Activity Report for the Period 5/30/2016 – 6/10/2016

East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District
Sections:
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ACTIVITIES
Jay Udelhoven
Completed:
  • Boards/Committees: Prepped for June board meeting.
  • External Engagement: Finalized strategic partnership agreement with watershed councils for board approval.
  • Policies: Updated performance review process and forms.
  • Program Implementation: Met with other districts to discuss opportunities for soil and water conservation districts to engage with the Governor's work group on farms and range land.
  • Staff Leadership & Professional Development: Attended public speaking and presentation training.
Planned:
  • Boards/Committees: Host June board meeting; host LLC co-chairs meeting in Rick M. and Andrew's absence.
  • External Engagement: If approved by the board, work with watershed councils to finalize and sign the strategic partnership agreement.
  • Planning/Budgeting: Begin staff and district-wide annual work planning.
  • Policies: Continue revision of personnel policies and review of Urban Lands Plan.
  • Program Implementation: Attend Portland Harbor Superfund meeting.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS
ACTIVITIES
Program Supervision / Finance & Budget Lissa Adams
Completed:
  • Prepared financial statements, budget adoption resolution, retirement plan options and life insurance benefit options for June board meeting.
  • Reviewed Workers Compensation renewal packet and submitted payroll estimates and paperwork for FY16-17 policy renewal.
  • Reviewed May payroll and accounts payable, and prepared budget vs. actual reports for year-to-date through May.
Planned:
  • Order new GIS computer for Conservation Legacy program.
  • Submit draft marketing plan to management team for comment.
  • Work with Admin Team to finalize FY16-17 workplans.
Office Management Jed Arnold
Completed:
  • Worked out a more advantageous pricing structure for the copier lease/maintenance agreement with Pacific Office Automation.
  • Worked with Alex on design tweaks to the EMSWCD logo to allow it to be legibly placed on a baseball cap.
  • Resolved the long-outstanding quality and billing issues with the vendor used for the EMSWCD branded gear resulting in significant savings for EMSWCD.
Planned:
  • Work with Lissa to finalize FY16/17 work plan.
  • Arrange for sale or donation of old credenza and file cabinets previously stored in the board room.
  • Compile a list of required regulatory employee notifications which apply to EMSWCD so we will not need to renew our license for the Compliance Dashboard tool.
Facilities Management Scot Wood
Completed:
  • The new steps for the soon-to-be-reopened board room door are installed.
  • The hardwood floor repair/refinishing is underway.
  • The second round of mowing at Headwaters Farm has started.
  • The concrete slab has been poured for the new storage building at Headwaters Farm.
Planned:
  • I will be getting door quotes and hopefully installing a new door out to the new steps on the south side of the office.
  • If all goes according to plan, the board room floors will be finished by June 17th.
  • I'm working on getting quotes for the greenhouses that will be installed in the southwest corner of the farm.
  • The plan is to have the new storage building at Headwaters started within the next week or so.
Marketing & Media Alex Woolery
Completed:
  • Worked with staff and Clackamas SWCD on output options, quoting and reconstructing the design of a mini-booklet on beneficial insects.
  • Created several design options for baseball cap branded gear; worked with Jed and an embroider to select which designs would be practical in terms of output restraints and legibility. Reviewed final options with Jay and Lissa and selected a final design.
  • Tested and fixed two unrelated issues on the website that were due to plugin updates. Rolled back events plugin to an earlier version and worked with the "Business Directory" plugin developer to implement a fix for the Conservation Directory.
  • Ported the final version of the PIC grant applicant survey to SurveyMonkey; released and sent out emails and reminder emails to 2016 PIC grant applicants. The survey yielded a 50% response rate.
Planned:
  • Finalize 2016-17 personal work plan and review with Lissa.
  • Collect and finalize draft outdoor signage materials and present options to management.
  • Review outreach materials Urban Lands made with the new template; make design/layout changes as necessary and review again.
  • Finish any outstanding current work plan items as time allows.
Information Technology Alex Woolery
Completed:
  • Set up Jed's new computer station and software; the old station will replace the one at the Headwaters office.
  • Working with Online Support to resolve a networking issue on one staff station.
