Saline County Study Proposal

RCP 5/12/97

TITLE: Decision Support Assistance for Knowledge Based County Development in Saline County

DEVELOPED BY: Saline County Commission and University Outreach and Extension

PROJECT LEADERSHIP:

Saline County Commissioners
Russell Dehn, Presiding Commissioner, Project Co-Chair
Mike Dillon, Commissioner, Southern District
Richard Pemberton, Commissioner, Northern District

University Outreach and Extension Staff in Saline County
Cynthia Crawford, Consumer Family Economics Specialist, Project Co-Chair
Gerald Snapp, County Program Director, 4-H Youth Specialist
Darin Starr, Agricultural Engineering Specialist

UM/UMC University Outreach and Extension/CAFNR Faculty

Dennis DiPietre, Leader, Swine Focus Team, Commercial Agriculture, Project Co-Chair
Chris Fulcher, Associate Director, Center for Agricultural Resources and Environmental Systems (CARES)
Tom Johnson, Director, Community Policy Analysis Center (CPAC)

PROJECT MEMBERS:

University Outreach and Extension and CAFNR faculty headquartered in Columbia. Expect faculty to be drawn from at least the following units:

CARES (Center for Agricultural Resources and Environmental Systems)
Commercial Agriculture
Community Development/Social Science Unit, CAFNR
Community Policy Analysis Center
FAPRI (Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute)
OSEDA (Office of Social and Economic Data Analysis)
School of Natural Resources
Others: Expertise not available from the Columbia campus or in the field may also become involved. This would be through a joint decision of the project team.

The tentative list of faculty who may be involved in this study are listed in Appendix A. Others, including external expertise, will be added during the study as needed and resources permit.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Saline County Commission has requested assistance in creating a community-based process, with decision support assistance, which will help them create guidelines for future development and land use in the county. They recognize that there are several issues related to quality of life in the county which will require decisions by local government and other county organizations and agencies. Among the major issues are those related to animal agriculture, water quality, jobs and income, recreation and tourism, and protection of the natural resources and man-made environments in the county. They also recognize that those decisions will be better informed if citizens are involved throughout the process and are able to access the expertise needed to help them develop understanding of the issues, the alternative solutions and the consequences of the alternative choices.

This proposal is designed to implement a community (county) based decision making effort which will be overseen by the Saline County Commission. Project leadership will be provided by a nine-member team composed of the three County Commissioners, the three University Outreach and Extension specialists headquartered in Saline county, and three faculty from the University of Missouri headquartered in Columbia. The County Commissioners will appoint a Steering Committee from among Saline County citizens to work with the project leadership and the total project team. Work groups will be formed as needed to assist with the study. Appendix B illustrates the proposed study organization.

PROGRAM DESIGN AND OUTCOMES:

The expected outcome of this effort will be a more complete knowledge base relative to the land use and development issues identified by the citizens of Saline county. This knowledge base, which Saline county citizens will help to create, can serve as a guide for future county development and any actions local governments and other organizations choose to initiate with respect to future development. The information will be available to all citizens in the county.

It is also expected that this project will lead to a community based model of addressing similar issues which other counties may find helpful. The community based process model suggested here is intended to insure authentic and broad range involvement of all the stakeholders in the county. Several analytical tools will be used.

A key tool will be the application of GIS technology and available data bases to assist in understanding the spatial relationships between geophysical characteristics (soil, water), biotic (wildlife and native flora), and social and economic activities. Such information can be used to help evaluate "what if" scenarios under different development objectives and assumptions identified by the project team and citizens.

The Show-Me Community Impact model is another tool which will help develop understanding of the current economic relationships and the economic impacts of future development scenarios which are projected by the stakeholders in Saline county.

The data components which will eventually be included in the study will depend on the mutual decisions of the Project Leadership and the Steering Committee as they interact with citizens in the county and the team of faculty from the University of Missouri and availability of resources. Discussions, to date, with the Saline County Commission, local University Outreach and Extension staff and members of the overall project team suggest the following data elements may be reviewed to determine which of them can/should be included:

1. Documentation and mapping of soil types, including slopes, underlying geology, assimilative capacity for crop nutrients, suitability for manure application and development of crop and animal agricultural uses.
2. Documentation and mapping of current land use, residences and population locations.
3. Documentation and mapping of major wildlife and plant community inventories.
4. Documentation and mapping of surface waters, rivers, streams and creeks.
5. Documentation and mapping of subsurface waters and recorded well locations.
6. Documentation and mapping of all permitted and unpermitted livestock operations.
7. Documentation and mapping of all land area permitted to receive manure applications.
8. Application, and integration if possible, of an elementary odor plume model using GIS technology and work currently being done on the model at Iowa State University.
9. Document and map existing business and industry sites.
10. Document and map important historical sites, recreational sites and sites involving tourism.

