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most significant and important grass roots charge since the
passage of the 2010 legislation, and/or the passage of REAP in
1989!! Our 2014 statewide ballot demonstrated 97% support for
Funding the Trust; in 2015 we initiated the CCB Un-Met Needs List –
which has now grown to 87 participating CCBs; and, in 2016 – 90
CCBs passed official Board Resolutions in support of Funding the
Trust! Getting the postcards, the pictures and most-of-all, the
banners in front of our legislators is going to make the difference
in 2017!! Please consider joining this statewide county
conservation groundswell of support to FUND THE TRUST this next
legislative session!
mycountyparks.com
SAVE THE DATE:
The IACCB Calendar is also available online via the IACCB link on MCP.com
* June 21 – IACCBE W’Fest Planning Meeting – Ames * July 14 – District 1 Mtg. – Dallas County * July 14 – District 2 Mtg. – Kossuth County * July 12‐13 – CCPOA Exec. Meeting – Boone Co. * Aug. 1 – Renewal of IACCB FY2017 Memberships due * Aug. 1‐3 – IAN Workshop – Shelby CCB * Aug. 18 – District 4 Mtg. – Montgomery County * Oct. 3‐5 – CCPOA 32nd Fall Workshop – Johnston * Oct. 27 – 4th Ann. New CCB Employee School – D.M. * Nov. 2‐4 – IAN Fall Workshop – TBA * Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 – Fall ISAC/CCDA – Des Moines * Jan. 24‐26 – WINTERFEST 2017 ‐ Waterloo
The IACCB Newsletter is
produced on a periodic basis, and provided in digital format as a membership benefit to IACCB Members and stakeholders.
[email protected]
(515) 963‐9582
Volume 57, Issue No. 22 June 16, 2016
IACCB 2016 Fall Conference September 15‐17
BANNERS ON THE WAY TO YOU!!
IACCB has been busy for the past week printing, cutting and
packaging 6,000+ postcards to join the #FundTheTrust banners that
will be on their way to you soon! We are very pleased to have 36
CCBs that have already requested the banners and supporting
materials – on our way to 100% by this fall! Our signature efforts
for the past three legislative sessions have collectively been
building us to this initiative - perhaps the
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS REQUESTED
IACCB Rules of Procedures provide for a call to the membership
each summer for legislative proposals to be considered by the
broader Association at the Annual Meeting each fall. Proposals are
reviewed by the IACCB Board of Directors at their summer meeting
and may be placed on a statewide ballot, placed on the agenda for
the Annual Meeting or deferred for further consideration/review.
Forms were distributed via email to all CCB Directors earlier this
week, and are available in the “LEGISLATIVE” Portal FILE.
the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation (INHF), the Iowa Tourism
Office (IDED), the Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS),
the Iowa DNR, and county conservation! In just a few short years,
this school has become the essential introduction for new employees
to our broader county conservation system in Iowa. BEST OF ALL –
IT’S FREE! Mark your calendars and look forward to registration
information later this summer – hoping to see ALL our new smiling
faces in October!
2016 - ANNUAL NEW COUNTY CONSERVATION EMPLOYEE SCHOOL
With an estimated 60+ new employees entering our statewide
system since the 2015 School – we are excited to get on your
calendars for this fall! This 4th annual event will be held on
Thursday, October 27th at the Ramada Tropics Conference Center in
Des Moines. The School will run from 9:00 AM – 2:45 PM and feature
presenters from the
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2016 I.A.C.C.B. FALL CONFERENCE UPDATE!
THURSDAY - PRE-CONFERENCE POTPOURRI OF ACTIVITIES & FISH
FRY! So – make your road trip to the Fort Dodge area this September
MORE memorable by
taking in one or more of the Thursday happenings in advance of
the Conference!
- BOW SHOOT - at Briggs Woods hosted by the Border Brigade
Archery Club of Webster City - GOLF – 6,500 yards of FUN at Briggs
Woods, Hamilton CCB’s finest course – Fore! - ATV RIDING – Gypsum
City OHV Park, 60 miles of trails on 800 acres – Vrrooom! - CANOE –
3.5 hours along 8.1 miles of the scenic Boone River Valley –
Splash! - BIKING – 10 or 25-mile option on the Fort Dodge &
Webster County Trail System - VEROBLUE FISH FARM – a 2-hour tour of
the unique aqua fish farms!
