Minutes for May 13^th, 1998
(approved June 18, 1998)

Saline County Study Steering Committee in conjunction with the Saline County Study Management Team

Wednesday May 13, 1998 7:00 PM CDT
Spainhower Building Board Room, Habilitation Center, Marshall

Kathy Borgman, LeAnn Haling, Wayne McReynolds, Marc Harris, Mark Belwood

Richard Clemens, Patti Carr, Vince Buck, Corey Lyon, David Perkins, Tim Simmons

Chris Fulcher, Cynthia Crawford, Darin Starr, Dennis DiPietre

Gerry Snapp, Tom Johnson, Russell Dehn, Richard Pemberton, Mike Dillon

John Lory, Vincent Burke, Jim Scott, Mubarak Hamed

Mark Belwood, recorder, served as chair in the absence of Tim Simmons.

The reading of the minutes of the previous meeting was dispensed with as everyone had received a printed copy of the minutes prior to the meeting. Marc Harris moved and Wayne McReynolds seconded that the minutes be approved as written. The minutes were approved with no audible dissent.

Vincent Burke reported on the cultural sites data layer that he had developed. He said that all sites listed in the National Historic Register are on the map. Because Arrow Rock has so many sites in the National Historic Register, he did not list the individual sites; rather, he listed all of Arrow Rock as a cultural site. Vincent said that he consulted several sources in adding non-Register sites to the data layer. He plans to list those sources on the Study's web site. Vincent said that the County has 430 archeological sites. None have yet been added to the cultural sites data layer, because archaeologists are hesitant to have them made too well known.

Kathy Borgman moved that the most well-know excavated archaeological sites be placed on the data layer with the permission of university archaeologists. The motion was seconded and passed with no audible dissent.

Some discussion occurred as to whether to include all graveyards in the county as part of the cultural sites data layer (only the most prominent ones are listed now) or possibly as a separate data layer. Vincent Burke showed a list of cemeteries given him by Mike Dillon. Most of the cemeteries on this list will have to be more precisely located to be placed in a GIS data layer. No decision was reached on the matter.

Mubarak Hamed and Jim Scott reported on the economic impact of agriculture on the economy of Saline County. As background they noted that a 1905 soil survey indicated that Saline County had the richest soil in Missouri, and in 1994 Saline County was 3^rd in corn production, 4^th in soybeans, 5^th in swine and 12^th in wheat. The economic data used for the current report is from 1994 (which is the last year for which complete figures are available). For the purposes of this report agriculture is considered to include landscaping, horticulture, forestry and the raising of fieldcrops and livestock. The report broke the impact of agriculture on the economy into three aspects:

• Direct effects—Actual value of agricultural goods produced
• Indirect effects—Value of support (supplies and services)
• Induced effects—Value of goods and services purchased by agricultural workers

The following table summarizes the report:

It is interesting to note that the national figure for percent employment in production agriculture is 2.3%.

Production agriculture can be further divided into its various components. The following table summarizes this breakdown:

A written report is being prepared, and the report will also be made available on the Study's web site. Press here to link to that report.

Mubarak reported on the progress of his land sale survey. He said that there were 450 sales in 1996 and 1997. Out of that number, data has been obtained for 63 of the sales. He said that a report would probably be ready for the July meeting.

John Lory noted that the researchers were at the point where further direction was needed from the Steering Committee. The data layers are basically in place (although in need of refinement), and now the researchers need scenarios (more specific than the broad scenarios included in the research priorities) on which to apply analysis. Since several Steering Committee members were absent from tonight's meeting the recorder was directed to prepare a letter and to send it next week (if possible) so that members would have ample time to think about possible scenarios before next month's meeting.

