Building Strong Foundations

ATTENDEES:

 

Name Position Agency/Organization

1 Christopher Rosario Chairman NGSWCD

2 Jenelyn Abinales District Manager NGSWCD

3 Savannah V. Garcia Conservation Technician NGSWCD

4 Jaevynn Cruz Conservation Technician NGSWCD

5 William McDonald Director NGSWCD

6 Frank Santos Jr. Director NGSWCD

7 Joseph C. Santos Director NGSWCD

8 Norma Castillon Director NGSWCD

9 Chad Richardson District Supervisor USDA APHIS

10 Roland Quitugua Technical Advisor UOG

 

1

 

I. Call to Order

- Christopher Rosario called the Northern Guam Soil and Water Conservation

District meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

II. Roll Call

III. Acceptance of Last Meeting Minutes

- Motion: William McDonald made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from

06/10/25, 09/02/25, and 09/03/25; subject to technical corrections. Frank Santos

Jr. seconded the motion.

- Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

- Amendment (VII. D.) of 09/03/25 meeting minutes.

- Add: “Ratify staff employment until next year, subject to review of

job/position descriptions and evaluations.”

 

IV. Officers’ Reports

 

A. District Chair’s Report

a. Overview of Staff Roles

i. Currently have four district staff members

ii. Christopher Rosario brought up the possibility of a

promotion of Staff Savannah Garcia from Conservation

Technician to Special Projects Coordinator.

1. Motion: William McDonald motions to move into

Executive Session to discuss the overview of staff

roles. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the motion.

a. Date and time to be determined.

b. Action: Motion was retracted. Overview of

staff roles tabled to the next meeting and

could be moved to the operations committee.

 

b. Board/Staff Educational Training

i. No later than December 1st for board and staff to complete

Ethics Training.

ii. No later than January 2nd to complete board/staff

educational training.

 

B. Treasurer’s Report

a. Savings: $

b. Checking: $

 

2

 

c. Frank Santos Jr. claims that he received the checkbook from prior

district treasurer, Kathrina Reyes.

i. District Manager, Jenelyn Abinales, verifies that Kathrina

Reyes did not submit all of the district’s checkbook and

receipts.

ii. William McDonald and Frank Santos Jr. requests for the

District Manager to provide copies of all temporary

(over-the-counter) checks to treasurer, Frank Santos Jr.

Jenelyn Abinales states that she will provide access to the

account where she scans all checks.

iii. Motion: Christopher Rosario motions to file a police report

for stolen property, if the checkbook is not returned within a

week. Joseph Santos seconds the motion.

1. Discussion: William McDonald states that the district

needs to create a ledger.

a. Joseph Santos clarifies that the certifying

officer is the Chairman of the district and

needs to be at least one of the signatories on

each check.

 

V. Committee Reports

- Executive Committee

- Lead: Christopher Rosario

- Alternate: Norma Castillon

- Education & Outreach Committee

- Lead: Norma Castillon

- Alternate: Joseph Santos

- Office Committee

- Election Committee

- Moving election committee to operations

- William McDonald requests to evaluate the last election since people

were turned away from voting. Nominees were not informed of the

counting of the ballot. The Ballot was left alone for some time. William

claims that the districts should carry out the election, not UOG.

- Norma Castillon suggests to William McDonald to write a letter of

concern and send the letter to the operations committee.

- William McDonald states that we will have the election committee

convene to discuss. He also requests to have staff draft a report of

the election.

 

3

 

- Jonathan Borja states that the election will be discussed at the

joint board meeting on October 23rd.

 

- Operations Committee

- Leads: Christopher Rosario & William McDonald

- Alternate: Frank Santos Jr

- Budget & Finance Committee

- Lead: Christopher Rosario

- Alternate: Frank Santos Jr.

- Policy & Governance Committee

- Lead: Joseph Santos

- Alternate: Christopher Rosario

- Groundwater & Watershed Protection Committee

- Lead: Frank Santos Jr.

- Alternate: Christopher Rosario

- Land Restoration Committee

- Lead: Christopher Rosario

- Alternate: Frank Santos Jr.

