DECODER Official Newsletter of the March 2005
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Greetings from Dick Mace, 2005 President:
It could very well be that this greeting is holding
up the issuance of the Decoder by a week or so, but I have recently undergone
shoulder surgery on February 23, and am having some difficulty getting back to
a full work load and the responsibilities that go with that. It is especially difficult for a right-hander
to perform many tasks when his right hand has been temporarily handicapped. Anyway, enough for excuses.
I would like to say thank you to all of you who have supported the Board
and myself over the past years that I have served on
the Board and especially for your support for me as your 2005 president. I would also like to pay special tribute to
Bruce Haukom for taking on the responsibility of the
presidency in 2004 after CeCe Tesky
left her employment in
I would also like to extend recognition to the NR115 sub-committee composed of Phil Gaudet, Karl Kastrosky and Pam LaBine. They have worked tirelessly on this project and it is important that we work very closely with the Department of Natural Resources and its’ committees to develop a code which we can be comfortable in administering. I truly hope that we can get there even though the Association has taken a position recently in opposition to the present draft. As you all know, we have offered substantial comments on how to improve various drafts over the past year, most recently at our annual meeting in January, and have transmitted our comments to the Natural Resources Board in hopes that a more positive outcome will result. Again, a huge round of thanks to the three members of the NR115 sub-committee. I wish them all success in their continuing efforts.
I would also
like to thank Dan Miller for his past and continued participation in the
Scholarship Awards program. As you may
or may not know, the funds generated from vendor participation at our
conferences are expended exclusively for awards and scholarships to students
around the State, who are interested in pursuing their college degree in fields
closely aligned with the activities that all of us participate in. Dan has done
an outstanding job over the last few years at finding deserving students to
receive the awards and he will continue in that effort, for which I am very
grateful. Another thank you needs to be
given to CeCe Tesky for her
outstanding work in developing the 35th Year Anniversary Book which
all of you have received, either at the Fall Conference or subsequently from
your district representatives. CeCe has been a
valuable asset to our organization and I would like to personally thank her for
her effort, even though she selected one of the worst pictures of me that I can
imagine ever being taken (shown on Page 15).
Quite frankly, if you look closely at the three characters in that
picture (Brassale, Clement and Mace), you would think
it was a meeting of the Mafia. It
certainly has received a lot of comments from some of my close friends,
especially Clement, and I am sure that I have yet to hear the end of comments
and ridicule for that picture. I also hope that
I also look forward to working cooperatively with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on a new training program for WCCA Code Administrators, which is being headed by Lynn Markham, who most of you know, as well as a Master’s Degree candidate by the name of Eric Olson. The Board at the February 10-11th meeting recently approved that effort. We will most likely be getting surveys either via e-mail or “snail-mail” from Eric. Please provide responses to the inquiries in as timely a fashion as you can, as I believe those responses will be helpful in developing the training and seminar programs, which we expect to be forth coming from this program.
Another person who needs to be recognized and thanked for her efforts with the Association is Mary Greenman. Mary has done an outstanding job of maintaining our records and too often we don’t give those positions enough credit. I am offering, on behalf of the Association, a big thank you to Mary for her hard work in this very responsible position.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Jim Clark, who has served as the Decoder editor for a number of years. At our meeting of February 10 and 11th, 2005, we decided to eliminate the Decoder position as a separate function and merge it with the Web Master position, as we are continuing to move towards a web based effort in WCCA. Jim has worked for the organization a number of years in putting together our Decoder and badgering various folks around the state to get articles to him, so he could publish it in a timely way, and in my opinion, has done a Yeoman’s job. I commend Jim for his efforts and hope that he continues to be an active participant in our organization. Along with that, Michelle Staff is doing an excellent job in administering the WCCA website and as you should know by this time, most, if not all of our information in the organization will be disseminated through the website. It will be her responsibility to badger all of us for articles and information to be hosted on the website. We need to recognize her work maintaining our website, especially the tremendous job she has just recently performed in reformatting the website. Going to an all electronic environment is difficult for some of us old timers who were never trained in the use of the computer. It is somewhat difficult for us to get into that mode, but if I can do it folks, the rest of you can too.
