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Regular Meeting May 13, 2009 Chairman Gordon Ceskowske called the Regular Meeting of the Fox Lake Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District Board of Commissioners to order on April 8, 2009 at 8:30am at the District Town Hall office. Roll call: Present; Gordon Ceskowske, Kurt Heckl, Dennis VanderWerff, and Cheryl Witkowski. Also present; Les Schraufnagel, operator; and, Kathleen Rydquist, clerk-coordinator. Motion by D. VanderWerff, second C. Witkowski to approve the minutes of the April 28, 2009 special meeting and May 13, 2009 regular meeting. All yes. Motion carried. Motion by K. Heckl, second C. Witkowski to approve the financial statement, subject to audit. All yes. Motion carried. Correspondence: 1] A letter was received from the Fox Lake Property Owners discussing the bog at the bridge on County A and stating that “immediate action must be taken to get this bog removed or destroyed”. The Board discussion made mention that the District had worked with several government bodies last fall to remove as much of the bog as possible. Although we asked for volunteers for the removal in the October newsletter, only three people stepped forward. The District made it clear from the beginning of the project that we would do the best we could with the resources available. We would be happy to meet with the FLPO to discuss the problem. The clerk is instructed to respond to the letter. 2] Membership letter from Gathering Waters was received. The Board does not with to join the organization at this time. Audience participation: none Operators report: attached Les will be purchasing a volute to replace failed equipment. WCC report: In preparation for the May 19 joint and regular meeting, the City and District have been asked to consult with their engineers to see if it is realistic to develop plans and specs for the seepage cell project to be completed by June 30th to meet the criteria for financial assistance under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus money). The clerk will call Ayers. The other repairs discussed were the purchase/repairs of the blowers and motors, and the replacement and exercising of the valves. Clerk-Coordinator report: 1[ D. VanderWerff and I attended the DNR Permittee Workshop. The discussion was split between land-spreading of treatment plant and industrial waste and more specific treatment plant issues. 2] Prepared for and attended the Session I of the Rain Garden Workshop. We had about 24 in attendance. Suzanne Wade and Matt Hanson, both UWEX educators, spoke to the group about urban sprawl and the problems caused by the hardscape, i.e. roofs, driveways, parking lots, roads. They talked about the way rain was once absorbed into the grass and fields leaving little excess water to carry sediments and nutrients into the surface waters. This led to the use of rain gardens as an attractive and natural way to keep these same sediments and nutrients on the land and out of the waters. Session II will be held on May 9th at 9:00am with a plant sale to follow from 11:00am to noon. 3] The Advisory Committee met and has requested the District Board consider setting up a meeting with Hey & Associates, Marc Bethke, and Jim Congdon, Advisory Committee members, the Regular Meeting – May 13, 2009, page 2 District Board of Commissioners, and Attorney William O’Connor. The purpose is to discuss our problems and decide if there are areas where WAL could move things on larger, state-wide issues. Motion by K. Heckl, second C. Witkowski to instruct the clerk to set up a meeting. All yes. Motion carried. 4] Attended the Land Conservation Committee and expressed our concern about the way road and farm ditches are cleaned out leaving the raw soil to be washed away during the next rain storm. There ensued quite a conversation about the ditching and tiling, both of which have few, if any, regulations. Marc Bethke has added some of this to his NR151 revision comment that he is sending to the State. 5] Arranged and attended Session II of the Rain Garden Workshop. Lisa Reas presented a program to 10 people. She spoke about the actual location and appropriate plants to use. She had a slide presentation of many plants and answered questions. Also, comments from the attendees were helpful as we have similar problems. The plant sale began at 11:00 and there were many purchases. 6] Monday, May 18th I attended a photo op in Hustisford with representatives of areas lake groups and Senator Scott Fitzgerald and Representative Jeff Fitzgerald. Each person gave a brief description of what their organization does and how we can work together. 7] Distributed a public meeting notice from Dodge County Planning about changes to shoreland and wetland related code provisions and terminology. The meeting is May 18th at 7:30pm at the Dodge County Administration building. 8] Spoke with Jim Congdon and Marc Bethke about the agricultural practices on the prison farms. Both think as we do that the prison farms should be the example for neighborhood farms and will attempt to promote this up the food chain. County report: D. VanderWerff spoke about ditching of farm fields and cleaning the road ditches. He stated that there aren’t permits needed for ditching and tiling so who is doing what is the question. It was reported at the LCC meeting that in March, 450 farm received Six Million Dollars in dairy supports from the government………and that is just for one month. Dennis called Susan Graham again about the DO meter. She told Dennis we could get a grant. The clerk will contact Susan. Town report: none Old business: 1] Discussion and action regarding allocation of plant expansion costs and changes to Service contract/Ordinance at Wastewater…..Discussed in WCC report. Negotiations continue between the City and District attorneys. 2] Discussion and action regarding changing District policy for collection of up-front money on properties with multiple DUE’s if they plan to change their use……….tabled. 3] Discussion of carp barrier ………..tabled 4] Discussion and action to put out bids for pump replacement……….waiting for input from engineer……..tabled New business: 1] L. Wagner’s position on Wastewater. Wagner will continue to serve on the Commission as a District representative until August 1. District pays per diem if he attends a regular or special meeting called by the District at the Boards’ request. 2] Discussion of engineering responsibilities – Motion by K. Heckl, second G. Ceskowske to research new engineering firm. The wastewater specialist, Jim Lund, is no longer with Ayers and Regular Meeting, May 13, 2009, page 3 neither is Jason Lietha, collection system specialist. Although we believe we have received good advice from Rick Apfel during negotiations with the City, the Ayers firm has not been forthcoming with information about the loss of employees and has left us hanging. All yes. Motion carried. A letter will be written and sent to area engineering firms 3] Discussion as to having our attorney advice us on issues of ditching, runoff, erosion control, etc. Discussed in clerks report. Will try to set up appropriate meeting. 4] Authorization to call attorney – the consensus is that authorization lies with the chairman. 5] Discussion and action regarding possible change of meeting date and/or time to accommodate Board Commissioner. After discussion, the Board has agreed to change the meeting time from 8:30am to 1:00pm and continue to meet on Wednesday. Motion to pay the bills C. Witkowski, second K. Heckl. All yes. Motion carried. The next meeting will be on June 10, 2009 at 1:00pm. Motion to adjourn D. VanderWerff, second C. Witkowski. All yes. Motion carried. **The Fox Lake Inland Lake District representatives to the Fox Lake Wastewater Control Commission, Wagner, Heckl, and Rydquist may be present at the meeting to discuss the District’ wastewater collection system and its relationship to proposed improvements to the FLWCC Plant. Respectfully submitted, Kathleen Rydquist Clerk-Coordinator