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MINUTES 08-20-2010 New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District, held at Wilmington , NC. Meeting Number 2_ Date: _August 20, 2010 Supervisors Present: Others Present: Bill Golder Dru Harrison, Education Coordinator Nancy Pritchett Marilyn Meares, Cape Fear RC&D Coordinator Dave Thomas Amanda Cabiness, NHSWCD intern Bill Hart Jane Wood, District Conservationist Donna Moffitt , Carey Disney Ricks Cape Fear Public Utilities Authority Was this meeting held during a meal: No _ Mr. Thomas called the meeting to order at 1:07pm. Mr. Hart made motion to approve agenda. Mr. Thomas seconded motion; the agenda was approved as presented. th Mr. Hart submitted corrections to the July 26 regular Board Meeting minutes ahead of time. Ms. Moffitt moved the approval of the corrected minutes. Mr. Thomas seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. th Ms. Pritchett moved the approval of the corrected minutes for the July 29, 2010, CCAP special meeting minutes.held to review CCAP contracts. Mr. Hart seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. SUPERVISOR & STAFF REPORTS: A. CFPUA August Board Meeting: Mr. Hart reported on his revisit with re-appearance before the CFPUA Board on August 11, 2010 to remind them of our the three major requests raised with the board at from their July th 14 meeting: a. Prior notification regarding of impending Right Of Way (ROW) work b. Vegetation management plan for all ROWs c. Cooperative plan with CFPUA specifically to deal with our property on Holly Tree and South College roads. Only the vegetative management plan request had been addressed. In the CFPUA Executive Committee Meeting, it was determined that the bulk of cuttings/debris would be piled up along the sides of the ROWs. Telephone call from Director, Mr. Matt Jordan conveyed that information. No formal reply/response to address other issues has yet been received by NHSWCD. Mr. Hart invited Mr. Jordan to attend our Board Meeting to address the issues – Ms. Ricks is was present to represent the CFPUA Board. There are several complaints at this point from NHSWCD: CFPUA leaving cuttings on property and in streambed, CFPUA not notifying NHSWCD about the work, CFPUA not responding to NHSWCD requests for communication. Ms. Ricks, from CFPUA, was asked by her board to address the questions for us and has reported that her board has discussed the issue(s). She will take any outstanding issues back to her board after this meeting for further discussion:  Debris – CFPUA policy is to keep a clear access/path. They have the easement which allows them to do this work. Work will continue. Not their policy to give prior notice of ROW work.  CFPUA feels that there has been informal communication within her agency and between agencies (can forward emails and detail internal discussion and phone calls) and that they did respond to our initial complaint of debris removal. Site was cleared after initial complaint to their standards. Mr. Hart is concerned that the functional and aesthetic qualities need to be restored to our site. Debris remains in the waterway that CFPUA should remove. Ms. Ricks will not address this issue; claiming that is business for the regulatory compliance officer who was unable to attend. Ms. Ricks speaks for her board, not the compliance officer NHSWCD is requesting that the logs be cleared from the property and if the Army Corps of Engineers is brought in on this, that the District should as the owner be involved. Ms Ricks will follow up and bring that back to her board. She will facilitate the conversation further between the two organizations. Ms. Ricks will act as liaison and follow- up with each board. Supervisors agree that debris should be cleared from the path full width of the right of way and that a NHSWCD recommends a vegetative management plan for the site be developed (DENR and NRCS tech expertise can be offered by the District). District Employee’s Workshop: Ms. Harrison reported that she attended the annual District Employees on the workshop in Waynesville during the week of August 19th she attended. She took the district law & operations track. NHSWCD needs to become bonded and appoint an employee as the financial officer. All employees and supervisors who deal with financial reports and transactions (check signing and rain barrel sales) should be bonded. Ms. Harrison will investigate how to do this (check with Risk Management) and report back to board. Estimated to cost $200-300 a year, which is currently not in the budget, but that will cover anyone in the organization who deals with financials. Currently, 6 people are allowed to deal with money, two employees and four supervisors. Ms. Moffitt thought this was extreme excessive, but Ms. Harrison said it was because of how difficult it is to track down a supervisor when needed. It was agreed that the paper check system is antiquated and should be replaced. Supervisors requested Ms. Harrison set-up a meeting with the County Manager to check the status of NHSWCD becoming a county department. If the District is able to become part of NHC government the District will not have to pursue insurance and bonding for the organization due to the fact they will be covered under the County’s policy. Two Supervisors will attend the meeting with Ms. Harrison. Also, it is against public meeting laws for supervisors to correspond over email regarding District business in the “reply all fashion.” Ms. Harrison will get further explanation on limitations and pass on to supervisors. C. CCAP Advisory Committee Meeting: Mr. Hart reported that the meeting was