Public Involvement & Education Subcommittee Minutes
for the Year 2001

You may read the minutes:  on-line or download this information as a pdf file

Meeting Dates

At the April 3, 2001 joint meeting, the PIE and GMPI subcommittees decided to start meeting independently.  

bulletGroundwater Management Plan & Implementation (GMPI) Minutes for April-December 2001
bulletPublic Involvement & Education (PIE) Minutes for April-December 2001 below:
April 17, 2001 May 22, 2001 August 14, 2001 October 2, 2001
May 1, 2001 July 17, 2001 September 5, 2001

(Follow these links to view past joint subcommittee minutes for the year 2001, 2000, and 1999.)

horizontal rule

 

Back to Top

horizontal rule

October 2, 2001

GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT PLAN & IMPLEMENTATION SUBCOMMITTEE

and

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittees of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

Chairs: Liz Langer and Dick Berndt

NOTICE OF JOINT MEETING

OCTOBER 2, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CONFERENCE ROOM

(at the Sheriff’s Department)

After the slide program presentation, the two subcommittees will separate to hold their own sessions.

Public Involvement/Education Subcommittee

Agenda

1.                  Review/Approve Minutes from the August 14, 2001 and September 5, 2001 Meetings

2.                  Members Reports

3.                  Public Service Announcements Update (Schwab)

4.                  Update on the Redo of Old Slide Show by George Kraft (Mechenich)

5.                  Update on Slide Show Requests for Viewing (Schmidt)

6.                  Update on Curriculum for Tapes Requested by Foundation (Kilkenny-Tittle)

7.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Dates/Agenda Items

8.                  Adjourn

 

Minutes will be added soon.

Web Update #10

Advertising the Website

·        Magnets were designed and 1000 ordered on 9/17/01 and will arrive next week.

·        Pencils were ordered (1000) on 9/20/01 and will arrive next week.

·        Additional bookmarks were made (1500) on 9/24/01.

·        Website was registered with about 9 search engines.

·        600 Bookmarks sent to DNR to be included in the Groundwater Study Guide Packets.

·        Newsletter Article announcing the website appeared in the EE News Fall 2001 newsletter.

·        Letters announcing the website have been drafted and are ready for photocopying.

o       Mailing Labels are ready for Portage County municipalities, PC public and private schools, and PC clubs & organizations; and Wisconsin offices for the Dept. of Health, RC&D, and UWEX.

o       Waiting for labels for DNR offices in WI, school district offices in WI, and county offices in WI.

o       These letters should be sent within the next two weeks.

·        Emails announcing the website will be sent out to groundwater-related websites over the next few weeks.

·        PSA:  Sharon Schwab wrote the PSA.  Ray and I need to record the PSA and distribute the tapes to radio stations.

·        Newspaper article is written and needs to be submitted to local newspapers.

·        Conference Presentations: 

o       Oct. 11th-15th-North American Assoc. for Environmental Education National Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas

o       Oct. 19th-21st-Midwest Regional Environmental Education Conference in Kenosha, Wisconsin

o       Nov. 14th-16th-Groundwater Foundation Fall Conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Primary Web Pages that Need to be Completed

Understanding Groundwater (completed by end of December)

·        Pesticide section (partially done)

·        Quantity section

·        Land Use page (almost finished)

·        Radon page (requirement for WI Health Dept. grant)

Teaching and Learning (completed by Spring 2002, I hope)

·        On-line groundwater-related lessons (PLT, WILD, and WET denied us copyright permission to place lessons on the Internet.  I need to locate other activities and seek copyright permissions.  This will take some time.)

Secondary Web Pages to be Completed

Taking Action- Additional pages for each category  (e.g. general well info)

Kid’s Stuff- Add the pages that I have received permission to reproduce.

Back to Top

horizontal rule

September 5, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

Dick Berndt, Chairman

MEETING NOTICE

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M.

