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Regular Meeting – November 9, 2011 Chairman Dennis VanderWerff called the Regular Meeting of the Fox Lake Inland Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District Board of Commissioners to order on November 9, 2011 at 9:00am at the District office. Roll call: Present; Dennis VanderWerff, Kurt Heckl, Timothy Meekma, Cheryl Witkowski, and Julie Flemming. Also present: Norbert Hughes; Less Schraufnagel, WCC; Andy Dolgner, operator; and Kathleen Rydquist, clerk-coordinator; Correspondence: none Audience participation: Norbert Hughes appeared before the Board to, once again, discuss the weir on Alto Creek. The bridge adjacent to the weir was replaced and widened by the county highway department. Mr. Hughes is concerned that the weir does not release enough water quickly enough during and after heavy rainfalls. He also questioned ownership of the weir. The District owns the weir. It is located on the county road right-of-way and was constructed by District and grant money. The original plans were submitted to Dodge County and DNR for permits. After two years, permits were approved and the weir was built. It has been functioning properly as designed and constructed. Mr. Hughes discussed the new bridge, the culvert, construction, and left over dirt and cement. None of these things have anything to do with the District. He spoke with Dan Hunt, DNR, who granted our original permit. He stated that Hunt told him the District could amend our plan and expand the opening in the weir to release water quicker. Hughes was referred to Travis Schroeder, DNR, who has taken over Dan Hunt’s duties. Prior to the next meeting the District will: Ask the county if they know who was present at the public hearing. Mr. Hughes stated that his family was not notified. Neal O’Reilly stated that he had attended the hearing and sat near Mr. Hughes father, William; Ask Neal O’Reilly about steel posts/rods upstream from the weir; Ask DNR why they allowed a navigable waterway to be blocked by the weir; Ask the county highway department about the concrete and dirt left behind the weir. Motion by K. Heckl, second T. Meekma to approve the minutes as printed. All yes. Motion carried. Motion by C. Witkowski, second K. Heckl to approve the financial statement as printed, subject to audit. All yes. Motion carried. Operator’s report: attached WCC report: The City will be replacing Craig Hughes with Andy Bath to serve on the Commission. Clerk-coordinator report: 1] Received a variance for our last grant application. We must ask for a variance because we have received over $100,000 in lake planning grants. 2] Attended the Community Relations Board at Fox Lake Correctional. 3] Attended an Advocacy Workshop at Amherst. 4] Attended a Fox Lake Property Owners meeting Regular Meeting - November 9, 2011, page 2 County report: D. VanderWerff discussed how crop damage prices are decided. He also handed out a copy of the Nutrient Management Plan Checklist provided to the Wis. Dept. of Agriculture to Ag Services of Wisconsin, Waupun State Farms. The checklist asks about field location, areas prohibited from receiving nutrient applications, areas within 50 feet of a potable drinking water well, other issues re slopes, winter applications, etc. All questions were answered yes except for one. The only question answered with a ‘No’ was “Were soil samples collected and analyzed within the past 4 years according to UW Publication A2100 recommendations?” So, are nutrients being applied to the land to grow crops or as a disposal method for farm waste and prison wastewater sludge and irrigation liquids? Town report: none Old business: 1] Discussion/action re high nitrates in surface/groundwater/grant/FLCI – FLCI is moving all minimum security prisoners to Waupun – I think the Burke Center. All of the female inmates are being to another location. That will have an impact on the amount of work prisoners can do for local municipalities and other public entities. Neal O’Reilly’s report stated that the 319 grant we received is federal money from the clean water act earmarked for controlling non-point source pollution. If we receive the grant paper work soon he would like to schedule the kick-off meeting in November or early December before we get into the Christmas holidays. We have still not received an answer to the open records request for DOC for FLCI re land spreading of waste. Neal will make another call to see why the holdup. 2] Annual Audit review – Brief discussion. 3] Up-date re satisfaction of court order – no information. 4] Discussion/action re weed harvesting contract for next summer – Motion by K. Heckl, second by C. Witkowski to sign the contract from Midwest Aquatics for a minimum of $4480 and a not to exceed of $6700. All yes. Motion carried. New business: 1] Establishment of Grievance Procedure – Received copies of procedure for the Town of Fox Lake and WCC to review for the next meeting. 2] Discussion re moving historical records to the Congregational Church – J. Flemming explained that the Historical Room at the Fox Lake Public Library has an amazing collection of small town historical information. A certain amount of the material has been cataloged with volunteers and library staff is available during regularly scheduled hours to assist people doing genealogical research. The room is heated and cooled. The 160 year old Congregational Church has been donated to the City/Historical Society and the Society would like the historical room data moved to the old wooden church. The old building does not have climate control, age and wooden construction make it more susceptible to fire, and it would not be staffed often enough to accommodate those doing research. After some discussion, a motion was made by K. Heckl, second C. Witkowski to have the Clerk write a letter to City officials questioning the removal of historical data to the old church as the history of the Lake District and Town of Fox Lake is within that data. All yes. Motion carried. 3] Report on Advocacy Workshop – T. Meekma and K. Rydquist attended the WAL sponsored workshop at Amherst, WI. A large part of the program centered on how a bill becomes a law and the many opportunities a person or group has to influence lawmakers before the bill is passed or rejected. The best advice was to keep in contact with legislators. Contact them often offering advice, commending them, or questioning a decision they have made. They will recognize your interest and listen to you thoughts if presented properly. Regular Meeting – November 9, 2011, page 3 4] Discussion of November FLPO meeting - Requested and received information on tiling from Neal O’Reilly. He basically stated that phosphorous and nitrates are carried through the tile into lakes and waterways. This information was discussed at the meeting. The Schmidt’s believe that the nutrients on cropland are all used by the plants, and want FLPO to retract a letter in their newsletter stating the opposite. Neal’s opinion is that, using sampling data from our watershed, while some of the phosphorous is used by the crops, some p. and most of the nitrates are carried into the waterway. Because tiling is a practice that is an acceptable part of agriculture, we need to discuss its impact on the lake. While it may be a touchy subject to some, many in the District think that creating a way to “fast track” nutrient laden water into the lake is a very bad idea. Common sense would indicate that allowing water to filter through the soil would be a better way to keep nutrients out of the surface waters. The Clerk will ask Neal and Marc Bethke to write something up for the next newsletter. Tiling may be acceptable but that doesn’t make it right. 5] Christmas bonus for employee – Motion by K. Heckl, second C. Witkowski to give the employee a $100 bonus as in years past. All yes. Motion carried. Motion to pay the bills T. Meekma, second C. Witkowski. All yes. Motion carried. Suggestions for the next meeting: Weir, grievance procedure, grant update, ask Neal to put together an article re tiling. The next meeting will be December 14, 2011 at 9:00am. Motion to adjourn K. Heckl, second C. Witkowski. All yes. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Kathleen Rydquist Clerk-coordinator **The Fox Lake Inland Lake District representatives to the Fox Lake Wastewater Control Commission may be present at the meeting to discuss the District’ wastewater collection system and its relationship to proposed improvements to the FLWCC Plant.