- FISH FRY DINNER WITH VENDORS – At the wonderful Community
Orchard facility a short distance from the hotel. Join our vendor
exhibits while sampling some great locally crafted beverages, and
dining on that fine locally grown VeroBlue Farms fish – served up
by your IACCB Board of Directors! Major yummage all-around! Be sure
to properly select your pre-conference activities & dining on
your registration form – and include the appropriate payments with
your form submission – thanks!
Got Questions? – [email protected]
LINK TO
INFO: http://mycountyparks.weebly.com/2016-fall-conference.html
VISITOR PROTECTION – Grrreat!
What an fantastic experience for the 30+ employees from the
Iowa, Jefferson, Tama, Winneshiek, Johnson, Mahaska, Monroe and
Jones CCBs this past week! The presenters from the Iowa County
Sheriff and Emergency Management were excellent, and the trending
information from the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement was
extremely interesting! A special thanks to the Iowa CCB for
organizing and hosting – AND to both the CCPOA and IACCB for their
sponsorships!
An excellent way to receive notice about severe weather, emergencies and other critical situations
EMERGENCY ALERTS – County by County
While not necessarily new on the “safety information” front, a
hand out from the Visitor Protection Workshop was a good reminder
that ANYONE can sign up for emergency mass notifications via phone,
text or email. ALERT !OWA is a free service that you can opt in/out
of via the Homeland Security website link below. To utilize this
system, you simply register the landline, cell phone and/or email
by completing the online registration by selecting your county of
interest from the statewide map on the website. At this time, over
80 counties have this service available in Iowa!
LINK:
http://homelandsecurity.iowa.gov/about_HSEMD/alert_iowa.html
FISH HABITAT PROGRAM TO BE REVIEWED
FYI - The highly successful Iowa Fish Habitat Program will be
reviewed by a CCB/DNR committee coordinated by Martin Konrad, DNR.
The program was initiated in 2003 with a $3.00 fee added to all
7-day and annual fishing licenses. County conservation boards
receive 50% of the revenue collected from these licenses, and since
inception nearly $7 million dollars have been awarded to the
program. Six CCB representatives to this committee will come one
from each District. IACCB is coordinating the recruitment of the
CCB employees to serve on this committee.
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NATIONAL AWARD TO WEBSITE! Celebrating a decade since all the
paperwork started, and on the heels of statewide recognition last
fall with an “Excellence in Action” Award from Iowa State
Association of Counties (ISAC) – the National Association of
Counties (NACo) has just announced that MyCountyParks.com is the
recipient of a NACo 2016 Achievement Award in the Parks &
Recreation category! The website was nominated for the national
award by ISAC this past spring, and will now be in competition for
the prestigious “Best of Category” recognition with other
Achievement Award winners. A collective crossing of all your
fingers will be much appreciated! It has been sometimes a
tumultuous yet rewarding rollercoaster ride since our emergence on
a world platform in February of 2009 – Many Thanks for supporting
the vision, your participation “out-of-the-box” on so many
occasions, and most of all …..your patience YOU are part of the
finest county conservation system in the nation!
receive mileage reimbursement for travel to meetings, and are
provided a luncheon for the quarterly meetings. It is anticipated
that your local CCB will support the registration costs and travel
expenses to the Annual Conferences. The Board of Directors will
from time-to-time establish sub-committees for various areas of
focus, and expects members of the Board of Directors to
QUARTERLY EMAIL SCOOP – DONE! IACCB is now utilizing our
early-June harvest of current email addresses that YOU have
provided in the Portal CONTACTS. If someone has not received this
newsletter – please send along their accurate address and get it
corrected in the Portal – thanks for all your efforts in keeping
this database up-to-date for us!
WILDLIFE HABITAT IMPROVEMENT SURVEY – FY2016
Look to arrive in your inbox next week your opportunity to
submit your CCBs information for an FY2016 Habitat Improvement
Award from the Iowa Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America.
This optional annual survey documents the various categories of
wildlife habitat improvements that your CCB performed during Fiscal
Year 2016 (ending 6/30/2016). The deadline for submission to IACCB
is August 5th – so, plenty of time to get your statistics together.
Handsome plaques for 1st, 2nd and 3rd places are awarded in two
population categories – CCBs in counties with more than 20,000 in
population, and for those in counties < 20,000. ALL CCBs are
invited to complete these self-nomination surveys – thanks for all
you do!