COURTHOUSE ANNEX , CONFERENCE ROOM 5

 

AGENDA

1.                  Minutes

2.                  Public Service Announcements, Kraft’s Tape

3.                  Power Point Script Preview (Schmidt)

4.                  Request from Local Governments and other Organizations for Slideshow

Presentation (Schmidt)

5.                  Groundwater Guardian Program Update (Mechenich)

6.                  Members Reports

7.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Date/Agenda Items

8.                  Adjourn

 

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT & EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

 September 5, 2001

 

Present: Dick Berndt, Sharon Schwab, Ray Schmidt, Chris Mechenich, and Denise Kilkenny-Tittle

Minutes of the August 14, 2001 meeting were not available.

Public service announcements for the old slide show will need to be redone.  Mechenich and Kilkenny-Tittle will make arrangements to have George Kraft video the first slide show.

Slide Show: Ray Schmidt updated the progress on the new slide show.  It will be completed by October 1, 2001.

The presentation of the new slide show will be given by Ray to the Town of Linwood in October 2001.

Groundwater Guardian: Mechenich provided an update on the Portage County Groundwater Guardian Chapter.  The first meeting of the advisory board will probably be held the last week in September.

Videos: Denise discussed the two tapes obtained by Stu Grimstad.  Denise will write a curriculum for presentation to the Portage County Community Foundation.

Next meeting will be on October 2, 2001. The Groundwater Management and Implementation Subcommittee will be asked to join the subcommittee on this date for joint meeting.

Back to Top

horizontal rule

August 14, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

Dick Berndt, Chairman

MEETING NOTICE

TUESDAY, AUGUST 14, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M.

COURTHOUSE ANNEX , CONFERENCE ROOM 5

 

AGENDA

1.                  Minutes

2.                  Public Service Announcements

3.                  Power Point Script Preview

4.                  Requests from Local Governments for Slide Show

5.                  Groundwater Guardian Update

6.                  Member Reports

7.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Date/Agenda Items

8.                  Adjourn

 
Meeting Minutes

No minutes were distributed.

Back to Top

horizontal rule

July 17, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

MEETING NOTICE

TUESDAY, July 17, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M 

COURTHOUSE ANNEX , CONFERENCE ROOM 5

 
AGENDA

1.                  Minutes

2.                  Getting information to the public.  How to be accomplished.

a.       How can we let people know about the website

b.      Have the groundwater education materials been placed in libraries? How do we let public know about them?

c.       Progress report of Power Point/slideshow program (Ray Schmidt).

d.      How do we get local newspapers to print our articles?

e.       Some radio stations will take short public interest announcements.  How can this be used?

3.                  Has letter to CAC members been mailed regarding the need to have each governmental unit view the program Ray is producing?

4.                  Report on research of chronology of groundwater activities in Portage County.

5.                  What is status of Portage County joining the Groundwater Guardian Association?

6.                  Report on area foundation funding of PBS Wisconsin groundwater tapes.

7.                  Prior information was received from the Marshfield Guardian Group regarding grade school education programs.

8.                  Members reports.

9.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Date/Agenda Items.

  1. Adjourn.

Minutes:  Public Involvement and Education Subcommittee Meeting, July 17, 2001

Present:  Dick Berndt, Chris Mechenich, Chris Pehoski, Ray Schmidt

Approved:  minutes of May 22, 2001 meeting.  Unanimous consent

Discussion proceeded regarding the following:

bullet

We want to do some radio PSA’s advertising the Groundwater website.  Ray will contact Sharon Schwab to see if she will do them.  We want 30 second and 1 minute spots.  Dick will check with Bill Ebert on doing some TV spots (University and Public TV).

Sharon Schwab will be asked to do PSA’s regarding the materials available in the libraries too.  We’d like to use WIZD, WIFC, WSPT, WYTE, and public radio stations.
  

bullet

Public Access TV will videotape for free.  Can we get George to do the Stewardship for the Future slideshow and videotape it at CATV?  Chris M. will check with him.  University telecommunications charges for its services.

