Kewaunee County Update, Jun 29, 2015

There’s a lot is going on in our county, Ground and Surface Water is always at the top of the list, Kewaunee Nuclear Plant, Highway and Solid Waste Department, Director Appointments, Financial Reporting, Search for new District 8 Supervisor, etc.   

Ground & Surface Water Reporting, Biased Reporting or Simple Mistake? - You decide
I, for one, am totally fed up, frustrated, and discouraged with the only source of information we have for news in our county.  That source is the Green Bay Press Gazette.

 

On one hand, I commend Karen Ebert Yancey (local reporter for Gannett) for attending many of the Kewaunee County Committee meetings and the Kewaunee County Board meetings and trying to report in a “fair and balanced” way.  On the other hand, I condemn reporters like Adam Rodewald, Green Bay Press Gazettes’ “Watchdog Reporter” who consistently writes misleading articles about our ground and surface water.  Is this by design, or is it simply that he does not fact-check his data?  Either way, his reporting seems to be somewhat flawed as it is all one-sided and not factual.

For example, in an article published on February 8, 2015, he wrote; “Nearly one-third of private drinking wells in Kewaunee County are contaminated with high levels of bacteria, according to a petition sent by local conservationists to the Environmental Protection Agency in October,” then on April 9, 2015, he wrote, “As many as 50 percent of private wells in the town of Lincoln and 44 percent of wells in neighboring Red River are contaminated, according to research compiled by the environmental groups,” then on June 10, 2015, he wrote, “The report focuses on 16 large dairy and beef farms, referred to as concentrated animal feeding operations, in Kewaunee County, where some studies suggest one-third of private drinking wells are contaminated with nitrates, E. coli and other harmful bacteria. These statistics are flat out false!  Our county has 4,600 wells which, according to Mr. Rodewald 30% of wells being polluted would mean that we have 1,380 of our county’s wells contaminated.  

Here are the real numbers on well testing in Kewaunee County.  Through the volunteer well testing program managed by the Kewaunee County Land and Soil Conservation office, for the period 2004 through 2014 (10 years), there were a total of 556 individual wells tested in the county.  Of those, 165, or 29.7% were found to be contaminated.  Keep in mind, there are many factors that affect these numbers to include, the location of testing (most wells tested have been in Lincoln, Red River, and Casco Townships where the majority of the Karst features exist), recharge events, time of year, etc.

Taking another look at more current data, for the period Jan 1, 2013 through Dec 31, 2014 there were 185 individual wells tested through the volunteer well testing program managed by the Kewaunee County Land and Soil Conservation office.  Of those 185 wells tested, 37, or 20% of those wells tested were unsafe due to being bacteria positive and/or having nitrates greater than 10 parts per million.  These numbers 165 wells contaminated over 10 years of testing or 37 wells contaminated over two years are a bit different than the 1,380 wells being contaminated as Reporter Rodewald suggests.

If there is any cover for Mr. Rodewald’s incorrect reporting, it might just be he is consistently being fed the wrong data from some of the folks who align themselves with Kewaunee Cares, Midwest Environmental Advocates and other environmental groups. 

So, what are the results of this biased, untrue reporting?  The general public in our state who read these articles conclude Kewaunee County is not a safe place to visit or live in.  Case in point, last week I received an email from a frustrated realtor who lost two real estate sales in the Casco area as a direct result of someone reading these articles in the press.  The continued misleading reporting by the Press Gazette and others is hurting our county, don’t kid yourself.  By the way, Mr. Rodewald’s articles are often times picked up by other papers and the misinformation is spread throughout the state and country.

I agree, our goal should strive to not have one well in the county that is contaminated.  Perhaps that goal is unattainable as there are other ways of contaminating a well other than manure.  We have a huge challenge in our county with an estimated 550 million gallons of liquid manure generated on an annual basis.  However, affordable manure processing technologies are available today that will allow our farmers to process and remove up to 70% of the water from that manure and to convert excess nutrients.  In discussions I have had directly with six of the largest dairy operators in our county, I can tell you they are on top of this.  They do not want to pollute and will, over the following months, begin investing millions of dollars in the digestive, ultra filtration and reverse osmosis systems that will meet the objective of removing 70% of the liquid from the manure and turning that water back to potable water that can be reused. 

