MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY SOIL & WATER CONSERVATION DISTRICT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
November 19, 2012
The Meeting was CALLED TO ORDER by the Chairman at 9:00 AM. Directors T. Pahucki, M.
Pillmeier, J. Wright, D. Hulle and G. Keeton were present, along with K. Sumner, C. DeGroodt, K.
Brown and M. Monahan (OCSWCD), J. Heller (NRCS), F. Barber (FSA) and R. Baglia (CCE).
Hulle made the Motion, seconded by Keeton, to accept October’s Board MINUTES.
CORRESPONDENCE – The District received a letter from Senator William J. Larkin, Jr. regarding
the flood mitigation grant funding. He expressed his disappointment with the way the NYS DEC
handled Orange County’s application.
The District was copied on a letter that Assemblywoman Annie Rabbitt sent to County Legislator
Pahucki regarding the flood control funds ($2 million dollars) allocated in the NYS budget this year by
Senator John Bonacic to benefit the areas along the Wallkill River. She requested that the District give
consideration to using some of the funding to hire an independent firm to perform a cost study anaylsis
for dredging the Wallkill River in Orange County.
The Ag and Farmland Protection Board Meeting (AFPB) Agenda was passed around. The next
meeting is scheduled on November 21st at 7:30 PM. The Minutes from the last AFPB meeting were
also passed around.
The New York State Non-point Source Ag Grant Round 18 contract will be signed and notarized after
the District Meeting.
The Financial Report for October was approved by Keeton, seconded by Wright.
It was mentioned that accounts receivables are charged a monthly finance charge of 1.5% after 30 days
of being overdue.
SWCD STAFF REPORTS
K. Brown (SWCD) – The District’s no till seeder had a barn come down on top of it during Hurricane
Sandy. It’s since been moved to Phillip Johnson’s farm since he is the District’s great plains dealer
awaiting a price quote for repairs. The damage was reported on the farmer’s insurance.
District staff attended a first ever webinar for the Ag Non-point Source Ag Grant Round 19 Proposal.
Five trees went down into the Wallkill River between DeBuck and C. Lain farms during Sandy.
Suburban Excavating will go out on Friday or Saturday and pull them out.
Pillmeier mentioned that along the Wallkill River, by a golf course, there is a construction gravel pit.
Work was completed there on Saturday and the crew knocked down some trees and left them. One or
two of the trees went straight across the river. Keeton suggested someone contact the company and let
them know the DEC will be contacted if the trees are not removed.
Monahan and Brown attended an AEM training last week in Auburn.
There will be a Farm Bureau meeting on November 28, 2012 in Kingston.
On November 27 and 28 there will be a CCA conference.
M. Monahan (SWCD) – Monahan oversaw construction of a compost pad at a local orchard.
He has been working on the Pelleter Project, completing AEM Tier 2 worksheets on local farms
applying for the next ag grant round and soil testing.
Monahan is assisting with the Ag NPS Round 19 proposal, creating maps, getting cost estimates and
printing out practice standards.
Sumner and Monahan attended the Lower Hudson Coalition of Conservation District’s Stormwater
Conference.
Pahucki asked when does the soil boring get done on the black dirt. Sumner said there is no set
schedule for that. The last time NRCS was solicited to get it remapped. Sumner said he suspects that
currently their soil survey operations are working on a skeleton crew. Heller added that soil survey
staff have been scaled back nationwide. Sumner said that it could be arranged for a private sector soil
scientist to do re-mapping for people, but it will have to be paid for. Pahucki would like to see an upto-date soil mapping completed. Baglia agreed, especially since we’ve had all of these storms. Heller
offered to assist the District with requesting a re-mapping via NRCS. Sumner added that we lose
approximately ½ " of soil a year.
K. Sumner (SWCD) – The Legislative Budget Hearing went well. Sumner thanked Pahucki for
supporting the District and adding nice complimentary comments regarding office activities.
Pellet Production – moving along. There are now four paying jobs. Three in Ulster County and one in
Orange. Over 11 tons of pellets were made at the Tantillo Farm and 9 tons at the Serinni Farm. Last
week the pelleter was operating at the Brown farm and produced 10 tons of pellets. The pellets from
the Brown farm are being bought by the Orangetown Highway Department at $200/ton. The Pellet
Project bought the hay bales from the Brown farm and paid for tractor assistance. Bob, the Pellet
Project Manager, is currently looking for a contact person at the Wallkill Correctional Facility, to ask
about renting roof space for the pelleter.