Chris P. will contact Rich Filtz to watch for Website information on CATV.

bullet

Library materials will be in the libraries this week.
  

bullet

Powerpoint presentation script should be ready by August 1.  Ray will ask Denise to help choose pictures to go with the script.  She’ll be back from vacation around August 1.
  

bullet

Letter to CAC representatives asking them to approach their Town and Village Boards to set a date and time for the slide show didn’t get mailed earlier in the summer.  It will go out Monday when Jane returns from vacation.
  

bullet

Dick is working on the chronology of groundwater issues and actions in Portage County.
  

bullet

Groundwater Guardian-discussed membership on advisory board.  Ray suggested Paula Rose for the educator, and will contact her.  Discussed possible elected officials-Jeanne Dodge-Chris M. will contact her.  The application should by submitted by August 1.  Ray will check with Chuck to see if he can to the Groundwater Guardian national conference in Pittsburgh in November with Chris M. and Denise.
 

bullet

We will be getting $400.00 from the Portage County Community Foundation, to purchase “Water Rich-Water Poor” videos for schools, if Portage County will provide matching funds.  Chris M. and Denise will have curriculum materials to go along with the videos.  Chris M. brought curriculum materials for Groundwater Guardian programs developed by the teachers group with a lesson plan appropriate for each grade.  The presentations will take 45-60 minutes.  We need a dozen trained volunteers to take the programs out to the classrooms.  We will provide each volunteer with a box of materials.

Member Reports:  We should get the minutes out to the Subcommittee members who are not at the meetings so they can keep current.  Chris P. has an idea for a CAC alternate member from Stockton and will make contact to see if the person is interested.

Next Meeting:  August 14, 2001, 4:30 PM

Back to Top

horizontal rule

May 22, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

MAY 22, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M.

COURTHOUSE ANNEX , CONFERENCE ROOM 5

Agenda

1.      Minutes

  1. Adoption of General Plan of Attack
  2. Discussion on the Steps of the Program
    1. Information that we have
    2. What do we want the Public to know
    3. How do we get the information to the Public
    4. How do we get Public feedback
  1. Procedure to Get Back to Community Groups and Town Boards
  2. Chronology of County Groundwater Problems
  3. Schedule for Publication of Articles
  4. Discussion of Funding Options
  5. Report on Updated Slide Show
  6. Members Reports
  7. Other Business/Future Meeting Date/Agenda Items
  8. Adjourn

Minutes: Public Involvement and Education Subcommittee Meeting, May 22, 2001

Present: Dick Berndt, Chris Mechenich, Denise Kilkenny-Tittle, Ray Schmidt

Approved: minutes of May 1, 2001 meeting.  Unanimous consent.

Discussion proceeded regarding the following:

bulletNeed to clarify subcommittee membership.  Some members may not be getting meeting notices. 
bulletWe agreed on a general plan of attack.  How do we get info to the public?  Website, library materials, Powerpoint or Slideshow presentation, newspapers.
bulletNew PowerPoint: Ray is working on outline for the Powerpoint/Slideshow.  Should be ready in a few weeks. 

Denise asked who would pay for the slideshow.  Ray said Planning and Zoning.  She feels we need to document all of our expenses for the Subcommittee.  

·         Groundwater History: Dick will go to the Groundwater Center to begin research for the chronology of groundwater programs in Portage County.  Chronology should be completed by September 1.

bulletDiscussed a letter to CAC members.  Letter to be finalized and mailed by the end of May.  In municipalities without a CAC member, or in those where the CAC rep does not respond, Ray will follow up with a phone call to the Village President, Town Chair or Mayor.
bulletFunding options for Groundwater Guardian application were reviewed.  Denise will send in a scholarship application.  Groundwater Guardian should be separate from CAC, PIE, GWMPI, etc. to avoid controversy.  Education will be the sole focus of Groundwater guardian.  Planning and Zoning will pay the membership fee. 
bulletWebsite: Planning and Zoning will do duplication (200 copies) of the Website Publication being developed by Denise.  Groundwater Center will print 1000 bookmarks.  Denise will write a Community Foundation grant for web address pencils and refrigerator magnets by June 1.
bulletGroundwater Education in Schools: Kathy Lotzer (Marshfield Groundwater Guardian) gave Denise the rotation schedule and curriculum (lesson) list.  Chris has Project WET materials.  We need to develop materials and curriculum that anyone can use.  Chris and Denise will do this, partly based on Marshfield Groundwater Guardian.  Chris and Denise will also determine how we can get this program into the local schools.  We will use the Water Rich – Water Poor video as part of this curriculum.
bulletRay will add groundwater questions to the Smart Growth survey to be mailed to each household in the County in July.
bulletNewspaper Article:  We can use the preface of the “Portage County Groundwater: Stewardship for the Future” publication as an op-ed piece.