Last December I presented a plan to the board that could essentially reduce the 550 million gallons of liquid manure to about 200 million gallons.  The plan consisted of three phases with Phase 1 goal was processing manure for 20,000 cows by year-end 2017 (this goal looks to be attainable).  Phase II goal was to have all farms with 200 cows or more processing their manure by year 2020.  And Phase III, time to be determined, would take excess nutrients, dry, pelletize, bag and sell out of the county.

Collectively our board, our Land Conservation office and the dairymen are working with our Legislators, the Governor’s office, DNR, DATCP, NRCS to find a source of low-cost loan money to drive this project through its various phases.  The initial investments will be made by the larger farmers as their scale allows them to invest in this kind of technology.  Large farms are here to stay, and these business men and women know that to continue to grow this type of investment is an absolute necessity.

As long as I am on the County Board, I will work to find solutions to our ground and surface water.  The solution is not to retard the growth of our vibrant dairy industry (that employs 1 out of every 5 residents) and to inhibit any chance we have for growth in tourism, but rather, find a solution that answers contamination issues whilst allowing the dairy industry to grow. 

At the end of my report, I have taken the liberty of including a rebuttal to the SRAP report which was written by Robert B. Levine, Ph.D. and Christopher D. Maloney.

Kewaunee Nuclear Plant – latest info
At this moment in time, it appears Carlton Township is accepting the latest appraisal of the Kewaunee Nuclear plant to be in the $455 million range with some $211 million of personal property and the balance of $244 million being real estate value.  To many, the $455 million seems to be a very high appraisal given a year ago (after the plant shut down) the Carlton Board of Review agreed to a $10 million valuation.  

Dominion asserts this plant has zero value other than the real estate property value.  Keep in mind, this plant is not producing any revenue and Dominion still has to decommission the plant before the property could be sold.  When Dominion acquired that plant, it was a profitable operating nuclear plant, but the purchase price was less than $200 million.

So what’s next?  On Jun 29^th, the Carlton Board of Review (BOR) will have a hearing, and barring any adjustment, the $455 million value would be established.  Dominion has stated they will immediately appeal this value in court. 

So if Carlton BOR does accept the appraisal of $455 million, there will be a reapportionment of taxes across the county.  Good news, is that all residents would realize a real estate tax decrease. In court it could take a year or two to settle. 

In the 2016 tax year, assuming a $455 million value were placed on the Dominion property, Carlton Township would represent nearly 30% of the entire value of the county.  Remember, the total value of the county last year was a little over $1.4 billion and with the $455 million added to that, the total value would be close to $1.9 billion. Tax rates would once more be reapportioned.  Let's assume Dominion wins the argument of a lower value. The county would have to refund the tax overpayment by collecting money through taxes.

A couple of other major things to consider, if the $455 million appraisal stands, the Kewaunee School District will lose state aid of nearly $250,000, NWTC will stand to lose about $800,000 in state funding, and Kewaunee, your county, will be lose the entire $713,000 of utility tax money.  In as much as we have tax levy limits, the county would somehow have to find savings of $713,000 as an offset.  

Last year, the County along with Carlton had tentatively agreed to a deal with Dominion whereby plant would have a fixed value of $10 million in plant and land valuation. The agreement combined with State utility tax revenue, Dominion contributions and taxes would have assured the County and Carlton nearly $10 million for the next ten years.  Carlton Township elected to walk away from that deal. 

We have been communicating with our legislators concerning this entire process.  It seems to us, it is a bit unrealistic for the state to place the burden of determining the plant value on a county or a township.  Generally speaking, it is safe to assume that most counties or townships don’t have experience /expertise in a matter of this magnitude.  Keep in mind, most, if not all major decisions in nuclear operations lie at the federal and state level.  During all the years of operation of this plant, the state was responsible for collecting the utility taxes and they distributed them to the county and township.  Legislation needs to be adopted that addresses this issue for the future.

Kewaunee County Highway Department & Solid Waste
I am very happy to report that the Kewaunee County Highway Department have turned the corner and posted a 2014 performance that leaves them with a surplus of $153,000.  For the past five years preceding 2014, this department had lost $2.5 million cumulatively.  So, why the better performance?  First, we have a new Commissioner, Todd Every, who has managed the department.  Secondly, we have a good team of employees who have continued to innovate and adjust to the changes as they were implemented.  And last, but not least, we have an engaged Highway Committee that has painstakingly spent the time to guide that department towards break even, which is the goal!  If you get a chance, pass on the kudos to those folks.  Your Highway and Solid Waste Committee is headed up by Chairman Larry Kirchman and members include; Bruce Heidmann, Gary Paape, John Mastilar, and Tom Romdenne.

