NHSWCD_6-25-12_approved minutes-signed
New Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District Board Meeting held at Wilmington, NC.
Meeting Number 13_ Date: _June 25, 2012
Supervisors Present: Others Present:
Dave Thomas, Chair Dru Harrison, Director
Bill Hart, Vice-Chair Amy Long, Education Coordinator
Donna Moffitt, Secretary/Treasurer Matt Maness, NHSWCD intern
Nancy Pritchett Jane Wood, District Conservationist NRCS
Steve Skavroneck
Was this meeting held during a meal: No _
Chairman Thomas called the public hearing on FY 12/13 budgetto order at 2:08pm.
Agenda Review: Skavroneck added Employee Reviews under Old Business. Harrison struck item D
CET/DEW registration under New Business from the agenda because it will be covered during the Financial
Review. Pritchett moved to accept the agenda as amended. Skavroneck seconded the motion; motion passed
unanimously.
PRESENTATION OF FY12/13 BUDGET:
Director Harrison reported that few changes had been made to the
budget since she presented it in May. Points of interest include:
The budget reflects the reduction of hours and benefits for the Education Coordinator position.
It includes a 1% merit increase for both the Director and Education Coordinator.
It reflects a more accurate dispersal of the Technical Assistance reimbursement from the State,
showing salary, travel and supplies coming from ACSP (Ag Cost Share Program) and salary only from
CCAP (Community Conservation Assistance Program).
The amount for bonding and liability was increased by $410 based on the actual price for coverage.
The price for workers compensation did not increase and that was changed to reflect the actual
amount.
The budget for copier maintenance decreased slightly.
The Supplies line-item was increased to $400 to budget for the approved purchase of new checks (to
be in LGBFCA compliance).
Skavroneck made a correction to a
label should be moved down one line. He also asked that the CD, which is an asset account, not a true
revenue The board discussed and
agreed. Harrison was directed to make the change.
Board members Pritchett and Moffitt questioned the budgeted amount for background checks. $500
seemed expensive and both felt that there were less expensive alternatives through state government
options. Harrison was instructed to check www.NCgov.org for less expensive alternatives.
Chairman Thomas announced that the floor was open to public comment on the FY 12/13 budget that
Director Harrison just reviewed. Hearing no comment from the public, Thomas declared the hearing closed
at 2:18pm. Pritchett moved to continue with the regular meeting session with the agenda that was already
reviewed and accepted. Hart seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously.
Moffitt moved to adopt the FY 12/13 budget as presented by Harrison with the discussed amendment of
the CD account. Hart seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously.
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MINUTES:
May 21, 2012 meeting #12, regular monthly board meeting. Fischer, Moffitt and Hart submitted edits
prior to the meeting. Pritchett moved to approve the minutes as presented with amendments. Hart
seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously.
FINANCIAL REPORT:
Harrison presented the reports.
A. Monthly reconciliation: Harrison listed several points of interest:
She stopped a $2.00 monthly service fee that was applied to both the regular checking account and the
Land Management account. The fee was for check copies. The auditor confirmed that this service was
unnecessary for our records.
$1000 from EEG CCAP grant has been received. These are not new or additional funds, but are from
the close-out of a grant received three years ago to help with staff travel, support, and supplies.
Both employees have registered for the annual Conservation Employee Training (CET) Conference
(formerly called the District Employee Workshop) in August using funds remaining in the travel line item
.
There is a $1,500 donation for Eagles Island (EI) that is being held in the Land Management account.
This money is earmarked for website hosting for EI coalition, and will be used for the CAMA permit that
is required to place paddle trail markers.
B. FY11/12 summary:
Request for final payment from City Stormwater Services will be made July 1.
Harrison explained that there will be one more payroll check for each employee before the end of the
fiscal year. These two payments will put the yearly percentage amount over 100%, but that is due to
how the calendar and fiscal years fell. It is not an extra payment.
Office expenses will be closer to the budgeted amount by the end of the week (and fiscal year) when
postage is paid for the annual newsletter and promotional materials are purchased.
