Activity Report for the Period 12/3/2018 – 12/14/2018

East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
Sections:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ACTIVITIES
Jay Udelhoven
Completed:
  • External Engagement: Met with Deputy Director of APANO for meet, greet, and tour; met with NRCS and WMSWCD to discuss rural lands conservation and tour a Sauvie Island restoration project; met with Oregon State Fire Marshall's Office to discuss the Multnomah County Local Emergency Planning Commission project; met with Executive Director from the Tualatin SWCD to discuss engagement with OACD strategic planning via committee groups.
  • Boards/Committees: Hosted annual meeting and December Board meeting; prepared for Personnel Committee meeting; met with Board Chair for coordination purposes.
  • Policies/Planning: Reviewed and approved draft FY19-20 budget calendar; continued work on policy updates, focusing on background checks.
  • Supervision/Leadership: Met with counsel from Multnomah County regarding a lawsuit and worked on related public disclosure request; met with staff (1x1) and management team.
  • Program Implementation: Reviewed documents for Oxbow land transfer.
Planned:
  • General: Take some time off.
  • Boards/Committees: Host Personnel Committee meeting.
  • Supervision/Leadership: Meet with staff (1x1) and management team.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
ACTIVITIES
Program Supervision / Finance & Budget Dan Mitten
Completed:
  • Presented Financial Reports, Finance and Ops Annual Report, and FY17-18 Financial Audit at the Annual Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting on December 3rd.
  • Attended Equity Team meeting, 1X1's, and Management Meeting. Attended tour of WMSWCD & NRCS Collaborative project at Sauvie Island. Met with Tunie Betschart and Craig Gibons from TSCC to discuss FY19-20 budget preparations. Had business review meeting with IT Support company, TeamLogic. Held call with Phone System Company regarding Telecom issues.
  • Tested new Native Plant Sale website.
  • Researched boundaries between East and West Multnomah on the Willamette River.
  • Initiated retrieval of relevant archived email for public disclosure request.
Planned:
  • Continue to research the official delineation between the two SWCDs on the Willamette River.
  • Retrieving all email communiques from September 2007 to present from or to a singular email.
  • Review Branding and Identity Guide.
  • Review Fleet Roles and Responsibilities along with Fleet Policies and Procedures with Executive Director.
Office Management Lindsay Nelson
Completed:
  • Met with InfoStructure and Team logic to discuss challenges with phone system.
  • Set up, recorded, and took minutes for December Board meeting. Worked on scheduling Equity Team meetings. Worked on CCL Interview Schedule and Correspondances.
  • Went on a site visit with Suzanne to see one of Growing Gardens programs at Lent School.
  • Worked on 1x1 schedules for Consultant interviews.
  • Dropped off Plant Sale t-shirts and picked up test shirt. Met with Plant Sale Team.
  • Sent out checks. Sent Personnel packet out.
  • Conducted 9 CCL interviews.
  • Met with TeamLogic.
Facilities Management Scot Wood
Completed:
  • I was on vacation but since my return I have been working on conceptual drawings for the possible breakroom remodel.
  • Since being back from vacation I have completed the solar panel structure and Rowan and I have installed the solar panels.
Planned:
  • Hopefully we will have a consensus on the kitchen concept drawings and I can begin to put together costs for the remodel.
  • I will be meeting with the electricians the hook up all of the components for solar panels.
Marketing & Media Alex Woolery
Completed:
  • Met with F&O staff and InfoStructure to review phone system and go over some discovered issues and resolution. Also met with F&O staff and TeamLogic to conduct an annual review and review issues, work achieved, goals, etc.
  • Met with Suzanne and Chelsea to go over a new DEI page, content to include and format. Reviewed content and suggested edits.
  • Plant sale: meetings, store setup, coding and development, added in products, began initial testing, tested out 3rd party apps, began customizing styles. General logistics and planning, preparing for mailing, research into bulk mail.
  • IT: assisted with looking into email archives, turned on old server. Assistance and coordination with several minor issues.
  • General social media outreach and promotion of events.
Planned:
  • Diving deep into plant sale testing and development, additional preparations and actions for outreach.
  • Will take some time off for holidays.
RURAL LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Julie DiLeone
Completed:
  • Compiled information for last fiscal year's annual report.
