 Welcome to Sheboygan County Government, working for you. My name's Adam Payne, Sheboygan County Administrator and co-host of this program with Chairman Bill Gehring. And today, we have one of our 23 department heads with us, Mr. Pat Miles. Pat Miles is the Director of our Land and Water Conservation Department. Welcome, Pat. Thanks. Pat is one of our seasoned veterans amongst our management team. We have a very good one in Sheboygan County, and I've had the pleasure of working with Pat now for nine years. And Pat, please begin by sharing a little bit about your background and when you started working for the county and became the Director of the Department. OK, I've been with Sheboygan County a little over 30 years. I started in 1977. That was after graduating from Fox Valley Technical College. I grew up in a dairy farm in small Grant County in Southwest Wisconsin and graduated from Lancaster High School. And I'm here 30 years. And I've enjoyed almost every moment of it. Now, it always surprises me when you say 30 years with the county. It's funny how time flies. When were you appointed the Manager or Director of the Land and Water Conservation Department? That would have been roughly 1990, I believe. Very good. So you've seen some changes over the years. And as our viewers get a flavor for the Land and Water Conservation Department, what's the primary mission or objectives of your department? OK, our mission is to provide sound, technical, and educational assistance for land users in Sheboygan County dealing with soil and water resources. And some of the major responsibilities that we are responsible for are administering the policies of the Agriculture and Land Conservation Committee, Standing Committee of the County Board. And those most often deal with water quality and soil erosion issues in Sheboygan County. As you know, natural resource protection enhancement is near and dear to my heart. And Chairman Gehring has a family farm in the southern part of the county and certainly cares a lot about agriculture. And as our viewers are now getting a sense of the Land and Water Conservation Department and its mission responsibilities, what are some of the programs that you're responsible for implementing? OK, we have a variety of programs, both rural and urban. In the rural side, we have our Land and Water Resource Management program where we provide assistance to landowners who may have an erosion issue. We can provide the technical assistance and financial assistance in some cases with the help of the state. On the urban side, we have erosion patrol and storm water program where we offer assistance, technical assistance, and people dealing with urban water issues. And many times, we can provide technical assistance in the design of water quality improvement practices on the urban side. You have how many staff? And what's about the size of your budget? Our department consists of a staff of six, including myself. Eric is our engineering supervisor. Eric's been there almost as long as I have. He's responsible for the overall engineering quality in the department. Chris Rootman has been with us for 24-some years. He's basically responsible for the conservation planning aspect in the farm and preservation program. We have Dave Klaps, who's been there about 19 years. He's basically engineering and CAD, which is a computer-assisted design for many of our urban-type practices. We have Jeff Sharam, who's been with us a little over 10 years. Responsibilities include the Pigeon River Watershed Project and our important tree and shrub program, a lot of background work in that. And then we have Barbara, our secretary, who's been there a considerable number of years as well, and she has many years in the county. So they do, overall, a really, really good job. And like I say, the six of us, we have a combined total of 151 years, combined experience in the department. And I think that is a credit. That's a veteran team. In the department, yes. Your budget is approximately? Our budget's approximately $780,000 a year. And our levy is about half that in the county. And before I turn it over to Bill, you mentioned the importance of water quality. And some of our residents might be thinking, well, water quality. Why is that so important? Or what are some of the issues associated with water quality? Well, each and every one of us uses water to some extent, whether it be drinking, bathing, cooking, recreation, et cetera. The water quality has to be there if we're going to exist as a society. We depend on water for existence. And how does your department protect or enhance it? What's the role? We provide technical assistance in the, let's say, water quality improvement area. We may provide assistance, such as putting buffer strips on streams to filter out runoff before it reaches the stream. On the urban side, we may provide assistance in designing stormwater basins to catch runoff of construction sites before it reaches our streams. We could even provide assistance on a homeowner, for instance, installing a rain garden to collect some runoff from the lot before it reaches the storm sewers and eventually into our streams. Very good. We've got nearly 10 years to go under your leadership. Your department developed a county land and water conservation plan. Could you tell us a couple of the aspects of that plan and why the plan is so important to the county? The plan is important because what it does is it establishes for us, it sets priorities and goals and objectives in that plan. And that's pretty much what dictates our programs. It's also a main source of securing grants from whether it be local, state, or federal level. Many times, if you have a plan in place that identifies your goals and objectives, those are looked upon favorably. At the local level, I think the Land and Water Plan was probably very instrumental in securing our buffer program, grass buffer program, which we started in 2000, as an example. How was the plan developed and where did the input for the