Board of Managers

The board of managers are appointed by the county commissioners of the county in which each resides. Board of managers are appointed for a term of three years; terms can run consecutively for any number of years unless other persons interested in the position submit their application to the county board at the time of reappointment, which is ad vertised in the newspaper of that county at the time of reappointment.

John Boulton - Lincoln Country

Don Oerter - Lincoln County

Jeff Hoffman - Yellow Medicine County

Corey Hoffman - Yellow Medicine County

Tim Buysse - Lyon County

Board Meetings

Board Meetings are scheduled every second Monday of the month at 9:00 AM at:

122 North Jefferson Street, Minneota, MN.

If you'd like to be on the meeting agenda, please call us at 507-872-6720.

Staff

The board of managers has hired staff to assist you by answering any questions about policies, procedures, and permit applications, or in setting up a meeting with the board at either the next scheduled regular board meeting, or a special board meeting, if the issue is deemed a priority by the administrator and the board chairman. Employees also operate the special projects, by the water quality monitoring tasks, collecting ,accessing and reporting data, and recording and reporting the project tasks and budget expenditures.

Cindy Potz-YMRW District Administrator and Project Manager for TMDL and Phase II CWP projects

Mike Weckwerth-YMRW Administrative Assistant

Staff Bios

Cindy Potz

YMRW District Administrator

Cindy took over for Terry Renken, who retired on March 1, 2008 after 30 years of involvement with the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District, first as one of the watershed district managers, then for 10 years as the watershed administrator. Cindy spent her childhood years with her siblings on a farm on the banks of the Blue Earth River in Winnebago, MN. Often, when gardening and animal chores were done, she boarded the duck boat, and oared both upstream and downstream, exploring and watching the changing environment and habitat. She would also get in some fishing, catching some very nice catfish, as well as carp and bullheads. She developed a great admiration and respect for our Minnesota rivers and lakes. Cindy began work with the watershed district in 1996 as an office manager. As time passed, she became more and more involved and educated about the policies and programs of the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District. During this time, she also learned about the political side of protecting our watershed environment. She has been the Technical Assistant for the Watershed Districts CWP and TMDL programs since 1996, and was given the task of completing semi-annual reports and budgets, Storet submissions, the new e-link program, as well as becoming educated in the data collection aspect of the water monitoring programs. Cindy was also in charge of secretarial and bookkeeping duties, as well as payroll and monthly budget reports. Cindy will continue many of those duties, under her new title as the YMRW district administrator. She plans to continue to strive to work with all agencies in ensuring the improvement of the status of our lakes and rivers in the Yellow Medicine River Watershed, and ensuring adequate drainage for all landowners in the Watershed.

Mike Weckwerth

Administrative Assistant

Mike joined the staff at the Yellow Medicine River Watershed District at the end of July, 2010. Mike grew up in Southwest Minnesota near where the Chippewa River joins the Minnesota River in Montevideo, MN. He later attended South Dakota State University and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Education. After college Mike taught High School Ag in Parkersburg Iowa. Wanting to move back to Minnesota, Mike accepted a job in Ely, MN working for a company that emphasized soil-bioremediation. It was here where Mike met his wife on a snowmobiling trip and he decided to move to Canby, MN. Mike had been employed as the Feed Department Manager at Canby Farmers Grain for the past five years prior to accepting his current position here at the YMRWD Office. Some of Mike’s main duties include:

-Meeting Implementation

-View Tiling Sites for permitting

-Inspect Road Retention Projects

-Inspect Watershed Drainage Ditches

-Inspect Watershed Dam Projects

-Assist the Administrator with Project Records

-Assist in Water Sampling for Grant projects

John A. Engels, Attorney at Law

Watershed District Attorney

124 North Jefferson Street

P.O. Box 477

Minneota, MN 56264