06-16-2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--June 16, 2005 2911 SPECIAL MEETING OF CASS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS JUNE 16,2005 1. MEETING TO ORDER Chairman Darrell Vanyo called the meeting to order at 12:00 PM with all members present as follows: Vern Bennett, Ken Pawluk, Robyn Sorum, Darrell Vanyo and Scott Wagner via telephone. Also present were Michael Montplaisir, County Auditor; Bonnie Johnson, County Coordinator; Leah Viste, Assistant State's Attorney; Tom Soucy, Construction Design Engineer Supervisor, County Highway Department; Stan Wolf, Weed Control Director; John Kringler, Extension Agent; Jim Thoreson, Chief Deputy, Sheriff's Department; and members of the media. 2. MAPLE VALLEY AG PRODUCTS/BUFFALO GRAIN CO. LLC, Aareement approved to use County Road #1 as landina strip on a temporary basis The purpose of the meeting today is to consider a request from Maple Valley Ag Chemical to use Cass County Road #1 from Tower City north to County Road #10, as a landing strip for its aerial applicators. The reason for the request is because of extensive rainfall and soft ground conditions, as well as the apparent need for timely application of herbicides and fungicides on area crops. An agreement was drafted between Maple Valley Ag Chemical and Cass County and would be in place for a maximum of three days following the execution of the document. Joe Killoran, a certified crop advisor from western Cass County, was present as the spokesman for Maple Valley Ag Chemical Inc. He said because of heavy rains, farmers do not have access to their fields to spray for weed control. The only way to treat the crops is through aerial spraying. The grass runways are very wet and would become rutted by using them. He said based on crop development stages today, the time frame to spray would be within the next five to seven days. If spraying is done after that period, the crops would be lost either partially or completely. Ms. Viste said State's Attorney Birch Burdick added a clause to the agreement regarding negligent flying operations as outlined in state law. Mr. Killoran did not foresee any problems with the addition. Mr. Vanyo questioned how many acres could be sprayed in one day. Mr. Killoran said the pilot is restricted by wind and weather variables, but under perfect conditions, about 800 acres could be sprayed in one day. Only one plane would be using the county road. Mr. Bennett feels the county should do everything possible to help with this situation. He does not feel that three days is adequate time to complete the necessary spraying and would like to see some flexibility. Mr. Wagner asked about the traffic counts on County Road #1 and motorist safety during this process. Mr. Soucy gave a rough estimate and said 100 to 400 vehicles travel the road. Mr. Killoran said he will have two staff people to block traffic at each end of the road to ensure that motorists will be stopped before the plane lands.