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| Nemaha NRD February
2009 Board Meeting Report Tecumseh – Mike Speece, Auburn, took his oath of office Thursday night, February 12, rounding out the slate of newly elected (or re-elected, in his case) members of the Nemaha Natural Resources District Board of Directors. However, one seat on the Board remains vacant as no letters of interest were received for the open position in Nebraska City. Therefore, the deadline for submitting letters requesting appointment to the position will be extended to next month’s board meeting scheduled for March 12. Identified as Subdistrict 4, the area of representation is located entirely within the boundaries of Nebraska City, generally in the eastern half of town. During the Board’s regular meeting, two bids were reviewed for a grade stabilization dam in the Muddy Creek Watershed near Johnson. The Board approved the low bid of $48,580 submitted by Hahn Construction, Johnson, for this project on Jerry Oestmann’s land. Construction is expected to take place this spring. Now that the District’s Groundwater Management Plan and associated rules and regulations are in place, the Board reviewed and approved four well permit applications. Applications were submitted by Scott Teten for two wells near Brock, RJRD Land LLC for a well near Vesta, and Gobber Farms for a well east of Elk Creek. At the recommendation of the Board’s Operations and Education Committee, a lease with Bunge Corporation for their use of NRD owned property on the Steamboat Trace trail at Brownville was renewed for next year. The committee recommended no increase to the lease payment which is currently $583.50. Some discussion took place on a grazing program at Kirkman’s Cove recreation area near Humboldt. Last year the District worked with a nearby landowner allowing him to graze his cattle on about 40 acres behind the dam in an effort to control a mounting problem with sericea lespedeza. Because of the noxious weed’s presence, the District could no longer harvest the hay from this property and looked for an alternative to reduce the cost of spraying the stubborn weed. Since this method of weed control is still experimental, the board directed staff to negotiate a lease with the same landowner for up to two years. Lease requirements will set dates that cattle will be allowed on the property, which were approximately three, two-week periods during the grazing season last year. In addition the landowner must install about 1.5 miles of temporary fencing and provide water for the livestock. At the conclusion of this lease the District hopes to have learned more about timing grazing rotations to effectively reduce the lespedeza populations. No other items were offered for action at the meeting, which adjourned at 8:22 p.m. The next meeting of the Nemaha Natural Resources District Board of Directors will be held Thursday, March 12, 2009, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the NRD headquarters in Tecumseh. Committees will meet prior to the regular meeting. |