  • Assisted staff with software and printing questions, unresponsive web scripts, network issues.
Planned:
  • Follow up with Online Support about individual station networking issue.
  • Obtain quotes for backup software to use with the new backup tape drive.
  • Assist staff with any software, station, network or printing issues or questions as needed.
RURAL LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Julie DiLeone
Completed:
  • Awarded culvert replacement contract to a contractor. The required 7-day appeal period ends on June 10th.
  • Got a quote for geotechnical oversite.
Planned:
  • Draft a contract for culvert replacement including compaction/geotechnical.
  • Get quotes for compaction testing.
  • Jury duty on June 16th and 17th.
Rural Water Quality Aaron Guffey
Completed:
  • Aaron is currently on parental leave until Mid-September.
StreamCare Lucas Nipp
Completed:
  • Chelsea and I attended the 4-County CWMA's Annual Field Day. Saw a great CREP site, some innovative turtle conservation methods and discussed false brome control at a heavily infested site.
  • I attended a Pollinators in Parks training. Very good practical information on and examples of pollinator meadows and pollinator hedgerows. It made me feel very confident about our hedgerow methods and highlighted how difficult establishing these projects without herbicide can be.
  • Conducted five more "exit site visits" for landowners graduating from the StreamCare program this summer. We walked the sites discussing where things were at and what they could expect moving forward, and I answered any questions they had. I also discussed the ODFW Riparian tax incentive program with them and provided them with a native plant ID guide that Chelsea created, a list of the plants installed on their properties, and several other EMSWCD informational materials.
  • Two site visits for interested landowners in StreamCare. Map and agreement creation.
Planned:
  • I am meeting with the project manager for the Troutdale to Springwater Trail Master Plan.
  • I will be out with a crew visiting the newly planted StreamCare sites to spray blackberry.
  • I will be working on my work plan.
Technical Assistance Jeremy Baker
Completed:
  • Completed Conservation Plan Map of prospective Land Legacy property outlining recommendations for wildlife habitat connectivity corridors.
  • Initial site visit to landowner in Troutdale requesting TA on erosion control, weed control, field prep (for cropping), mud and manure management and pasture management. We also discussed some short term and long term goals for the family and the property. As this property has several land uses it will be moved over to an NRCS Conservation Planning Course Trainee that I will be mentoring moving forward. The landowner has agreeed to participate and it will provide the trainee many opportunities for identifying and addressing resource concerns on this ground.
  • Prepare CLIP project for review at Board meeting.
Planned:
  • Attend Hazelnut Growers Meetting to discuss cover crops.
  • Drafting a conservation plan of operations for Troutdale TA property as well as some recommendations for treating Tansy and thistle.
  • Preparing consevation plan and budget documentation for presenation to Board of Directors at July meeting.
Weed Management Chris Aldassy
Completed:
  • Chris was out of the office on family leave at the time of this report.
Weed Management Jon Wagner
Completed:
  • Surveyed and controlled False Brome along streamsides, slopes and trailside, with Ellen and Chris assisting.
  • Finished up final passes of garlic mustard hand-pulling at isolated and high-priority sites, with Ellen and Chris.
  • Worked on Garlic mustard planning, outreach and data entry. Had meetings and created a rough draft for ag. illustration.
Planned:
  • Continue first pass surveys and control for False Brome.
  • Third and fourth passes of highest priority garlic mustard sites.
  • Water quality sampling and data entry. Finish annual work plan and mailer illustration.
Outreach & Education Chelsea White-Brainard
Completed:
  • Attended CWMA (Cooperative Weed Management Area) Field Day.
  • Met with partners to plan booth at Far West Show. Began developing material and planning displays.
  • Developed first draft of work plan for 2016/2017.
Planned:
  • Work with Jon to create a mailer to send to landowners in the agricultural water quality focus area about the upcoming Healthy Livestock workshop.
  • Coordinate and host a presentation by Pivot Group on the Nursery Grower Study.
  • Continue planning for booth at the Far West Show and the Healthy Livestock workshop.
URBAN LANDS
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Kathy Shearin
Completed:
  • Weeds workshop at Oregon Food Bank.
Planned:
  • Meeting with WMSWCD about unifying our messaging and possibly better coordinating our offerings across Districts.