The above components are heavily dependent on the application of GIS technology and existing data sets. Creation of some of these "layers" of information will also require input and participation of citizens in Saline county to locate specific sites of natural resources and man-made environments.

Other data components include:

1. Creation of a county-based economic model describing the magnitude, trends and interrelationships of all economic activity in the county and how these activities relate to the State of Missouri, the U.S. economy and export sectors of the global economy.
2. Estimation of county level multipliers for employment, output, personal income, value added activities and taxes.
3. Working with local citizens to identify and analyze alternative future scenarios of development in Saline county.

Need has also been expressed for understanding existing regulatory requirements related to natural resources and the environment and options available to county government for guiding future development. This area of concern will also be addressed in the study.

The community (county) based approach to be used in this study is an open process. It requires the active involvement of citizens and an interactive process with the faculty who are assisting with the study. In addition to the innovative effort to bring together the wide range of data noted above, the study will also be innovative in the manner in which the people of the county are engaged throughout the process as co-learners. A significant amount of the needed knowledge base is already in the community. A key component of success will be the processes and techniques used to combine that local knowledge base with the knowledge base which the university can bring to the task in order to provide a more informed basis for future local decision making.

STEPS IN THE COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY:

1. Concurrence by the Saline County Commission, University Outreach and Extension on the study proposal; including the objectives, procedures, and resources needed to do the study.

2. Organization of a 7-11 member Steering Committee (representing the diverse interests and stakeholders of the county) by the Saline County Commissioners.

3. Implementation of a study process which identifies the issues to be analyzed, engages the necessary resource people and schedules the presentation and discussion of the requested information and data; identifies potential scenarios and does the analysis of the impacts of the alternative scenarios.

4. Information and data analysis is provided to decision making groups and the public through several means, including mass media, organizational newsletter, public meetings, speakers at organizational meetings, and a Homepage on the World Wide Web. A procedure would be established to systematically collect and summarize the feedback from the different forms of dissemination and discussion for use by the decision makers in the county.

5. Follow up as requested by the county; i.e., further analysis, access to additional information, etc.

OUTCOMES

A major outcome of this effort will be more informed, knowledge based county development solutions created by the people of Saline county. This study will also create a prototype model for other communities (counties) who wish to involve their citizens in an authentic and careful analysis of alternatives and their consequences as a basis for decisions for future county development and land use.

REQUIRED RESOURCES

This will be an intensive study, involving a significant commitment of time of the University Outreach and Extension staff headquartered in the county, faculty from several units at the University of Missouri, and expertise from other entities as well. Much of the work will need to be done as a part of the ongoing responsibility of the people involved, however it is anticipated that some additional resources will be needed from Saline County as well as within the University of Missouri.

BUDGET:

* Is 5% of time of 11 faculty, 10% of two faculty and 20% of one faculty member
expected to be involved in the project. Likely will be additional faculty involved.
** To employ a faculty member on a part-time basis specifically for this project

APPENDIX A

FACULTY TO BE INVOLVED IN SALINE COUNTY LAND USE STUDY

The specific faculty members to be involved will be determined in large part by the scope of the study, however, the following faculty are likely to become involved in this study:

Chris Barnett, Assistant Director, CARES
Vincent Burke, Ecologist, School of Natural Resources
Kelly Dyer, Extension Associate, Commercial Agriculture
Charles Fulhage, PE, Agricultural Engineer, CAFNR
Daryl Hobbs, Sociologist, OSEDA
John Hoehne, PE, Swine Focus Team, Commercial Agriculture
Bill Kurtz, School of Natural Resources
John Lory, Soil Scientist, Crops Focus Team, Commercial Agriculture
Ray Massey, Economist, Crops Focus Team, Commercial Agriculture
Russ Mills, Project Director, FAPRI
Ken Pigg, Sociologist, Social Science Unit, CAFNR
Jim Scott, CPAC
Dennis Sievers, Water Quality Engineer, CAFNR