GMPI subcommittee will meet 6/19. 

Next Meeting:  On hold until after July 4th to allow us time to do the work involved.

Respectfully submitted by Ray Schmidt.

Back to Top

horizontal rule

May 1, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee

Richard Berndt, Chairman

TUESDAY, MAY 1, 2001 AT 4:30 P.M.

COURTHOUSE ANNEX , CONFERENCE ROOM 1

 

Agenda

1.         Approval of April 17, 2001 Meeting Minutes

2.                  We have a four prong program

a.                   What information do we have?

b.                  What needs to be told to the public?

c.                   How do we get the information to the public?

d.                  How do we get feedback?

3.         How do we get back to community groups and town boards to finalize these issues

4.         How do we get on municipal board programs?  What do we tell them?

5.         Chronology of Portage County groundwater problems.  Who will develop/timeframe?

6.         Ray’s reprint on the new slideshow regarding goals and strategies.

7.         Members Reports

8.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Date/Agenda Items

9.         Adjourn

Minutes: Public Involvement and Education Subcommittee Meeting, May 1, 2001

 

Present: Dick Berndt, Chris Mechenich, Denise Kilkenny-Tittle, Bill Ebert, Ray Schmidt

Approved: minutes of April 17, 2001 meeting.  Ebert/Schmidt, unanimous.

Discussion proceeded freely regarding the following:

Addressed Strategy (CAC Draft 3/15/2001) #9, we have website up and running, how do we let the public know?  Progress on website tracking system? Will be zeroed out for public opening 7/15/01 because most “hits” now are Denise.

Bibliography/publications should be in Libraries by end of May.

New slide show re: Goals and Strategies (Where do we want to go, how do we get there?) Ray is working on outline for script.  Hilliker production help may be sought.  Denise has photos we can use.  Should be ready for public meetings by September.  Meetings with municipal governing boards should be done over the summer.  CAC members should push to have public at these meetings. 

Denise has website lessons ready for local teachers but does not have permissions back yet.  She thinks we should determine which grades to target and further develop age-specific lessons.  Denise and Chris will develop these. 

Groundwater models are in all Portage County schools.  Money to purchase videos entitled “Water Rich – Water Poor” for distribution to schools will come from Portage County Foundation.   Chris wrote curriculum material to go with the video.  It’s on the Central Wisconsin Groundwater Center (CWGC) website.

We can use curriculum materials from Project WET, WILD, Learning Tree in classrooms even if we cannot get permission to put on the groundwater website.  Chris and Denise can take to schools. 

Do radio stations have public info (free) spots available anymore?  Nobody thought so. Dick will contact local radio stations to see if they have spots available.  Bill said most people get their information from local newspapers. 

Ray will get a written schedule from editors for tentative publication dates for our articles, especially the Strategies one. 

Nitrate in drinking water may cause increased rates of bladder cancer. 

Do we reuse the first slide show?  Yes, many haven’t seen it yet.  We should develop a specific written introduction piece regarding the slide show(s) content.  Discuss on next agenda.  Chris will develop and get to Ray for next meeting.  We should find out how many CAC members attend their municipal board meetings. 

We need a written chronology of Portage County groundwater problems and management actions.  Maryann Kreuger’s collection of articles and publications is archived at the CWGC.  It could be used as a base. 

Dick wants a report (by Town) to compare trends.  Chris could get stats, but they may not be useful.  We need a uniform way to interpret.  When people sample voluntarily there is no valid cross section of wells.  Chris is on GRAC to review Joint Solicitation grant proposals.

Member Reports:  Denise – newspaper articles are too time intensive for her to put on website.  PIE will need to have designated people to continue this update.  Only articles specific to groundwater should go on the website.  Portage County Gazette has all of its past articles on its website. 

