Activity Report for the Period 5/13/2019 – 5/24/2019

East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
Sections:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ACTIVITIES
Jay Udelhoven
Completed:
  • Jay was unable to fill out a report for this work period.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
ACTIVITIES
Program Supervision / Finance & Budget Dan Mitten
Completed:
  • Attended: public contracting discussion meeting, Strategic Plan meeting, Safety Committee meeting, 5-year Financial Projection meeting, EV installation meeting, board working session with Equity Team meeting. Held 1X1’s with F&O staff and with Executive Director.
  • Prepared financials for electric vehicle charging station and installation to determine budget and ability to begin installation in FY18-19.
  • Received TSCC Budget Adoption checklist. Reviewed TSCC Hearing questions, answered pre-meeting questions. Attended TSCC Hearing on EMSWCD's FY19-20 Budget. Budget approved and certificate issued by TSCC.
  • Met with bookkeeper to discuss timesheet evaluation methodology as well as payroll process improvement suggestions. Reviewed expenditures and checks printed by bookkeeper.
  • Prepared Financial Reports in preparation for the June 3rd Board Meeting. Prepared Budget v Actual reports for Program Manager's and Executive Director's review.
  • Prepared resolution to Adopt the EMSWCD FY19-20 Budget, make appropriations by program, and to set the tax limit.
Planned:
  • Will continue to explore and determine best practices for timesheet hours allocation methodology as well as feasibility in changing payroll processes.
  • Will continue to contribute to and work on 2019-2024 Strategic Plan in collaboration with ED and Program Supervisors.
  • Will work with Operations Manager on two workplan items: Developing schedule of community meetings & events for engagement purposes; Establish contact list of the elected officials representing EMSWCD.
  • Continue to work on public records policy, public contracting templates, rules, and policy change draft, fiscal policies & procedures, and fleet vehicle usage policies.
Office Management Lindsay Nelson
Completed:
  • Met with Tamara from TASC to go over FSA website.
  • Created an executive summary of the DEI Board survey to share at the DEI Working Session. Attended the Board DEI Working Session.
  • Set up, recorded, and took minutes for the LLC meeting for May, 2019. Finished LLC meeting minutes.
  • Sent out public notice for Board of Directors meeting. Finished the Board meeting and Special Board meeting minutes.
  • Attended an all day SDAO HR training.
Facilities Management Scot Wood
Completed:
  • Scot was out on vacation and unable to submit a report.
Marketing & Media Alex Woolery
Completed:
  • Open House: developing self-guided tour map, created and did in-house printing of various versions of outreach materials, promoted on social media.
  • Continued creating and reviewing several versions of the Lawn Removal brochure, discussions with staff about changes to the template. Worked with OSU Extension to find out about and obtain permissions for a photo. Discussed photo needs with Kathy and she created an amazing set of lawn mulching photos.
  • Compiled 5 years of data on plant sale numbers and aligned with existing data, checked for discrepancies, in order to answer questions for an upcoming TSCC hearing.
  • IT: resolved issues with laptop hardware, troubleshot various staff VPN issues, added new staff accounts, worked to resolve printer issues.
  • Finalized edits to Land Conservation page and subsections and published them.
  • Matt and I met with Jen from COLT to review the Communications Inventory Project and potential services and data we could access as a member organization.
Planned:
  • Final push for the Bike More Challenge - we are in second place in our category!
  • Finalize Lawn Removal brochure edits, tour guide and other materials, and print/fold around 800 sheets of various materials in-house in preparation for Open House.
  • Obtain music equipment, set up and play music, help with general setup, take photos, talk about programs with public, and otherwise assist during Open House event!
  • Catch up on other program and staff needs after Open House.
RURAL LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Julie DiLeone
Completed:
  • Sandy River Basin Partners meeting. Topics included genetic testing of fish, the Heat Source model, and fish passage in Beaver Creek.
  • Sandy Watershed Council meeting.
  • CLIP team meeting.
Planned:
  • Starting work on program and individual work plans for next fiscal year.
  • Reviewing latest version of the draft strategic plan.
Rural Water Quality Aaron Guffey
Completed:
  • Aaron was out of office for most of this reporting period and unable to submit a report.
StreamCare Lucas Nipp
Completed:
  • Chelsea and I sent out post cards to StreamCare eligible landowners in Big and Smith Creek. I have done one site visit with someone who called based on those flyers. I also did an exit site visit for a landowner who graduated from StreamCare last summer.
