October 2003 Meeting Minutes

PACD Executive Council Meeting
Nittany Lion Inn, State College, PA
October 30, 2003

Welcome (Miller)
PACD President C. Jarrett Miller (Erie) welcomed everyone to the meeting and led attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance. Don Bowser (Fayette) performed the invocation.

Roll Call (Hildenbrandt)
PACD Secretary George Hildenbrandt (Centre) called the roll. 30 counties were present, which constituted a quorum.

Minutes of July 22, 2003 (Hildenbrandt)
PACD Secretary George Hildenbrandt presented the minutes from July 22, 2003.

It was moved by Slosky (Washington) and seconded by Nowicki (Pike) to accept the minutes.

President's Report (Miller)
PACD President C. Jarrett Miller (Erie) presented the following report:

• Jarrett thanked the DEP Field Reps for their support with the Fall Region Meetings and the PACD Strategic Planning Initiative. He thanked PACD staff for planning the Fall Meeting. Jarrett also expressed his thanks to everyone for their support during his recent illness.
• He attended three of the PACD Region Meetings, the PACD Strategic Planning Meeting in Harrisburg in October, and the National Envirothon.
• Next month he is planning to attend the Ohio River Basin Initiative in Cincinnati, OH, along with former PACD President Ron Rohall.
• Jarrett thanked everyone for their contributions to the Association and stated that he is looking forward to a good year.

Executive Director's Report (Marquart)
PACD Executive Director Susan Fox Marquart presented the following report:

• Susan noted that the Nittany Lion Inn is a new location for the PACD Fall Meeting, which was held concurrently with the annual Watershed Specialist Meeting this year. She said that the location seems to work well, and that the meetings will probably be held together at the same location in 2004.
• Susan has been working with DEP and other Ag organizations to encourage farmers to register for the Water Resources Planning. She will also be participating in a satellite downlink on November 10, 2003 as the PACD representative. We will have three to five minutes during that broadcast to talk about the importance of registering.
• PACD submitted Funding Requests to both DEP and the Department of Agriculture. Susan was able to speak with the Secretary of Agriculture, George Wolff, regarding the funding proposal, but has not yet had the opportunity to speak with DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty.
• Susan reminded attendees that the Dirt and Gravel Roads program is funded through the gas tax. She urged attendees to speak with their legislators if the gas tax legislation should open this fall. This legislation opens only every six to eight years, and it is critical that we be ready to address the issue when the session opens, as the session may be as short as one day. Susan urged that attendees speak to their legislators now, so that we and they are prepared. She reported that an action alert had already been distributed during the meeting and sent via e-mail. The alert would also be sent out to Conservation District Legislative Contacts following the meeting.
• Susan attended all seven PACD Region Meetings and a number of other meetings.
• Meeting planning also continues, including the Fall Meeting, assisting in coordinating the Watershed Specialist training, other grant-related meeting planning, such as the CAFO Roundtable, and planning the Joint Annual Conference for 2004.
• PACD continues to maintain the Mini-Grant program and has already processed the first round of grants for this grant period.
• PACD has also been working with a consultant to coordinate the Education Forum scheduled for Friday October 31, 2003. The Forum will identify educational goals and activities that districts need assistance with, particularly in terms of funding needs.
• PACD staff attended the recent EPA Non-Point Source Pollution Education Conference in Chicago, which provided new information to incorporate into our education and outreach materials.
• PACD also works with NRCS and the SCC to coordinate Boot Camp each year. The Boot Camp for 2003 has been completed and work has already begun on the training for 2004.
• PACD completed a Strategic Planning Session on October 9th, 2003 based on the Group Input Forms completed during the PACD Fall Region Meetings.
• Susan addressed confusion regarding the money flow for the CREP program, noting that PACD can only provide the money to farmers after it is provided to us by DEP. Over three million dollars is flowing through the PACD office; it is impossible for PACD to front that money. Therefore the process is that PACD puts in the claims, DEP sends the money, then we give the funds to the farmers. The turnaround in the PACD office is very speedy, but we can only move the money as fast as we get it. In addition, DEP did not allot all of the money that PACD initially requested for the CREP program, so the funds from this grant will run out and we will need to go through the process of applying for another grant.
• Susan also reported that PACD recently hired a new Conservation Engineering Specialist for the Clarion TAG office.

