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2004 Annual
Report
Appreciation and recognition is expressed to the
Hamilton County Commissioners: John Dowlin, Phil Heimlich and Todd
Portune. Also, the Ohio Legislature, the Ohio Department of
Natural Resources-Division of Soil and Water Conservation, the
Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission and the Natural
Resources Conservation Service for their continued support.
Board of Supervisors
Chairman…………....Thomas W. Reininger
Vice-Chairman…..….Patrick Arnette
Secretary…………....Joe Allen
Treasurer…………....Steve Sandfort
Program Chairman…Tim Boehmer
Associate Supervisors
Karen Heyob, Melissa Krieger and Stanley Strimple
District Staff
Holly Utrata-Halcomb, District Administrator
Barbara Connole, Administrative Assistant
Dan Taphorn, Urban Conservationist
Chey Alberto, Urban Technician
Nate Sturm, Urban Technician
Gwen Roth, Education Specialist
Michelle Balz, Education Assistant
Brian Bohl, Stream Specialist
NRCS
John Williams, District Conservationist
Jeff Barnes, Soil Conservationist
George Cummings, District Conservationist
Consultants to the District
Mohammad Islam, Geotechnical Engineer
Willie Potter, Design Technician II
Mission Statement: A public organization committed to
assisting the citizens of Hamilton County through education,
technical assistance and leadership to be stewards of our soil and
water resources.
Vision: To be a dynamic leader in soil and water
conservation working to achieve the sustainable use of our soil
and water resources on a local and regional basis.
New Initiatives in the Year 2004
By Holly Utrata-Halcomb, District Administrator
Water Quality Takes On A New Priority
The Soil and Water Conservation District entered into a
collaborative agreement with the Hamilton County Engineer’s,
Public Works and the General Health District to accomplish the
goals of the new National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)
Phase II Storm Water Quality Program. The Hamilton County
Commissioners formed the Storm Water District after a two-year
study with participation from all jurisdictions in the county.
Hamilton County Engineer, Bill Brayshaw, was asked to administer
this countywide program. Membership of the district includes 44
out of the 49 jurisdictions in Hamilton County.
Since the enactment of the original Clean Water Act by Congress in
1972, local and state governments have worked with industries and
wastewater treatment plants to reduce pollution loads to improve
water quality. As the end-of-pipe pollution sources improved,
however, it became apparent that other types of pollutants were
having a significant impact on the quality of our waterways. The
most prominent sources of nonpoint pollutants include sediment
from construction sites and agriculture, fertilizers, pesticides,
urban runoff, faulty septic systems, stream channelization and
mining.
The NPDES Phase II program requires the following minimum controls
to reduce non-point pollution:
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Public Information and Education on
how individual actions affect water quality.
-
Public Involvement and
Participation, such as installing watershed signage, storm drain
labeling and supporting local watershed group activities.
-
Construction Site Runoff Control of
sediment and erosion on sites 1 acre and larger.
-
Post Construction Runoff Control
that includes maintenance of structural and non-structural best
management practices.
-
Illicit Discharge Detection and
Elimination.
-
Pollution Prevention and Good
Housekeeping.
Our District has assumed
responsibility for the first three minimum controls. We already
had involvement and expertise in these areas prior to this new
program and this opportunity has allowed us to expand our current
program abilities.
Having multiple county departments working together has several
positive spin-offs. The increased communication benefits other
areas of our program. It provides consistent administration of the
rules and will hopefully produce more consistent regulations
between the townships, municipalities and villages. Ultimately,
our goal is to attain better water quality through education and
superior technology.
The District Goes Digital
We are fortunate in Hamilton County to have one of the best
Geographical Information Systems in the Country. Time saved in
viewing maps and having the ability to pull up over 700 layers of
information is immeasurable. The District’s Geotechnical Engineer,
Mohammad Islam, has contributed to this wealth of data by adding
layers on fill sites, landslides and subsurface soils, such as
soil boring that will show data to the depths of drill hole,
bedrock and water table.
Our Earthworks staff has also been creating a site inspection
sheet that will be filled out in the field using a “tablet”
computer. This tablet can be placed into a dock back at the office
and the information will immediately download to the county permit
program. Once again, the time saved in transferring information
and having the ability to immediately share it with other
departments will be considerable.
As we move through the year with our regular programs and tasks
and respond to situations dictated by the weather; our goal is to
serve our county residents to the best of our ability. We are
grateful to the Hamilton County Commissioners, the Ohio
Legislature and ODNR-Division of Soil & Water Conservation for
their continued support. As always, we appreciate input and
feedback from our county residents. Do not hesitate to contact us
for any reason.
