Executive Committee Meeting
June Quarterly Board
June 11, 2007
Northfield Inn & Suites-Onyx Room
8:00 a.m.
Terry Davis, President, NACD Delegate
Jim Todd, Vice President, NACD Alternate
Aaron Ferguson, Secretary
Rollie Spaniol, Treasurer
Mark Besse, Area I VP
Wayne Enke, Area II VP
Steve Stierwalt, Area III VP
Nobert Rider, Area IV
Josh Joseph, ISWCDEA RC Co-Chair
Annyce Winters, ISWCDEA AC Co-Chair
Richard Nichols, AISWCD
Erin Pate, AISWCD
Stacy Stremsterfer, AISWCD
Jim Nelson, AISWCD
Sarah Dillman, AISWCD
Meeting was called to order by President Terry Davis at 8:05 a.m.
Roll call was taken by Secretary Aaron Ferguson.
Approval of Agenda
Terry Davis stated items that needed to be added under New Business included: a flag pole request at the AISWCD office, formation of a Task Force to oversee the building, a proclamation for Virginia Hayer, NACD donation to renovate their building, NRCS amendment to agreement, Agriculture Day at the Illinois State Fair on August 14th, the current status of resolutions, and website updates. Terry Davis asked for approval of the agenda with additions as mentioned. Steve Stierwalt made a motion to approve the agenda with additions, seconded by Aaron Ferguson, MCVV.
Committee/Taskforce Updates
Communication
In the absence of Chairman Wayne Enke, Sarah Dillman referred to the March Quarterly Board minutes from the committee. Rich Nichols gave an update on the Learfield Network radio ads that have ran and one ad that will run in the fall. Terry mentioned the District Revenue Opportunities Task Force needed to be researched, since the Communications FAC felt the group needed to be revisited. Rich commented that the District Revenue Opportunities Task Force is an issue that has been continually brought up for discussion. Rich added that rain barrel sales have been successful as a fund-raising activity for Lake County SWCD. Discussion was held on rain barrel sales.
Education
Chairman Steve Stierwalt commented that the task force on New Director Training has not met. Stacy Stremsterfer added she and Rich Nichols attended a meeting with IDOA to discuss options for the director training program. Stacy gave an update on the 2007 state Envirothon, one team was disqualified for breaking the code of conduct. Stacy informed the committee Charla Coombe would attend the Canon Envirothon in Stacy’s place and accompany the winning school, Triad High School. Discussion was held. Rollie Spaniol stated the team that was disqualified from the competition will also be suspended from the Envirothon competition for two years and he felt this was a mistake. He concluded the team members that caused the problem were seniors and it will only punish underclassmen and the school as a whole since they cannot participate for two years. Further discussion on the matter was held.
Financial Management Focus Area Committee
Rollie informed the board there was a balanced budget, and the audit report was completed and ready to be presented. Rollie added the audit was done in May due to the cheaper rate since it was not completed around tax season. Rollie said the balanced budget does not reflect Jim Nelson’s full yearly salary. Jim’s grant will expire in July 2008 and the salary line item reflected a full year salary, the budget was updated not to include his full year salary, only the seven months he has guaranteed grant funds for his position. Rollie added that there would be more opportunities for additional grants to fund Jim’s salary. Rich commented he feels very comfortable funds would become available as well. Rollie commented there might be a method to save money on the building mortgage and explained Farm Credit Services has offered a new program AISWCD could benefit from. Discussion was held.
Legislative Committee
Chairman Jim Todd was absent from the meeting. Stacy showed the committee the ad that was purchased by AISWCD for the 2007 roster of state government officials along with the bottles that were included in the Ag Legislative Day baskets. Terry discussed the current resolutions 2007-1, 2007-2, 2007-3, 2007-4, and 2007-5. Discussion was held on the Legislative Day that was held by AISWCD. Sarah stated final expenses equaled a little over $5,800. Discussion was held.