Treasurer's Report (Miller)
PACD President C. Jarrett Miller (Erie) presented the report for Fiscal Year 7/1/03 - 9/30/03.

There was a question regarding specific program wages. Jarrett responded that program wages are not disclosed as a human resources practice, but our audit information is available at the PACD office as a matter of public record.

It was moved by Robinson (Wyoming) and seconded by Collura (Allegheny) to accept the report. Motion passed.

NACD Report (Sueck)
NACD Director Pat Sueck (York) presented the following report.

• Pat expressed pleasure that NACD President Gary Mast was able to speak at the PACD Fall Meeting/Watershed Specialist Meeting Luncheon and at the District Managers Meeting yesterday. She said that NACD is going through a difficult time, due to fact that their grant funding was rescinded. They were expecting monies that were not delivered and some of those monies were spent in good faith.
• NACD worked out a new strategic plan over a year and a half ago based on questionnaires that were sent out to Directors. Pat asked that attendees contact her via e-mail or phone if they have anything they want to address to NACD. She stressed that she is available.
• Pat also attended the National Envirothon. She said that it was a wonderful event and the seventy-seven teams from the U.S. and Canada were excellent ambassadors for conservation. Pat encouraged everyone to try to attend next year's Envirothon in West Virginia.
• Pat attended an NACD emergency board meeting August 2nd and 4th. One of the issues that came out of that meeting is that not all counties and districts are paying their dues. Pat urged everyone to please pay their dues. NACD depends on dues now more than ever. They cannot depend on grant monies. They are in a funding crisis.
• Pat reported that NACD CEO Ernie Shea has resigned as of the annual meeting in Hawaii.
• Pat urged everyone to sign up for or renew your memberships and associate memberships. Have every board member sign up for NACD membership. Give a membership as part of awards for individuals. News and Views and Conservation Briefs are part of this membership benefit. Pat also noted that the NACD website is a great source of information. The NACD staff is very dedicated and it shows in these resources.
• Pat attended the NACD Regional Meeting August 9th - 13th in Shepherdstown. Pat was elected as the Regional Chair for Northeast. Ron Rohall from Westmoreland is the principal legislative contact for the Northeast, Bill Lange from Lackawanna is Chairman of the President's Association. Pennsylvania is very well represented at NACD. Pat urged everyone to take advantage of this representation. Regional equity in the Farm Bill was the biggest issue that arose at the Shepherdstown meeting. Ron Rohall and the Legislative Committee will be working on that issue.
• Pat attended the Penn State Ag Council on October 21, 2003. Pat said that Secretary of Agriculture Dennis Wolff is very supportive of agriculture education and is working with the PA Department of Education. There is now a website, www.marketplaceforthemind.com, which will have not only K - 12 lesson plans for agriculture education, but also pesticide information - anything that is useful and relevant to agriculture education.

Pat called Bill Lange, Chairman of the NACD President's Association, to the podium to speak on behalf of NACD. Bill said that NACD's financial problems are the result of something that happened within the federal government. There is no reason to blame the NACD leadership or regional leadership. This situation is a wake up call and NACD is not going to count on those monies anymore. The President's Association holds a raffle and a Silent Auction each year. From those monies, they are able to support the National Envirothon and National Land Judging Contest, which is mostly a Western program, and the Endowment Fund. The President's Association volunteered to send notices to all the past presidents of NACD, asking them to contact the leaders in their state associations to encourage them to pay their dues. NACD is looking for another $300,000. Bill said that we have a strong association here in Pennsylvania, but we still need national leadership and national representation and that is what NACD provides.