  • I did some maintenance on one of the hedgerows at Oxbow Farm to improve visibility from nearby driveways.
  • I attended a USFS workshop that focused on the USFS’s Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Mt Hood National Forest, and Willamette National Forest. 
Planned:
  • Chelsea and I are going to be conducting door to door Outreach in support of enrolling landowners in the StreamCare Program in Big and Smith Creek.
  • I will begin doing a round of weed control treatments on all of the newly treated StreamCare sites.
  • I am attending the Columbia River Gorge Cooperative Weed Management Area's annual field day. It will be held in our District this year.
Technical Assistance Jeremy Baker
Completed:
  • Attended CLIP Team meeting and drafted team meeting minutes.
  • Amended presentation and prepped for the Mud, Manure and Grazing Workshop in Corbett. 8 people signed up, 6 attended and 2 requests for a site visit were requested. Post workshop survey showed all attendees rated the workshop highly and found the information useful.
Planned:
  • OCEAN: Attended OCEAN Strategic Planning Session in the Dalles; Drafted outline of deliverables for possible NRCS grant with OCEAN and possibly OACD for next year; Attended meeting with Oregon Conservation Partnership to review exsting MOU and amend/update deliverables.
  • Following up with emails and phone calls after being out of the office for several days.
  • Setting up site visits with landowners who attended the Mud and Manure workshop.
Weed Management Chris Aldassy
Completed:
  • I took ODA's entomologist on a tour of potential release sites for several insects hoping to be released to control garlic mustard and knotweed.
  • Garlic Mustard containment project work.
  • Rainy day tree ivy control.
Planned:
  • Garlic Mustard work continues.
  • Presenting at the CGCWMA field day.
Weed Management Jon Wagner
Completed:
  • Chelsea and I conducted monthly water quality sampling and wildlife surveys.
  • Chris and I worked with contract crews to complete second passes at all large sites and most small sites.
Planned:
  • We will finish second and third passes at in-house garlic mustard sites and conduct garlic mustard road and forest surveys for new patches.
  • I will attend the Columbia Gorge Cooperative Weed Management area tour of the burn zone in the gorge.
Outreach & Education Chelsea White-Brainard
Completed:
  • Events: Tabled at the Columbia Grange's plant share on May 11th. Gave a tour of the DPNA and Headwaters to my Eco Voices Toastmasters group. Planned and promoted Livestock workshop, which Jeremy and Kim Galland presented at the Columbia Grange on May 21st. Attended a cover crop tour at the USDA Plant Materials Center in Corvallis.
  • Equity: Planned and prepared materials for the Board DEI work session on May 17th. Developed organization-wide equity goals. Worked on strategy for getting community feedback on our equity plan.
  • Projects: Spent May 9th filming and assisting Emma Browne on short videos about Headwaters farmers. Sent mailer to potential StreamCare landowners along Smith and Big Creeks. Did wildlife surveys of the DPNA and water quality sampling with Jon.
Planned:
  • Events: Continue planning the 4-County CWMA (Cooperative Weed Management Area) Field Day, which will be held in eastern Multnomah County on June 12th and feature a tour of the DPNA and Headwaters.
  • Equity: Refine strategy for getting community feedback on our equity plan and develop a scope of work for our contractors.
  • Projects: Door-to-door outreach for StreamCare with Lucas.
URBAN LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Kathy Shearin
Completed:
  • Intern Interviews.
  • Meetings: CLIP team meeting, Open House/Garden planning meeting, Solve Pest Problems meetings to discuss user interface and pesticide communications, Management meeting to discuss Strategic Plan draft, Open House/Garden planning meeting.
  • Met with partners associated with potential large-scale demonstration at NAYA.
Planned:
  • Working with Katie and Alex on lawn removal hand-out.
  • Working on edits to Naturescaping workbook.
  • New UL Intern (Rhesa Napoli) starts!
  • Katie's last day before her sabbatical.
Technical Assistance Whitney Bailey
Completed:
  • Participated in CLIP team meeting.
  • Site visit and followup regarding riparian restoration on Whitaker Slough. Provided technical review for SPACE applications. Site visit to community garden SPACE applicant.
  • Solicited bids for pervious paver installation.
  • Met with landscaping company to discuss summer and Open House needs.