DISTRICT 3 and 4 – IACCB BOARD OF DIRECTORS ELECTIONS On a
rotating schedule each year, IACCB elects Board Member
representatives to the IACCB Board of Directors from two of the six
regional districts. For 2016, the two districts are in western Iowa
– Districts 3 and 4. Interested candidates submit an application to
the IACCB Board of Directors for review, and are then placed on a
ballot for voting by heir District’s counties only. Applications
should be submitted in the month of June in advance of the summer
Board of Directors Meeting in July. Application forms are available
from IACCB upon request to [email protected] These positions
are a three-year term, and incumbents are eligible for a second
term (if they choose) – for a total of 6 years. Representatives are
asked to attended five meetings each year – four weekday regular
meetings (January, May, July, November), and the IACCB Annual Fall
Conference & Meeting in September. Board Members
assume leadership roles on these committees. For questions about
these positions – please contact IACCB, OR the existing
representatives as follows: District 3 – Darrell Frerichs (Clay)
[email protected] ; District 4 – Chris Ruhaak
(Pottawattamie) [email protected]
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DISTRICT 6 GOES UNDERGROUND!?? STONE CITY – Hmmmm…Hosted by Linn
CCB in Jones County? The historic 1897 Stone City General Store
provided a gathering location as a “three-tour venue” was provided
to participants on June 15th. Nestled in the rolling hills of Grant
Wood Country – many of you have utilized Stone City Stone in
construction or landscaping projects over the years. A visit to the
55-degree underground stone mining operation was a welcome respite
from the 93-degree June heat. In operation for over 100 years, the
1,000’ deep and 1,500’ wide “cave” was very cool! As too was the
monstrous quarrying operation above ground. Then, a visit to the
Stone City Access on the Wapsipinicon River where a healthy
discussion on how the exploding kayaking and tube float tripping
management issues are affecting the Linn, Jones and Delaware CCBs –
large amounts of littering, underage drinking, public intoxication,
etc. have become the collateral damage caused by the surge of
interest in whitewater parks and kayaking on Iowa’s rivers and
streams. John Klein (Jones), Aaron Batchelder (Linn) and Garlyn
Glanz (Delaware) all shared their management headaches. Last stop
prior to the gourmet buffet at the General Store was a visit to
Linn CCB’s Matsell Bridge Natural Area to view large wetland
reconstruction projects as described by Dana Kellogg (Linn CCB). A
robust business meeting rounded out the day – great job by Linn CCB
in orchestrating and hosting! Many thanks!!
BTW ‐ Miss a District Meeting – miss a bunch!
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CHANGES TO IOWA'S PUBLIC BIDDING LAW - EFFECTIVE
JULY 1, 2016 Notice to Bidders Effective July 1, 2016,
publication of a Notice to Bidders in a newspaper of general
circulation will no longer satisfy Iowa law. As of July 1, 2016,
governmental entities must "post" their Notice to Bidders not less
than thirteen (13) and not more than forty-five (45) days before
the deadline for submission of bids in / on all three of the
following:
1. in a relevant contractor plan room service with statewide
circulation, and 2. in a relevant construction lead generating
service with statewide circulation, and 3. either on an internet
site sponsored by the governmental entity or a statewide
association that represents
the governmental entity. Master Builders of Iowa (MBI) will post
your Notice to Bidders with its Construction Update Network at no
cost to the governmental entity. This will fulfill requirements 1
and 2 above. The Iowa League of Cities is expected to accept
Notices to Bidders for posting on its website. This will fulfill
requirement 3 above for cities if the city conducting the bidding
process elects not to post the Notice to Bidders on its own
internet site. Other statewide associations representing
governmental entities may also elect to post the Notice to Bidders
on their internet sites. Please note, however, if the governmental
entity conducting the bidding process does not post its Notice to
Bidders on an internet site sponsored by a statewide association
that represents the governmental entity, then the governmental
entity must post its Notice to Bidders on its own internet site in
order to ensure compliance with requirement 3 above. The
information required in the Notice to Bidders remains unchanged. It
must adequately notify a potential bidder of a proposed bid and
shall include the following items:
a. The time and place for filing sealed proposals. b. The time
and place sealed proposals will be opened and considered on behalf
of the governmental entity. c. The general nature of the public
improvement on which bids are requested. d. In general terms, when
the work must be commenced and completed. e. That each bidder shall
accompany the bid with a bid security as defined in section 26.8
and as specified by
the governmental entity. f. Any further information which the
governmental entity deems pertinent.