Finance Committee Report (Kehl)
Acting Finance Committee Chairman Larry Kehl (Berks) presented the following report:

• The Committee is brainstorming the idea of printing an annual publication containing articles about PACD and district programs. The publication would be paid for by the sale of advertisements. Profits would be split between the districts and PACD. District Directors would be asked to sell the advertisements and then the counties in turn would receive a share of the profits. Ad sizes would range from a full page to 1/12 of a page. Pricing could range from $1200 to $1800 per page, depending on the number of ads on a page. They are working with a target of about 1500 copies. The income from 100 page magazine, with ads selling for $1200 to $1300 per page could be $100,000. Elliott Lengel and Porter Duvall will collate information and send it out to the districts, maybe via e-mail, for them to review.

PACD President Jarrett Miller announced that Dan Greig from Chester Conservation District is chairing the PACD District Employees Committee and is looking for three Directors to volunteer to serve on the committee.

Report of District Operations Committee (Cappucci)
District Operations Committee Chairman Victor Cappucci (Wyoming) presented the report for the committee.

• Victor added to the report of the 2004 Joint Annual Conference planning committee, noting that the committee has selected the Wyndham Pittsburgh Airport as the meeting site and that the Conference will be held Sunday July 25 through Wednesday July 28 of 2004.

The following resolutions were brought forward from the District Operations Committee for approval by the Executive Council:

• A resolution from the PACD Endowment Committee approving a form to be used for solicitation of funds for the PACD Endowment Fund. The form would be distributed to district offices and District Directors.

It was moved by Worley (Franklin) and seconded by Hoople (Crawford) to approve the form. Motion passed.

• A resolution regarding additional funds for the Dirt and Gravel Roads Program:

"That PACD supports an increase in funding for the Dirt and Gravel Roads program through the gas tax."

It was moved by Rohall (Westmoreland) and seconded by Kulp (Chester) to accept the resolution. Motion passed.

• A resolution from the PACD Southcentral Region:

"That PACD will develop a process to reopen and revise its position paper on amending Act 217."

It was moved by Slosky (Washington) and seconded by Sueck (York) to accept the resolution. Motion passed.

• A resolution from the PACD Southwest Region:

"That PACD develop a policy statement and similar arrangements to enter into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Association of RC&D Areas."

It was moved by Sueck (York) and seconded by Mankamyer (Somerset) to adopt the resolution.

Ron Rohall asked for the official name of the RC&D Association to add to the motion. The correct name is "Pennsylvania Association of RC&D Councils." With the correction, the resolution reads:

"That PACD develop a policy statement and similar arrangements to enter into an agreement with the Pennsylvania Association of RC&D Councils."

Motion passed.

• A resolution from the PACD Southwest Region:

"That PACD requests that DEP begin the process to amend the Chapter 105 Rules and Regulations so that conservation districts could recover their costs for implementing the General Permit Program."

It was moved by Slosky (Washington) and seconded by Rohall (Westmoreland) to adopt the resolution. Motion passed.

PACD First Vice President Victor Cappucci (Wyoming) gave kudos to Susquehanna Conservation District for having five individuals in attendance at the Executive Council Session. He also noted that Lillian Theophanis, District Manager for Susquehanna, will be retiring at the end of the year.

PACD Strategic Goals (Rohall)
Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) presented the PACD Strategic Planning Goals.

Ron noted that input was gathered at the regional level during the PACD Region Meetings. This information was brought back to Harrisburg and the data was typed up and sent to the Strategic Planning Committee. The committee was made up of PACD President Jarrett Miller, District Manager Dan Greig from Chester County, District Manager Dane Lauver from Juniata, District Director Bob Robinson from Wyoming, PACD Vice President Victor Cappucci, and PACD Executive Director Susan Fox Marquart. All of these individuals met to create goals based on this input.

