09-1-2021 Regular Board Meeting Minutes
1
New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District Board Meeting held in Wilmington, NC.
FY Meeting Number #4 Date: September 1, 2021
Supervisors Present: Others Present:
Bill Hart, Chairman Dru Harrison, NHSWCD Director
Sue Hayes, Vice-Chairman Amy Renfranz, NHSWCD Program Coordinator
Matt Collogan Haley Moccia, NHSWCD Conservation Specialist
Evan Folds Sheryl Kelly, NHC Assistant County Manager
Frank Meares Joshua Davis, USDA NC NRCS Team 18 Lead District Conservationist
Tom Boland Jessica Glenn, USDA NC NRCS Brunswick and New Hanover County Soil
Conservationist
Kristina Fischer, NCDA&CS DSWC Eastern Region Coordinator
Greg Stump, Member of the Public
Was this meeting held during a meal: No
This hybrid meeting convened both virtually on Zoom and in Conference Room 118 of the New Hanover
County Government Center.
The Chairman declared the presence of a quorum and called the meeting to order at 8:10 a.m.
CALL TO ORDER
A. Approval of Agenda
• Motion: Without objection, the agenda was approved.
CONSENT AGENDA
A. Approval of Consent Agenda
➢ Motion: Move for approval of consent agenda which contains two sets of minutes, including
August’s regular and special meeting, and the Treasurer’s Report.
• Motion: Hayes
• Second: Meares
• Vote: Passed unanimously. Motion approved.
CHAIRMAN AND STAFF REPORTS
A. Chairman’s Comments.
1. The Chairman commended the Director for her weekly reports to the board, and he has found
that the reports from all staff members have improved communications.
2. The Chairman recognized Folds for his work in establishing Frankie’s Food Co-Op on the
Northside.
3. The Chairman discussed two emails sent by Folds and Collogan regarding stormwater planning.
He commented that House Bill 500 funding will involve NC DEQ and that the districts will need
to apply for funding through them. He was also in support of Bill Hunt’s convention on
stormwater and encouraged board members to attend.
• Folds shared information regarding a regional approach to stormwater management and
encouraged the district’s involvement.
4. The Chairman noted that NRCS and urban farming funding initiatives could support district
initiatives and staff. He questioned if district money could be used for urban farming activity,
given statutory authority and sources of funding.
B. NRCS Report.
1. Davis reported that there is a new Area Conservationist who has an interest in urban
agriculture.
2
2. Davis reported that he will connect the new NRCS Urban Agriculture lead with NHSWCD.
• Folds expressed for support of urban agriculture programs in Wilmington and reported
that the City of Wilmington has approved an updated Land Development Code – which
allows for farming in residential zoning. As of now homeowners still need to apply for a
Special Use Permit for commercial farming purposes, but that may change with further
legislation.
• Folds will forward a link to the code updates to the board.
C. Staff Reports.
1. Director’s Report.
• The Director reported that the CET event, particularly the CCAP training, was useful.
• Fischer thanked the staff for their support during the CET.
2. Conservation Specialist’s Report.
• Moccia discussed her work in developing a cost-benefit analysis comparing rain gardens,
cisterns, and pervious pavement to see which stormwater control device may provide the
best water quality benefits for the price it costs to install the device.
Boland joined the meeting at 8:35 a.m.
3. Program Coordinator’s Report.
• The Chairman expressed support for the Program Menu that was included in the Program
Coordinator’s Report.
D. Approval of Staff Reports
➢ Motion: Move for approval of staff reports.
• Motion: Hayes
• Second: Meares
• Vote: Passed unanimously. Motion approved.
OLD BUSINESS
A. Director’s Goals
1. See Addendum for the Director’s 2021-2022 Goals.
➢ Motion: Move to approve the Director’s Goals.
• Motion: Hayes
• Second: Meares
• Vote: Passed unanimously. Motion approved.
B. CCAP Applications
1. The board reviewed 4 applications for CCAP.
➢ Motion: Move to approve the four applications, ranked in the order as presented by staff.
• Motion: Hayes
• Second: Hart
• Discussion: Collogan asked if there was a benefit to submitting all the applications. Harrison
shared that it behooves the district to submit all applications in the eye of the Division, but
that the district is penalized if a contract is approved but the homeowner does not follow
through. Moccia clarified that the program functions through reimbursement. For future
reference, Harrison will share the ranking sheets from the state, Dare, Mecklenburg, and
Durham counties.
• Vote: Passed unanimously. Motion approved.
Stump left the meeting at 9:34 a.m.
Break was taken at 9:36 a.m. Meeting reconvened at 9:54 a.m.
3
C. City of Wilmington Clean Energy Task Force
1. Hayes and Folds reported that, based on their knowledge, participants on the committee were not
satisfied with City of Wilmington Clean Energy Policy Task Force Report for several reasons. They
were not in support of writing a resolution of support for the report. No further action will be taken.