I feel that our Association excels in its efforts to provide a diverse and wide ranging program agenda and will continue to work to do so in the future. This is a primary mission of the organization and one I feel is extremely important, so that we can train and educate new people into the profession as we grow or move on to other endeavors in our lives.
Again, thank
you for your support and I look forward to a successful year as your president.
I will see you at our next conference to be held on April 7 and 8th, 2005 at
the Midway Best Western in
Respectfully
Richard L. Mace
EAST CENTRAL
DISTRICT REPORT by Lesley Roll
The East Central District met
The February 18, 2005 East
Central District meeting was held in
The next meeting will be a joint meeting with the East
Central District and the Northeast District.
The meeting will be held in
NR 115 UPDATE – Phil Gaudet WCCA NR 115 Subcommittee chair
The DNR completed the 5th draft of NR 115 in early January
of this year and the WCCA NR 115 subcommittee and Executive Board reviewed the
draft and has submitted comments to the DNR on the draft. The DNR has stated it
will be looking at the comments and will possibly revise the draft again before
going to the Natural Resources Board in April. After the Natural Resources
Board the Legislature will still have to review and hold public hearings.
WCCA had extensive comments on the 5th draft and it is hoped that DNR will take
our comments very seriously as our organization is the organization that has to
enforce the rules. The next step is to see what changes DNR makes in the draft
and then comment again on those changes. WCCA does intend to have
representation at the Natural Resources Board when NR 115 is brought before the
Board.
Public Hearing Phase Begins in
NR 115 Rule Revision by Toni Herkert
After working for three years
and reviewing five drafts of proposed changes, the NR 115 Advisory Committee
has turned over their final comments on proposed changes to Chapter NR 115.
Department staff are now working to prepare all of the
documents needed to ask the Natural Resources Board, the Department’s policy
making body, for permission for public hearings on the proposed changes to
To receive authorization
for public hearings for NR 115, DNR staff will submit a "green sheet package"
to the Natural Resources Board. Documentation with the green sheet package will
include:
1. A background memo
describing why the rule is being amended, a summary of the what the proposed
rule is to accomplish, a summary of the proposed rule itself, and who will be
impacted by the rule and how.
2. An environmental
assessment (EA) describing the effect of the proposed rule on the environment.
3. An order providing
the proposed rule language, the authority of the agency to promulgate the rule,
related statutes or rules, a plain language analysis of the proposed rule, a
comparison of the rule with other states' programs, and a summary of factual
data and analytical methodologies used by the Department in support of the
proposed rule revisions.
The Department plans to
request permission for public hearings at the May Board meeting, and hopes to
hold public hearings in June, July and August. Tentative plans are for 8 to 10
public hearings around the state. For those unable to attend public hearings,
written comments will be accepted or comments can also be submitted at the new
State website: http://adminrules.wisconsin.gov
After public hearings,
the Department will review comments and make changes to the rule and once again
appear before the Natural Resources Board to request final approval of the new
statewide minimum standards. Once the
rule has been approved by the Board, it is sent over to the State Legislature
for review. The Senate and Assembly
committees to which the rule is assigned may choose to have legislative public
hearings to collect comment from the citizenry.
To keep apprised of the legislative action, you may sign up for the
legislative notification service at www.legis.state.wi.us,
click on notification service and sign up for natural resource issues. Otherwise you can check the shoreland website mentioned below.
For more information on
changes to ch. NR 115, including the public hearing
schedule when available, please refer to:
www.dnr.wi.gov/org/water/wm/dsfm/shore/news.htm
NEWS
FROM THE NORTH EAST DISTRICT (NEWCCA) by Duane Haakenson
On
On
On
In March,
Southern
District Report by
Scott Godfrey
No Report
South East District
Report by Michelle Staff
On
We had quite a few new hires
in our district over the pass year. I would like to introduce them to you.
