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HomeMy WebLinkAboutU.W. Extension Committee - Minutes - 5/13/2020Bayfield County Extension Committee 05-13-20 Page 1 of 4 BAYFIELD COUNTY Agriculture and Extension Education Committee Meeting Wednesday, May 13, 2020– 4:00 PM Via Microsoft Teams Meeting +1 715-318-2087 (Toll) United States, Eau Claire, WI Conference ID: 357 891 708# Minutes 1. Call to Order Fred Strand, Chair, called the meeting to order at 4:02 Committee members present: Jim Crandall, Steve Sandstrom, Jeff Silbert, Fred Strand, and Committee members not present: Tom Snilsberg Others present: Stephanie Bakker, Sarah DeGraff, Jason Fischbach, Donna Ganson, Theresa LaChappelle, Liz Lexau, Ian Meeker, Mary Pardee, and Kellie Pederson 2. Welcome New Committee Members Steve Sandstrom, was introduced and welcomed to the Committee. 3. Election of Committee Chair and Vice Chair (action item) Motion (Strand,) nominates Jeff Silbert. Any other nominations asked for Jim Crandall motion Silbert) close nominations and unanimous vote for Jeff Silbert as Chair. Approved. Jim Crandall nominates Fred Strand vice-Chair. Any other nominations Crandall cast unanimous ballot for Vice-Chair. Steve Sandstrom second. Motion approved. 4. Approval of Minutes of March 11, 2020 Meeting (action item) Motion (Strand, Crandall) to approve the minutes of March 11,2020. Motion approved. 5. Public Comment No public comment 6. 2020 UW-Extension Budget Update Report The 2020 Budget was discussed. 7. Wisconsin Extension Association (WEXA) (action item) Strand noted that the Committee has supported the change from WACEC to WEXA. (Strand, Crandall) approve the $50 dues for WEXA. Motion Approved. 8. Area Extension Director Update Karl Martin has been chosen as the new UW-Madison Division of Extension Dean of Extension. Karl Martin was the Interim Director. March 16th was the starting date of telecommuting for the Extension Educators. Weekly staff meetings are through Zoom. LaChappelle is back in the building this week. Extension educators are expected to be transitioning back to the building in June, following the Badger Bounce Back Plan. Virtual meetings are to be continued through June. In- Person programming will be based on the BBB Plan. UW-Madison is requiring staff to take three to six furlough days between May 15th and October 31st. County partners will receive monies back for the furlough days. Donna Ganson will be retiring on June 30th. UW-Madison currently has a hiring freeze. This complicates the hiring of Donna Ganson’s replacement. It is still unclear if the State will pay towards the position, or if the County will need to pay for the entire position. Discussions. The Committee consensus is that the 4-H Program Coordinator position should be 9. COVID-19 Initiatives Are included in the Educators Reports. 10. Superior Adventures program update Ian Meeker shared documents regarding the VFW building. Bayfield County owns the building and the land. The County Administrator and Meeker have been discussing the possible use of this building for Superior Adventures. Washburn School District may also be interested in partnering with the County for use of the building. The plan usage of the VFW building will eventually go to the executive committee or to the full board for discussion. Taylor Hanson will be starting on the May 26th as the summer Superior Adventures Facilitator. Meeker has been able to purchase two additional canoes. He is Looking at various ways to collaborate and to hold programs, possibly with the Washburn School District and the Northland College Pathfinders group. Meeker also noted that a $1500 grant was received for Superior Adventures from the Duluth Superior Community fund. Discussions. 11. Staff Reports Kellie Pederson, Community Resource Educator – Pederson co-hosted “Weathering the Storm for Small Businesses”. This was a Zoom meeting on how to file for various COVID-19 grants. Sixty + people registered and 40+ people attended. Pederson has been busy working with local non-profits. She has been attending the twice monthly board meetings of the Red Cliff Economic Corp. Pederson has also been partnering with the Tourism Department regarding the upcoming tourism season. The next steps in the Housing Survey are being taken. Pederson is also on the board of the Mt. Ashwabay non-profit. Pederson is involved in wrapping up with the Transportation Summit group as it transitions into Transportation Coordination Committee. She is also in a cooperative endeavor with Fischbach and DeGraff with a foods survey for local food producers. She is also actively involved with the Chequamegon Bay COVID -19 Regional Response Team. These meetings