The education budget was not entirely spent this year because the Teacher Workshop was cancelled
(lack of registrants) and a student was not sent to the Resource Conservation Workshop (lack of
interest). Staff is recommending taking $500 from the education budget and reallocating those funds to
purchase additional promotional materials. There was conversation about how to increase interest in
teacher workshops. Was it lack of interest or bad timing? Board suggested trying to time one during the
school year insteadeep America Beautiful to hold a
workshop together.
There was discussion about promotional material. Thomas suggested sending out a larger amount of
newsletters to reach more people instead of spending the money on schwag. Pritchett suggested
asking similar organizations to share their mailing lists. Harrison reported that she sent newsletters to
County Commissioners and City Council in addition to the residents surrounding the Hewletts Creek
easement; she will include the Board of Education in the future and Government TV. Pritchett instructed
staff to ask people to send an email if they prefer receiving the newsletter electronically instead of by
paper (include this in the newsletter). into
one large contact list. Staff will send their combined contact list to the Board (BOS) and then BOS will
add to it. Supervisors want staff to look into doing a 30/60 second spot (up to 3 minute) on Government
TV. Thomas suggested hiring a UNCW intern to produce the video.
Thomas moved to roll the remaining education funds over to FY 12/13 to be used for marketing. Pritchett
seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. The financial reports were accepted for the record by
consensus.
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SUPERVISOR & STAFF REPORTS:
A. Stewardship (SDC) report: Harrison reported that there have been major changes in Stewardship. SDC
during this 6 month contract the SDC will no longer pay for a coordinator position, however there will be
funds remaining to host an annual awards ceremony. Brunswick County Association of Realtors (BCAR)
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revoked their membership to the SDC on Friday, June 22. Their representative was Steve Candler, who
was serving as Chairman of the committee. The BCAR made the decision to revoke their membership
because of recent and upcoming legislation that would be in conflict with the SDC mission (sea-level rise
and terminal groin legislation were the issues -- BCAR feared that SDC would advocate in the opposite
direction as the realtors). BCAR was also questioning the current financial health of the organization.
Harrison cannot speculate what the other two groups, Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors or
Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, will do. Just this morning, the program coordinator for
SDC resigned effectively immediately. The Board agreed to hold the course and see if there is any fallout
as a result of these developments.
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B. Eagles Island (EI) report: Harrison reported that the full EI Coalition met on June 13. Topics presented at
the meeting focused on sea level rise and how that would affect the island. The Conservation
Management Committee has been working on completing a draft conservation management plan for the
entire island. Framework for the plan has been sent to experts and is awaiting their input. Frankie Overton
and Brooks Avery spoke at the Coalition meeting. The committee also met with Tony McEwen to discuss
support and funding from Congressman McIntyre for the purchase of the Winner property. Tony has been
in touch with staff from South Carolina Congressman Clyburn office (Clyburn was one of the original
creators of the Gullah Geechee Commission). EI is in the Gullah Geechee plan and the draft of that plan
should be out for public comment by the end of the month. The Gullah Geechee Commission will meet in
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Wilmington on August 17, where committee members will be talking with Clyburn staff. The Conservation
Management Committee will also meet with Tim Conway, a private fundraiser to discuss finding funds for
the Winner property. Property is for sale for $4.5 million. realtor suggested lowering the price but
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done so. September 12 at 2pm is the next full meeting of EI Coalition.
Hart had several comments to add. A few months ago Harrison, Hart and Murchison met with a
professional fundraiser and the advice they were given was to hold off and buy in chunks. He also said we
would need to establish a firm price from both the seller and buyer. EIC needed a firm idea of how they
wanted to use the property. Who is the decision maker in this sale? Lawyer Al Butler decided that it is
Muddy Waters Properties LLC (the foreclosing entity) who has final say because Winner ultimately owes
them. The property was appraised at $3.2 million and is valued at $800,000 according to tax records.