Planning Taskforce
Aaron Ferguson referred to Rich Nichols for an update on the C-2000 Taskforce. Rich gave an update that the committee had met twice and a survey was created and sent to districts in regards to CPP funding. Rich asked Sarah to send a reminder on the following day to districts on the survey. Rich stated the taskforce elected Phyllis Mace as Chairperson due to Rich having a busy schedule and not being able to commit as chair.
Urban Community
Jim Nelson gave an update in Chairman Norbert Rider’s absence. Jim stated a grant through the Grand Victorian Foundation was being completed to gain funding to update the Urban Manual.
Area Vice President Reports
Area I: Mark Besse
Mark gave an update on budget cuts of $132,100 for districts including a $7,000 cut to the soil survey line. He stated this is not good for districts and he raised concerns over comments made by Director Chuck Hartke of IDOA in a Farm Bureau newsprint that alluded these cuts will not hurt districts. Mark commented on the building, the budget, Pope-Hardin dues, Disability Insurance for employees, and checking bank account FIDC limits. Sarah Dillman referred Mark to the handout (attached) that explained the insured amount of funds at Bank of Springfield. Mark questioned the raise in dues for Envirothon team registration from $100 to $150. Stacy explained the increase was to help cover the teams’ expenses of over $260. Discussion was held.
Area II: Wayne Enke
Absent, no report.
Area III: Steve Stierwalt
Steve stated he had no report.
Area IV: Norbert Rider
Absent, no report.
Old Business
Legislative Day
Already discussed under Legislative report.
Budgets
Rollie discussed the budgets during his Financial Management FAC update.
Pope-Hardin Dues
Terry updated the committee that a letter was sent to Pope-Hardin SWCD regarding their partial payment of their dues. The district has not corresponded with AISWCD in this matter. Rich Nichols sent a followup letter requesting a response from the district. Terry stated board action from March Quarterly Board was the district would not be allowed voting rights at the 2007 Annual Meeting. Discussion was held.
Disability Insurance:
Terry explained the background of this matter to the committee: the board gave ISWCDEA a request for disability insurance quotes that was to be submitted to the AISWCD board. Annyce Winters stated four companies provided bids for insurance at a meeting held by ISWCDEA. Annyce stated Standard Life produced the best quote for disability and gave a life insurance quote that is better than the current rate through Fort Dearborne. Annyce explained details of the quote from Standard Life. Discussion was held. (Quote is attached.)
Staff Evaluations
Aaron Ferguson stated staff evaluations were not completed as stated in the motion that was made during March Quarterly Board. Rich Nichols said he did not understand how the board wanted the evaluations completed. Terry said further discussion would be held at the board meeting the following day and the minutes might need to be updated from March.
New Business
Resolutions
Terry asked for discussion or motions on resolutions. Discussion was held. No motions were made.
Smithsonian Soils Exhibit
Stacy received a letter from the Illinois Soil Classifiers Association requesting support for a display of Illinois’ State Soil Monolith. Mark Besse asked that the topic be discussed at the Foundation meeting, the committee agreed.
Letter from Employees Association
Terry received a letter from ISWCDEA requesting revisions and review of MOU’s between district offices and partners. The letter asked for shared officer responsibilities and duty descriptions to be looked into. ISWCDEA is requesting a taskforce to review these items. Discussion was held. The committee felt they could not honor the request since it did not come from a SWCD.
Discussion was held on Employees Association and the line between ISWCDEA and AISWCD.
NACD Summer Meeting
Terry stated Erin Pate had made room reservations but no registrations have been made yet for the Legislative Conference in July. NRCS has provided an amendment to the current agreement between NRCS and AISWCD which would provide extra support for NACD activities. Terry stated the meeting will cover how to get involved in Federal Legislative issues, the North Central Region’s annual meeting, and how NACD works as a whole. Terry added he would like to see board members and/or legislative members, respectively, attend this meeting with an additional six to seven members attending with the additional funding.
NASCA Meeting
Rich Nichols stated he received a call from Wisconsin Conservation Districts, in regards to this being the year for Illinois to host the NASCA event. Steve Chard requested additional assistance in planning and recommended AISWCD. Rich said this would be an opportunity to display the accomplishments of Illinois to other states.