Cynthia Crawford reported on the Internet primer course that she and Darin Starr give and on the status of the advanced course focusing on use of the Study's web site. She said she wanted to get a few more people through the primer course before scheduling the advanced course. The primer course is given twice a month: once in the morning and once in the afternoon. She said that special times can be scheduled for the primer course (even evenings) with advanced notice and enough interest. Kathy Borgman commented that the primer course wouldn't necessarily need to precede the advanced course.

A ten minute break was taken at about 8:30 PM.

The second half of the meeting dealt primarily with the future of the Saline County Study. The researchers base their work on the academic year and that ends the last of August; so the researchers need to know soon if their services will be needed for the coming year. Cynthia noted that Extension probably needs to know within a month if the Study is going to progress into a second year. Marc Harris motioned that the Saline County Study be extended for a second year and that a meeting be scheduled as soon as possible to hammer out the details. Such meeting is to include the nine member Management Team, the Steering Committee, Dr. Ron Powers and possibly other people in University Extension administration. With the possibility that the meeting could take place at a time when many Steering Committee members might not be able to attend, Marc also included in his motion that Mark Belwood be designated the official representative of the Steering Committee to this meeting to ensure that the Steering Committee will be represented. Designating Mark as the 'official representative' does NOT mean that his comments at the meeting will take precedence over comments of any other Steering Committee members who might attend the meeting. Wayne McReynolds seconded the motion. The motion passed with no audible dissent. For those steering committee members who think they might not be able to attend the meeting in person, the recorder was directed to include in his 'scenario' letter a request for written suggestions for the second year of the study.

Some discussion took place regarding possible directions for the Study to take in year two. The suggestions included:

• complete research priorities five and six,
• include people who will be typical users of the information and the tools,
• reorganize Steering Committee (What size should it be? Should a quorum be specified? Etc.),
• co-learning of the local extension staff, steering committee and community leaders along with the researchers on applications for the tools,
• executive summaries for the community,
• inform the broader community of the information capacity build in year one,
• get more people involved in the Study,
• launch community dialogue and public issues education,
• explore economic diversity, labor force issues,
• look at various scenarios of possible change,
• begin to address other broader social issues,
• use tools for informed development,
• explore the options available to the County for guiding future development,
• document the process and outcomes of year one (in writing),
• documentation/evaluation,
• detailed publications for other counties,
• written training material developed,
• further web development and plan for use and maintenance, and
• approach communities within the County for funding.

On the matter of funding for the second year it was suggested that towns in the county be contacted for support. Jim Scott brought up two points in relation to funding: 1) When talking with potential funders spell out the products that will be generated by the project, and 2) in regard to University Extension in particular he thought that high on their list of objectives for a second year is extending the Study to encompass more people in the County and to look toward applying the Study to other counties.

Vincent Burke volunteered himself and CARES to produce a hardcopy report summarizing the first year of the Study. LeAnn Haling moved that such a report be prepared. The motion was seconded and passed with no audible dissent.

The researchers said that there is good news and bad news to report on the odor plume model. The good news is that they hope to soon be in possession of the computer code for the model. Once the code is obtained it will need to be modified to perform on CARES computer system (which is different from the system at Iowa State). If the code is obtained soon, the necessary modifications are expected to be completed by August. The bad news is that the model is two-dimensional rather than three dimensional. Actually, this is not necessarily bad news, as the two dimensional model may prove quite adequate.

Marc Harris moved that the annotated priority list be placed on the web site. The motion was seconded by Wayne McReynolds. An amendment was offered and seconded that the title of the report be changed from 'Priority Issues of the Saline County Study' to 'Research Priorities of the Saline County Study'. The amendment and motion passed with no audible dissent.

Marc Harris moved and LeAnn Haling seconded that the Kettering Report and the Sunshine Law report be made accessible on the web. The motion passed with no audible dissent.

The next meeting was scheduled for 7 PM CDT, Thursday June 18 at a location yet to be announced.

Marc Harris moved and Wayne McReynolds seconded that the meeting be adjourned. It was 10 PM and the motion passed with much audible approval.