Baglia asked the District for their trooper scales back. It was mentioned that the pellet project may
have to purchase their own set for future use.
There was no significant damage from Hurricane Sandy reported to the District.
The next Round of Ag NPS is due December 10th. Staff are working on the proposal. There were 20
inquiries, but there are 15 people applying for the Wallkill grant and two for the Neversink.
There is no news on the two million dollars.
The Myruski streambank project was completed. The District is hoping to complete one more large
streambank project by the end of this year along Rutgers Creek.
Several construction projects are either being designed or have been completed.
INTERAGENCY REPORTS
R. Baglia (CCE) - Cornell’s current Agriculture Program Board Report was passed out.
Baglia attended the Lower Hudson Coalition of Conservation District’s Stormwater Conference.
Ray Range was hired as the new CCE Commercial Produce Educator. He will work on programs that
Maire Ullrich was involved with.
The CCE Annual Meeting will be the 1st Monday in December at the golf course on Golf Links Road.
Baglia is working on a Stormwater Series that will be offered in the spring.
F. Barber (FSA) – No new program updates. It’s all based on the Farm Bill. FSA is working on
acreage reports.
Farm Bill – One of the provisions in the House Bill looks at making it easier to take ground out of
CREP in times of high grain prices and putting it back into production.
DCP – They may be getting rid of DCP permanently.
It looks like there will be some new dairy programs to address issues with milk.
Consolidating the 23 existing conservation programs into 13.
Telling producers they need to stay up to date and maintain their Conservation Plans.
There is no news on the lease.
J. Heller (NRCS) – NRCS is busy taking EQIP and AMA 2013 signups. They’ve increased their signups this year by 10 applications.
NRCS received 9 Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program applications.
Heller attended an AEM training in Auburn on November 13th and 14th.
David White, who served as Chief of the NRCS for the last four years, announced he is retiring
effective December 3, 2012. Jason Weller will serve as Acting Chief.
Farm Bill – Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) is to be created.
Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) – Not a lot of sign-ups. It will be rolled into the EQIP
program. WHIP is specific to different species.
Heller mentioned that the 2nd half of a PBS documentary will be airing tonight regarding the Dust
Bowl, which chronicles the worst man-made ecological disaster in American history.
Pahucki asked if the Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) is still active. Heller said there are some
projects they can still work on.
OLD BUSINESS – Sumner has been moving along the 2013 Wallkill Maintenance Agreement with
assistance from Pahucki. Sumner again suggested the idea of using a private sector attorney. A draft
agreement was handed out to the Directors for review. Pahucki asked what is the main problem with
using the Orange County Law Department (OCLD). Sumner said because of their high work load, it
can take a long time to hear back from them. Also, he is unsure if the person working there fully
understands the project. Pahucki stated he will contact Stacey at the OCLD and get her up to speed
with the project. There was a brief discussion over how this process was handled the last time.
Sumner summarized again his suggested approach to the bidding process which is modeled after an
‘equipment rental list’ issued by the County DPW. Bidders would offer hourly rates for various pieces
of equipment suited to the Flood Control Project Maintenance work. The SWCD would then select the
lowest responsible bidders for each piece of equipment and add them to a SWCD ‘equipment rental
list’. We could then select contractors from the list based on the nature of the work needed. Sumner
felt this approach would make best use of the maintenance fund and would offer more flexibility and
responsiveness in completing necessary work. Pahucki asked Sumner for a complete blank bid packet
for the project. There was then a brief discussion over Municipal Law. Sumner said if possible he
would try to get a free consultation with a private attorney and the Directors agreed.
Sumner asked if he and Brown should attend the next Ag & Farmland Protection Board Meeting to
again discuss the possibility of the AFPB funding some of the District’s no till equipment rental
program. Since Pahucki said they are waiting for D. Church’s input, Sumner said they would not
attend.
NEW BUSINESS – Two resolutions for the Ag NPS Round 19 Grant Program were presented to the
Board for approval. All were in favor of submitting. One is for the Neversink River Watershed and
the other the Wallkill River Watershed. Both were signed by the Chairman.
Pahucki asked who the Farm Bureau representative is on the Board. He was told it is John Wright.
Pahucki then asked if the Farm Bureau had attorneys that could offer advice/assist with the Wallkill
Maintenance bid process.
The NEXT MEETING is scheduled for Monday, December 17, 2012 at 9 AM. The MEETING was
adjourned at 10:16 AM on a Motion by Hulle, seconded by Keeton.
Respectfully submitted,
Christine DeGroodt
Secretary to the Board