Minutes of the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District s1

Franklin Soil and Water Conservationz District

Board Meeting MINUTES Louisburg, NC 27549

Meeting Number: 9 Date: October 17, 2013

Supervisors Present: Tom Gulley, Chairman Ricky May, Vice-Chairman Shirley Pendergrass, Member Charles Mitchell, Member

Staff Present: Cindy Phelps, District Administrative Specialist Charles Bass, NC Ag Cost Share Specialist Quinton Cooper, Resource Conservationist

Guest Present: Ralston James, Area IV Regional Coordinator

Call to Order – Tom Gulley, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 9:08 a.m.

Minutes and Agenda - Shirley Pendergrass motioned to approve the October 17 meeting agenda and the Board meeting minutes from September 19, 2013. Charles Mitchell seconded. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report – Cindy Phelps - District checking account balance is $2,888.39 o 62¢ interest was earned since the last meeting o Following transactions were made since October meeting: . #1786 – 10-7-13 – Wal-Mart – answering machine for District phone . #1787 – 10-7-13 – Cindy Phelps – reimbursement for mailing soil survey . Deposit 10-11-13 - $151.96 – Recv’d. from Charles Bass to pay room upgrade at CET . Ck. 1788 – 10-11-13 - $151.96 – First Citizens Bank – for extra charge on Franklin County Visa acct. – Bass – room upgrade at CET - County Budget expenditures for period ending Sept. 30, 2013 total $55,210.11 o Unencumbered balance is $214,424.89 o 20.48% of county budget spent for FY13-14 - Charles Mitchell motioned to accept the treasurer's report. Shirley Pendergrass seconded. Motion carried.

NC Ag Cost Share Report – Charles Bass - Presented one application for Board approval: o Diversion – .75 acres - $2339 . Charles Mitchell motioned to approve application. Ricky May seconded. Motion carried. - Presented Contract for Board approval: o 35-2014-003 – Diversion - .75 acres - $2339 – Ranking Score not available due to DWQ website issues . Ricky May motioned to approve contract. Charles Mitchell seconded. Motion carried. - $44,392 remaining in PY2014 Cost Share allocation - Charles reminded Board that $12,466 was allocated in PY2013 for a Lagoon Closure. Project will require $35,885 from PY2014 allocation to complete contract; will leave a remaining balance of $8507 for PY2014 - Presented one Request for Payment o 35-2014-002 – 17 mo. Sod based rotation - $7604 . Charles Mitchell motioned to approve payment. Ricky May seconded. Motion carried. - Attended Conservation Employees Training (CET) o Participated in Nutrient Management workshop – new software information was discussed

Resource Conservationist Report – Quinton Cooper - Reported that he has missed much of the last month due to the birth of his son - Assisted with Progressive Agriculture Safety Day with Cooperative Extension o Due to weather, they visited each school that was scheduled to attend: Cross Creek Charter, Laurel Mill & Royal o Mike Smith assisted with the wildlife presentation . Mr. Smith has proven to be an excellent volunteer and has a wide array of live animals to share with children at events – snakes, spiders, etc. - Assisted Nash Soil & Water with Environmental Field Days two days this week and will help again tomorrow

Tar Pam Report – Louise Hart - Cindy Phelps presented the Tar Pam Report in Louise’s absence - Participated with District staff at the Senior Day in the Park event sponsored by the Franklin Co. Dept. of Aging - Attended Conservation Employees Training (CET) o Participated in Core CCAP training - Assisted in preparing and mailing MBCI invitations - Assisted with State Fair booth preparation and set up - Assisted Bunn landowner by site visit to check for wetlands - Made field visit to Ag Cost Share participant to check if 17 mo. Sod based rotation had been implemented

Old Business

Market Based Conservation Initiative (MBCI) - Interagency landowner is planned for October 24 at 6:30 at the Cooperative Extension Annex o Tom Potter will conduct the meeting o Not much response from the landowners contacted – only 3 landowners have called to date o Cindy said this may be due to Federal Gov’t. shutdown immediately after the invitations were mailed o Some folks may have tried calling, but calls were not answered due to shutdown o Board advised to plan for approximately 30 people to attend o Board advised no newspaper announcement should be released due to limited area under fly zone