- Food Security Committee

- Lead: Norma Castillon

- Alternate: Christopher Rosario

- Forestry Committee

- Tabled

VI. Old Business

 

A. Adoption of Parliamentary Procedures

a. Motion: William McDonald made a motion to adopt Robert Rules

of Order/Parliamentary Procedures. Frank Santos Jr. seconded the

motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

B. Establishment of Committees

a. Motion: William McDonald made a motion to approve the

establishment of committees; pending Joseph Santos’ approval to

appointed committees. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

C. NACD PAC/SW Regional Meeting

a. Golden, Colorado (09/07-09/10, 2025)

i. Christopher Rosario states that the event took place after

the swearing in, but the booking of tickets were purchased

 

4

 

before the swearing in. The district needs to discuss and

receive advice.

1. All travel reports have been received.

2. Roland Quitugua requests a report from attendees.

a. William McDonald reports that his lunch was

dry chicken and the food was not enough.

There was a lot of working while eating and it

was not pleasant. The speakers were

pleasant, especially the FBI who spoke about

food security. He spoke about GEPA handling

the fields and Public Health the shelves, but

no one handling the in between at the

warehouses. A woman pilot came to speak.

Satellite that can control irrigation.

b. Frank Santos Jr. reports that there was no one

to talk to for medical attention for his back

spasms.

c. Norma Castillon reports that we networked

well. Breakouts were great and we all split

breakout sessions and sent pictures/notes.

William McDonald and Frank Santos Jr. were

getting names and contacts.

d. Christopher Rosario asked the directors to

state how the meeting benefits Guam.

i. Norma Castillon states that Guam

representation is important because the

networking is crucial for the island.

ii. William McDonald states that he got

Chris information on the free flow hive.

Got a POC for miniature cattle.

iii. Frank Santos Jr. states that he went on

a field trip and saw vertical gardens.

e. Savannah Garcia reports that all 4 attended

the leadership training. She gave a

presentation at the Agricultural Symposium.

She mentioned the NACD joint board meeting

to discuss the work plans and also, input from

other conservation districts to come to Guam

for the 2026 PAC/SW Regional Meeting on

Guam.

 

5

 

i. William McDonald requested for a

reminder from staff to follow up with

the FBI on who is in charge of the

warehouses in three weeks.

1. Christopher Rosario states that

he will get together with Norma

Castillon and William McDonald

to discuss in the food security

committee.

a. Norma Castillon suggests

attending the food

security meeting. Jenelyn

Abinales is tasked to find

out when the meeting is

and to let Christopher and

Norma know. The next

NCD Fruits and

Vegetables meeting is

tomorrow, October 15th.

3. William McDonald asks when they will be receiving

their reimbursement from the Regional Meeting.

a. Christopher Rosario states that we do not

have enough funds to send everyone to next

year’s Annual Meeting.

b. Norma Castillon suggests discussing who will

be attending the annual meeting in the next

board meeting. She also suggests checking

budget and travel policy prior to giving

reimbursements.

c. Christopher Rosario suggests creating SOPs.

d. Norma Castillon suggests staff Jenelyn

Abinales and Savannah Garcia to compile

travel policies then present to the board.

e. Christopher Rosario requests to review all

travel requests.

 

VII. New Business

 

A. Hotel Nikko, Yigo, Tamuning Mayor MOUs Approval

 

6

 

a. Motion: Norma Castillon made a motion to approve the MOUs for

Hotel Nikko, Yigo, and Tamuning. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the

motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

B. FY26 Budget Draft Review

a. Motion: Christopher Rosario motions to table for review and

discussion in the next meeting. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the

motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

C. Coast360 Account Update

a. Motion: Christopher Rosario made a motion to remove the

previous board directors and approve the new board directors for

the bank account. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

D. NACD TA2025

a. Motion: Christopher Rosario made a motion to approve the NACD

TA2025 Grant. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the motion.

i. Action: Unanimous decision; motion carries.

 

VIII. Miscellaneous Matters

- Chad Richardson states that he tries to attend all meetings, including the

regular board meetings. He reported that APHIS broke the record of trapping

pigs on the island - 780 feral pigs. Documented $64,300 worth of damage in

the North alone and will be sharing the results, including the blood sample

results.

- Roland Quitugua reminds that DPHSS will be conducting safety inspections on

Thursday, October 16th.

IX. Next Meeting

- Regular Board Meeting: November 4, 2025

- Partner Meeting: October 28, 2025

X. Adjournment

- Christopher Rosario motions to adjourn at 5:53 PM. Frank Santos Jr. seconds the

motion.

 

Prepared by Staff: Savannah Garcia

 

​