Weed Board

Anaconda Deer Lodge County Weed Board Meeting January 19, 2016 Present: Michael Marker, Coordinator, Lorraine Biggs, Phil Ralston, Mike Burt, Patricia Mulvey, Elaine Lux-Burt. Absent: Chad Lanes, Chairman, and David Given Call to Order: Coordinator Marker called meeting to order at 10am. Approval of Minutes: No minutes to approve. Old Business: No old business. New Business: Introduction of Weed Coordinator: Michael Marker introduced himself to the board and told them a little bit about himself. He stated that he is married to Kelly Marker who is a math teacher at Fred Moodry Middle School. Michael added that he and Kelly have two children, Maddie who is in 8th grade and Cory who is in 6th grade. He went on to say that it is nice having them all together at one school. Michael stated that he grew up in Santa Cruz, CA. Graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science degree in Graphic Communications/Printing Management. He has worked on golf courses in the past and has a Golf Turf Management Certificate from Rutgers University. He moved to Anaconda twelve years ago to work at the Old Works Golf Course as the assistant superintendent. He also worked for Jordan Contracting as a truck driver/laborer. He added that in his free time he enjoys camping, hiking, hunting, fishing and gardening. He likes to spend time outdoors with his family. Elect vice-chair: Michael asked if anyone would be interested in being vice-chair and that the main role of the vice-chair would be to run the meetings if the chair was absent and the main requirement was to attend the meetings. Phil recommended Lorraine, but she said she wasn’t interested. Mike Burt volunteered to do it and was approved unanimously. 2015 Season Summary: Michael stated the season went from May 26 to Oct 14. He hired four employees that worked in teams of two for safety reasons. He was very happy with their overall performance. Every time he checked on them they were busy at work and he didn’t have any complaints from residents. Michael stated that everyone traveled to Dillon June 1 through June 4 for crew training put on by the Montana Weed Control Association. He said that some of the classes they attended were; first aid/cpr, sprayer calibration, dealing with difficult people, pesticide labels, personal protective equipment, weed id, and atv/utv safety. He added that the entire crew was also given the opportunity to take the State Pesticide Exam, which no one in the class passed. Michael stated that the crew worked a total of 3037 hours. They sprayed a total of 500 acres of weed infested land. The majority of the acreage was street right-of-ways and county property. The main weeds that were dealt with were spotted knap weed, kochia, common mullen, yellow and Dalmation toad flax, leafy spurge, whitetop, and Canada thistle. He went on to say that the main main spray mix that was used was used was milestone or tordon, 2-4d, surfactant and a spray indicator. In total 337.5 gallons of product was used at a cost of $13,224. Michael stated that in July he went to Missoula and collected Biocontrol insects with the State Biocontrol Coordinator. He collected 1100 knapweed root weevils and released them on 11 sites on county property. Michael informed the board that the crew was able to complete the FY 2014-2015 contract with Montana Department of Transportation and start on the FY 2015-2016 contract. Michael stated that in October Tonda Moon from the Department of Agriculture came and did an inspection of the facilities, equipment and the pesticide records. He went on to say that she was impressed with the thoroughness and accuracy of the pesticide records, and the cleanliness and organization of the shop area. Michael then stated that in October he travelled to Great Falls and disposed of some old pesticides. He disposed of a total of 35 gallons of pesticides that had been left in spray tanks or in jugs that had the labels worn off. Michael stated that over the course of the season some repairs had to be made to the equipment. Repairs to the three trucks consisted of replacing four tires, having all three trucks aligned, replacing the roller pumps, two spray guns, pressure relief valves and a few hoses. Repairs to the two UTV’s consisted of replacing a wire harness and a clutch. Michael stated that he thought that the season went well. He expects to have three returning employees. He is looking forward to the coming season and improving and building on what was accomplished this past season. Grant money for Biocontrol: Michael stated that the weed department receives $7500 in grant money from the Department of Agriculture every year. In the past it has been used for salaries and benefits. He would like to use a portion of this money to purchase Biocontrol and do a 50% cost share with land owners in Deer Lodge County. If all the insects are not purchased we would release the remainder on county property. He would also get an ok from Joey Blodnick before doing this. The board thought this was a good idea and thought that he should pursue it. Lorraine asked if there was someone that could check to see how the Biocontrol was doing on her property. Michael said that he would in the coming season. Noxious weed areas of concern: Michael asked where everyone thinks he should focus his resources in the coming season. He stated that he feels the alleys in town need to be addressed. They look terrible and people parking in them gives the weeds an opportunity to spread. Mike Burt feels that he should just go in and spray them. Elaine thinks that Michael should speak to the county attorney because he is working on a decay ordinance that isn’t complaint driven. Phil Ralston thinks that if we do decide to spray that we might be able to do it early in the season because the pavement and shelter of the alleys might allow the weed seeds to germinate early. Michael said that this was all good input and he would explore his options further starting by contacting the county attorney as Elaine had suggested. Miscellaneous/Announcements: Michael stated that he was planning on the next weed board meeting to be in late April. He wants to have one more before the 2016 season started in May. He will talk to Chad Lanes, set a date and then notify everyone. Mike Burt said that mornings work well for him and Lorraine said that she likes to be notified by phone. Public Comment: Elaine thanked Michael for the job he has been doing and that she is glad to see the weed board meeting again. Adjournment: With no further business, meeting adjourned at 10:45am. Respectfully Submitted, Michael Marker, Weed Coordinator Anaconda-Deer Lodge County