Winner paid plus or minus $2Million. ot of loose ends. Harrison added that
the speculation is that if cash were in hand, Winner/Muddy Waters would accept less. Pritchett commented
that people respond to a direct goal. If you say you are building
investors are more willing to come forth. People will not invest in a vague idea. They want a concrete goal
to fund raise for. Hart closed by reiterating that the District is the primary player on the island.
C.Cost Share Programs:
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Spot Check report: Harrison reported that spot checks were completed on June 21 by Moffitt,
Skavroneck and staff. Five contract sites were visited; 1 AG and 4 CCAP. All BMPs were in
compliance. BMPs included no-till fields in Castle Hayne, a constructed wetland at Eagles Point Golf
Course, a cistern at the NHC Government Complex, a biorention area at Alderman Elementary, a rain
garden at a private residence, and the marsh sill at Fort Fisher. Moffitt asked if spot checks had to be
done at the end of the fiscal year. She prefers to do them in March or May to avoid weather issues and
to submit the report well before the deadline in case last minute problems arise. Staff agreed that spring
checks would be better and will schedule them then in the future.
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CCAP Advisory Committee: Hart highlighted the key discussion points from the meeting he attended on
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Thursday, June 21.
Negotiations on job approval authority for Landscape architects are ongoing.
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There were six minor adjustments to the FY 12/13 budget.
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New design manual will be out shortly Ms. Harrison was largely responsible for that kudos.
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Hart received the existing applications for 319 grants. Funding for 319 on federal level is
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unknown.
The NACD newsletter discussion is that Congress disagreement seems to be over Title 1 issues,
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not conservation issues, and that the Farm bill will have considerable cut backs in it.
The committee will meet again next quarter and he will continue to serve if fellow Supervisors
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President Don Heath so wishes.
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D.Legislative Breakfast: Hart reported on the June 14 meeting. Dick Fowler did a great job organizing it. 25
legislators and 21 supervisors were there. An equal number of legislators responded that they would
attend, but failed to show up, including Susi Hamilton. Lack of attendance was disappointing. He did learn
that the Area 7 coordinator position was on the Assoc be restored and that the
CCAP Coordinator position has been posted. He also learned that there will be an increase in funding for
matching funds. There is no increase in CCAP recurring funds or in supervisor travel funds.
E. Supervisor Term reminder (appointee nominations due October 31): Harrison reminded the Board that Sue
Hayes is interested in the appointed position. An interested person has to fill out a form to apply for the
board appointed position. The board has to approve the candidate in a public meeting and then it moves on
to the Division. She gave an update on individuals who had filed for the elected position: Art Brownell,
Justin LaNasa, and Andy Mills. Andy Mills was the only former applicant who has filed. No one has
contacted Harrison from the mailings she did to previous filers. Pritchett will call Sue Hayes to get her the
interest form she needs to submit to the board.
PARTNER REPORTS:
A. Division Report: Fischer was not present to give her report. It was distributed via email and a hardcopy was
in the meeting folders.
B. NRCS Report: Jane Wood was present to distribute her report. She reported that NHC has a longleaf pine
contract for $28,500 on a private property. Chairman Thomas said that he has become aware that a NRCS
staff member with no work-assignment duties for NHC may be coming into our office space, two days a
week. Supervisors have not heard a request or explanation from Renee Melvin, the NRCS Area 3
supervisor. After discussions regarding the gentle
grants NHSWCD its office space, the inadequate space and lack of resources for an NRCS employee (no
separate phone or fax, no VPN connection, etc.), and the lack of return benefit to the County and District,
the Board asked Wood and Harrison to review the contract agreement that is up for renewal. Moffitt moved
that Harrison and Wood review the NRCS-NHSWCD contract and then draft a letter for Chairman Thomas
to send to Renee stating that the Board cannot condone/allow an extra NRCS person in our limited space;
there is no space available, nor the necessary resources, especially for an employee who does not have
direct job responsibilities in the county.