poorly attended. Meeting was about green garden approaches. A tour of Wake District CCAP projects included the Town of Wake Forest BMPs – where two cisterns are being used for vehicle washing and parks’ irrigation. The newly appointed Executive Director of the Association, Dick Fowler, recognized difficulties with advisory committee. FINANCIAL REPORT Ms. Harrison gave the financial report. Ms. Harrison reported that an $8000 deposit for final payment for fiscal year 10 from city contract was late because it was ‘lost’ by city office. She also explained why the Land Management account was lower than June, because of the 90% fee for the Eagle Island inventory. Mr. Golder asked clarifying questions which were satisfactorily answered by Ms. Harrison. He advised her to check the back of the check book for missing checks and stubs occasionally. Mr. Golder moved the approval to accept it for information. Ms. Pritchett seconded motion; motion passed unanimously. PROJECT UPDATES CCAP: Ms. Harrison reported that work is in progress. Bradley Creek will have some revisions to three contracts as well as funding. Once those are finalized by DENR she will bring to board. Education Update: Mr. Hart requested this update. Ms. Harrison reported that staff presented rd information to the NHC school board on August 3, 2010. School board members were made aware of all district education programs including contest, Envirothon, and field days. The board was thanked for their support of the Hoggard Envirothon Team. Staff also focused on the rain gardens that are currently being installed in schools in partnership with NCCF – goal is to have them on every school property. Eagles Island (EI): EI Coalition Meeting: Mr. Hart announced that Ms. Meares had been elected EI Coalition Chair. MOU drafts have been circulated. Formation of more structured EI Coalition is under way. Mr. Hart asked Ms. Harrison to send report from advisory committee to District board. Next meeting is October 13, 2010. Gullah-Geechee Cultural Corridor Commission Meeting: Mr. Hart attended meeting last week in Southport and gave a 5-10 minute presentation asking members of the coalition to consider EI as part of their master plan including an EI interpretive center. Mr. Hart and Ms. Mears will attend future meeting to give formal presentation about this and to see about becoming coalition members. Winner Property: Ms. Harrison reported that the property was appraised for $3.2 million for approximately 20 acres on Eagles Island by Ingram & Company. Ms. Mears reported on conversation with Mr. Winner’s realtor. Mr. Winner is requesting a copy of the appraisal. After much discussion led by Mr. Golder, it was unanimously agreed to not give Mr. Winner the appraisal. Ms. Meares will tell Mr. Winner of decision and will get further tax appraisal information (Ms. Harrison found records on-line appraising 21 acre land in 2010 at $692,752 by Tax Office). Funds need to be secured to make offer/purchase. Mr. Golder will work with Ms. Meares to continue project. Approval of Blue Sky Purchase: Ms. Harrison and Ms. Mears reported on a CWMTF grant error and requested approval to split cost for administrative fees between NHSWCD and CFRC&D. Motion to nd recognize informal agreement brought by Mr. Hart, 2 by Ms. Moffitt; passed unanimously. Ms. Mears cautioned that there is a lot of paperwork that needs to be filled out and approved before any money is rewarded. She will work with Dru Ms. Harrison to get papers in order. There is $15K funds set aside for survey and money for appraisal budgeted for. There will also be $12,000 for the District to use for the management of the property. The District will pay Michael Murcison for his services and help with the st closing of the property purchase. The closing date for the sale of the property was set for December 1, th 2010 due to the fact that contract to purchase the property ends December 15, 2010. Division of administrative funds: Ms. Mears reported about a possibility for another land acquisition from mitigation funds made available through Fish & Wildlife. These funds would be available due to a possible brown field site up the river that may have to pay mitigation cost. The sight is in same hydrologic unit as Blue Sky property. These funds could be used to purchase the Blue Sky property or McLaughlin property. Ms. Meares will follow up on trying tracking down the current owners of the McLaughlin property and hopes to have information at our next meeting. PARTNER REPORTS st Division Report: Kristina’s August report distributed to supervisors. Sept 1 Dick Fowler will start role as assoc executive director. A copy of the strategic plan for Association has been distributed to Supervisors. NRCS Report: Ms. Wood reported that an application in NHC in CRP Program has been received for a 200 acre farm to be taken out of production. NEW BUSINESS Possible Policy Resolution: moved to next meeting due to Mr. Hart’s absence UPCOMING EVENTS th A. Fall Meeting October 19, 2010: Mr. Thomas can drive and take 3 with him. Ms. Moffitt cannot attend. Ms. Moffitt: Public notice updates are not accurate. Ms. Harrison will follow-up with newspaper, city, and county to fix the errors. Will start posting on our door and already post at courthouse. Tell the contacts that the supervisors are concerned that the publishing has not been correct and we are not meeting requirements as a result. th Meeting was adjourned at 2:34. Next Meeting: September 20, 2010, 3:00pm Recorded By:___Amy Long_________________________________________________________ Approved By:___Dave Thomas_________________________________________________________