Report, as presented to board members, included in meeting packets and attached with official minutes. John Peterson providedinformation regarding the recent NACD fly-in which he attended. Herb Dunford of Henricopolis SWCD also attended.

Don Wells presented the state legislative report, copies of which were included in packets and attached to the official minutes. Don Wells addressed SWCD signage legislation, state water control board representation, and watershed dams. Additional funding items were noted. Don noted this presentation was also being made at each of theArea spring meetings.

JC Berger presented the IT Committee report. Attachment enclosed with official minutes. The IT Committee has until the end of June to obligate remaining grant funds. The majority of remaining funds will be utilized for QuickBooks training and hardware upgrades. Berger also noted that the IT Committee has been serving on the software stakeholder committee to develop the RMP module and enhancements to the tracking program. Lou Ann Wallace thanked the IT Committee for their report.

Area Reports:

• Area I -Ward Robens, Area I Chair, presented the Area I report. Area I districts still have some concern regarding 100% cost share and whether the farmer has buy-in when financial assistance is at this level. However, Robens noted that districts show an increase in this effort which will help with water quality. Area I districts noted that clarification and additional details are still needed regarding RMP implementation. There is concern about needed certification and Technical Review. Headwaters SWCD also had a recent request on the district position on fracking as did other Area I districts because of George Washington National Park. Area I districts learned there is no VASWCD position on fracking but suggested this may be a topic for further discussion. Mountain SWCD has recently completed two miles of stream exclusion on a site in which they hold a bond. A new state park is in development at Natural Bridge which excites the Natural Bridge SWCD. Area I districts continue to reiterate a need for additional resources in relation to dam maintenance. Area I submitted written report included with official minutes.
• Area II -Area II report presented by Jim Christian, Area II Chair. Districts continue to note a need for more urban BMP support. John Peterson additionally noted that this is also of importance to NACD. Area II written report included with official minutes.
• Area III - Area III Report presented by Charles Carter. Written report and two resolutions included in packets and with the official minutes. Two main issues of concern for Area III districts include a cut in BMP rates proposed by the Technical Advisory Committee. Secondly, Area III districts recommend the advancement of innovative alternatives to the Ag Cost Share program. This position was recently supported via resolution by Area III districts. Both resolutions were passed by all districts within the Area at their recent spring meeting.
• Area IV - Area IV Chair, Pete Farmer, presented the Area IV report. The Area IV Envirothon needs some additional growth and expansion. The few teams currently participating will compete in late April at the area competition. Farmer noted that at the recent Area IV spring meeting a New River director, Don Philen, was presented an award for giving his farm to the district to be used as an education site for future generations to come. Written report shared with board members and attached to the final minutes.
• Area V - Ricky Rash presented the Area V report. Report included in board materials and attached with the official minutes. The Area V spring meeting was held in early March in South Boston.
• Area VI - Margie Davis the new Area VI Chair presented the area report. Farm Days, rain barrel workshops, etc. are all underway among Area VI districts. Area VI would like DCR to reinstitute local caps as part of the Ag BMP program. This will be discussed further at the DCR partner report portion of the meeting.

A short break was held from 10:10-10:17AM.

Lou Ann Wallace brought members back to attention and asked for partner reports.