Dick – We need to talk about funding for Denise to do presentation at Groundwater Foundation Fall Festival and to buy bookmarks.  If we are a Groundwater Guardian Community we can apply for scholarships.  Chris will fill out Groundwater Guardian application and we will discuss at a future meeting.  Suggestions were made for who should be on the Groundwater Guardian team from the following categories: citizen, business and agriculture, education, government.

Chris – There is a statewide Groundwater Guardian meeting in Marshfield on May 16 where we could get additional info.  Ray, Chris, Dick, and Denise will attend.

Next Meeting:  May 22, 2001, 4:30-6:00 PM.  Ray will get a room.

Back to Top

horizontal rule

April 17, 2001

PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT/EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE

Subcommittee of the Groundwater Citizens Advisory Committee 

April 17, 2001 at 4:30 p.m.

Courthouse Annex, Conference Room 5

 
Agenda

1.         Call to Order

2.         Introduction of Members

3.                  Discussion on Reorganization of Subcommittee

A.                 Compile List of Issues to Increase Public Awareness

B.                 Determine Best Approach to These Issues

C.                 Distribution of Workload 

4.         Members Reports

5.                  Other Business/Future Meeting Dates/Agenda Items

6.                  Adjourn

 

Minutes: Public Involvement and Education Subcommittee Meeting, April 17, 2001

Present: Dick Berndt, Sharon Schwab, Bill Ebert, Ray Schmidt

Discussion proceeded freely regarding the following:

Need to get information to the public and get them involved,

Most effective methods of public information,

Need to summarize which community groups and Town Boards have hosted “Portage County Groundwater – Stewardship for the Future” slide presentations, and approach the ones which have not to request time on their meeting agendas.  Do followup presentations for those groups that have hosted presentations already, presenting Goals and Strategies. 

What about placemats?  We would need some funds.

Ray will ask editors of local papers to re-run groundwater articles from last fall.  Ray will get Sharon’s UST article from Denise.

Need to contact municipal boards to request time on their meeting agendas.  Check whether municipal boards get CAC minutes.  Need condensed writeups of CAC meetings (shorter than minutes) for CAC reps to share with their respective municipalities.

What about contacts with WPVGA?  Bill has not heard anything from them since last fall. 

Village of Plover will need to do all the leg work on alternative crops in well recharge areas.  Local farmers who attended Village of Plover Groundwater Committee meeting last week were unwilling to take actions or risks to plant alternative crops.  Bill suggested a door-to-door survey in the Village of Plover to get residents’ input regarding whether they care about reducing nitrate entering groundwater in the recharge area, whether they are satisfied with paying the costs of nitrate treatment or would rather help fund prevention efforts.  Bill will followup with Village Board and Village staff to assess interest in pursuing alternative crops and markets.

Maybe we should compile a history of groundwater problems and protection efforts since the 1970’s, and get newspapers to run a series of articles on this history.  It should go on the website.

We should develop another slide show with our Goals and Strategies (where we want to go and how we want to get there).  How about PowerPoint presentation?  Slides are simpler and more easily modified.  Ray will develop a concept outline for this slide show by next meeting, and get it to Dick for review prior to the meeting.  Ray does not feel comfortable developing a script and choosing materials for slides.  Perhaps Extension folks can assist with this. 

Need to get feedback from (not just present information to) community groups.  Maybe we should tailor some presentations for specific groups on certain issues and the strategies to address those issues.  Ray will do sample letters to community groups and municipal boards for next meeting. 

Should we offer a list of the educational materials we have developed to the community groups in addition to or instead of a slide presentation (at the groups’ option)? 

Dick will contact Scott Schultz of the Community Foundation (CF) to discuss funding of some outreach materials, such as videos proposed by Stu.  What types (government, non-profit, educational) can receive funds from CF?

Newspapers should be using our logo.  We should be putting it on all correspondence including meeting notices and minutes. 

Next Meeting: May 1, 2001, 4:30 – 6:00 PM

Back to Top

horizontal rule

cac minutes  |  cas minutes  |  gmpi minutes  |  joint minutes
agencies  |  laws & regulations  |  PCGCAC  |  groundwater management plan