VermiComposting Symposium
Rich was approached by the planning committee of the VermiComposting Symposium, the group originally asked IDOA for help with the event, and Steve Chard referred the group to AISWCD. The group asked for AISWCD to manage the financial bookkeeping for the event, in exchange AISWCD would receive between $300-500 in revenue. The meeting will be held in February and in the past has had 70-80 attendees.
Aaron Ferguson, Annyce Winters, and Erin Pate left at 10:05 am to attend the Planning Taskforce meeting.
Mid-Executive Meeting Date
Discussion was held on which month to meet. The meeting was set for Monday, July 2, 2007 at 7:30 a.m.
Creation of a Building Taskforce
Terry explained the Planning Committee FAC requested a taskforce be formed to oversee the AISWCD building. The taskforce would handle aspects of maintenance, and other decisions regarding the building. Terry asked for approval to recommend to the full board to form this Taskforce. Steve Stierwalt made the motion, Mark Besse seconed, MCVV. Terry stated the group would also help with the building sign and logo decision. Terry said he would like to have three logos on the website with an e-mail link set to districts for them to look at before Summer Conference to pick which logo they favored. Discussion was held if districts should vote on the logo or if a Taskforce should make the decision. Rollie made a recommendation to set a majority limit for approval on the logos and have voting done by ballots. Logos that did not receive the majority vote, would be eliminated and the process would continue until a decision had been reached. Rollie felt a live vote would not be a good measure to determine the logo. The percentage needed for a majority vote was discussed. The percentage determined for a majority vote was 65% and a decision was reached to have the board determine one new logo to be voted on against the old logo, to make voting easier with only two options.
Flag Pole
Terry asked for discussion on accepting a private donation of $200 by Ken Kesler for purchasing a flag pole to install at the AISWCD office. Discussion was held.
Office Driveway
Jim Nelson was approached by IEPA about installing a pervious driveway at the AISWCD office for an education tool. A grant would cover construction expenses. Terry stated an architect landscaper should draw up plans for the office location to determine a plan. Discussion was held.
Employee/Director Recognition
Terry informed the committee a few requests had been submitted for employee and director recognition for service including Virginia Hayer and Betty Gorman. Terry thought 25-30 years of service should be the minimum for recognition. The committee decided to mention these people during the Annual Business Meeting at Summer Conference as requested.
NACD
Terry Davis explained the poor condition of the NACD building in Washington D.C. A challenge was put in place by Mississippi to all past presidents to send $100 to fund the needed renovations of the building. McDonough County SWCD will put the same challenge forward to all districts in Illinois. Discussion was held.
NRSC Agreement
The amendment to the agreement was discussed. Rich explained extra funds were offered by Bill Gradle. The extra funds were in the amount of $25,000 bringing the new agreement total to $75,000.
Ag Day at the Illinois State Fair
Stacy Stremsterfer explained in the past years she had been in charge of taking care of the winning Farm Family, but she was not going to be present this year, due to maternity leave. The committee decided to let discussion continue with the full board.
Website
Stacy stated she found a company to rebuild the AISWCD website and allow AISWCD to maintain the site after the rebuild was complete. Stacy showed a template from Nebraska’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts of what the staff at AISWCD would like the rebuild to be modeled after. Stacy stated the new site could have a legislative page where districts could access the AISWCD’s stance on current bills going through legislation. Other options were discussed. The price of the rebuild would be $1200 and is covered by the NRCS agreement amendment.
Whiteside County Letter
Terry read a letter from Whiteside County SWCD directors regarding the governor’s proposed budget and the cuts SWCD’s would sustain. Discussion was held.
Approval of Minutes
Rollie made a motion to approve the minutes from March Quarterly Board and the Mid-Executive meeting, Steve Stierwalt seconded, MCVV.
Adjournment
Rollie made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Steve Stierwalt, MCVV. The meeting adjourned at 11:17 a.m.