As reported earlier, the decision has been made to not go forward with any expansion of our landfill.  Now the committee has to deal with what to do with the landfill site.  They have a number of options to consider and are in the process of doing that at this time. 

New Members of Kewaunee County Management Team
Our new County Administrator, Scott Feldt, has gone through his 90 day review with flying colors and will continue forward leading the administration of the county.  I want to thank the Administrator for having the board involved in the selection and interview process of the new management positions we’ve added, and I assume this practice will be continued.

We have a new County Veterans Service Officer in the name of Jane Babcock who came to us with years of experience from Manitowoc County.  Dave Meyer has taken on the Department Head position at Promotion and Recreation, and Paul Kunesh was added earlier as Kewaunee County Director of Finance.  This position was sorely needed as we have not, in the past, received any kind of financial reporting that showed where we were financially by department at any time in the year.  Now Paul is hammering out those kinds of reports for us that can help us manage our county business.

District 8 Supervisor Position Open
Gordy Reckelberg, who has served on the Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors for the past five years, has resigned due to health considerations.  That means we have a vacancy in that District.  In order to be considered for the vacancy, a citizen must reside in County Supervisory District 8 located in the townships of Luxemburg (Ward 3) and Montpelier (Ward 3). A District map is available on the Kewaunee County website.

I want to, on behalf of the entire board, thank Gordy for all the years of service, both with the Highway Department, as an employee, and for his five years on the county board.

Response to the Socially Responsible Agricultural Project Report on Dairies in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin

By: Robert B. Levine, Ph.D. and Christopher D. Maloney | Digested Organics, LLC

As a manure management technology provider that works with both CAFOs and smaller farms in Wisconsin on a daily basis, we believe it is important to provide an independent response to the recently published SRAP report “The Rap Sheets: Industrial Dairies in Kewaunee County, Wisconsin “The Regulatory Failure of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: A Threat to Public Health and the Environment.” to:

·         Correct some critical errors that continue to be repeated in the media

·         Refute the notion that these CAFO’s are willfully and negligently mismanaging their manure operations and

·         To focus on how appropriate on-farm manure management technologies can help mitigate the environmental impacts of current manure management practices. 

We agree that groundwater contamination is a serious issue in Kewaunee County, especially considering the geological Karst structure throughout the region.[1]  It is not factual, however, to state that “As of June 2013, 30.85 percent of tested drinking water wells county-wide contained nitrates and/or dangerous E. coli bacteria at levels deemed unsafe for human consumption by state and federal authorities”(pg. 7).  We believe the authors are referencing a Kewaunee County Land & Water Conservation Department (LWCD) report to the County Board that summarized data on 483 well samples analyzed between August 2004 and June 2013.[2] 

This was a voluntary testing program, whose stated goal is "to introduce private rural well owners to the importance of regular, periodic well testing" and does not represent a random sample of the estimated 4,600 wells in Kewaunee.  If we consider these to be the most up to date data, then it is accurate to say that 149 well samples, or 3.2% of all wells in the county and 30.8% of all samples tested, have been found at one point in the last 10 years to contain unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria and/or an elevated concentration of nitrate.

The severity of the issue notwithstanding, the report is wrong to focus exclusively on CAFOs as the source of the problem. Kewaunee has roughly 42,000 cows plus young-stock generating 550 million gallons of manure each year. And while the CAFO’s maintain a large percentage of the herd, there are still 148 non-CAFO dairies in the county. Certain groups would have us believe that CAFO’s are not only the problem, but that they are endangering local communities with negligence and intent.

We have been working closely with dairymen across the county and the State and can tell you that nothing could be further from the truth. CAFO’s we talk with are actively investigating and/or pursuing on-farm manure treatment technologies that can rationally and cost competitively address the issue. We have yet to meet even one that doesn’t want to be a responsible environmental steward of the land and doesn’t take the issue of groundwater contamination seriously.