  • Lower Willamette Agricultural Water Quality Biennial Review meeting: ODA introduced a measureable objective for bacteria.
  • Attended Sandy Watershed Council's climate change workshop. Sandy watershed Council Board meeting, Johnson Creek Interjurisdictional Committee, SPA check in, check in meetings with Rural Lands staff.
Planned:
  • Next draft of CLIP guidelines and procedures by Dec 11 meeting.
  • Taking a tour of StreamCare sites with Lucas because it has been a while.
  • Out of office from December 21st to January 2nd.
Rural Water Quality Aaron Guffey
Completed:
  • Collected and compiled results for water quality samples and downloaded time lapse footage to monitor the efficacy of a sediment basin.
  • Met with EMSWCD staff and the landowner to continue creation of an Ag Management Plan for the Oxbow Property.
  • Attended an Oregon Association of Nurseries Holiday Dinner.
  • Attended a partner meeting to discuss results of shareholder interviews to inform creation of cover crop fact sheets and trials.
  • Completed my FY19 workplan and my self-appraisal for my FY18 performance review.
Planned:
  • Monitor an Erosion Solutions project at a nursery.
  • Create an Ag Management Plan to accompany an easement for the Oxbow Property to be sold to a nursery.
  • Engage in the diversity, equity, and inclusion process EMSWCD staff are participating in.
  • Attend all Oregon Association of Nurseries Mt Hood Chapter meetings and events. Fulfill the responsibilities of treasurer on the Mt Hood Chapter board.
  • Connect with partners to explore opportunities for developing better solutions regarding cover crop useage on nurseries.
StreamCare Lucas Nipp
Completed:
  • I attended a field day and discussion hosted by TSWCD to talk about possible thinning needs on maturing stream vegetation restoration sites. Foresters from OSU extension and ODF joined the tour to give input on thinning needs. It was very informative for what to expect with StreamCare sites in the future.
  • I prepared and submitted an annual report to the City of Troutdale highlighting StreamCare activities carried out on City owned properties from January 1st through December 31st, 2018.
  • I had a crew install around 1000 stakes on three StreamCare sites and over 7000 plants into two new pollinator areas at Headwaters Farm.
Planned:
  • Jon and I are going to do some clearing of some blackberry that was sprayed but not cut and spray some blackberry that was not sprayed on a StreamCare site in Johnson Creek. We are also going to survey a StreamCare site for weed presence.
  • I will assist Jon in collecting the monthly water quality samples in Beaver and Johnson Creek.
  • I plan to take vacation and ride the pow of Utah, and then have I Jury Duty beginning on January 2nd, 2019.
Technical Assistance Jeremy Baker
Completed:
  • As a mentor in the NRCS Conservation Planning Course I participated in the "silent partner" portion of the program, where I observed a new conservation planner deliver their final plan recommendations to the landowner for eventual implementation.
  • OCEAN duties this month included participating in the Oregon Conservation Partnership meeting (with OACD, COLT and NOWC) and chairing OCEAN's monthly meeting. This month OCEAN approved our 2019 budget which includes funding of our Regional Training Grant Program.
Planned:
  • Working with Measuretek to better understand the weather station functionality (specifically generating reports for review).
  • Working with the CLIP Team to continue to ehnace the fucntionality of the program for SWCD staff.
  • Reviewing, updating and adding items to the Headwaters Conservation Plan.
Weed Management Chris Aldassy
Completed:
  • I attended the Oregon Interagency Noxious Weed Symposium.
  • Completed the annual report for the USFS regarding the EDRR work we did on their burned property.
  • I had a crew out controlling weeds at Ainsworth State Park.
Planned:
  • Weeds outreach to new landowners.
  • Project planning and reporting.
  • Hoping to attend a "conservation through the lens of climate change" webinar.
Weed Management Jon Wagner
Completed:
  • Chris and I attended the Interagency Noxious Weed Symposium.
  • I created an outline and began putting together a powerpoint presentation about bringing wildlife and pollinators to your yard.
  • I Also worked on entering data and worked on illustration projects.
Planned:
  • Jon will be on vacation during the next reporting period.
Outreach & Education Chelsea White-Brainard
Completed:
  • Participated in application review and interviews for the Community Connections Liason position.
