LIFETIME APPRECIATION AWARD … JB Orendorff (right) received the Williams County Soil and Water Conservation District Lifetime Appreciation Award from Bob Short (left), Williams County SWCD Chairman.
OUTSTANDING COOPERATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD … B&M Farms of Bryan was the recipient of the Williams County Soil and Water Conservation District Outstanding Cooperator of the Year Award. From left, Bob Short, Williams County SWCD Chairman; Manuel Lay, Williams County SWCD district technician; Burt Bever and Neil McGill, Outstanding Cooperator of the Year Award winners; Neeley McGill, Emily Miller, Williams County SWCD H2Ohio data entry specialist; and Steve Slattman, Williams County SWCD district technician.
PHOTOS PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
FIVE-YEAR PIN … Josh Imber (right), Williams County SWCD District Technician, received his five-year pin award from Bob Short (left), Williams County SWCD Chairman.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
The Williams County Soil and Water Conservation District held its 78th annual meeting and open house on Tuesday, November 18, at the district office.
Among those honored were B&M Farms of Bryan, co-owned by Burt Bever and Neil McGill. They received the Cooperator of the Year Award from the Soil and Water Conservation District.
They were involved in many different conservation programs in which they were the second operation in the county to install a cascading waterway and only the seventh statewide.
Also honored was JB Orendorff of Bryan, who received the Lifetime Appreciation Award. Orendorff, who was well-known as a longtime WBNO radio host for many years, had supported the county Soil and Water Conservation District in various areas.
He began his association with SWCD as master of ceremonies for its annual banquet and meetings, as well as being a former County Board of Supervisors member, and helped pass the first SWCD levy.
Williams County SWCD district technician Josh Imber was awarded his five-year pin for his longtime service to the district. The purpose of the annual meeting was the election of two new members to the board of supervisors.
Four candidates, Jason Allomong of Edgerton, Dawn Bowling of Edon, Otis Sloan of Edgerton, and Reba Wicker of Edon (Florence Township), were on the ballot to serve a three-year term.
Sloan and Bowling, who were both incumbents, successfully won re-election for another three-year term on the Board of Supervisors.
“The open house we have every year is for our annual election, and that’s the reason we have it,” said Anna Marie Michaels, who is the outreach and education coordinator for the Williams County SWCD. “We get everybody just to come together and share all of their stories of our 78 years together.”
This year, the Williams County SWCD has accomplished many projects involving engineering and conservation of the land.
Williams pointed out that the H2Ohio program has been a huge benefit to Williams County, with 38 percent of cropland acres throughout the county enrolled in this program.
Its purpose is to address complex issues impacting Ohio’s waters. The Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) works closely with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts to provide technical, financial, and educational resources to farmers.
Currently, the ODA is leading efforts to reduce phosphorus runoff. Producers can receive incentives for implementing proven, cost-effective best management practices on their land.
“The H2Ohio program has been a great benefit to farmers to help with cover crops and helping with the land and to prevent soil erosion and improving water quality,” said Williams.
Manny Lay, who is the Williams County SWCD district technician, oversees engineering projects. He has done cascading of waterways, two-stage ditches, and some new things the county hasn’t done before.
“We’ve done a lot of grant-funded projects through Ohio EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and Ohio DNR (Department of Natural Resources), as well as the Ohio Department of Agriculture,” said Lay.
“We received the grants, and we put in two two-stage ditches, the first ones in our county, as well as multiple different water-retention and wetland sites, as well as traditional and cascading waterways.”
He mentioned that cascading waterways is a newer concept, and as of three years ago, there were only four in the state, but there are now 12 of those; four of them are in Williams County, within the past two years.
“We’ve done a lot of things that traditionally hadn’t been done,” he said. “More projects that aren’t necessarily in a box.
“We’ve been going other ways with funding projects as well as doing projects that are newfound techniques, trying to figure out better ways to solve issues such as nutrient loading and soil erosion.”
Lay pointed out that Williams County is very unique with the land terrain it has. “It’s definitely not a one-stop fix to address issues in Williams County, just the type of soil we have and the terrain we have,” he commented. “You’ve got to approach it from a different technique.”