• Virginia Cooperative Extension - Lonnie Johnson with VCE provided the partner report. From an Extension standpoint the agency is currently celebrating its 100th anniversary. VCE has steadily been filling positions nearing approximately 240 agents.
• Department of Forestry - Matt Poirot presented the DOF report. DOF will be exhibiting at the NASCAR races. DOF logo is also now shown on the back of scratch lottery tickets. State forests will be highlighted on a highway map this year. A new state forester search is also underway for the Department and hopefully will be filled within the next month. A written report was provided and is attached and filed with the official minutes.
• Natural Resource Conservation Service - Jack Bricker presented the NRCS report. Bricker has been presenting information on the Farm Billat spring area meetings and again shared details at this time. NRCS report included in packets and filed with the official minutes. Bricker noted dam rehabilitation funds are authorized at $250million in the Farm Bill. NRCS has been asked to submit information to NHQ by April 11, 2014 regarding potential projects for rehab funding through 2018. Bricker also highlighted the advantages of the Earth Team program, a volunteer program that aids conservation as a whole at both the district level and NRCS level. Districts were encouraged to use volunteers and reap the benefits such as liability coverage.
• Farm Service Agency - Linda Cronin presented the FSA report. Calvin Parrish is out of town and apologizes for not being in attendance. Written reports were provided and filed with the official report.
• Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services - Darrell Marshall presented the VDACS report. A written report was included in board packets and filed with the official minutes. A greater number of official complaints have been filed than previous years, dealing with the Ag Stewardship Act. Normally 50 complaints are filed a year, however, the April 1, 2013-March 31, 2014 program year yielded an estimated 80 complaints. A breakdown of those unfounded, dismissed, founded, and to be determined were reported in the written handout. VDACS is still awaiting a decision on a new agency head. Greg Wichelns of Culpeper SWCD asked if there is any geographical reason for the increase of complaints. Darrell Marshall noted that while that information has not been determined yet, he could speak to the fact that the Valley region and Southwest regions – per VDACS program boundaries – saw more complaints than the Central/Eastern region.
• Department of Environmental Quality - Neil Zharadka presented the DEQ report. Zharadka has also presented information similarly at recent area spring meetings. A written report was presented and filed with the official minutes. It was reported that the State Water Control Board passed permit regulations. Additional information on the small animal feeding operation evaluation and assessment strategy was provided. A written summary of the status for the program done in partnership with VDACS can be found in the Bay WIP milestones document.
• Soil & Water Board – President Wallace thanked State Soil & Water Board members for being in attendance. Herb Dunford noted that the state board would meet the following day and the piggybacking of meetings was valuable to learning issues of concern to districts. Lou Ann Wallace and staff provided details on the two representatives to be brought forward by Area I and Area IV for positions on the state soil and water board.
• Department of Conservation & Recreation - Clyde Cristman kicked off the DCR report. Clyde Cristman began March 31 as the new DCR Director. Joe Elton is now serving in an acting role in a newly created position – Deputy Director of Operations. A formal position process is underway to fill this role. Additionally, Rick Weeks will be retiring and his final day on the job is April 10. A round of applause was given to Rick for his leadership over the past year.

David Dowling presented information on the following for DCR. Additional handouts as presented are filed with the official minutes:

• Operations Policy – An increase of $1,390,670 in operational funding over FY14 funding levels ($6,941,091) had been requested by the Department during budget development based on district funding templates resulting in a request for $8,331,761. However, the Governor’s re-introduced budget provides essential funding for $6,841,091 to be distributed for core operations and admin, dam maintenance, small dam repairs, district support.

Having said that, $6.2 million will most likely be available to distribute to districts for admin and operations for FY15. Known issues to be addressed:

-Whether to continue TMDL staff support from this funding source?

-Whether to carve out an earmark for RMP to be potentially distributed based on plans approved.

-Whether to keep Director travel and training at current levels?

-Whether to earmark monies for engineering services support (likely not necessary if budget language approving the fiscal support advances)?

-What should the timing of funding disbursements to districts? In FY14 all funds were disbursed in the first quarter.

-Whether to address inequities in District support created over the years?

Clyde Cristman added that the decision to distribute funds on a regular basis was an issue that prompted distribution of all SWCD operational funding amounts in quarter one. Cristman promised delayed payment would not be a case moving forward and funds to districts would be distributed in a timely manner.

Feedback and direction from attendees on issues noted:

-Wilkie Chaffin asked for conversation to continue on how to balance inequities related to TMDL funds to some districts but not others.