plan come from? We had, as a department, of course, we put a lot of emphasis on the plan, but we had a lot of input from local, state, and federal agency folks and identifying resource concerns at all levels. After we initially produced the original plan, we had some public hearings and they were very well attended. Those hearing testimony was included in the plan and it was last updated, I believe, in 2004, it was amended. And again, that needs to be approved by the State of Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Board as well as Sheboyton County, as you know. Could you share with our viewers some of the local priorities that were established as part of the plan? Sure, the first priority in the plan or the main goal was to reduce soil erosion. The second one was to control animal waste runoff. The third area was nutrient management and the fourth area was limiting cattle access to our shorelands in the county. And I might add, on that particular item, we have developed a strategy to deal with that issue and we'll be looking forward to implementing that probably this coming year. Some of those kind of controversial issues, could you talk a little bit about some of the improvements that have been made because of the plan being put in place? Sure. Since the plan has been in place, we've developed erosion control and stormwater ordinance at the county level which was approved by the county board. And again, that addresses areas in the unincorporated areas of Sheboygan County over one acre in size. If you have a construction site that's more than one acre, you will need an erosion control or stormwater management permit which will identify measures that you need to take to control erosion and runoff on the site. Another result of the plan, as I mentioned a little earlier, was a grass buffer strip program. It originated in 2000. Since that program has been in existence, we have 62 contracts with landowners in the county with a grass buffer strips. Nutripet management planning grant, as a result of that being a identified goal in the plan, we will be securing a grant in 2009 probably for well over $100,000 for landowners in Sheboygan County in 2009. If it wouldn't have not been in the land water plan, I would rather doubt we would have been eligible. So that was a good goal. And animal waste ordinance was another outcome of that plan where animal waste runoff was identified as an issue and our ordinance requires that landowners who would install a system to store animal waste would therefore need a nutrient management plan to keep the spreading in check with the required levels. Does that plan have to be revised periodically? And if so, when is it up for revision? As I mentioned, 2004 was the last revision. We'll have a revision expected in 2009. So next year we'll be working on an amendment. Again, we'll go through the process. We'll have citizen input again as well as well as agency folks. What about the future? What do you see as major natural resource issues that you and your department will be dealing with down the road? The two issues that I foresee in Sheboygan County would be the nutrient management issue with our conversion of many of our farms to larger operations, nutrient management becomes a critical issue. We have much larger volumes of waste we're dealing with. We sometimes have limited land available for spreading. So nutrient management's gonna be a critical issue as well as erosion control and the stormwater runoff. I see that is another area where we're gonna be needing a lot of work and especially because it is under our general county stormwide permit is a requirement as well. So those two areas will be, I see, as forefront. Okay, you're really kind of the quiet department out there but have some major responsibilities for ensuring that our water is protected in Sheboygan County. Thank you. Pat, you talked to Fairmont about nutrient management and I anticipate some of our viewers might be thinking, well, what is nutrient management? How would you define it? Nutrient management is addressing the crop needs versus the available nutrients and it's balancing the requirement versus the availability of what you have. You don't wanna over-apply and you don't want to under-apply. You wanna meet the crops' needs. Not just crops, but lawns and gardens. Exactly, and urban as well. As you know, in urban settings, we sometimes have a major problem with phosphorus runoff as well and that's in our fertilizer that we put on our lawns because we like that lush green lawn and we like getting out there and mowing it, but yeah, nutrient management is good for urban as well as rural. Personally, having lived both in an urban setting and a rural setting, I know that if we needed some weed killer or some nutrients spread on the lawn to make it a little more lush, I was always a little uncertain, well, how much do I apply? And you can read the directions on the bag. I fully appreciate that, but I know one of the problems is that folks put on more than they really need and some of it may end up getting flushed out by the rain or it goes on the sidewalk and gets flushed into our drains, which ultimately go into the lake. What would you recommend to viewers who might be thinking, you know, this spring or summer, I'm gonna be putting some fertilizer or nutrient application on my lawn. Where can they get some advice? They could call us or better yet, they could go to the UW Extension Office, which will be at the UW Center by the time our grass is ready for application. But many times they have a lot of brochures and information that will go into detail, spreading rates, that kind of thing. And if you look at the back of the bag, a lot of times it'll give you a square footage recommendation. Well, it's not too difficult to figure out dimensions of your lot and do some quick calculations. And many times a 10 pound bag, 15 pound bag is probably enough for a whole summer's application. Not too difficult if you know the square footage of your