New Soil and Water District 5 Supervisor Jesse Derscheid
In December 2010, Cook County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) Supervisor Roger Haertel resigned, leaving a vacancy in Districe 5 on the SWCD board for the Hovland area. Four candidates interested in filling the vacancy were interviewed by the SWCD board at a special meeting on Monday, February 14, 2011. Speaking for the SWCD board, Kerrie Fabius, SWCD district manager told the News-Herald, "The board is pleased to announce the appointment of Jesse Derscheid as District 5 supervisor."
Derscheid has a degree in Environmental-Chemical Technologies and has experience conducting fieldwork for environmental studies both nationally and internationally. He also is familiar with the conservation issues and projects in the Hovland area.
Derscheid will be sworn in at Soil and Water board’s next regular scheduled board meeting on Thursday, March 3 at 1 p.m. He will serve through 2012.
One of the tasks for the SWCD board is overseeing the Flute Reed Partnership (FRP) work under its Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) grant of $540,603. On February 14, the FRP announced that it had appointed Stark Enterprises, LLC to be its oversight coordinator for all three projects in the grant. David Stark is the owner of Stark Enterprises and is the former Cook County water plan coordinator. He has extensive experience with rivers in Cook County.
The FRP board has also voted to appoint Rick Schubert as project facilitator to work with Stark and the other partners to help complete the projects. Schubert will remain a FRP volunteer and not receive any compensation for this work.
In a press release, Schubert said contracts are being finalized among the major partners in the projects. “These include the FRP, the Cook County Highway Department, the Soil and Water Conservation District and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Once these are finished a process for further defining the project locations and actual design work can begin,” he said.
The FRP will be holding an open house on March 17 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Hovland Town Hall The event is free and refreshments will be served.
“Everyone is invited to learn more about the three projects and talk with the people involved in their design and implementation. All comments, suggestions and input are welcome,” said Schubert. “This is the first of a series of meetings the FRP is planning over the next two years to seek input and keep the community informed.”
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