CCNRD

Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD)

May 3rd Regular Board Meeting Minutes

CALL MEETING TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 11:46 am by Chairman Wayne Garman, at the Sundance USDA Service Center.

ATTENDANCE

Board: Wayne Garman, Kim Fundaun, Wanda Burget, Call in: Lily Altaffer

Employees: Sarah Anderson, Bridget Helms, Jessica Halverson, Call in: Carmen Horne-McIntyre

Guests: Keela Deaton, NRCS District Conservationist

OPEN ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Commissioner’s Presentation The meeting was recessed to the Crook County Courthouse for a presentation for the County Commissioners and was reconvened at the Sundance USDA Service Center at 1:13 pm.

Water Quality Program Update by Carmen -Ms. McIntyre reviewed applications with Ms. Deaton for projects in the Belle Fourche River watershed. There are at least 9 producers with projects the District may be able to fund. Two applications received are outside of the impaired segment and are ineligible for funding at this time. Ms. McIntyre has been following the infrastructure bill and waiting to hear from NACD for next year’s funding request. Monitoring season supplies will be ordered to start sampling in June. Quarterly reports have been submitted.

Ms. Halverson is looking into cottonwood regeneration. She will be going out water sampling with Campbell County Conservation District in May.

Forestry Program Update Ms. Anderson was very busy last month with the tree sale. Staff attended the WCDEA training in April. The CCNRD hosted the Local Work Group meeting. She has been listening to the OHV calls and attending forest plan revision and forest resiliency meetings. The RCPP renewal is moving forward. The County Wildfire Protection Plan is her next priority.

WGF proposal Mr. Fundaun made a motion to approve and sign the grant proposal from Wyoming Game and Fish. Ms. Burget seconded.

Office Manager Update Ms. Helms worked on the tree sale, organizing the order forms, making calls for the pickup date and handling the financials. The line-item change was prepared. Electronics recycling funding request letters for Hulett and Sundance were provided for the Board to review and sign. The August 27th date has been set and sponsors will be contacted. Two subdivision reviews were received this month. The Educational Function Form was signed by Mr. Garman.

Local Issues There is a watershed conference June 28-30, 2022, with a breakout session planned, if there are any basin issues they can be brought to the session.

The MOU for Cooperating Agency status for the US Forest Service hasn’t been received yet. The District has requested to be separate from the County.

Financials A motion to approve the budget line-item resolution 5.3.2022 was made by Ms. Burget and seconded by Mr. Fundaun. Motion carried. A motion to pay the bills was made by Ms. Burget and seconded by Ms. Altaffer. Motion carried. All checks were signed. The bank statement was opened by Ms. Burget and the QuickBooks reconciliation report prepared by Bridget was reviewed and signed.

Approve April 4th Minutes A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made by Ms. Burget, seconded by Ms. Altaffer. Motion carried.

Board Vacancy an urban vacancy remains on the Board, a candidate is being sought.

Tree Program update A total of 873 trees were sold by the District. Twelve orders that were not filled according to their order but were able to be remedied with trees and shrubs that were delivered but not ordered. Seven refunds were issued of 84 total orders. Ideas were discussed on how to do things better in the future. Overall, the quality of the trees was great, and the comments were positive.

NEW ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Proposed Budget A motion to approve the proposed budget as presented by Ms. Helms was made by Ms. Altaffer and seconded by Ms. Burget. Motion carried

Cover Crops cost share review Discussion. The Board decided to leave the cost share the same at $30 per acre.

PSI Updates The Plank Stewardship Initiative (PSI) will continue to support the cover crops program for a total of $35,000 this year. PSI is also interested in sponsoring workshops in the future, such as women in agriculture and estate planning. A more formal process for requesting funding will be developed in the near future.

TIME OFF REQUESTS for employees were approved.

MOTION TO ADJOURN was made by Ms. Burget at 3:42 pm.

Office Manager Signature:

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Chairman Signature:

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