General Office Stats
Telephone Contacts
Earthwork/erosion/hillside stability calls 1,107
Watershed/Stream/Pond calls 446
Drainage calls 241
Farm programs calls 50
Education calls 711
Miscellaneous Calls 1,674
Visitors 535
Soil Surveys 124
Other 73
Total 4,961
Landowner On-Site Visits
Ponds/Lakes/Streambank/Drainage 204
Farm related visits 51
CAUV reports furnished 28
Erosion 156
Landslides 12
Total 451
Website visitors per year 16,376
Earthwork Program
Plans reviewed 2,629
Zoning Reviews 9
Earthwork permits issued 97
(for 5 acres and larger)
Acres cleared for development 1,050 ac
(not including sites</5 ac)
Site inspections 1,529
Fill sites 56
Education Programs 4 for 235 participants
Education
School and Youth Programs
Classroom presentations 260
(students served) 7,526
Student Events 7
*Hamilton County Waterfest
*Butler SWCD Water Festival
*Fairview Elementary Science Night
*Free Tree Give-a-Way
*Area IV Envirothon/high school
students
*Arbor Day/Loveland Primary School
*Bugfest at the Cincinnati Museum
Center
Students served 5,727
Teacher Workshops 17
*Archdiocese of Cincinnati Workshop
Series (K-8)
*Cincinnati Public Schools Soils
Workshop (2nd grade)
*3 Worm Composting Workshops
*Project WILD
*WCET Teacher Appreciation Night
*Land Lab Workshop
*Cincinnati Public Schools Science
Kit Series (1st grade)
*Project Learning Tree
*Healthy Water/Healthy People
Workshop
*OEEF Grant Writing Seminar
*Cincinnati Nature Center Volunteer
Training
*SWCD Area IV Education Specialist
Workshop
*Cincinnati Public Schools Land &
Water Workshop
*Hamilton County Children’s Waterfest
*Project WET
*UC Summer Ag Institute
Teachers served 589
Storm Drain Labeling Events 4
(by 47 participants/applied 127
labels)
Special Projects and Grants
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Testified before the Ohio House of
Representatives Township and Finance subcommittee concerning HB
411.
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USDA allocated $50,000 through NRCS
for the Environmental Quality Assistance Program (EQIP) to provide
cost-share for farmers to install conservation measures.
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Developed criteria for Water
Quality Education Mini-Grants and distributed a total of $20,000
to watershed groups to promote public education.
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Developed a brochure on the new
Hamilton County Storm Water District and printed 62,000 to be
distributed to the 45 member jurisdictions.
-
Developed some layers in Cincinnati
Area Geographical Information System (CAGIS) denoting fill sites,
land-slide database, subsurface soil information, such as soil
boring information that we obtain for different projects, which
show soil information to depths of drilled hole and also the depth
of bedrock and water table.
-
Designing and publishing a K-12
educational curriculum on Water Quality specifically for Hamilton
County.
-
Received $5,000 from OEEF, $5,000
from Greenacres and $2,000 from Hamilton Co. Environmental
Services to develop an interactive soils tent.
-
Received $250.00 donation from
Lucille Diebel for the Diebel/Odegard Memorial Scholarships.
-
Received $300.00 from The Brickman
Group, LTD for the annual Photo Contest.
General
Public Presentations 10
Farm Bureau Spring Fling
Symmes Township Signage Kick-off
Regional DAR
Greater Cincinnati Development
Council
Tree Seminar w/Hamilton County Parks
Two Hamilton Co. Storm Water District
Meetings
Cincinnati Civic Garden Center Master
Composting Class
Two Pond Clinics
Total Attendees 546
Public Exhibits 8
Earth Day at Sawyer Point
Hamilton County Fair
Arbor Day Celebration in Loveland
Public Employee Day on Fountain
Square
Taylor Elementary Family Health &
Safety Festival
Cincinnati Zoo Greater Cincinnati
Environmental Educators
Price Hill Park Water Week
w/Cincinnati Park Board
Martin Luther King Park Water Week
w/Cincinnati Park Board
Farm Bill Programs
Environmental Quality Incentives Program-EQIP
Pasture & hay land planting - 100.7 ac.
Fencing - 22,015 ft.
Composting facility - 1
Heavy Use Protection Area - 9,050 sq. ft.
Access Road - 8,000 sq. ft.
Animal Waste Facility - 1
Roof Runoff Management - 124 ft.
Tree Stand Improvement - 30 ac.
Conservation Reserve Program - CRP
Grassed Waterway - 2.5 ac.
Subsurface Drainage - 3,600 ft.
Grade Stabilization Structures - 4
Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program - WHIP
Riparian Forest Buffer - 12.0 ac.
Tree Planting - 1.5 ac.
Wetland - 1.0 ac.
Native Grass Planting - 0.5 ac..
Cooperative Projects
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Mill Creek Watershed and Stream
Restoration Project partnered with OKI Regional Council of
Government. OKI received a $240,000 319 grant to fund project.
-
Colerain Township - West Fork of
the Mill Creek Riparian Corridor Restoration. Partnered with
Colerain Township on an $85,000 Clean Ohio Fund Grant.
-
Great Miami River Run-Off Reduction
Project. Partnered with Miami Conservancy District and OKI for a
$65,000 US EPA grant.
Financial Report
January 1, 2003 thru December 31, 2003
District Account
Balance on Hand……………….$22,007.35
Income………………………....…52,727.18
Expenditures………………….... 40,733.00
Balance to Date………………...$34,001.53
Special Account
Balance on Hand……………….102,637.51
Income
County Appropriations…….…..335,871.00
State Matching Funds…………290,796.10
Expenditures
Earthwork Contract………....…146,495.00
Other………………………........433,567.69
Balance on Hand…………….....$149,241.92
This is an unaudited financial report for the period January 1,
2003 thru December 31, 2003.
All District programs and
services are offered on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard
to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, marital
status or handicap. |
