HORTICULTURE COMMISSION MEETING

September 9, 2010

9:30 a.m.

Veterans Memorial Auditorium

5825 Florida Boulevard

Baton Rouge, LA 70806

Minutes

CALL TO ORDER

The hearing was called to order by Mr. Bass at 9:35 a.m.

ROLL CALL

The roll was called by Mrs. Bellington.

Members present: Fred Bass, Todd Parker, Dr. Allen Owings, Stephen Hoover, Paul Orr, Donald Kelley, Rob Barry, Patsy Spedale, Rusty Ruckstuhl, and Bill Fleming.

Members absent: Chad Danos, Harold Tani and Roger Mayes.

A quorum was present.

Others present: Murphy Bell, Commission’s Attorney; Michael Vallen, Hearing Officer; Ansel Rankins, LDAF; Craig Roussel, LDAF; Joylyn Wright, LDAF; and Fran Bellington, LDAF.

At this time Mr. Bass took a moment to thank everyone for taking time out of their busy day to come to the meeting.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Motion: Mr. Parker made a motion to approve the minutes from the June 10, 2010 hearing. This motion was seconded by Mr. Barry and passed unanimously.

SET NEXT HEARING DATE

The next Horticulture Commission meeting will be Thursday, December 16th, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

Mr. Bass asked if there was anyone from the public that would like to make a comment at this time. There was no public comment.

OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business.

REINSTATEMENTS

Mr. Lee Sims requested to be placed on the agenda to request reinstatement of his Landscape Horticulturist license but failed to appear.

The meeting was turned over to the Hearing Officer at 9:39 a.m.

HEARING

Continued Cases

James Jiles

d/b/a J & J Logging and Tree Service

7124 Elsie Street

Shreveport, LA 71108

Case No.: 10-007

One violation of L.R.S. 3:3804(C) for engaging in a regulated profession (arborist) without the proper license.

Stipulation received. The department recommended a penalty of $250.00. Motion: Mr. Barry made a motion to accept the stipulation and the recommended penalty. This motion was seconded by Mr. Parker and passed unanimously.

New Cases

Ricky Vincent

d/b/a Tree Surgery by Ricky Vincent

12497 Terrell Drive

Clinton, LA 70722

Case No.: 10-009

Four violations of L.R.S. 3:3804(C) for advertising, engaging and soliciting in a regulated profession (arborist) without the proper license.

Mr. Vincent was not present but the department proceeded because service was effected.

The department recommended a penalty of $500.00 per violation for a total fine of $2,000.00. Motion: Mr. Parker made a motion to find Mr. Vincent in violation and to accept the recommended penalty. This motion was seconded by Mr. Hoover and passed unanimously.

The meeting was turned back over to Mr. Bass at 9:47 a.m.

NEW BUSINESS

Adoption of Notice of Intent to amend regulations

Mr. Bass asked if there were any comments from the public on this matter. There were no public comments. Motion: Mr. Parker made a motion to adopt the Notice of Intent to amend the regulations to eliminate the design portion of the retail florist exam as a Final Rule. This motion was seconded by Patsy Spedale and passed unanimously.

Discuss mailing packet

The department proposed to email the meeting packets to Commission members prior to the meeting instead of mailing them and that hard copies would be handed out the day of the meeting. All members were in favor of receiving them through email and provided current email addresses to the department.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments.

ADJOURNMENT

Motion: Mr. Parker made a motion to adjourn at 9:55 a.m. This motion was seconded by Mr. Kelley and passed unanimously.

Louisiana Department of Agriculture & Forestry

Mike Strain dvm

Commissioner

Post Office Box 631, 5825 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70821-0631 Telephone: (225) 922-1234 Fax: (225) 922-1253 www.ldaf.state.la.us

Agricultural &

Environmental

Sciences

P.O. Box 3596

Baton Rouge,

LA 70821

(225) 925-9770

Fax: 925-3760

Agro-Consumer

Services

P.O. Box 3098

(225) 922-1341

Fax: 923-4877

Animal Health

P.O. Box 1951

(225) 925-3962

Fax: 925-4103

Forestry

P.O. Box 1628

(225) 925-4500

Fax: 922-1356

Management

& Finance

P.O. Box 3481

(225) 922-1255

Fax: 925-6012

Marketing

P.O. Box 3334

(225) 922-1277

Fax: 922-1289

Soil & Water

Conservation

P.O. Box 3554

(225) 922-1269

Fax: 922-2577

LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE & FORESTRY

Mary Tanner

2010-10-21

fran_m

LDAF