In order for the Strategic Plan to be useful for guiding PACD leadership, it needs to be streamlined, which is what we are aiming for. Ron read out the goals as follows:

Cooperation

• PACD will endeavor to make the conservation districts the focus of the Conservation Partnership.

Ron commented that we should be the focus because we are the local delivery system.

Funding

• PACD will seek dedicated funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for core conservation district functions.
• PACD will continue to pursue additional funding increases for other conservation district programs and initiatives.

Ron noted that core functions are those funded by the Conservation District Fund Allocation Program (CDFAP). Other district programs and initiatives include funding for district Watershed Specialists, Dirt and Gravel Roads programs, etc.

Lobbying

• PACD will provide strong, effective lobbying for the Association's goals.

Ron stressed the importance of lobbying.

Communication and Outreach

• PACD will continue and improve its communication with members.
• By June 30, 2005, PACD will increase usage of its website by 20%.
• By June 30, 2005, PACD will prepare a 'canned' presentation and outreach materials explaining conservation districts and their programs.
• By June 30, 2004, PACD will prepare a 'canned' presentation explaining PACD and how the Association operates.

The presentation on PACD is designed to explain where our funds come from, what we do with them, what individuals do within the Association and how our activities benefit the districts. The district presentation is designed to explain the role of districts and will be available for use by all districts. The PACD website is getting good use and we want to continue to move that forward. Communication with members will continue to improve. Ron suggested that people give the Association input, through the Executive Director and Executive Board, as to how we can improve communication.

Operations

• By July 2004, PACD will finance its strategic goals through a fiscally balanced operational plan which will include increased dues.
• By December 31, 2003, PACD will establish a committee to review its Bylaws, committee meetings, and policy development process, and recommend revisions.

Ron explained that one of the strongest items that came through from the Region Meetings was that PACD needs lobbyists. The only way to get funding for this is through an increase in dues. We cannot use grant money to lobby. This is why the operational plan would include increased dues. The membership asked for lobbying and that is how we have to pay for it. Ron pointed out that it's a full time job if that is our goal.

Question: Can we partner with another organization to defray costs of a lobbyist? Ron replied that we certainly will and do partner when we can, but that to provide the level of lobbying that the membership is requesting, we will need to be able to stand on our own.

Training

• The PACD Executive Director will continue to be an active participant on the Leadership Development Committee.
• PACD will continue to provide its meeting venues for Leadership Development training.

Technical Training

• By June 30, 2004, PACD will facilitate the establishment of a Technical Training Coordinating Committee.

Ron said that this committee will be formed of all of the organizations who provide technical training for staff and is designed to help coordinate those groups and their efforts.

Products and Services

• By December 31, 2003, PACD will provide a list of possible group insurance plans that conservation districts could participate in.
• By December 31, 2003, PACD will inquire if conservation district staff could become eligible to join the state employee insurance group.
• By January 31, 2004, PACD will establish a task force to investigate the possible expansion of the PACD Engineering Assistance program.

Ron explained that the TAG program is funded through a Growing Greener grant. PACD wants to look at whether this is something that could be run as a viable business by the Association if and when these grant funds become unavailable. Regarding the health insurance question, there have been many requests for PACD to help the districts find affordable health insurance. In response, PACD is going to collate a list of existing group insurance plans that the districts can participate in. PACD will also check with the state employee insurance group to see if districts are eligible to participate with their plan.

105 Program

• By December 31, 2003, PACD will request that DEP conduct an evaluation and overhaul of the Chapter 105 program

Conservation Education
Goal to follow from the PACD Conservation Education Forum October 31, 2003.

Ron said that the planning committee has requested that the Executive Council accept or reject the entire Strategic Plan proposal as a unit. If the Council does not think that the plan is practical, they should vote it down and then the Strategic Planning Committee can review the proposal, modify and resubmit it to Executive Council.

It was moved by Rohall (Westmoreland) and seconded by Robinson (Wyoming) to accept the 2003 strategic goals.