The authors suggest the best path forward is to get rid of CAFOs or at least “slow the rapid expansion and concentration of CAFOs in Wisconsin.”  This continues to be the now tired mantra of the Kewaunee CARES group and their affiliates and continues to ignore the fact that their stated goal would eliminate hundreds of jobs across this State’s largest industry as well as millions of dollars of rental income for local land owners.  We need more efficient dairy farms, not less, to meet the growing demand for food and Kewaunee’s CAFOs are some of our nation’s most productive.  We believe, as do most CAFOs, that growth in the dairy industry should not come at the expense of the environment. However it is well understood that because of the unique Karst geography in this region and the seasonal pattern of heavy rainfalls, any sized dairy following even today’s best management practices would still likely at some point contribute to groundwater contamination. 

Of course, the DNR could further tighten regulations on spreading, increase the number of inspections, add more fines and penalties for spills, etc., but all this would still barely move the dial on the groundwater issue. We believe it is time to have a more rational discussion on how we can help the dairy industry’s largest producers not only stay in business but grow, enabling even more jobs and more tax revenue for hurting counties like Kewaunee. It is time to get serious about adopting onsite manure treatment technologies that can start to address the challenge at its source—the farm. 

Digested Organics is one of several technology companies working to provide manure management solutions to the dairy industry in Wisconsin. Backed by industry leading performance guarantees, our fully integrated solution recovers energy from manure, producing on-farm heat and power while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reclaims clean, reusable water free of nitrates and bacteria.  Our Nutrient Capture and Water Reclamation (NCWR™) system is suitable for the largest of CAFO’s down to the smaller dairies and can turn 1,000 gallons of manure or digestate into 700 gallons of clean water and 300 gallons of concentrated liquid fertilizer.  A farmer using the NCWR™ system can reuse the water in his barn for flushing or washing, drinking water for the animals or it can be discharged into a nearby waterway with the appropriate DNR permit.  This equates to a 70% reduction in the number of manure truck trips on County roads.

The concentrated fertilizer produced in our process undergoes a significant reduction in pathogens or 100% of the pathogens can be removed by installing a final pasteurization process. It can then be applied at the right time throughout the growing season and at lower doses than raw manure when the plant needs it most - increasing plant uptake, reducing runoff and groundwater contamination, and improving yields.  In sensitive areas, farmers can also dry the concentrated fertilizer, creating an exportable solid product worth up to $115/ton. 

Our manure treatment technology is fully automated and cost competitive with any other system available today. It represents a solid investment for the future and for farmers looking to reduce their operating costs, gain efficiencies in their business, and reduce the environmental impact of their manure management operation.

Finally, we believe that Kewaunee, which has experienced more growth in their dairy industry than any other county in the State since 1983, has an opportunity to focus its collective energies around this important issue to help solve the actual problem, promote sustainable growth, and show strong leadership in the State. County Chairman Heuer and members of the board have already taken the first step by laying out a pro-business vision to solve the problem. We encourage all the stakeholders in Kewaunee County, including the authors of this SRAP report, to stop looking for someone to blame and force out of business and start working inclusively with County leadership, dairymen and others in the State trying to proactively solve this issue. It won’t happen overnight but it is possible to start today.

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[1] http://wi.water.usgs.gov/gwcomp/find/kewaunee/susceptibility.html

[2] http://www.co.kewaunee.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=16022&locid=192

Kewaunee County Financial Update - April 30, 2015

Well, our county is now reaping the reward for the past years of poor financial controls.  We have been notified by Moody’s that Kewaunee County’s financial rating has been downgraded from A1 to A2 with a negative outlook. This rating was rendered based upon the county’s 2013 audited financial statements.  The report focuses on the low cash and fund balances in a number of funds and the need for the General Fund to support those funds.

What does this mean to the county?  Primarily, it means if we were required to borrow money now, it would be at a higher interest.  Barring any unforeseen event, we do not see any reason we’d have to borrow any money for any projects in the foreseeable future.

For those of you who have been following my writings about our county, this probably does not surprise you as prior to the county board that was put in place in 2014, there was little or no action taken to hold management accountable. 

I have been on the board for the past three years and the chairman for the past year.  When I first was first elected to the board three years ago, I immediately began to attend the various committee meetings to include; Highway/Solid Waste, Finance, Human Services, etc.  In each of those departments it was quite apparent there were few financial controls and they were not operating within their budgets.  Worse yet, there was very little, if anything being done to change their direction.