OLD BUSINESS:
A. Resolution on the Division of Water Quality (DWQ) Low Impact Development (LID) initiative: Draft copies of
the resolution were in the meeting folders. Hart explained that the resolution was written to encourage NC
Association of Conservation Districts to become more involved in partnerships pushing for LID through
local government ordinances for conventional stormwater management. Hart would like editorial additions
and fine tunings on the draft from the Board. He will send it electronically to the BOS for comment.
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B. Request for payment from SWC Foundation for CFCI OELC: Long explained that the outdoor educational
learning center (OELC) at Cape Fear Center for Inquiry (CFCI) was reaching completion and would be
nt of the grant from
the Foundation for NC Soil & Water Conservation and is asking the Board to vote on approval of the
request pending completion of the project so that payment is not delayed to the school. Pritchett moved to
make the payment request pending completion of the roof/OELC. Thomas seconded the motion; motion
passed unanimously.
C.Employee Review: Skavroneck added this to the agenda at
Board that goals and objectives were developed last year by staff and BOS and an annual review process
for staff was developed that included self-evaluation and meeting with 2 Supervisors for discussion. He is
recommending that Supervisors do those reviews again. He is willing to do them again this year but would
like to see it staggered among supervisors in the future. Board agreed that the process worked well and
someone would help Skavroneck as schedules permitted. He will organize that portion. Staff was instructed
to write annual reviews of their work (problems, accomplishments, goals) and submit to the Board by
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August 1.
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Long forwarded the email from Foundation
Director Michelle Lovejoy ahead of time. The Foundation Board of Directors is interested in hearing from
Districts regarding identified conservation needs at the county, regional, and state level. District
Supervisors were asked to discuss conservation needs not being met in their county and to think of any
new conservation initiatives we would need assistance with. The Board discussed several needs including
fire-house cisterns, school yard gardens, OELCs, and BMPs, funds for EI land acquisition and fundraising,
non-profit templates and support to file for 501c3 status, -
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of projects and send to Board and staff. Responses are due to Foundation by August 10 2012.
B. Questionnaire for OELC needs in NHC schools: Long informed the Board that she received an email from
SWC Foundation Director Lovejoy asking districts to identify potential or need for Outdoor Environmental
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Learning Centers (OELC) projects. Long will respond to the survey by July 31 as directed with a list of
interested schools 6 schools have already expressed interest.
C.Legislative Strategy: Hart reported back to the Board regarding talks he had with Pat Harris (Division) and
Dick Fowler (Association) and other Association members to develop a common pitch to give the
Legislators in the new FY 12/13 calendar. They are also trying to identify the legislative audience for this
pitch. Hart is interested in bringing common minded people (Sierra Club, NC Coastal Fed, Riverwatch, and
Audubon, etc.) together to be our constituency possibly make them associate supervisors.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
June 26: 6:30pm CFEDC public meeting on Greenway, WHQR office
June 28: 6-8pm Hewletts-Bradley Creek Watershed public comment, NHC Executive Development Center (1241
Military Cutoff Road. Hart pointed out that NHSWCD is not on the flyer again.
July 12: Area VI Issues Meeting. Harrison and Hart will attend.
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Filing for Board elections is over on July 6 at noon. Staff will email if additional people have filed.
Moffitt asked about the violation in the easement. Harrison has been playing telephone tag with Tara (Division
of Coastal Management) and will report back to the Board once progress has been made.
Wednesday August 8th, 2pm
Set next meeting date.
Meeting adjourned at 4:36pm by consensus.
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Amy EK Long
Recorded By: ____________________________________________________________
Approved By: ____________________________________________________________
Tick List:
1. Change budget to remove CD from annual revenues unless some portion of it is planned to be used that year.
Dru
2. Send application for being appointed to the board to Sue Hayes. Dru
3. Review contract between NHSWCD and NRCS. Dru
4.
NRCS staffer here. Dru
5. Send electronic version of proposed LID resolution to staff and supervisors for comment and suggested
changes. Bill
6. Prepare self-evaluations based on 2012 agreed upon goals and staff goals and send to supervisors by August
1. Dru and Amy
7.
Foundation and send to supervisors for review and comment. Amy
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