July 2001 Meeting Minutes

PACD Executive Council Annual Meeting
Toftrees Resort
Minutes of Meting
Wednesday, July 18, 2001

Welcome (Long)
PACD President Frank Long (Blair) welcomed everyone to the annual meeting.

Roll Call (Miller)
PACD 2nd Vice President Jarrett Miller (Erie) conducted the roll call. There were 31conservation district delegates present which constituted a quorum.

Minutes (Miller)
PACD 2nd Vice President Jarrett Miller (Erie) asked if there were any correction to the minutes of March 14, 2001.

Motion to approve the minutes of March 14, 2001 by Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Horn (Sullivan). Motion approved.

President's Report (Long)
PACD President Frank Long (Blair) stated he was going to forgo his report in order to give the Committees and other Board members ample time to report. He thanked everyone for support during his Presidency.

Executive Director Report (Fox)
Susan Fox, PACD Executive Director provided a written report. She highlighted some of the following items:

• Majority of PACD activities involved legislative issues and the state budget;
• There was a slight increase in the agriculture budget and no increase in the DEP budget for conservation districts for FY 2001-2002;
• Last evening Deputy Secretary Tropea announced an additional $250,000 for the Chapter 105 program for FY 2001-2002;
• PACD has spent a lot of time meeting with DCED concerning funding for the floodplain monitoring program, but there does not appear to be a long-term commitment to conservation district activities in this area;
• PACD prepared 5 draft funding requests for FY 2002-2003;
• The MOU between PACD and the PA Dept. of Education was finalized and signed last evening;
• Executive Director attended a number of meetings on behalf of conservation districts, please see the list in the written report;
• Meeting planning continues and we hope to finalize the arrangements to hold the July 2002 Joint Annual Conference in the South Central region;
• Leadership Development training is a priority for PACD. A survey will be distributed to district directors to help identify training needs. Please complete and return the survey to PACD by the deadline. Funding to conduct the survey has been made available through a Leadership Development grant from PDA and expires on August 31, 2001;
• A new Office Manager, Lisa Suhr, has been hired. Lisa is very qualified and pleasant to work with. Please welcome her.

NACD Report (Rohall)
NACD Director Patricia Sueck (York) was unable to attend this meeting. PACD 1st Vice President Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) gave the NACD report.

Patricia Sueck (York) is the PACD representative to NACD and chair of the NACD Education Committee. The Education Committee met in Oklahoma. A lot of the federal agencies were present and they seemed to have a commitment to working with districts on education activities. Patricia thinks they may be a source of potential funding.

Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) sits on the NACD Forestry Committee. He attended a meeting early in May in New Mexico. The first working agreement between districts, SCC and the US Forest Service was drafted. A meeting was held on June 28 in Washington, DC. Ron Rohall provided testimony on behalf of NACD about the role conservation districts serve working with non-industrial private landowners.

Districts are encouraged to pay their NACD dues since they receive a lot of support from NACD, particularly on the legislative front.

Treasurer's Report (Duvall)
The PACD Treasurer, Porter DuVall (Jefferson) presented the year-end report and an update on the PACD Building Fund.

There was a question from the floor about expenses on the year end report related to building search activities. The response was that building fund expenses (for example, inspections related to potential sites, attorney fees for drafting sales agreement offer, etc.) have not been taken from the Building Fund. These types of expenses have come out of the PACD operational budget. The Building Fund has been earmarked for expenses that will be incurred once PACD establishes the building it intends to purchase. Next year's operational budget includes a line for building expenses.

Another question was, what are Mini-projects? Mini-projects are funded through the Chesapeake Bay and 319 Program Education Grant. They are awarded for grassroots educational projects that address NPS pollution.

Motion to accept the Treasurer's report by Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Baker (Mifflin). Motion approved.

The Treasurer presented the PACD Proposed Budget for fiscal year July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2002 that has been approved by Executive Board.

There was a question from the floor: Are the new Growing Greener Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) monies reflected in this budget? The answer is yes and no. Since the proposed budget is the PACD's operational budget only the $4,500 administration fee that the Association will collect is included in the budget. The remaining grant money (approximately $969,000 for the next two years) is pass through money since it is available only for TAG specific activities. The TAG Grant is accounted for via other fiscal tools including the PACD Grant Log.

Motion to accept the proposed PACD Budget by Treasurer, Duvall (Jefferson) and seconded by Worley (Adams). Motion approved.

Silent Auction Announcement
The proceeds of this year's silent auction are approximately $1000. PACD gives special thanks to all districts that contributed to the Auction and to those who bid on the items. Proceeds from the Auction will go to the PACD Building Fund.