lot. Exactly, exactly. The other area you touched on right away was nutrient management on crops. And I've always been concerned when I'm driving to and from home in the town of Plymouth or when I'm driving across the state and you see manure being spread in the winter months that again is on top of the snow. We have the snow melt in the spring. And unfortunately a lot of that might just get flushed right into the ditches and streams and out to the lakes. What's been happening? Or are there any regulations or rules that are trying to influence that behavior and diminish or reduce the likelihood of manure being spread during the winter season? That is a problem and it's becoming more of a problem as I had mentioned before with our larger operations. Many times the larger operations do have adequate storage facilities but not everyone does. And as far as regulations, there are none at the moment. However, operations that are over 1,000 animal units which would translate into about 850 dairy cattle, there are stringent requirements for spreading of that animal waste by the state of Wisconsin DNR. But again, it only affects those certain size farms. So anything under those farms there are no regulations at the moment. So if you have 850 cows or beef or more, you have stringent rules on how that's applied. And if you have less than that, which most farms are under, in Sheboygan County they're generally smaller than that. Even around the state I think most probably have less than 850 animals, don't they? And they don't have any rules or regulations pertaining to towel. But that may change. That may change. And as you know, we've had some major animal waste spills in the state and especially just to the north of us in a joining manner to what county we've had some serious problems. So as it becomes more of an issue, I think you'll see a greater push probably for some regulations. That area, especially for the winter months. If we have the buffer strips in place that your department's been taking a leadership role, of course that helps because that filters some of that out. But it's not a total answer. It's not a total answer. Very interesting. You mentioned earlier your water quality focus and I know that your department's taken the lead in developing a water quality monitoring program, which will be helpful in providing data to the citizens of this community and the county board making decisions until we put more resources into water quality enhancement or protection or we have about the right amount. What are the components of our water quality monitoring program? Okay, we have five components and again this has been developed about over the last three years. The first one would be our well abandonment or a decommissioning program where we take old wells and make sure that they're properly sealed so that they don't present a pollution problem. A second component would be our well water testing program and I'll get into detail a little bit later. But we do, we'll go from town to town providing some well testing, well water testing for the residents. Third component would be we have an actual water quality test site in the town of Sheboygan Falls adjacent to one of our grass buffers that we've installed so that we can monitor the runoff of an adjacent field whether it be alfalfa, corn or soybeans. We, it's our second year that we will be hiring a summer intern and again that intern is instrumental in assisting us with the water quality monitoring program because many of the components take place over the summer months. And our fifth component would be our webpage or water quality monitoring webpage where we have various links to areas in the state that has water quality information or water quality test data as well as we have our buffer strip program information on that page with each site with our reductions of phosphorus, nitrogen and sediment. And it's a good source if someone wants to find some quick facts on water quality. My bet is some of our viewers may either have an old well on their property or know of a friend or family member that lives in a rural area that has an old well on their property that is no longer being used. And your department of late has had more of a emphasis on getting the word out that you have a program and funding in place to decommission these wells. One, why are you seeking to decommission these wells? And secondly, how do people get more information if they know if someone or have one and want to pursue them? Well, first of all, they can call us at 920-467-5746 and gladly get you the information and anything you need that you want to abandon a well. I'll be more than happy to help you, but the main reason we're putting an emphasis on old wells is many times they're not being used or they're a direct conduit to the groundwater. And if we should have a major nurse bill or a pesticide spill or something of that nature, it's a direct conduit. So if we can get as many of these wells out of commission, I think we all benefit because it's actually a proactive measure where we're protecting the groundwater. And it's a relatively inexpensive practice. We've found over the last couple of years, most wells come well under $1,000 a piece as far as properly decommissioning them with a bet night clay and that type of thing. And then they're certified by the contractor that they have been properly abandoned. So I believe we're getting a lot of bang for our buck when we can go after the abandoned wells. And I think last year we had 21 wells throughout the county that were properly taking out of service. So... Can you say about $1,000 a piece? How much cost sharing or funding is available if someone has one and wants to pursue that? We will generally provide up to 70% of the cost of the abandonment, up to $1,000 per well. Like I say, most of them have come well under $1,000 in total cost. So it's very worthwhile. And if someone is interested, again, they should call us. We do have limited funds, but as I said last year, we had 21 wells that we