Jarrett Miller explained that the next step is to develop an action plan to accomplish these goals.

Comment: The document seems responsive to the input gained at the PACD Region Meetings, but approving the strategic plan seems to be approving an increase in dues in an unspecified amount. Council members need a chance to talk to their boards about this before they can vote on it. Response: Jarrett assured the voting body that any increase in dues will have to be specifically presented to the Executive Council and put to the vote.

Comment: The suggestion made at the PACD Region Meetings relating to the insurance plan for the districts was that PACD come up with an insurance plan for all of the districts to participate in, rather than just offering options that some districts might participate in and others not. The idea being that this would give us a larger base of participants. Response: Jarrett replied that different districts are in very different situations. Some district employees are county employees and are covered under county health plans. Other districts are not county employees but are allowed to participate in county health plans. Other districts are entirely on their own and have to provide their own health coverage. Others are unable to provide their employees with health insurance at all. This is why we are researching options, rather than providing a single solution.

Comment: It was proposed that the wording of the second goal under Operations be changed to "we will explore avenues to increase dues revenue." Response: Victor Cappucci stressed that any dues increase will have to be brought before the Council for approval regardless of whether the proposed strategic goals are accepted.

It was moved by Hildenbrandt (Centre) and seconded by Collura (Allegheny) to amend the strategic planning goals document to read "By July 2004, PACD will finance its strategic goals through a fiscally balanced operational plan which will explore ways to increase unrestricted funds."

Robinson (Wyoming) made the following point of order: If the Council is to accept the document as a package, as moved and seconded originally by Westmoreland and Wyoming, then it cannot amend the language but rather must vote on the document as it stands. Therefore the motion to amend is out of order.

Jarrett called for a vote on the original motion as originally moved by Rohall (Westmoreland) and seconded by Robinson (Wyoming). The motion passed fourteen to thirteen.

The question was raised as to whether one county was receiving two votes. The response was given that yes, they were. It is stated in the PACD Bylaws that each Executive PACD Board Member may vote and that each county also gets a vote.

NRCS Report (Heard)
Gary Smith (NRCS) presented the NRCS Report for State Conservationist Robin Heard.

