Crook County Natural Resource District Board

Crook County Natural Resource District (CCNRD)

January 5th Regular Board Meeting Minutes

CALL MEETING TO ORDER by Chairman Wayne Garman at 12:07 pm at the Sundance USDA Service Center and by conference call.

ATTENDANCE

Board: Wayne Garman, Lily Altaffer, Wanda Burget (Call in)

Employees: Sarah Anderson, Bridget Helms, Carmen Horne-McIntyre (Call in)

Guests: FSA Executive Director Sarah Hanlon

OPEN ISSUES TO DISCUSS

FSA Update Ms. Hanlon introduced her new employee. The board was updated on activities within her office and upcoming deadlines for applications. Crook County just became eligible for the Livestock Forage Program for native pasture and applications are due by January 30. The office status still Phase 0, meaning maximum telework and no visitors to the office. Ms. Hanlon is working on lock box with building owner and a better front door for safety reasons.

Water Quality

Ms. McIntyre has been working on end of year reporting on the water quality grants. Quarterly reports are due in January. The Joint Meeting with Campbell County Conservation District is scheduled for February 12, 9:00 am until noon by Zoom. Please respond to the email invite. This meeting will focus on program planning, collaboration, including the idea of a shared field position between the Districts. Ms. McIntyre will coordinate with the Campbell County Conservation District Manager to submit a revised budget and Project Implementation Plan (PIP) to the WDEQ 319 Program Coordinator. The districts were jointly awarded $226,729.30. The field technician position re-advertising will begin soon and the NACD RFP is coming out next week. Ms. McIntyre provided WWDC updates and Gillette-Madison project updates.

A motion to approve BMP contract CCNRD010521BD was made by Ms. Burget. Ms. Altaffer seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Local Issues Ms. McIntyre brought forth some possible ideas for urban outreach and possible new grant areas to explore.

Forest Health

CAFA update Ms. Anderson reported that a 52-acre fuel break was completed today; payment for this will take place in February. The State land fuel treatment paperwork is still in progress.

Bark beetle update Two more projects in the Sundance Canyon Ranch area were completed and submitted for payment today. There are four projects remaining.

Trails grant update Ms. Anderson has submitted the final reports and is working with the Forest Service to craft a newspaper release to showcase the trail work. The interpretive signs have been installed and the final trail markers were delayed in shipping due to the holiday but are scheduled to arrive within the week. Ms. Anderson provided photos of the signs and maps for the Board to view.

Financials

Financial Voucher Ms. Altaffer made a motion to pay the bills. Ms. Burget seconded. Motion carried. All checks and financial voucher were signed. The bank accounts were reconciled using Quickbooks by Ms. Helms, the sealed statement was opened by Ms. Altaffer and the reconciliations were verified and signed.

Approve December 1st Minutes A motion to approve the minutes as presented was made by Ms. Altaffer. Seconded by Ms. Burget. Motion carried.

Office Manager update Ms. Helms updated the Board on office activities. She submitted the Board member vacancy to the paper for advertising, handled a public records request, spoke with a county resident about tree sales, took computers to Casper for technical assistance, submitted the state funding criteria and reorganization form, signed up for water quality module 1 training, and submitted a Thank You for Ted Parsons to the newspapers.

NEW ISSUES TO DISCUSS

Board Vacancy No response was received to the advertising. Mr. Garman will contact a potential candidate.

Personnel Policy The current policy and the example from LGLP was given to the Board for review; Tabled until February for discussion.

Employee Annual Reviews Tabled until February 2.

NACD Annual Convention will be February 1-10, 2021. Due to it being offered virtually at a cost of $50, Mr. Garman encouraged employees and Board members to attend if they are interested.

Motion to adjourn was made by Ms. Altaffer at 1:50 pm.

Office Manager Signature:

_____________________________________________________Date: ______________

Chairman Signature:

_____________________________________________________Date: ______________