Regular Session on May 11 2022
Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors
Business Meeting Minutes
The Brevard Soil and Water Conservation District met in regular public session on Wednesday, May 11, 2022, at 4:00 p.m., in the conference room of the UF/IFAS Extension Brevard Co., at 3695 Lake Drive, Cocoa, FL.
Co-Chairman Adam Tritt noted there was a quorum and called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.
Board members present:
Adam Tritt, Co-Chairman, Supervisor Group 1 Jim Sloan, Secretary, Supervisor Group 2 Jonathan Schuman, Treasurer, Supervisor Group 4
Staff members present: Joe Walter, Agriculture Extension Agent, UF/IFAS Extension Brevard
Mike Engelgau, Staff Soil & Water Engineering Technician
Presented Documents.
* Association of Florida Conservation Districts (AFCD), 2022 Area Four Meeting Agenda, June 18, 2022. Host: Hillsborough Soil & Water conservation District Florida.
* Grazing By Domestic Livestock Is A Management Tool That is Ecologically Compatible With The Restoration of Herbaceous Wetlands. Author: Pete Deal, Rangeland Management Specialist (Retired), USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Reported for Public Records.
* Brevard Soil & Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors Business Meeting Minutes, April 13, 2022.
* Brevard SWCD Treasurer’s Report, April 1, 2022 to April 30, 2022.
Guest Presentations.
No guest presentations were provided to the Board of Supervisors.
Review and Approval of the Current Treasurer’s Report.
The board treasurer, Jonathan Schuman, provided the treasurer’s report for April 1st to April 30th , 2022, to the board, with editorial corrections to the dates shown in the first column of the report. Balance of the account on April 30th was $49,000.38.
The motion by Jim Sloan to approve the April 1st to April 30th , 2022, Treasurer’s Report was
seconded by Adam Tritt. The motion passed with amendment by unanimous vote of the supervisors present. A corrected file copy will be provided to Mike Engelgau for upload to the BSWCD website.
Review and Approval of Minutes for the prior Board of Supervisors meeting.
The board secretary, James Sloan, presented the business meeting minutes for the previous public business meeting held on Wednesday, April 13th, 2022, with one reported editorial correction by Joe Walter.
The motion made by Jonathan Schuman, to approve the April 13th ,2022, Board of Supervisors’ Business Meeting Minutes, was seconded by Adam Tritt. The motion with amendment passed by unanimous vote of the supervisors. A corrected file copy will be provided to Mike Engelgau for upload to the BSWCD website.
Staff Update
Storm Water Exemption Program.
Mike Engelgau reported that 15 clients have expressed interest in the Brevard County Storm Water Exemption Program. He has visited 14 locations and verified that each has implemented the USDA Conservation Plan for control of stormwater runoff. The remaining location will be visited on May 15th. Those locations will be sent a registered letter that the owner can sign and claim exemption for the Brevard County fee on their property tax bill.
USDA NRCS Cocoa Service Office District Conservationist Report
There was no District Conservationist Report provided to this Brevard SWCD Supervisors business Meeting.
Old BSWCD Meeting Business
Update on “Senate Bill 1078/House Bill 783 –Soil and Water Conservation Districts”.
Supervisor Sloan has followed the progress of Senate Bill 1078 as it reportedly moved from legislative approval and enrollment to the Governor’s desk for his signature, his veto or to automatically become law after a 30 day. The Florida Governor’s 2022 Bill Actions does not list any action on Senate Bill 1078 as the publication of these meeting minutes.
Joe Walter announced that a locally operated livestock processing facility in central Brevard County has submitted their application on May 11th, 2022, to operate as a USDA inspected processing plant eligible for retail sale of locally grown meat products. The funding of plant retrofitting and USDA Inspection service will be made possible through a USDA approval of a monetary grant from their Florida office in accordance with the current USDA policy to decentralize meat processing facilities throughout the United States.
New Meeting Business
Joe Walter introduced the meeting handout Grazing By Domestic Livestock Is A Management Tool That is Ecologically Compatible With The Restoration of Herbaceous Wetlands, authored by Pete Deal, a retired Rangeland Management Specialist with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. Joe commented on the effects of rangeland size/acreage and rotational grazing on large, divided wetland acreage.
The Association of Florida Conservation Districts (AFCD) 2022 Area Four Meeting Agenda on June 18th, 2022 was distributed to all supervisors. It was noted that the Hillsborough Soil & Water conservation District Florida is hosting the 2022 Area Four AFCD Meeting.
With consensus of the Board, the Co-Chairman adjourned the meeting at 5:00 PM on May 11th, 2022. Prepared for board review and approval by,
James Sloan Secretary Supervisor, Group 2
June 7th, 2022