took out of service. So probably have a good opportunity if you're interested. And I know you've shared examples with me in the past. Someone could have a well in an old barn or an old garage or in the back yard that they're now hooked up to city water and it was just never dealt with. And it's out of sight, out of mind. But as you said, whether you're applying lawn fertilizers or whether there's a hard rain and you're in a rural area and the field next to you has some erosion where you have nutrients going right down that pipe and right into our groundwater. And people may think, well, jeez, I want to spend perhaps $300 of $1,000 to get that taken care of. But if it's your groundwater that you and your family's drinking, it's the right thing to do to get that taken care of. So it's a very good program. The well testing, I don't think you do any well testing in the city. Do you? No, this is pretty much in the rural areas. And again, what prompted this component was we had some concerns in the northwest part of the county with high levels of nitrates. And last year, for instance, we offered a free well testing program in the town of Russell. We had 62 residents participate, which was a little over half, we feel of probably the available residents that could have participated. Of those 62, we identified five wells which were pretty close proximity to each other. And the problem was that some fairly high levels of nitrates in California. We will be following up with those individuals again this year in 2008. We'll be offering them the test again to monitor any changes in the levels. I want to make sure that maybe the test wasn't faulty or something of that nature, but with all five in a central area, it kind of raised a red flag for us. And again, as I mentioned, the reason we're offering the service is because we feel there's probably some high levels of nitrates in that part of the county as well as across the county line in Calumet County. And if there's a problem out there, we would like to have it identified. And if it's related to agriculture, we would like to see what we can do to remedy it. In 2008, we'll be offering the same program to the residents in town of Rhine because they have very similar soils and being close to Calumet County across the county line. We feel there could be some problem areas there as well. A program that you administer and really have improved over the last few years that can impact all residents of Sheboygan County, especially from a standpoint, if they wanna purchase some trees or shrubs, is your tree and shrub program. I can't believe the response you've had to that over the years. And please share with our viewers a little bit about how the program works and if they're interested in purchasing any trees or shrubs, what's available. First of all, I would encourage anybody that would like to order from us. We have a large inventory left yet. We'll gladly take your order up to February 28th, which would be next week, would be the deadline. Unfortunately, by the time many of these folks see this, that date will probably come and gone. But each year we do offer a large variety of trees and shrubs. We average around 90 to 100,000 trees a year, trees and shrubs that are delivered for pickup. Their orders are bagged according to what they ordered. And we've been using the tree program since about 2000, I believe. So we'll be reaching that one million mark with any year or two. I'm quite positive. And I would be interested in seeing how we've changed the landscape with a number of trees and shrubs that we've got out there. And it isn't just limited county residents. It can be the city of Sheboygan. Any of our villages or municipalities, it can be surrounding counties. It's open to everyone. And we encourage people to order. So a minimum order of 25. It's a very, very reasonable price, affordable. And our stock has been real excellent from the nurseries that we get. And if some of our viewers see this and it is after February 28th, which is said we've got a real arts inventory. And I also know you have, after everyone who's ordered, if there's anything left over, you put that up for sale as well. Could folks still call that number you gave earlier and get some information? Right, that'd be 467-5746. And on the last Saturday of April, starting at noon, we'll have around 10,000 trees of shrubs available for first come, first serve. I have someone who wants to come out. Usually it's a nice day. They can come out under the big top and pick up the selection and go home and plant. Very good. Well, we've covered a lot of ground. As Chairman Gehring mentioned, you're one of these departments that sometimes quietly just going about its work, but certainly covering a lot of important areas, whether it's urban or rural, water quality type protection and enhancement. Very much appreciate the work that you and your staff do, and you certainly have a seasoned team, as you said, a lot of experience in that department. Until next month, thank you for joining us. If you have any questions in regards to our Land and Water Conservation Department, please don't hesitate to contact Mr. Pat Miles, or a member of his team. I know he's given that phone number twice now already. And if you have any questions or suggestions for this program, please don't hesitate to contact myself or Chairman Bill Gehring. Our office number, our office phone number is 459-3103. 459-3103, so please let us know if you have any thoughts or suggestions next month. And I think this is the third time I've said this. Our County Clerk Julie Glancy intends to be here. She has been incredibly busy with the elections and the primary that just passed. And our hope is she's gonna be able to share with you what's going on and the very important work that she's doing with managing and coordinating the elections throughout the county. So, until next month, on behalf of the Sheboygan County Board, Chairman Bill Gehring and myself, Adam Paine, thank you for joining us. Thank you.