Berkshire
Conservation District Monthly Meeting
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
at 5:00 PM
Remote Meeting
The call-in number is
1(646) 876-9923. Meeting ID 132436088 #
Minutes from May 5,
2020 Meeting
- Call to order at
5:02pm, and Determination of Quorum.
Present:
Board
members: Adam Galambos, Ron Kujawski, David Ellis, Donna Kittredge, Ned
Kirchner
Program
Administrator: Cynthia Grippaldi
NRCS
representative: Gary Blazejewski
Public
call-in: Jane Obbagy
- NRCS District
Conservationist comments from Gary Blazejewski
Gary said
the NRCS is gearing up for their funding round already. They have pre-approved 20
to 22 applications ranging from forestry to soil health to livestock. Rachel
Phillips from NRCS in NH is a soil scientist and is Gary’s new boss. Gary also defined
the Unfunded Cooperative Agreement which is that NRCS can set the requirements
for resources sharing with BCD. Ned asked Gary if another supervisor could have
access to the office in the event Cynthia is not available. That person would
need a background check. Discussion to be continued.
- Secretary’s
Report – Submitted by Donna Kittredge
Review
and approval of April 9th minutes. Ned motioned with to accept with 2
corrections, second by David. All in favor.
- Treasurer’s
Report – Submitted by David Ellis
·
There was an $820 deposit for No-till rental;
$320 for credit union membership; $1.50 for Viridian; $850 for the audit.
Expenses were $4,634.30, Income was $1,141.50, Net Income was -3492.80,
Checking Balance as of last day of April was $5,832.70. See Treasurer’s Report
for more info.
·
Liability insurance is to insure the equipment.
·
Ned asked for clarification on the checking
balance as of which date.
·
The BCC Scholarship will be mailed in time for
the graduation ceremony scheduled for May 28.
Move
by Ned to accept Treasurer’s Report with one change to the checking balance. Second
by Ron. All in favor.
- District
Supervisors
·
Cynthia and Ned have been trying to reach Holly
to clarify her intentions to continue as a board supervisor.
·
Adam knows Greg Caprone (teacher by day, farmer
by night) whose interests lie in farming, maple sugaring, and cattle. Alaina
Tracer runs MCLA Green Living Seminars and she may have some names of people
interested in serving on the board. Adam will take a look at the website in regard
to attracting supervisors and associates.
·
Ron thought of a possible person who is trying
to start a small vegetable business in Richmond who might have interest in
serving.
·
Ron spoke with Tom who said it would be great if
BCD could send a representative to the State Commission meeting. The meetings
are in January, April, July and October. The next meeting will be remote. Jane
suggested we try to tap in via conference call as it’s a long distance for us
to travel to Westboro.
- Program Status
·
Mike has yet to send a proposal for storage of
the No-till seeder. We’ve had two rentals for 2020 season. We need to spend the
dollars from the No-till grant by the end of June 2020. That money could be
spent on delivery, maintenance and storage but Mike needs to get a proposal to
us which we would need to vote on. The thinking was that No-till would become
self-generating program and that rentals would pay for the program. It was
determined that rentals are lower than expected on account of the saturation of
fields. Talk of advertising the No-till will be continued. Adam suggested we
should hold out and see what good weather brings. Ron suggested it would be
great to get a farmer on the board for networking.
·
Adam worked on a small solar grant proposal and
a couple of things worked really for promotion — a radio spot on WANW that
played on partner stations, and newspaper print ads which go on their websites
as well. Adam suggested we work on a plan for advertising the No-till.
·
Pioneer Valley inquired about renting the No-till
and Cynthia directed them to our website. Ron suggested we might share the
No-till with 4 counties as one county may be drier than another. Adam suggested
we get feedback from the farmers and possibly a testimonial we can use on our
website. It was suggested we give farmers a survey after the rental.
·
Out of the 80+ No-till promo cards that were
mailed, we only received two bad addresses.
·
Nutrient Management update — Cynthia is doing
basic research. There are a tremendous number of part-time operators who don’t
know the requirements for managing nutrient load which is required and can be
enforced. Gary will dig into how NRCS can help educate small operators to learn
what the state is looking for regarding compliance.
- Program
Administrator Update —Submitted by Cynthia Grippaldi
·
Cynthia brought up the need to meet remotely
about our Work Plan and mission. She sent out a draft which is on google drive.
We need to find a date and time that works for all to brainstorm remotely.
·
Payment on all of our insurance policies has
come up — Cynthia paid the no-till equipment insurance. The liability policy which
was going to be canceled but because of COVID, they decided to keep covering
us. She paid $792 Workman’s Comp. Reimbursement was sent to Tom.
·
Small pollinator grant — they had a few
questions regarding equity of community. They will make the decision by mid May
for the grant totaling $3,500. When they do fund it, they write a check and recipients
write a report about how they used it.
9.
New Business —
·
Ned asked since we had a public call-in for the
May 5 meeting, should we add an Open Public Comment under our Call to Order and
it was decided to do that going forward. Add it under #2 Call to Order, and include
that the meeting is being recorded for note taking. Then add Open Public Comment
Period, have whoever is chairing say this is the time to state your comments
but there won’t be time for deliberation. This will precede Gary’s report so he
can hear what the public is saying.
·
Adam suggested that we move the Upcoming
Meetings blurb from the bottom of the Agenda page to the top and include the
call-in number for the remote meetings.
10.
Comments and Announcements —
·
Adam talked about the $250 BCD scholarship
provided to a BCC student who plans to attend a 4-year college to study
environmental science or a related field. The scholarship can also be used to
pay for the student’s final year at BCC. It had been voted on in the past. Since
it has been awarded every year, Ned asked if we should vote that it goes
through every year unless a board member has an issue. In the past, a BCD
representative has gone to BCC to deliver it. Adam will reach out to the
Director of Development at BCC to discuss. This year, the check can be mailed or
paid online to BCC.
·
NACD in D.C. asked us to become members.
Membership fees range from $1 to $3,000. Ned said we became members for $500,
then in subsequent years we paid in the $25 range. David will look into the history.
They encourage us to pay $700. Ned mentioned we’ve sent members to the annual national
convention in the past.
·
May 29 is the deadline to send in the 2-page
application to Tom for the next round of funding. This is for the basic grant and
Part 2 of the Nutrient Management plan will be submitted, as well. The grant is
awarded in December for fiscal year ’21.
·
Mass Envirothon teams of high school students
compete on environmental topics throughout the state. BCD has helped get
participation from Berkshire schools. It was canceled this year. David wanted
to know if it was relevant for the work plan as it has fallen by the wayside.
To be discussed when we talk about BCD’s role in the community.
·
Ned would like to see more ag in the classroom.
Upcoming Events/Meetings:
Berkshire
Conservation District Supervisor meetings are scheduled for the first Tuesday
of each month. Meetings are usually held at 78 Center St., Suite 206,
Pittsfield, MA 01201. Until restrictions are lifted for social isolation due to
COVID-19, the next meeting will be held remotely on Tuesday, June 2, 2020 by
dialing in at 1(646) 876-9923 Meeting ID 132436088 #.