Area IV Fall Meeting - Fall Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 21 at the NC Rural Development Center in Raleigh o Charles Mitchell motioned to approve purchase of two silent auction items valued at $20 each and two $15 cash door prizes for the meeting. Shirley Pendergrass seconded. Motion carried. o Board discussed conflict of date with the November Board meeting . Cindy will review alternative dates and call Board to reschedule November meeting

Donation to Foundation for Soil & Water Conservation, Inc. - Tabled at September meeting - Charles Bass suggested $100 each year over a three year period o Board discussed financial assistance that the District has received over the years o Shirley Pendergrass motioned to donate $250 each year over a three year period. Ricky May seconded. Motion carried.

New Business

State Matching Funds Application - Matching Funds application was received on September 16, 2013 o Board Chairman and Franklin County Finance Director have signed application and it was mailed to the Division on September 17, 2013

Franklin SWCD Contract Amendment - Staff presented the amended contract between the District and the NC Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services o Amendment includes funds provided to the District by the NC General Assembly for FY13-14 o Ralston James explained some of the background behind District Contracts and money appropriated to Districts . Board reviewed Amendment Number 01-2014, Contract #G40100011713SWC. . Shirley Pendergrass moved to approve signing the amendment. Ricky May seconded. Motion carried.

District Equipment Request - Staff requested the Board consider purchasing laptop computers for District staff 2 o Staff needs laptops frequently whenever training is offered through the Division or NRCS o One laptop currently in office – purchased for use by Tar Pam Tech with NCACSP funds . Older laptop purchased in 2007 by Foundation is outdated and insufficient for needs o Current computers (except District PC) are federal . Recent shutdown enlightened staff to the inadequacy of District computer equipment . Staff work was limited because we couldn’t access federal PC’s o Staff presented cost estimates for Dell laptops o Cindy requested the District consider purchasing three laptops, but no less than two new PC’s . Ralston made suggestions concerning the type of software needed; County IT may have licenses for multiple PC’s (Microsoft Office, etc.) . He can also possibly find better prices for Districts . The Division highly recommends that District staff have laptops o Charles Mitchell recommended that staff work with Ralston to locate and purchase computer equipment o Tom mentioned that staff should have one computer that is internet accessible while in the field o Board recommended that staff work with Ralston to find appropriate PC’s and prices and present to Board at next meeting o Tom suggested that the Board allow $2000 towards the purchase of three laptop computers

2014 NCASWCD Annual Meeting - Annual Meeting will be held in Asheville at the Grove Park Inn on January 5-7, 2014 o Registration deadline is December 2, 2013 o Board was provided with registration and hotel information o Parking fee will apply to park inside ($15) – outside parking will remain free for this year o Board advised to contact the office if they need additional information or help with registration - Charles Mitchell will serve on the Research & Technology Committee and plans to attend meeting

Other New Business - Ralston explained options being reviewed to re-align Districts - Charles Mitchell updated the Board on the following: o A Small Grain meeting will be held on October 22 @ Epsom Fire Dept. o Farm City Week will be held at Foster Vineyards on November 1 o One application was received for the Conservation Farm Family Award . Award will be presented by Novozymes at the Farm City Week celebration o Discussed the new ‘Certified Safe Farm’ program o Cooperative Extension Tree Giveaway will be held the third Friday in March . Asked the Board to consider a possible donation at the November meeting o Soil Sample fees will take effect November 28 – March 31 o Waste Sample fees will go up from $5 to $8 o The Regional Agronomist, Kenny Yarborough, has resigned

Being no further business, Charles Mitchell motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 a.m. Shirley Pendergrass seconded. Motion carried.

Next regular meeting date has not been determined at this time.

______Carvel Cheves, Secretary/Treasurer