There were a number of concerns that were recognized that required immediate attention.  The major concerns are as follows:

·         Substantial losses generated by Kewaunee County’s Highway Department and Landfill operations.

·         Significant losses in the Human Services department.

·         The potential loss of revenue due to the closure of the Kewaunee Power Station.

·         Ever increasing costs for county employee health insurance.

·         Salary increases for county employees that had averaged 3% a year for some 10 years in a row.

·         The need to make interest and principle payments on projects carried out over the past decade that included the new Public Health building, remodeling/updating the County Courthouse, upgrades and expansions at the County Fairgrounds, etc.

·         The need to update some county systems including telephone, scanners, etc.

·         The need to replace some aging county vehicles that may soon require expensive maintenance.

·         Limitations within the county’s financial reporting system resulting in delays or insufficient information to make good financial decisions. 

·         Increasingly complex financial reporting as required by State and Federal agencies.

·         Steadily increasing tax burdens on the residents of Kewaunee County.

In the spring of 2014 we installed a new board, new committee chairs and we assigned board members to the various committees based upon their skills and experience versus how many years they had served on the board.  Obviously the Finance and Public Property Committee was a major focus as that is where the spending direction is set for the county.  The Finance and Public Property Committee now includes the following supervisors; Virginia Haske, John Mastilar, Tom Romdenne, Kenneth Tebon, with the Chairman being Lee Luft.  That committee has done an exemplary job, in reigning in the spending and setting new direction for the county.

I requested Mr. Luft to provide me an overview of some of the steps that have been taken or are being implemented that will put our county back on track.  The ultimate goal of course is to reestablish the solvency of our general fund, but additionally, continued streamlining the county organization and trim any expenses we can without cutting services to the county residents.

Through April, 2015, the Kewaunee County Board and the Kewaunee County Finance Committee have worked in concert to address the above concerns by:

• Hiring new department heads for both the Highway and Human Services departments with a mandate to bring costs in line with revenues.  New department heads, Todd Every (Highway) and Greg Thousand (Human Services) are in place and are committed to balancing their budgets. 
•  Finance Committee members worked with Chairman Heuer and County Counsel, Jeff Wisnicky to formulate an agreement with Dominion to maintain the previous levels of revenue for the  County after the decommisioning of the Kewaunee Power Station.  This process is on-going.
• The Finance Committee met with county employees representing all departments to reach an understanding to require County employees to pay a greater share of their health care premiums and to pay higher co-payments to see specialists.  These efforts reduced the County’s health care costs by just over $200,000 in the first year.
• Made the difficult decision not to proceed with Phase III expansion at the landfill.  Remember this landfill was losing about $380K per year, and we need to make more decisions on the direction of that operation soon.
• Declined to add additional debt while continuing to pay down existing principle and interest.
• Found cost-effective options to replace the out-dated telephone systems and some of the aging auto/truck fleet used by County employees to carry out their required functions.
• Hired a new County Administrator, Scott Feldt, with excellent economic development and finance background.
• Hired a new, full time County Finance Director, Paul Kunesh (18 years of experience with Manitowoc County) to review the processes used in a number of departments with the goal of improving both the quality and timeliness of financial reporting.
• Reduced the county’s share of the tax burden for the first time in six years.

Clearly there is more to be done.  The county needs to restore additional funds to some of the accounts that the county can draw upon during difficult financial times or under emergency situations.  We will continue to aid all county departments such that they remain on budget.  Restrict additional capital spending and pay down debt.  All these steps will help the county return a more secure financial footing and regain our A1 credit rating in the year’s to come.     

Landfill Phase III Expansion – Mar 17 Decision by Kewaunee Co. Board

Last night, the Kewaunee County Board of Supervisors voted to not go forward with the Phase III expansion of the Kewaunee Co. Landfill. The vote was 17 Yes (to not proceed) 2 No (to send back to committee) and 1 abstention vote.  

This was a very difficult vote for the board, but given the historical financial losses the landfill has incurred, it was the right vote as the financial projections for any expansion revealed it was highly unlikely this landfill would ever operate at a break even.

This vote was taken by the full board only after the Solid Waste Committee had explored every possible option to expand that landfill and operate it without incurring more losses.  Fact is, a landfill in today’s environment can operated profitably only when receiving large volumes of refuse and when they have a minimal staff.  In Kewaunee County, we simply do not have the volume of refuse to make this landfill work. 