  • Attend EMSWCD board meetting at Zenger.
  • Meeting with USFWS, Grotto groundskeeper and Laurie from Boskey Dell to discuss SPACE application and possible future partnerships.
  • Meeting with Celeste Ets-Hokin to discuss possible partnerships around native bee education and the app she created.
Technical Assistance Erik Carr
Completed:
  • Attended the Oregon Urban and Community Forestry Conference at World Forestry Center; focus was on preserving and protecting mature trees in the urban forest.
  • Attended kickoff meeting for Columbia Slough Watershed Council's technical team, which will advise their board on restoration priorities and collaboration opportunities.
  • Met with the CLIP review team to discuss an upcoming project proposal and CLIP application process.
Planned:
  • Meeting with WMSWCD to discuss Stormwater Stars proposal.
  • Meeting with US Fish and Wildlife Service to learn about monarch enhancement project at the Grotto and to discuss collaboration opportunities between our programs.
  • Attending Johnson Creek IJC meeting.
Outreach & Education Angela Previdelli
Completed:
  • Completed first draft of new outreach materials for urban lands - rain gardens, naturescaping, and native plant communities.
  • Tabled at Backyard Habitat - Neighborhood Certification Garden Party in Gresham.
  • Begin review of applications for Metro's Restoration Grant Review Committee.
Planned:
  • Complete second draft of new outreach materials for urban lands - rain gardens, naturescaping, and native plant communities.
  • Table at Explorando el Columbia Slough - expected attendance of 500.
Outreach & Education Katie Meckes
Completed:
  • Sent surveys to approximately 180 people who attended spring 2015 Naturescaping & Rain Garden workshops.
  • Finalized and submitted the DRAFT Emergency Action Plan for management team review. Attended 5/31 Safety Committee Meeting.
  • Created flier targeting Camelot neighbors to promote two fall workshops in Gresham this fall.
  • Conducted first round of edits to new Urban Lands outreach pamphlets with Angela & Erik.
  • Spent a few days battling a nasty virus. Catching up on missed work due to illness.
Planned:
  • Work with safety committee to prepare list of emergency supplies to be housed in safety shed.
  • Attend Greening Schoolyards Taskforce meeting on 6/16.
CONSERVATION LEGACY
ACTIVITIES
Program Management Andrew Brown
Completed:
  • Pursued various due diligence activities, and management options, related to the ag acquisition property.
  • Met with Metro Nature in Neighborhoods staff to discuss our respective grants programs, and learn lessons on their experience with the online grants application tool they are using.
  • Worked on template for EMSWCD district work plan for FY16-17.
Planned:
  • Continue to pursue due diligence activities and management options for the ag acquisition property.
  • Work with Conservation Legacy staff to complete the individual works plans for next financial year (FY16-17).
  • Work on EMSWCD District work plan for FY16-17.
  • Research online grant management software solutions for possible use by the Grants Program.
Land Legacy Rick McMonagle
Completed:
  • Continued due diligence for farm acquisition project.
  • Toured a forested property with partners.
  • Hosted Water Master for staff presentation.
  • Completed contacting owners of top 75 priority land parcels.
Planned:
  • Continuing due diligence for farm acquisition project.
  • Discussing Transfer of Development Rights with DLCD staff.
  • Attending Board meeting.
Grants Suzanne Easton
Completed:
  • Continued contracting with PIC 2016 grantees - almost 10 complete; processed 5 SPACE grants.
  • Met with CLIP team to review current application and discuss tracking CLIP projects in the database.
  • PIC 2016 survey of applicants administered, reviewing responses.
  • Met with Anne Greenwood, Humboldt Neighborhood Assn.
  • Met with Adele Rife, Columbia Slough Watershed Council to discuss current grants.
  • Met with Metro grants staff - share information on programs and on-line app. experience.
Planned:
  • Attend Depave - PIC site visit.
  • Attend Crystal Springs work party - PIC site visit.
  • Prepare for performance review.
  • Attend Greening Schoolyards meeting.
  • Continue PIC contracting.
Headwaters Farm Rowan Steele
Completed:
  • Rowan was on vacation at the time of this report.