PACD Participation Task Force (Rohall)
The Chairman of the PACD Participation Task Force, Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) provided a detailed presentation. The PACD meetings and committees are being restructured. Rohall (Westmoreland) has received a lot of positive feedback regarding the restructuring. The Task Force will be submitting updates to the PACD website and the newsletter.

Budget vote revisited (Miller)
Jarrett Miller (Erie) explained that the motion to accept the proposed PACD budget was made by an associate director. Unfortunately we did not receive a letter (which is required per PACD Bylaws) indicating that he would serve as the delegate at this meeting. Therefore, in order to be in accordance with the Bylaws, Miller (Erie) requested that the vote be retaken.

Motion to accept the proposed PACD Budget by Treasurer, Duvall (Jefferson) and seconded by Miller (Erie). Motion approved.

PACD Funding Proposals (Fox)
PACD Executive Director Susan Fox reviewed the draft funding proposals.

For the PA DEP draft request there were no questions or discussion from the floor. For the PA Department of Agriculture there were a few questions. The first question was whether the numbers are based on all districts participating? The answer is no but there is a small increase based on projected district needs. Another question was when adding together the proposed requests from PDA and DEP, it appears that the requests are for more money than is needed. Is this true? The answer is that there is an overlap but we don't expect to get full funding on both requests, so therefore we are asking for amounts with an expectation that final allocations will meet our actual needs. In the event that we get full funding as reflected in the requests, we will ask the SCC to shift the funds.

Regarding the Chapter 105 proposal, this proposal was developed prior to learning last evening about the additional $250,000 for this year. An adjustment to the text regarding funding for 2001-2002 will be made. There was a question regarding the number of districts participating in Level I and Level II. If funding is available, we believe that possibly 35 districts would participate in Level 1 and 20 districts in Level II.

The DCED draft proposal is a new concept that incorporates a Phase I and II. The Executive Director stated that she is requesting feedback from districts on this approach. There was a comment that one district ran into a problem with its planning commission. The commission felt that the district was stepping on its turf. Has PACD had a discussion with planners? PACD has not but suggests that districts make a point to meet and explain to their planners that they do not intend to take over, but that they are trying to make themselves available to help planners with issues in areas the planners are not versed. A comment from another district was that the proposal seems to indicate that we want to do a lot of new activities, beyond the floodplain activities. However, districts are already engaged in many of these other areas. Indicating the areas in which districts are already involved could strengthen the proposal. PACD will modify the language to reflect this.

Another question asked was if PACD ever testifies in support of various department budgets? Normally the Secretaries testify at the budget hearings and outside agencies are not normally invited. There was a suggestion that PACD offer DCED assistance with its budget. It was explained that DCED needs to first request this in their budget and then we can offer assistance. DCED has not done this yet. Once the Governor announces the budget, PACD can contact legislators and the members of the appropriations committee.

The Executive Director next discussed the draft proposal for Education Specialists/Coordinators. There was a comment that the Education and Youth Committee felt that some additional work needed to be done prior to submitting this funding request. They suggested that volunteers from the committee do some work and set a new target date of FY 2003-2004. The Education and Youth Committee has formed a task force and wants the Executive Council support to work on this. Another county felt that the education funding request is a unique approach and that the concept should move forward. Written comments from an environmental educator were submitted. Others felt that some groundwork needed to be developed before moving forward.

The President then requested that council make a motion to move forward with the funding proposal package, in its entirety. There were some concerns and questions from the floor about including the education request as part of the package. The Executive Director suggested modifying the education proposal by floating it as a concept paper and editing out the dollars.

Motion by Crooks (Bucks) and seconded by DuVall (Jefferson) to support all of the PACD funding requests as presented except the for the education proposal which should be presented as a concept paper without dollar figures. Motion approved.

Committee Updates

Forestry (Rohall)
Ron Rohall (Westmoreland) presented a resolution from the committee that stated that PACD opposes the anti-environmental advertising used by the all terrain vehicle and off highway vehicle industry to sell their vehicles.

Motion by Rohall (Westmoreland) and seconded by Smith (Tioga) to approve the resolution and forward it to NACD. Motion approved.

Land Use (Marbain)
The Urban and Rural Land Use Committee would like to invite a 10,000 Friends representative to the next PACD meeting to provide information and answer questions.

Motion by Kulp (Chester) and seconded by Marbain (Cumberland) to invite 10,000 Friends to give a presentation to PACD. Motion approved.

Legislative
Water resource related bills are currently active in the legislature. The Legislative Committee made a motion to support Senate Bill 998 and reaffirm our past efforts in water resources management.