This vote does not mean the landfill is closed.  What this vote means is, now the Solid Waste Committee has to plan the future of how to handle the remaining space of approximately 130,000 cubic yards.  There are several options.  One would be to Increase the price on the commercial hauler rate which would have the effect of reducing the tonnage into the landfill thus saving the 130,000 cubic yards for Kewaunee residential use.  Concurrent with that decision, the staffing and operational hours would have to be adjusted.  This option could keep the landfill open for another 14 to 16 years if used just for the Kewaunee residential use.  Note--- a lot of unanswered questions need to be answered by the DNR on our options before this could be implemented.

Another option would be to fill the space as fast as possible and then close the site.  This option provides serious challenges as we’d have to lower our tipping fees significantly to increase our tonnage which is quite risky from an operational cost perspective.  Additionally, it does not address the concerns of the community with regard to having a place to have their refuse taken

A decision on the future operation of this landfill will be taken in the next couple of months.

Kewaunee County Update - March 14, 2015

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing---Aristotle

Kewaunee County Landfill – Phase III Expansion Decision

In 2012, the Highway / Solid Waste Committee had voted to not proceed to Phase III expansion for the landfill.  At that time there was about 260,000 cubic yards of space left in the landfill.  By not proceeding with Phase III, the current cell at the landfill would have been filled and the landfill closed in an undetermined number of years. Subsequently that decision was placed in front of the board in a resolution.  That resolution was tabled indefinitely as several of the board members, including me, thought the landfill could be saved.

Following the tabling of this resolution I worked with the committee and the Administrator to put together what we called an "Extend the Life" option for the landfill.  What this option was designed to do was; raise the tipping fee and thus reduce the amount of refuse coming into the landfill which, in turn would extend the life of the landfill by not filling the space as quickly.  By doing this, it allowed additional time to further evaluate the feasibility of going into the Phase III expansion.  The numbers seemed to support the idea that a Phase III expansion was something that was economically feasible and could be done.

However, in the analysis of the numbers that I put together in May of 2012, I was not given, nor was I aware that, in 2013 the landfill would spend $1.9M with the Highway Department to have work done at the site to cover certain cells and complete other work at the site.  That money was taken from the general fund.  Later, we did offset $700K of that expense as we received a payment from the DNR for money we had accrued earlier for closure.  I was also not aware there had been another $600,000 loan from the general fund. So, as you would conclude, my projections proved to be incorrect as the old adage in reporting, “garbage in garbage out” proved to be true.

So, here we are in 2015, faced once again with the decision as to whether or not the county should proceed with Phase III expansion for another 3 cells.  Those expansion cells would provide another 650,000 cubic yards of space and would take us out another 15 years or so.  The cost of this expansion would be about $5,500,000.  The question arose, what analysis could provide us the kind of financial reporting that would be a guide for the committee to make a decision.  After collaborating with the auditing firm, Schenk, that handles the county audits, it was determined the best way evaluate the landfill would be compile the data from the annual audits.  So, that is what I did, and here are the results:

Historical Tonnage Data

Year	Total Tonnage	Total Cover	% of Cover	Rev. Tonnage
2007	42,609	17,647	41.4%	24,962
2008	55,293	25,407	45.9%	29,886
2009	60,797	38,592	63.5%	22,205
2010	56,817	25,649	45.1%	31,168
2011	47,256	16,539	35.1%	30,717
2012	44,306	17,164	38.7%	27,142
2013	33,022	13,650	41.3%	19,372
2014	36,533	11,411	31.2%	25,122
Totals	376,633	166,059	44%	210,574

Cover is broken out separately as we do not pay the DNR the normal $13.50 per ton fee for cover material (Just so you understand, every day after the refuse is taken to the hill, the DNR requires that refuse to be covered with some type of material that does not allow any of the refuse to blow away that is called “cover”).  However, notice the number 44% total cover.  The “experts” tell us the cover should not exceed 20%.  That means we’ve used about 90,000 cubic yards for cover over the years that should have been used for refuse that could have been billable space.  That equates to a potential loss of $2.7M of revenue.  Depending on who you talk to, the reasons we’ve had so many tons of cover is because of design, or simply because we had too much space open on any given day.