-Alyson Sappington stated that previous funds for additional allocations based on agricultural land use and support historical (columns 5 and 6) should be based on workload need rather than more of the same. David Dowling stated the desire is to move towards use of the budget template. Alyson Sappington stated that we need to not “be fair” but realign dollars with need. Dowling stated that DCR can take a look at how budget template fund requests help determine distribution of funds in order to right size districts.

-Chip Jones asked that if auditors suggest a quarterly disbursement of funds is most appropriate rather than in the first quarter how would the process be handled. Cristman noted that one of the problems that the auditor had was that there was potentially a lack in DCR policy to represent the practice of disbursing in the first quarter. Cristman noted to stay tuned for additional info on this item.

-Don Wells commended DCR for the presentation of information today. As it relates to making funding changes when districts continue to receive level funding, Wells requested that the State Soil & Waterand DCR board should keep in mind these funds are tied currently to filled positions.

-JC Berger stated that the staffing needs are looked at in a big picture sense at the district level and that perspective needs to be preserved – in the sense that districts not need to lay off individuals because funds have been shuffled.

Stephanie Martin next presented information on the budget template process. Handouts were provided by DCR and filed with the official minutes. The following discussion points were made:

-Martha Moore of Farm Bureau asked why the request for locality fund information was removed from the budget template. Wilkie Chaffin and other members noted that this was a sensitive issue that districts didn’t understand the value added. Districts requested that DCR request only those needs that will assist in informing operational funds. Daphne Jamison, in regard to local funding, stated that every district has to provide financial information in their attachment E’s submitted to DCR and that information could be retrieved from those submissions.

-Sharon Conner stated that the Bay Act complicates items a bit for those that may or may not receive funding from their localities.

David Dowling spoke to the next issue on the agenda regarding cost share policy. Handouts were provided and filed with the official minutes. Dowling stated that the recordation fee income is on a decline compared to prior months’ accrual. For that reason, $8million in recordation income may be a better number to project.

As of April 1, there were 86 pending SL-6 practices representing a lack of funding cost share applications. Additionally, (9) SL-6 practices which are unapproved and an additional (42 SL-6) applications statewide that are in various stages of development with no estimated cost share information within the tracking program. Details on this information was included in a handout and filed with the official minutes.

Dowling shared information on the 2014 Nonpoint Source Assessment. The new cost share policy will reflect the 2014 assessment. The State Soil & Water Board will have to approve this policy as well as address the following issues:

-Should we continue to fund targeted TMDL’s through C-S?

-Should there be an allocation made to the pending SL-6 applications?

-How to handle SL-6 in FY15?

-If SL-6 kept at 100% for FY15, what does FY16 and later look like?

-Should there be an earmark for RMP development and verification or should it be part of VACS?

-How should proportioning of VACS to H,M,L HU areas work? (50-30-20, 55-30-15 current, 60-30-10)

-Should the reallocation trigger remain at 90% obligated?

-Should 10% of the unobligated amount be left with the District?

-Should VACS caps be handled in a consistent manner between Districts?

Discussion was had with attendees as follows:

-Clyde Cristman stated that an expectation was inherited that 100% SL-6 cost share was going to be a two year promise. Clyde noted a desire for a set cost share rate and a process to apply for a hardship exception.

-Chip Jones asked for clarification on the map provided. Dowling stated that this is the Nonpoint Source Assessment and that distribution of funds for cost share is based on the quality of the streams – specifically from ag land - as indicated in this assessment. Jamison asked how this information is derived. It is determined by DEQ which does water quality sampling and other assessment. DEQ is responsible for the entire report.

-Gavin Sanderlin asked whether the rankings changed. Dowling clarified the top high, medium, low rankings are based on a comparison of areas. The map does not actually tell us if the areas got better or worse because again high, medium, low is based on a comparative review for that year. The 2010 and 2014 cannot be compared as related to water quality, just that high/medium/low has shifted.