State of Minnesota
Sibley County
HIGH ISLAND CREEK TMDL PROJECT
JOINT POWERS BOARD
Joint Powers Board
McLeod, Renville, & Sibley Counties
Proceeding – October 19th 2012
In Attendance:
The following board members were present at the meeting: Joy Cohrs, Sibley County
Commissioner, Bob Fox, Renville County Commissioner and Leonard Eibs, Chair of the High Island
Watershed District. Others present at the meeting were Scott MacLean, MPCA/Project Manager,
Brady Swanson, Watershed Projects Coordinator and Ron Otto, Watershed Technician.
The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m.
Minutes
A motion was made by Leonard Eibs and seconded by Joy Cohrs to approve the Joint Powers
Board minutes from the July 19th, 2012 meeting with three date corrections. The motion passed
unanimously.
Budget
Brady Swanson summarized the budget totals for the project to this point. He explained that
several of the work plan’s sub elements had been exercised since the last meeting. Element #1
and #2, non point source and point source management measures, had not been utilized as no
projects had been completed since the last meeting. One project had, however, been
developed and was awaiting landowner opinion and insight.
Furthermore, it was noted that monitoring expenditures were not as high as they were at the last
meeting. At this point board member Eibs noted that it had been unseasonably dry since the
last meeting and he had expected monitoring efforts to be minimized. A brief discussion of
MPCA monitoring protocol occurred.
Best Management Practices
Ron Otto gave an update on best management practices put in place up to this point in 2012.
So far, Sibley county has sold 17 permits, 8 loans have been completed, and another 3 inquiries
have been received. McLeod County has had 5 SSTS upgrades to this point, and Renville
County has not had any SSTS updates this year in High Island Creek watershed.
Beyond SSTS, 25 rock tile inlets have been signed up by 5 separate land owners, 7 inlets have
been completed, and a water and sediment basin has been finished. Commissioner Fox
inquired about the water and sediment basin. Ron explained that this was a practice installed in
a field that regularly had manure applied to it.
Education and Outreach Activities
Brady summarized the public outreach and educational activities since the last JPB meeting. He
noted that a booth for the watershed was tended at both the Sibley and Nicollet County fairs,
another newsletter was sent out, and the calendar/photo contest was just wrapping up.
Brady also explained to the board that the work plan requires an SSTS workshop to be held, and
that he had been working on developing one in combination with the Rush River Watershed
TMDL. The workshop is scheduled for November 20th, at 7:00 p.m. and will include the High Island
Creek Watershed Project staff, Sibley County Environmental Services, Sibley County SSTS
Inspector, and a SSTS installer. Brady explained further that one individual from each
department would be speaking to the group and hoped to cover many questions regarding
maintenance, inspections, and mound systems.
Old Business
Brady briefly explained that semi-annual reports were completed and submitted to the MPCA
since the last meeting date. Furthermore, BWSR e-link reporting requirements were met.
New Business
The first item of new business to be discussed was that of grant applications. Brady explained
that since the last meeting, several projects had been developed and grant applications were
started. The applications were not submitted however, due to uncertainty regarding the need
for board approval to apply. Brady asked the board whether they feel approval should be
sought for grant applications themselves. Commissioner Fox noted that given the duration of
time between JPB meeting dates, it may arise that a grant RFP may open and close before
approval would be granted.
After discussing the topic, the JPB board members decided that pre approval to submit grant
applications will be given on the notion that Sibley County board of Commissioners also grants
approval for the application. Board member Eibs motioned, Commissioner Cohrs seconded,
and it was unanimously adopted that the High Island Creek Joint Powers Board grants pre
approval for grant applications to be submitted given that said application is brought to the
Sibley County board of Commissioners and they also give permission to apply.
The second item of new business regarded project overages and/or expansion. Brady
explained that a recent project had over run its estimate by a sizable margin. The project itself
addressed erosion issues compromising the integrity of a clay liner in a manure storage basin.
When the project was brought to the tech committee for approval, an estimated rough cost
was given. The project cost grew over the course of construction due to the issues being more
severe than originally thought. Brady inquired whether the board felt there is a need for
additional approvals when instances as such occur.
A long discussion on the topic ensued and it was determined that during instance in which
project costs exceed estimated project costs by 25% or more, additional approval will be
required by the technical committee. Board member Eibs motioned, commissioner Cohrs
seconded, and the board unanimously adopted the motion that additional approval by the
High Island Creek TMDL Technical Committee will be required for projects that will foresee ably
exceed, or expand beyond, estimated project costs by 25% or more of the total estimated
project cost.
With the board all together, Brady asked whether there was a unanimous decision on whether
he should attend the MPCA civic engagement cohort meetings. The board agreed that this
would be a good opportunity, and would like to see him participate.
Brady explained that since the last meeting he had learned the Minnesota Annualized Feedlot
Runoff Model and had been employing it on a project locally. Furthermore, he explained that
the MPCA water quality monitoring season had recently ended. He and Ron had taken down
monitoring equipment and put into storage until spring. Seasonal summaries, and MPCA data
requests, had been completed and submitted early.
Other Business/Questions
No other Business or Questions were brought forth.
Since the last JPB meeting, coordinator Swanson had attended the following meetings: (3) High
Island Creek Watershed District meetings, (2) Friends of High Island meetings, (3) Sibley County
Soil and Water Conservation District meetings, (2) Renville County Water Plan Task Force
meetings, Sibley and Nicollet county joint NRCS prioritization of objectives meeting, (2)
Jessenland Township meetings, Jessenland Township site visit, New Auburn city council meeting,
and NRCS stream bank erosion tour.
Next Meeting:
The next High Island Creek Watershed Joint Powers Board meeting is scheduled for
Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 in the Sibley County Courthouse Commissioners Room starting
at 10:00am.
Adjourn
A motion was made by board member Eibs and seconded by Commissioner Cohrs to
adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:45 a.m.
High Island Creek TMDL Project
Joint Powers Board
McLeod, Renville, & Sibley Counties
Attest:
Secretary
Chair of the Board