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Meeting Minutes for May 14, 2024

Date and Time: Tuesday, May 14, 2024, at 2:00 PM

List of Attendees

Board Members: Debbie Lee, President

Kent Grant, Secretary/Treasurer

Ginny DeJong - Member

Morgan Wagoner - Member

Kelly McCaw - LPCD Bookkeeping

NRCS - Ed McCaw

 

Call to Order: – 2:00 p.m. by Debbie Lee, LPCD President

Welcome and Introductions: - Debbie

Approval of Prior Meeting Minutes: – Kent

Ginny moved that the minutes from the April 9 th meeting be approved, Kent seconded, and the motion passed.

Financial Report 

Kelly gave the financial report from the documents she had prepared and distributed to Board members.

Other Business/Discussion

  1. River Trailer – Ginny
    • River Trailer fee – target is to make $250/year. If damaged, cost of parts plus shop fees is in rental agreement. Cost of replacement time to shop +5%. Cleaning fee is $200, deposit is $200, Rental is $50/day (same fee for River Trailer, PlotMaster, and Waterjet Stinger). NRCS can assist, but LPCD primary coordinator. Ginny will be the lead on all three pieces of equipment. Checks only for damage deposit. If paying for rental with a check, then need to collect a second check for damage deposit. If the River Trailer goes out with a NRCS person, then considered outreach and no charge for use.
  2. Scholarship
    • Debbie sent out letters to all applicants. The scholarship program paperwork is in filing cabinet
  3. Seedlings – Ginny
    • Seedling/Survival Supply Orders: 120 orders and $18,000 in sales (seedlings and survival supplies), $531 in refunds (2)
    • Spring 2024 Seedling Distribution: Friday, May 17th, at Durango USDA Ag Service Center from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
    • Kent will get $200 in petty cash (bills and coins) for making change.
    • Getting Seedlings Ready for Distribution: Will meet Thursday evening at Ginny’s shop to do this. Morgan is will be returning from a First Responders meeting.
    • Flash Sale: A flash sale at the Kline Fire Station like the one last year is a “maybe” at this point.
    • Cost of Seedlings: Preliminary numbers were furnished for each nursery, but will be finalized once invoices are received:
      • CSFS (CO) – $8,825.58 (shipped order and additional order not yet received)
      • Evergreen (WI) – $1,565 for seedlings and ≈ $571.00 for shipping for a total of %
      • Lincoln Oakes (ND) – $5,253
      • Total – ≈ $16,154.00
    • Seedling Sales: ≈ $17,000 right now – down $5,000 in inventory since 5/5/24.
    • As of 5/5 – $15,707 in seedlings sold and $1,071 in survival supplies sold.
    • Store closed to seedling sales on Wednesday, but can still purchase survival supplies online. Seedling sales program email list from Barb (169 people/entities) has been added to by Ginny and is now up to 369 unique emails.
  4. Meeting With County Commissioner Marsha Porter-Norton:
    • Debbie is meeting with Marsha about new La Plata County Extension Office head, La Plata Open Space Conservancy, etc. Debbie asked Morgan to attend this along with her.
  5. Denver Conference
    • Morgan will be attending a conference in Denver to pull funding for landscape scale intervention 

NRCS Update - Ed McCaw, NRCS District Conservationist and Team Seven Lead

  •  NRCS Personnel/Position Status: No applicants for Lead Conservationist position. Two applicants for Tribal Liaison position, and it was offered to one of the applicants and they turned it down. Will hold interviews for WTF Forester position next week. The position will be located in Durango, but will cover Cortez and Mancos Field Office areas. Engineering Tech position not being filled – sharing Engineer Tech with Cortez/Mancos office.
  • Unfunded Cooperative Agreements: Reviewing unfunded cooperative agreements. LPCD use of NRCS equipment can begin when LPCD gets district staff. 
  • EQIP/CSP: EQIP June 1st obligation deadline. 18 pre-approvals and signing contracts now. CSP has 8 applicants, ranked, waiting to see who
  • SUIT Tribe: 128,000 acres of rangeland was signed up. This is a big deal! Signing should be at end of May.
  • Outreach Programs: Children’s Water Festival at FLC is tomorrow. May 29th – 5 th Grader Conservation Day in Pagosa Springs. Southern Ute Ag Day is June 10th and 11th .
  • Field Season: Certified Technical Assistance going again – first time in a year. Ed wants NRCS people in the field 3-4 days/week.

Next Meeting

Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at the USDA Ag Service Center, 31 Suttle St, Durango.

Meeting Adjourned: 3:50pm

Meeting minutes taken by Kent Grant, LPCD Secretary/Treasurer