Outreach & Education Monica McAllister
Completed:
  • Outreach for Open House and Garden Event.
  • Indigenous Land Acknowledgement research and attending NAYA Event.
  • DEI Working Session with Equity Team, Management Team, and Board.
  • Intern interviews.
Planned:
  • Open House and Garden Event.
  • Land Acknowledgement.
  • DEI Work Plan.
  • Greeting new Intern!
Outreach & Education Katie Meckes
Completed:
  • Prepared training binders and program orientation plan for Rhesa.
  • Prepared workshop contractor information for Kathy including FY19/20 presenter contract template and contractor insurance documentation updates.
  • Prepared for transfer of outreach tasks and information to Brandi.
  • Facilitated Urban Lands outreach pamphlet template updates.
  • Worked with Alex and Kathy on development of new Lawn Removal with Sheet Mulching pamphlet.
  • Followed up with Kathy on final updates and edits for Naturescaping workbook. Facilitated schedule and process for final workbook updates needed before it goes to print.
Planned:
  • Train Rhesa on all things workshops.
  • Transfer outreach tasks and information to Brandi.
  • Forward emails to Brandi.
  • Go on sabbatical!
Outreach & Education Brandi Boersma
Completed:
  • Intern interviews and deliberations with Urban Lands team.
  • Entered into a contract with Purple for ASL interpretation at our workshops and held a Naturescaping Basics workshop with an interpretor present.
  • Printed 22 Naturescaping Books for final Naturecaping Basics workshop of the season.
  • Workshop registration management and ongoing communications. Communicating with IRCO regarding translation services for our bilingual workshop offerings.
  • Meetings: Sabin Neighborhood Association meeting, Elliot Neighborhood Association meeting.
  • Open House outreach via social media, businesses, and direct neighborhood canvassing.
Planned:
  • Open House and related preparations.
  • Lower Willamette Valley SWCD Conservation Educators Meeting at WMSWCD
  • Intern starts!
CONSERVATION LEGACY
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Andrew Brown
Completed:
  • Advanced the development of the EMSWCD strategic plan. Assisted CFO with revising the 5-year budget projection.
  • Worked on the Headwaters solar installation options and bids, and gathering materials for the associated grant application.
  • Assisted Rowan with finalizing the contracting for the Headwaters construction related projects.
Planned:
  • Work on refining the EMSWCD strategic plan. Initiate preparation of the FY19-20 EMSWCD annual work plan.
  • Pursue Headwaters solar installation, including finalizing the associated grant application.
  • With Suzanne, host east county urban tree canopy partner convening.
Grants Suzanne Easton
Completed:
  • Suzanne was unable to submit a report for this work period.
Land Legacy Matt Shipkey
Completed:
  • May LLC meeting completed.
  • Organizational call for Land Camp presentation.
  • Advancement of working farmland protection funding priorities with Metro.
  • Advanced several land conservation opportunities.
  • Website edits live.
  • Mainstem septic job awarded.
Planned:
  • Advance land conservation opportunities.
  • Advance additional website edits.
  • Land Camp presentation development.
  • Begin development of newsletter outreach element.
Headwaters Farm Rowan Steele
Completed:
  • Completed the contract for three upcoming earthmoving projects at Headwaters Farm: equipment shed site prep, road realignment through the Dianna Pope Natural Area, and improvements to the main driveway.
  • Presented an Intro to Irrigation training and hosted farm tour for HIP farmers, Bridge City Farm School, and Rogue Farm Corps. Also offered a separate tour to Zenger Farm apprentices.
  • Met with incubator farmers utilizing the auxiliary wash station to discuss improvements and refining operational protocols and etiquette.
Planned:
  • Finishing the scope of work for the equipment shed and sending that out to bid.
  • Completing the first draft of the Headwaters Farm Food Safety Plan.
  • Submitting the equipment shed Agricultural Exemption to Multnomah County.
Headwaters Farm Stuart Moeller
Completed:
  • Trained on the CAT and used it to remove trees from a fallowed farm field.
  • Prepped the site for the Dianna Pope Natural Area road realignment.
  • Worked with Scot to fix the 9’ flail mower (reattaching the broken roller) and serviced the implements.
Planned:
  • Installing waddles for the Dianna Pope Natural Area road realignment.
  • Mowing and discing to manage weeds as well as prep for summer cover crops.
  • Building one last irrigation riser and making minor repairs on several others.