Sheri Mount
– Sheri was hired in February 2004
by the Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use as a Land Use
Specialist. She graduated from UW-Stevens Point in May of 1998 with a Bachelor
of Science in Water Resources with minors in Land Use Planning and Conservation
Biology. After graduation she worked at a landscaping company in Eagle, WI as a
construction crew leader and in March of 2000, she worked for Bonestroo & Associates in Mequon as an Environmental
Scientist where she did wetland delineations, environmental site assessments,
construction inspection, stormwater management plans,
erosion control plans and environmental permitting. In December of 2003, Sheri
worked for Cedarburg Science as a Project Ecologist which her duties varied
from wetland delineations to site assessments to stewardship plans. She briefly
worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as Water Management
Specialist before being hired by
Andrew Baker – Andrew was hired in April of 2004 by the Rock County Planning and
Development Agency as a Planner II – Code Administration and Enforcement. His
primary responsibilities are erosion control, stormwater,
nonmetallic mining and shoreland zoning. Andrew is a
graduate of UW-Platteville with a degree in Reclamation, Environmental and
Conservation. Prior to working with
Jason Fruth -- Waukesha County Department of Parks and Land Use
has a new Senior Land Use Specialist. Jason Fruth
joined the staff in August 2004.
Previously, Jason worked as a City Planner with the City of
Hope to see you all at the
Spring Conference on April 7 & 8. As always, if you have any questions or
concerns, please contact me at michelles@co.jefferson.wi.us.
WCCA WEB PAGE GETS A
NEW LOOK! By Michelle Staff
Over the last months significant changes have been made to the WCCA Web Page. Please take a look www.wccadm.com The web page has information about our organization such as the constitution, statement of principles, conference information, etc. It also has information for our membership such as the Decoder newsletter, WCCA directory, a job board, and district information. Please come to visit us at www.wccadm.com If you have any questions or concerns about the web page, please forward them to me at michelles@co.jefferson.wi.us
North West District
Kevin Krause
No report
LEGISLATIVE DESK UPDATE By Duane
Greuel
The Joint Legislative Council’s special committee on septage disposal has been busy. The latest bill draft dated
1). Addresses unfair disposal fees charged to Liquid Waste Haulers and establishes a process for a licensed disposer to file a complaint with the Public Service Commission.
2). Creates two local assistance programs to be administered by the Department of Commerce. Both programs will provide cost share grants to counties for up to 70% of the cost of conducting an inventory of existing private sewage systems, and for developing a recordkeeping system for information about private sewage systems in each county.
3). Moves the county maintenance program out of the Wisconsin fund grant program and into the general department of commerce duties and makes all counties responsible for adoption and enforcement of the maintenance program.
4). Modifies the clean water fund program to provide zero percent interest rate loans for any portion of a treatment work project that relates to facilities for receiving and capacity for treating septage.
5). Requires treatment plants to address septage disposal needs.
6). Places limits on the authority of local units of government to regulate the land disposal of sewage sludge.
7). Removes septage disposal as an exception from environmental regulatory program and brings this appropriation into conformance with legislative intent.
The Joint Legislative Council will meet again on
Central District Dustin Grant
No Report
West Central District Doug
Clary
No Report
WCCA
MEMBERSHIP
If you haven’t sent your 2005 membership renewal yet, please do so
soon! A form is located on the WCCA web site. Mary would like to get the
membership list completed for this year.
|
|
|
2005 Approved |
|
|
|
|
|
EXPENSES: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWSLETTER |
|
$
- |
|
SEMINARS |
|
16000 |
|
DIRECTORY |
|
$
- |
|
SECRETARY/TREASURER |
|
2000 |
|
OFFICE
SUPPLIES |
|
400 |
|
EXECUTIVE
BOARD MEETINGS |
|
1700 |
|
|
|
|
|
LEGISLATIVE/EDUCATION |
|
250 |
|
INSURANCE |
|
212 |
|
TELEPHONE |
|
$
- |
|
AWARDS/CERTIFICATES |
|
250 |
|
REFUNDS |
|
250 |
|
POSTAGE |
|
200 |
|
|
|
|
|
CONTIGENCY
FUND |
|
11504.5 |
|
MISCELLANEOUS |
|
100 |
|
WEB
PAGE |
|
200 |
|
WEB
PAGE COORDINATOR |
|
1150 |
|
PROGRAM
COORDINATOR |
|
2000 |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
|
$36,216.50 |
|
|
|
|
|
REVENUES: |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DUES |
|
5900 |
|
SEMINARS |
|
21000 |
|
CARRY
OVER |
|
8891.51 |
|
|
|
|
|
INTEREST |
|
75 |
|
MISCELLANEOUS |
|
350 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
|
$36,216.50 |
WCCA SPRING
CONFERENCE - The spring conference will be
on April 7 & 8th at the Best Western Midway Hotel in
Some other topics on the agenda will be Dale Simon of the DNR giving a
talk on how to make an ordinary highwater mark
determination and Russ Rasmussen who is the Director of the DNR Bureau of
Watershed Management will be talking about NR 115 and maybe some other topics.