D. Strategic Plan 2022-2027 Update
1. Hart presented a list of questions sent to the Director by Steve Skavroneck, strategic planning
facilitator.
➢ Motion: Move to permit the Director to begin negotiating with Skavroneck in order to hire him to
facilitate strategic planning, utilizing her answers to his questions to guide the process.
• Motion: Hayes
• Second: Meares
• Vote: Passed unanimously. Motion approved.
E. In-Person or Virtual Meetings Decision
1. The board discussed having flexibility in meeting planning. As of now, the board will try to have
meetings in-person, but the Chairman and Director will have discretion to change to a virtual
meeting (must be announced 6 hours prior to the meeting).
F. Tick List (See Addendum)
NEW BUSINESS
A. Eagles Island Coalition Website
1. The Director reported that the new Eagles Island Central Park Task Force has inquired about
utilizing information on the Coalition’s website for their own website purposes. There was no
objection from the board. Folds will share a link and printed materials of the Task Force’s Visioning
Study.
UPCOMING EVENT / ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Environmental Educator’s Conference in Arden, NC. September 8-11
B. Vacation Days for Dru ~September 7, 13-14
C. Labor Day ~ September 6th/Offices Closed
ADJOURNMENT
• Motion: Without objection, the meeting was adjourned.
➢ Adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
The next regular board meeting is set for October 6, 2021 in Conference Room 118 of the New Hanover
County Government Center.
Recorded By: Amy Renfranz
Approved By: ____________________________________________________________
ADDENDUM
Director’s Goals
• Provide leadership to the NHSWC District by:
o Leading the District in visioning, revisiting the mission statement, and leading, facilitating and
organizing strategic planning for the 2022-2027 term
o Developing metrics for reporting activities of the District as it relates to the strategic plan
William J. Hart (Oct 8, 2021 17:49 EDT)
William J. Hart
4
o Developing the strategic plan supporting document that will be utilized to track progress as a
result of the above process
• Develop and lead quarterly programs in partnership with other agencies and organizations with shared
goals. This could include workshops or other public programs with the NCCF, CFRW, Coastal Land
Conservancy, etc.
• Pursue at least one grant that supports current project and programs.
New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District Tick List With Updates
From August 4, 2021
Education and Outreach
• Schedule meeting and determine goals and how to proceed with communicating with County
Commissioners
• Work with David Ingram to draft a resolution from the board in support of NHSWCD’s involvement on
the Wilmington Clean Energy Task Force – Evan, Dru
Land Conservation and Resource Development
• Initiate process for rezoning SWCD property on Eagles Island in Brunswick County from Industrial to
open space or recreation – Dru (Ongoing)
• Propose edits to county tree ordinances – Bill (Ongoing)
• Meet with Walker Golder to discuss Eagles Island – Dru, Bill and Evan (Complete)
Longer-term Projects:
• Develop process for use of trees, and organic matter for stormwater management as a District BMP –
Dru (Ongoing)
• Develop priority list of projects for grant proposals and identify grant-writing assistance - supervisors
and staff (Ongoing)
• Develop a protocol/policy for the creation of a quarterly report that communicates motions and
resolutions that have been approved and the district supports – Dru, Bill (Ongoing)
• Explore opportunities for development of 4th grade curriculum – Amy, Lilly & Evan (Ongoing)
• Initiate discussion with Washington State DENR for future of water quality issues – Bill
Weblinks Shared During the Meeting
https://cefs.ncsu.edu/event/backyard-food-forest-2/
https://www.wect.com/2021/08/17/elected-officials-head-raleigh-advocate-flood-resiliency-funding/
https://soilwater.nhcgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/August2021ENewsletter-1.pdf
MINUTES_9_1_21
Final Audit Report 2021-10-08
Created:2021-10-06
By:Amy Renfranz (arenfranz@nhcgov.com)
Status:Signed
Transaction ID:CBJCHBCAABAA69Vmy8_1DfG4tvBr4qcXHfAroNz_7_Tl
"MINUTES_9_1_21" History
Document created by Amy Renfranz (arenfranz@nhcgov.com)
2021-10-06 - 1:43:28 PM GMT
Document emailed to William J. Hart (bhswcon1126@gmail.com) for signature
2021-10-06 - 1:44:22 PM GMT
Email viewed by William J. Hart (bhswcon1126@gmail.com)
2021-10-06 - 1:44:29 PM GMT- IP address: 66.102.8.247
Document e-signed by William J. Hart (bhswcon1126@gmail.com)
Signature Date: 2021-10-08 - 9:49:46 PM GMT - Time Source: server- IP address: 207.244.85.143
Agreement completed.
2021-10-08 - 9:49:46 PM GMT