were being held every day but are now down to three meetings a week. This group coordinates with the Ashland, Bayfield and Iron County Health Departments and various other businesses working together to send out a unified message. Jason Fischbach, Agriculture Educator – Fischbach’s time is split between the Upper Midwest Hazelnut Initiative at 80% and 20% Bayfield/Ashland Agriculture. Much of the hazelnut work is done locally, with plantings in Bayfield, Hayward, Spooner. The first varieties trial is in Bayfield County, with Mason being the next proposed area. The processing facility at Northland College, is receiving nuts from WI, MN and Iowa. Hannah Figgins, and Ariadna Chediack are the research assistants working with Fischbach on the hazelnut projects. The local CSA’s have sold out their shares and have waiting lists. Fischbach has been working with local food producers on how to meet the demand, logistics, drop optimizations, scaling up production while keeping it sustainable, bringing in new customers, and business development. The dairy industry is facing some major issues. The Fruit growers are facing issues due to the Covid-19 restrictions. The local Farmer’s Markets will be opening, and pick-your-own farms will be opening. All of these endeavors will help keep our local food suppliers supported. Sarah DeGraff, Agriculture Educator - DeGraff has been working with the Farmer’s Markets in the Chequamegon Bay area. Discussions regarding accepting senior vouchers, WIC and Snap & EBT benefits. DeGraff has also been informing the Market Managers and Vendors about online marketing. She has also been working with Pederson, Fischbach the local Health Departments and the Farmer’s Market Managers to figure out the COVID ramifications. DeGraff created an Agriculture Newsletter, with Fischbach doing the editing. The newsletter was Linked to the FEAST By the Bay website. DeGraff has been working on the Feast By the Bay website, making it more about access to local foods, CSA’s, food banks, etc. especially with food insecurity in our area. DeGraff is working with local food producers on the ongoing vegetable trials. She also has been working on “Beginning Gardening” videos with Ashland County Extension Educator, Joy Shelbe. Stephanie Bakker – FoodWIse Coordinator-Bakker has been working on and finished the Ashland, Bayfield, Iron Counties FoodWIse Fiscal 2021 budget. Surveys were sent to local high school students. These surveys are to evaluate the nutrition education that high school students have received. Bakker has been collaborating with Ashland County Extension Educator, Joy Shelbe on her “Online Cooking” classes and “Beginning Gardening” videos. Other collaborations have been with the Bayfield Farm to School, and with Butch Bresette and Merci Gordon from the Red Cliff Food Distribution Center which have been providing meals to Bayfield school youth. Bakker has been providing weekly recipes on Fridays that are budget, pantry friendly which are then posted on our website. Liz Lexau – Human Development and Relationships Educator – Lexau has been providing financial education to individual and groups. Grandparents and other relatives who are raising children are finding it especially stressful right now. Lexau has been working with Red Cliff to put together an online discussion group. Please see the additional programming information located in your packets Donna Ganson, 4-H Program Coordinator– The first “Virtual” Cultural Arts Festival will take place. All Bayfield County youth are invited to participate. Pumpkin & Sunflower contest will be held again this year. The seeds have gone out to those who requested them. There is a Youth/Ag education grant for Tribal entities that has a fast approaching deadline. It appears that LCO will be putting together a joint grant request. Ganson noted that she is retiring with June 30th as her last day. She is putting instructional booklets together for the next person and getting rid of no longer needed paperwork. Theresa LaChappelle, Office Manager – LaChappelle has been working with the Administrator on putting together the 2021 Budget Survey for the public and one for the Supervisors. LaChappelle has created Thank You’s to be used on Facebook. These will be used to thank various businesses and people for their contributions to the COVID-19 response. LaChappelle created the 4-H Virtual Cultural Arts Festival website, registration forms and upload site. 12. 2019 Annual Report Status It is a work in progress. 13. Next Meeting Date July 8th, at 4 pm in the County Board Room or remote. This will be decided as we closer to the date. 14. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 5:40 pm.