If you have any questions at all please give me a call.
Please sign up as soon as possible if you are attending so we can give
the hotel the count for registration and meals.
Phil Gaudet, WCCA Program Chair, 262-335-4445
SPRING CONFERENCE 2005
Best Western
Midway Hotel,
1.
The full registration fee for this seminar is
$100.00 for members and $115.00 for non-members. This fee includes 3 meals, all sessions,
materials, door prizes and hospitality.
2.
Registration paid for after
3.
Spouses and half-day registrants may pay for meals
at registration.
4.
Room reservations may be made by calling the Best
Western at (715) 842-1616. Room rates
are $62.00 for single occupancy and $72.00 double occupancy. Let them know you are with WCCA and whether
you have a tax exemption for the sales tax when you call.
5.
Room reservations received after
6.
If you have any questions, please call Phil Gaudet at (262) 335-4445.
County/Agency/Company:
Registration Fee Before
3/31/05 After 3/31/05 Amount
Due
Member Registrant Name:
$100 $115
$100 $115
Non-Member Registrant Name:
$115 $130
$115 $130
Half-Day Registrant Name: (circle which half-day to
attend)
Thursday
AM
Thursday PM $30 $40
Friday
AM
Thursday
AM
Thursday PM $30 $40
Friday
AM
Total
Payment Enclosed $
If you are signing up for a
half-day registration, please circle which half-day you plan to attend. Meals are not included with
registration for half day registration.
Make the payment out to WISCONSIN COUNTY CODE
ADMINISTRATORS
Return registration form
along with appropriate fee to:
Wisconsin County Code
Administrators, c/o Vilas County Zoning, 330 Court Street,
SPRING 2005 WCCA
CONFERENCE
BEST WESTERN MIDWAY
HOTEL –
TENTATIVE AGENDA
Wednesday April 6:
7:00 p.m.-9:00p.m. Executive Board meeting
Thursday April 7:
8:30-9:00a.m. Registration
9:00-10:00 Act 118 rules & DNR permit operations including wetland
restoration projects – Mary Ellen Vollbrecht, DNR
10:00-10:15 BREAK
10:15-11:00* Soil Saturation Interpretive Determinations for POWTS–
Department of Commerce, Matt Janzen
11:00-12:00 State Agency Updates – DNR, DOC, DATCP, UWEX
12:00-1:00 LUNCH
1:00-2:15 Ordinary Highwater Mark Determinations – Dale Simon,
DNR
2:15-2:30 BREAK
2:30-3:30* POWTS Products, inspection and troubleshooting– Volrath Sales Group (Mark Prevost)
3:30-5:00 WCCA Business meeting
5:30-6:30 Social Hour – refreshments
6:30 Dinner –Award/Speaker, Mike Dresen
Friday April 8:
7:00-8:30a.m Breakfast
8:30-9:45* Evaluating existing POWTS/Panel discussion – discuss
proposal for evaluations of existing systems WOWRA, Rick Apfel, WLWCA, Dave Kons, WCCA, Duane Gruel (Wood County) & Chris Olson (Door County), DOC, Roman Kaminski
9:45-10:00 BREAK
10:00-11:00 Russ Rasmussen – DNR, Director Bureau of Watershed Management (NR 115 and other DNR topics)
</