Minutes

                   NEBRASKA LOESS HILLS RC&D COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES

                           Tuesday, June 22, 2010 at the RC&D Council office in Oakland.

The meeting was called to order at 5:25 by Katherine Rhea, President.   Board members present were  Gary Loftis, Karen Linnenbrink, Dick Leitschuck, Jim Peterson, Kathy  Rhea, Larry Bockelman, John Ross.  Kent Neumann, RC&D Coordinator and Deborah Ward, RC&D Program Support Assistant were also present.  Excused absences included  Mark Lorensen, Perry Rogers, Elden Wesely,  Stephanie Fritz, Lance Hedquist.  Unexcused absences included John Kruse, Tony Weatherman,  Joe Pollard, Carroll Welte, Danny Stoeber,  Tony Gomez.    

5:25  Meeting called to order by Katherine Rhea,  President.    

Agenda:  Motion to approve agenda as written by John Ross.  Larry Bockelman seconded. Motion approved.  

Mayl Meeting Minutes— Minutes were reviewed. Larry Bockelman moved to approve May meeting minutes as written.  Gary Loftis seconded.  Motion approved.

Treasurer’s Report—  Reviewed a copy of the May Treasurer’s Report.   Opening balance of  $20,762.27.   Deposits totaling $200.00 from weed booklet expense reimbursement from Washington & Thurston counties.   Expenditures totaled  $1,423.62  for wages and tax payments.  Closing balance for RC&D account:  $19,529.65.  MMVWMA account had opening balance of  $24.86.   No activity in this account, closing balance $24.86.  Byway account had opening balance of $1,319.33  deposits totaling $50.11 for membership dues and PayPal confirmation deposits;   expenditures of $157.61 for  Byway account closing balance of  $1,211.83  Total Resources: $26,585.49.   Dick Leitschuck reported that he notified the CPA of the merit pay increase for Deborah Ward in the amount of  50 cents an hour effective May 1^st.  Dick Leitschuck  moved to accept May Treasurer’s report.  Larry Bockelman seconded.  Motion approved.

Dick Leitschuck also proposed that the finance committee explore getting a CD with some of the existing funds.  Discussion ensued.   Would want separate CD with staggered maturity dates.  Explore purchasing CD in August.  CD will be put on agenda for July meeting.  Dick will explore rates and report in July and finance committee can then make recommendations.  Dick also informed the board that we received the invoice for state association dues, and it increased by $50.00.   Dick Leitschuck moved that the state association invoice be paid after October 1, 2010, the start of the next fiscal year.  Gary Loftis seconded.  Motion carried.

Training—possible training topics were discussed.  Board interested in training in parliamentary procedure.  Larry Bockelman to talk to Mark Schroeder (sp?) for possible training on either November 4, 11, or 18 at a location to be determined.  The target audience will be adults and will include demonstration and basic information for context. 

  Old Business

Progress on meeting w/Dakota/Dodge counties:   Kathy will talk with Dick and choose dates.

Develop Elevator Speech:  Karen Linnenbrink noticed a good elevator speech in and RC&D magazine in past few months.  It may have been in meeting packets. Deb Ward will go through old packets to see if it can be located.

Brew School Project   Brew School project discussed.  Kent will prepare project proposal form so board can vote at next meeting .  It would be a two day workshop per Kent’s recent discussions with Chase Becker.

New Business

Project Proposals:  Project #10-272 Energy Fair:   The Second Annual energy fair is being organized by the Center for Rural Affairs.  CFRA has requested the RC&D consider becoming a sponsor of the project and provide honorariums for 13 speakers scheduled for break out sessions.  Discussion ensued and the speaker/topic list was reviewed.  Because the Energy Fair meets the goals/strategies set forth in both the RC&D annual plan and the 5 year plan, and because CFRA has been a strong supporter of the RC&D for many year, Gary Loftis moved that the RC&D provide up to $100.00 for each of thirteen speakers invoiced through the CFRA.  Jim Peterson seconded the motion.  Motion Carried.

Project Proposals:  Project #10-270 Lyons Farmers Market, #10-271 Looking for Art 2011 and #10-273 Scrap Tire Collection 2010:   Project proposal forms were reviewed.  Dick Leitschuck moved to adopt these projects.  John Ross seconded.  Motion carried. 

Quarterly Review of Plan of Work:  Plan of Work was reviewed and various projects were discussed.  Dick Leitschuck moved to accept and consider the quarterly review complete.  Larry Bockelman seconded.  Motion carried.

Judge for State Association Nominations.  Kathy Rhea encouraged all present to consider volunteering for this role and discussed her past experiences with it.  If no-one else volunteers, Kathy will serve in that role.

Projects:  #10-258 Goldenrod Hills Immunization Clinic, #10-264 Looking for Art 2010, #10-268, Pender Fema Grant:  Status of these projects was discussed.  Gary Loftis moved to consider these projects officially closed.  Jim Peterson seconded.  Motion carried.

Committee Reports

Economic Development.  Karen Linnenbrink reported that Cuming County has a new executive director of  Economic Development, Gary Clark.

Dick Leitschuck reported Pesticide container recycling going very well using a rented space at Tremains.

Discussion regarding HHW waste collection.  If funding is received it may not cover roll offs.  Dick Leitschuck moved that the communities hosting the collection, Homer, Lyons & Wisner be asked to contribute $100.00 toward the cost of waste disposal.  Larry Bockelman seconded.  Motion carried.

Next Meeting.

Next meeting scheduled for July 13^th at 1:00 p.m. immediately following the scrap tire collection at the Cuming County Fairgound in West Point.     

Meeting  Adjourned at  7:00 p.m.

Deborah Ward,   Recording Secretary