  • Finished production and editing on a 7 minute informational video about Headwaters. The video will be presented at NW Documentary's Homegrown DocFest on Friday, December 12th at Clinton Street Theater.
  • Created mailer for the Native Plant Sale 2019.
  • Attended an Equity Team meeting to go over next steps on the development of the Equity Plan and a process we will use to move it forward.
Planned:
  • Plan and promote Native Plants workshop, which will be presented by Jon and Chris at the Columbia Grange.
  • Continue participating in the hiring process for the Community Connections Liason.
  • Work with Lucas to develop content about StreamCare for a kiosk at Glenn Otto Park.
URBAN LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Kathy Shearin
Completed:
  • EMSWCD Board Meeting, present Urban Lands program annual report.
  • Meetings: Equity team meeting, management meeting, Plant Sale meeting.
  • Solve Pest Problems Steering Committee.
Planned:
  • All things recruitment for the Urban Lands Community Connections Liaison position!!
Technical Assistance Whitney Bailey
Completed:
  • Site visit to Tucker Maxon School to assist with project planning for PIC application.
  • Presented project proposal at CLIP Team meeting.
  • Participated in Plant Sale meeting #5.
  • Attended Parkrose-Argay community visioning workshop.
  • Solicited estimate for landscape tree pruning and tree-of-heaven removal.
  • Plant sale development site online testing.
  • Attended Levee-Ready Columbia Public meeting, MCDD Offices.
Outreach & Education Katie Meckes
Completed:
  • Plant Sale: Worked with Chelsea to finalize plant sale mailer, had a plant sale store check-in meeting with Alex, trained Brandi on more logistics/supply background and volunteer recruitment, updated website and outreach documents with ADA accessibility details/language, conducted first round of plant sale store testing.
  • Continuing work on a stormwater chapter for Naturescaping Basics workbook.
  • Met with OMSI education team to test out and provide additional resources for a hands-on interactive floor demonstration that focuses on urban stormwater pollution.
  • Coordinating presenters for fix it fairs, processed invoices, tracking insurance requirements, etc.
Planned:
  • Katie will be on vacation for much of the upcoming work period.
Outreach & Education Brandi Boersma
Completed:
  • Spring workshop scheduling, binder and documentation prep, sent MailChimp survey for last fall's Rain Garden and Naturescaping attendees, updating various docs, restocking supplies.
  • Plant sale: meetings, web testing, inventory
Planned:
  • Beginning flyers for spring workshops, other accessibility verbage, entering demographic and evaluations data, database contacts audit.
  • Plant sale volunteer recruitment and mailchimp blasts, working on photo waiver liability.
CONSERVATION LEGACY
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Andrew Brown
Completed:
  • Andrew was out of office and unable to submit a report.
Grants Suzanne Easton
Completed:
  • Meetings and responding to questions on 2019 PIC application.
  • Reviewed and processed three SPACE applications
  • Co-hosted Green Workforce convening with Meyer Memorial Trust and Ecotrust.
  • Attended Equity Team meeting; drafted language for equity page on website.
Planned:
  • Conduct initial review of PIC applications following December 14th deadline.
  • Begin setting up dates for PIC review.
Land Legacy Matt Shipkey
Completed:
  • Working farmland easement template finalized.
  • One easement for Oxbow transaction finalized, as well as other disposition documents.
  • Participated in Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts Community Conservation Gathering.
  • Mainstem lease substantially finalized.
  • Additional outreach for farm succession workshops.
Planned:
  • Oxbow PSA executed.
  • Mainstem lease executed.
  • Prep for farm succession planning workshop complete.
  • Land camp presentation proposal substantially complete.
Headwaters Farm Rowan Steele
Completed:
  • Created a draft 2019 Farmer’s Manual.
  • Participated in an interview with Oregon Tilth for their upcoming Organicology conference.
  • Worked with Laura on the initial edits to EMSWCD’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan.
  • Supported Scot with mounting solar panels for the aerated compost boxes.
Planned:
  • Wrapping up End of the Year Meetings.
  • Updating and sending out the End of Year Questionnaire to HIP Farmers and Grads, this year in an online format.
  • Participating in a follow-up call to identify opportunities for Friends of Family Farmer’s Oregon Farm Link program.