Motion by Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Mankamyer (Somerset) to support the concepts in SB 998 and re-affirm the past efforts of PACD in the area of water resources planning. Motion approved.

Finance
The Chairman reported that there was a lot of discussion about a potential fundraising activity that involves the districts with potential revenue.

Endowment Fund
The treasurer presented an update of the activities of the Endowment Fund over the past fiscal year.

Motion to accept the report of the Endowment Fund by Duvall (Jefferson) and seconded by Crooks (Bucks). Motion approved.

Building Update (Miller)
Jarrett Miller (Erie) presented a report from the Building Committee. He stated that the building at 319 Market Street would not be pursued. PACD did not receive the financial support for development of this project from a number of sources including the districts. This site would be a million dollar project and the Executive Board believed that the risk factor is too high.

Another building at 229 State Street is being considered. It is located one building away from the capitol, in the historic district. This building is not on the Historic Register. Extensive renovations were completed in 1998 including new heating, central air and security system. The building is currently serving as an office for an attorney firm. The Association has engaged the services of an Architect and a Structural Engineer to analyze the site's suitability for the Association. It appears that this property is suitable to serve current needs plus allow for some additional expansion. Parking is included with the property and other parking is available on the street. Total projected expenses for this project are up to $360,000 including acquisition and projected renovations on a portion of the upstairs and the garage. Operational expenses of the site, including projected mortgage for 20 years, utilities, taxes, etc. closely mirror our current expenses at the rental location. Rental prices downtown are likely to be hirer than current operations.

There was a question of whether we assume that being located downtown is a preferred location for the Association? Yes, downtown is the preferred location. The Executive Board believes that the Association can best serve the districts' needs if it is located downtown.

Motion by Miller (Erie) and seconded by Clark (Montgomery) that the Executive Council authorize the Executive Board to move forward on this property. The motion was amended by Crooks (Bucks) that if this building doesn't work, the Executive Board should continue its search. Motion approved.

Changes to PACD Bylaws (Long)
The President asked the Executive Council to examine the amendment to Section IV, Duties of the Officers contained in the Bylaws. This was sent out in advance of the meeting.

Motion by Marbain (Cumberland) and seconded by DuVall (Jefferson) to approve the change to the PACD Bylaws. Motion approved.

The President asked the Executive Council to examine the amendment to Section 8 Finance Committee contained in the Bylaws. This was sent out in advance of the meeting.

Motion by Marbain (Cumberland) and seconded by DuVall (Jefferson) to approve the change to the PACD Bylaws. Motion approved.

Comment from the floor
There was a suggestion from the floor that the Participation Task Force consider having PACD Executive Council meetings on a Saturday.

Election of PACD Officers (Wagner)
Robert Wagner (Lancaster) stated that the Nominating Committee makes the following recommendations:

-President - Ron Rohall (Westmoreland)
-1st Vice President - Jarrett Miller (Erie)
-2nd Vice President 2 candidates suggested: Victor Cappucci (Wyoming) and George Hildenbrandt (Centre)
-Secretary - Phyllis Hoople (Crawford)
-Treasurer - Porter Duvall (Jefferson)
-NACD Director - Pat Sueck (York)

Robert Wagner asked if there were any nominations from the floor. There were none.

Motion by Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Horn (Sullivan) to close the nominations. Motion approved.

The two candidates for 2nd Vice President addressed the Executive Council and ballots were distributed. Murray Laite was identified as the teller.

Motion to from Clark (Montgomery) and seconded by Mankamyer (Somerset) to accept the remaining slate of candidates. Motion approved.

NRCS Report (Smith)
Gary Smith gave the NRCS report. He stated that Robin Heard is replacing Janet Oertly as State Conservationist. A new program called AMA is available. A legislative tour is scheduled in August. For more information please contact Stacy Mitchell. The President's proposed budget would not support the NRCS staff in Pennsylvania. Technical assistance associated with CRP is included in the budget. However, this would shift funds away from Pennsylvania to a more CRP-concentrated area in the Midwest. To view a House of Representatives concept paper for the Farm Bill, see www.ag.house.gov. James Mosley has been confirmed as the Deputy Secretary for Agriculture.

Council Meeting Agenda Modified (Long)
In the interest of time, the President is forgoing the reports of the State Conservation Commission and the PACD Auxiliary.

Nominating Committee Update
Murray Laite reported that Victor Cappucci won the ballot vote to serve as PACD 2nd Vice President. PACD Policies The President asked the Executive Council to examine the proposed new

PACD policies
These were sent out in advance of the meeting.

Motion by Miller (Erie) and seconded by Crooks (Bucks) to adopt the new PACD Policies as presented. Motion approved.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:21 pm.