Notice of Public Hearing Governmental entities must still
publish their Notice of Public Hearing on the plans,
specifications, form of contract, and estimated total cost of their
public improvement projects in a newspaper published at least once
weekly and having general circulation in the city, not less than
four (4) and not more than twenty (20) days before the public
hearing. In addition to the subject matter of the hearing, and the
time and location of the hearing, the Notice of Public Hearing must
now also include a description of the public improvements being
constructed and the location of those improvements.
Postponed Bid Letting If circumstances beyond the control of the
governmental entity cause a scheduled bid letting to be postponed
and there are no changes to the project's contract documents, a
Notice to Bidders of the revised date shall be posted not less than
four (4) and not more than forty-five (45) days before the revised
date for filing bids in the same locations now required for the
initial posting.
(Thanks to Roger Kean, Scott CCB for passing this along from the Scott County Budget Manager
)
2017 IOWA INVASIVE SPECIES CONFERENCE - Save the Date!
March 28-29, 2017, Honey Creek Resort • Invasive species
identification and management sessions (forestry, aquatic, wetland,
grassland, roadside) • How to improve local efforts (initiation,
prioritization, planning, engagement, and success stories) • Best
Management Practices (grazing, fire, herbicides, restoration) Sign
up to receive updated conference information, registration alerts
and special offers at: www.iowainvasives.org
WORTH THE VISIT!
ANY ONE of the numerous Heritage Byway interpretive locations
are a great place to peek into Iowa’s past – like this one along
Hwy. 30 (Lincoln Highway) near Grand Junction in Greene County. In
lieu of smokin’ by at 62 mph – enjoy a respite & brush up on
history!
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FEDERAL LANDS ACCESS PROGRAM (FLAP)
What it is? The Federal Lands Access Program (FLAP) is a newer
Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) program for which bicycle and
pedestrian projects connecting to public lands are eligible. How
much money is out there? $250 million is authorized per year.
Eighty percent of the funding from this program will be distributed
to 12 western states, leaving $50M/year to be divided among the
other 38 states. FLAP projects are generally eligible for 80%
federal funding with a 20% minimum of matching local funds.
MORE INFO: https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/programs/flap/ Iowa Field
Office - Phone: (515) 233-7300
http://www.mycountyparks.com/Jobs/Default.aspx 1.
STORY Co. – Park Ranger 2. DECATUR Co. – Naturalist (shared 25%
w/Wayne CCB) 3. TEMPORARY POSITIONS – 12+ opportunities
listed on website
Full Time Employment Seasonal/Part‐Time – Listed on website
FY2017 SALARY SURVEY COMING SOON! Though we are not quite into
FY2017 just yet – how ‘bout we get a jump on the FY2018 budget
process by polishing off our annual IACCB salary survey a month or
two earlier?? Most all of you surely have your salaries, benefits
and wages all set for FY2017 – so all those numbers should be right
close at your finger tips?! Look forward to receiving the same
survey you responded with last year to your inbox sometime in the
next couple of weeks…thanks for your prompt attention upon arrival!
I hear time and time again how essential this survey is for your
salary discussions each year, but it is only as good as the volume
of data IACCB receives….100% participation will be most welcomed!
Thanks!
GENDER IDENTITY, SEXUAL ORIENTATION
We have uploaded to the GENDER EQUITY file of the PORTAL a
brochure from the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on Sexual
Orientation and Gender Identity – which will serve you as
A Public Accommodations Provider’s Guide
to Iowa Law. This information was provided to us
from our city counterparts with the Iowa Parks and Recreation
Association!
LOOKING UPSTREAM FOR WATER QUALITY SOLUTIONS
At King’s Pointe Waterpark Resort – Storm Lake – July 14th –
10:30 AM to 1:15 PM Includes a presentation and bus tour: Bus Tour
(includes lunch): Stops at several locations to see projects that
involve the City of Storm Lake and landowners implementing best
management practices such as wetlands, bioreactors and other storm
water management practices to reduce nutrients and peak flood
levels. See cost effective locally driven water quality solutions
that straddle the rural / urban interface / Hear strategies to
develop creative partnerships within watersheds / See watershed
projects that integrate multiple benefits like flood mitigation,
habitat development and nutrient reduction.
COST: $10/person TO REGISTER: [email protected]
District 6 Meeting - Participants enjoying a bus trip to the
Stone City Stone Quarries and a short hike to the river access on
the
Wapsipinicon River.