• Gary explained that Robin is participating in a four month detail as part of her Senior Executive Service Training, a two-year Executive Development program. Jack Bricker, Deputy State Conservationist from New Mexico, will be in Pennsylvania acting for Robin while she is out.
• It has been a difficult year, as program dollars came late. Gary thanked the districts for help in implementing the farm bill programs. NRCS did manage to allocate all of the funds. They received no money for the Ag Management Assistance Program (AMA). EQIP received $8.3 million. Farm and Rangeland Protection Program received $4.9 million. Grassland Reserve Program received $816,000. Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) received $200,000. Wetland Reserve Program received $331,000. This is more program dollars than NRCS has ever received before going out to contracts to farmers. Gary thanked everyone for helping them to get all of those funds implemented by the end of the fiscal year, which for NRCS ended September 30, 2003.
• NRCS is expecting level funding for fiscal year 2004. They don't expect funding to increase or decrease.
• Regarding competitive sourcing, Gary pointed out that this should not be confused with Technical Service Providers. Competitive sourcing stems from the President's initiative to reduce the government workforce. This year NRCS had to advertise several positions to the public, including six clerical workers, one mail clerk and twenty-seven soil conservation technicians. However, NRCS was able to show that they, as part of the federal government, were providing these services for less than those people in the public who were bidding on the positions. As a result, they did not have to replace any of their employees. In addition, because they were successful and because they advertised more positions than they were required to, they don't have to do any competitive sourcing in 2004. Eventually, however, they will have to competitively source 40% of their employees. This does not mean that people in these positions will be replaced, but they will have to advertise the positions.
• There has been an increase in workload due to the CREP program. NRCS is currently advertising five Wildlife Habitat Specialist positions that will go into the expansion area for CREP. The Game Commission will also be advertising five or six positions for CREP expansion.
• Gary stressed the distinction between Technical Service Providers (TSP's) and competitive sourcing. A Technical Service Provider is someone in the private sector who applies an individual practice. The TSP process was fairly laid back in 2003. In 2004 they expect to get some additional rules and possible additional funds.
• The PRMS reporting system is no longer in use. The new system, PRS, was implemented on October 1, 2003. It will be much easier to use, as it will go in and pull the progress reporting right from the program, so separate reporting will not be required.
• The Mobile Office Initiative pilot begins this year. Eleven NRCS employees will test the pilot. The plan is geared to reduce the amount of travel between offices and the field. Employees will be equipped with what they need to create the product in the field without having to come back to the office. This is designed to increase service to farmers. If the program proves to be efficient and effective, then they will buy equipment for additional employees.
• Several district employees have participated in GPS training. NRCS appreciates the help that they are getting there. There were some questions about the computers ordered through NRCS. The computers will be delivered to the individual district offices, not the state office. The delivery should come in the next two weeks. When the computers arrive, please call Pat Cecil with the NRCS office at (717) 237-2146. She will coordinate for someone to help set up the computers.
• The Conservation Security Program (CSP) is a new program. This program will provide 'green' payments to farmers who do good work and will provide some additional incentives. It will benefit farmers who have been doing good conservation over along period. It is a bit different from a cost share or commodity payments. At the moment there are no funds allocated for this program for 2004, but this could change.
• The CREP program, which originally covered the twenty counties in the Lower Susquehanna, has been expanded to include the twenty-three northern and western counties, so there are now forty-three counties in the program. They are anticipating that the Ohio watershed expansion may be approved sometime in the Fall. Sign-up has gone very well in the twenty-three expansion counties. As of October 3, 2003 a total of 457 applications had been received from those counties.
• Gary thanked the districts again for all of their help. The field and state offices appreciate that help.

Gary presented the Chester County Conservation District with a plaque from the NRCS Hispanic Committee for demonstrating commitment to servicing Hispanic agriculture producers in Chester County. District Manager Dan Greig and Director Harold Kulp accepted the award on behalf of Chester County.

SCC Report (Brown)
No one from the SCC was available to present the report.

Report from PACD Auxiliary (Luetta Gross)

• The Auxiliary is establishing a newsletter, The Connection, which will keep Auxiliary members connected.
• The quilt patch was sent to NACD, where it received some wonderful comments. Luetta also noted that Bill Lange from Lackawanna county won the national quilt in Orlando, Florida last February.
• A poll was conducted at the NACD Conference in Orlando about Soil and Water Stewardship materials. Twenty-four counties responded that they have the materials and only one was not planning to reorder. Luetta wants to encourage everyone to make use of these high-quality materials. These materials are also available to Christian schools. If there are struggling Christian schools in your county, order the materials and give them to the schools.
• Luetta announced that she would like to offer a sign language workshop on everyday and environmental signs in the spring as a fundraiser for the PACD Auxiliary. She suggested $5 for Auxiliary members, with the cost for other attendees to be determined by PACD.
• Luetta encouraged everyone to bring a spouse to the 2004 Joint Annual Conference.

Announcements and Adjournment
PACD President Jarrett Miller (Erie) reminded everyone about the Education Forum taking place tomorrow (Friday, October 31, 2003). He expressed hope that people would stay to participate in the State Conservation Commission meeting this afternoon and also that every district would be represented at the Education Forum.

John Ravert, District Manager for Berks County Conservation District thanked the Executive Council for supporting the recent Erosion Control Mid-Atlantic Chapter Conference held in Camp Hill; it went very well. He also announced that the International Erosion Control Association Conference will be held in Philadelphia in February of 2004. There will be over 2000 people in attendance from around the world talking about erosion control. John stressed that it is a great opportunity and encouraged districts to send their technicians if they can.

The meeting closed with a benediction by Don Bowser (Fayette).