Tama County Conservation Director Curtis Behrens, left, addresses members of the conservation board during the Dec. 6 meeting held at Otter Creek Nature Center in rural Toledo. Naturalist Raina Genaw, board member Bryan Wacha, and Delania Halter are also pictured. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

OTTER CREEK – During the Dec. 6 meeting of the Tama Co. Board of Conservation, board members led by the department’s new director Curtis Behrens spent a considerable amount of time discussing adding alcohol to the nature center’s rental policy.

Currently alcohol of any kind is not allowed at the facility but the possibility of doing so has been considered off and on by the board for several years.

According to Behrens, the county passed an ordinance in 2005 – copies of which he distributed to the board – that prohibits the use, possession, or consumption of alcohol including beer or wine inside the Tama County Nature Center and on the grounds surrounding the building within 300 feet.

Board members would like to see that policy changed in order to allow those who rent the facility for weddings, etc. to offer beer and wine to their guests.

“This is a beautiful place and, unless I’m wrong, doesn’t get utilized like it should,” board member Carolyn Adolphs said during the discussion which focused on lost revenue due to the fact alcohol is not allowed.

During a previous meeting, board members were provided with rental policies for several nearby nature centers/facilities – all allowed alcohol in some form and in some manner as part of their rental agreements. Such agreements also included curfews.

No action was taken, but the board was leaning toward approaching the board of supervisors about updating Otter Creek Nature Center’s rental policy in regard to alcohol use.

Conservation logo

After approving a motion in June to begin phasing in a new logo featuring a black and white graphic of a swan, the board approved a motion during the December meeting to switch back to the old logo – a green and yellow arrowhead design that also includes images of a tent, fishing poles, and canoe.

“I really like the old one,” Behrens told the board. “I think the new one serves very little purpose … it doesn’t even have a native swan on it.”

Board members discussed purchases that had been recently made by the naturalist with the new logo, while also addressing the fact that most of the county’s park signage and equipment still feature the old logo.

While the board ultimately voted to revert back to the old logo, items featuring the new logo can remain.

Director residency

The board approved a motion to allow Behrens to utilize the mobile home unit at Otter Creek Lake & Park as a weeknight residence for up to 12 months while he works to finish remodeling his home/property in Jones County and put it on the market.

“I don’t personally have any problem with you staying there, but not as a long term arrangement,” board member Bryan Wacha said.

At this time, Behrens has been commuting from his home in Jones County where he previously worked for county conservation. He has also been commuting to Holiday Lake where his grandparents live.

Part of the motion was contingent on repair costs. Behrens said he and park technician/ranger Dustin Horne would work on pricing for winterizing the unit’s underbelly.

Director’s report

As part of his report, Behrens told the board he would like to create short and long-term habitat management plans for the county’s native areas with honeysuckle removal being a priority.

“[Honeysuckle is] decorating the park right now … I would love to see that go away,” Behrens said.

In addition he would like to improve timber stands, rid prairie/wetland areas of reed canary grass and other invasives, as well as turn the steep slopes along the roadways at Otter Creek Lake & Park from turf to native plantings in order to help with erosion and cut down on mowing.

“A lot of big goals – nothing that we’re going to accomplish overnight. But I got goals,” Behrens said.

He also said he would like to have trail maps made of the parks.

Muskrat trapping

As part of Park Officer Riley Conrad’s report to the board, an update on recent efforts to decrease the number of muskrats at Otter Creek Lake & Park – due to damage the population has been inflicting on the lake’s new dam – was provided.

Conrad said prior to the water freezing over seven muskrats had been trapped.

“Seven’s a pretty good number for that small body of water,” Conrad said.

Other business

A motion was approved to purchase plastic borders from Boland Recreation at a price of $10,000 for the playgrounds at both Otter Creek and T.F. Clark Park.

Under new business, access at the Izaak Walton Shooting Facility was discussed. Currently the range is only accessible to registered users by way of padlock and key, however, many of those keys are being shared with non-registered users and/or not being returned.

“We’re only getting less than 50 percent of our keys back,” Horne said. “We’re missing 80 keys from the last round of returns.”

Horne said it costs $4 to remake one key.

“I know there’s people going in there with somebody else’s keys,” board member Jim Allen said.

The decision was made in the new year to install a programmable keypad for public access that can be bypassed by conservation/county staff with a key.

Naturalist Raina Genaw shared that the county’s Bird Friendly Iowa designation had been approved. Chair John Keenan subsequently signed the contract.

Fun Night dates were discussed with April 13 chosen for 2024.

Property boundaries at T.F. Clark Park were discussed extensively. Due to the drought, Wolf Creek is no longer working to keep cattle on rented pasture adjacent to the park. Members of the public who have tried to use certain areas in the park this past fall and winter have encountered difficulty as a result.

Signage is also significantly lacking at the park.

The decision was made for Adolphs to approach landowner Robert Kroymann – who rents the nearby land out for cattle pasture – about the recent access issues.

Behrens asked the board for guidance on late fees/finance charges that conservation owes on its Ace Hardware account in Tama. Behrens also inquired about getting a credit card for each member of his staff in order to avoid having to share – the limit would not be raised on the account.

“We’ve been through a lot the last few months,” Keenan said in a veiled reference to former director Stephen Mayne whose tenure as director is currently being investigated by both Iowa DCI and the Office of the Auditor of State.

“Everybody’s a little bit gun shy,” Wacha added before later stating, “The county’s policy is we don’t pay any interest and we don’t pay late fees … [but] we still owe [Ace] late fees.”

A motion was made and approved for Behrens to speak to the county auditor about the accounts, pay off the Ace account ($205), and close it.

No action was taken on increasing the number of credit cards at this time.