So here are the audited results.  These numbers came directly out of the 2007 – 2013 Schenk Kewaunee County Audit reports. 

2007 - 2013 Audited Results

Year	2007	2008	2009		2010	2011	2012	2013
Profit Loss	($145,608)	($487,856)	($866,444)		$152,528	$72,122	17,380	($1,397,989)
2007 – 2013  7 Year Audited Results
Total 7 Yr. Loss  ($2,655,867)				Per Year Ave Loss   ($379,410)

PLUS

Add-In 2010 - $844,728      (one-time forgiveness of Debt)
Adjusted 7 Yr. Loss  ($3,604,987)	Per Year Ave Loss   ($514,998)

PLUS

$600,000    (Additional Loan unlikely to pay back)
Adjusted (after loan repayment)  ($4,204,987)	P/Year Ave Loss   ($600,712)

Some explanation… the $844,728 represented above was money that was owed by the landfill to the county general fund form a loan that had been given to the landfill in 1989.  In 2010, the County Board determined it was unlikely this money would ever be paid back and therefore forgave the debt.  The other $600,000 loan was once again extended from the general fund to cover other losses/expenses at the landfill. At this time the Landfill operations is indebted to the general fund for $1,800,000.

In reviewing these results, it was difficult for the Highway / Solid Waste Committee to come to any other conclusion than to not proceed with Phase III.  It is a logical, practical conclusion.  Couple the past results with projections going forward that are reflect future losses one can conclude Kewaunee County should not be in the landfill business.

There are a number of reasons this landfill has failed to operate within budget.  Yes, overall design and management are two of the contributors.  However, competition is a major contributor.  Commercial haulers can haul to BOW (Brown, Outagamie, and Winnebago) site for $34 per ton.  They can haul to Green Bay transfer site for $41.25 per ton our rate is $48 per ton (and keep in mind, we can’t make money at that rate).  Advanced Disposal has a site South of Green Bay and Waste Management has a site in the Whitelaw area.  The current BOW site has several years of life in it, but as soon as that is filled they have another 1,500 acre site near Hollandtown that will be opened.  So, the competition is not going to disappear, in fact, it may become more intense.  To efficiently operate a commercial landfill, volume of refuse is key.  We do not have enough garbage in our county to make the landfill operate profitably.  Our physical location is also somewhat detrimental as we have very little opportunity to both our East and North, and if one travels 15 miles west of the landfill, it is financially better to go to Brown County

The commercial haulers have been contributing upwards of 88% of the refuse that comes to the landfill.  In 2012 we began to try to assemble data on the landfill as to the origin of the refuse.  We already knew the origin of garbage when someone pulled in with their private pickup truck or car and trailer, however we didn’t know the origin of refuse for commercial haulers.  So, each time a commercial truck would come to the landfill, the driver was asked where the load came from.  From this data, and we were able to extrapolate what the various municipalities, cities and townships were, or had potential to haul to the landfill and the results were interesting.  Of the total 36,500 tons that came to the landfill in 2014 15,000 ton came from out of county, with 20,000 ton of Kewaunee County refuse brought in by commercial haulers and only 1,300 ton were from local residents/local users. 

IMPORTANT NOTE – If the board votes in favor of not proceeding with Phase III - that does not mean the landfill is closed.  We have several years of space remaining to fill in its current configuration.  The concern or goal going forward then is to somehow find a way that our residents can continue bringing their small private loads to the landfill site for processing.  That will be the next decision the Highway / Solid Waste Committee will be faced with, and, there are reasonable solutions that can meet that goal.  The immediate decision at hand though is to decide whether or not a Phase III development makes sense, and all the information we have at hand indicates Phase III should not be attempted.

New County Administrator

Our new County Administrator, Scott Feldt, has been on the job since February 18^th.  Scott’s previous work experience includes work in both the private and public sectors.  Prior to taking on his new responsibilities as Kewaunee County Administrator, Scott was the Deputy State Treasurer for the State of Wisconsin. Scott has experience in areas that mess well with our county’s needs as he his background includes administrative, human resources, financial, economic development and strategic planning.  Scott is from the Janesville area and we are extremely pleased that we were able to have Mr. Feldt take on this job for our county.  He has his work cut out and we are confident he will bring new approaches and ideas as to how to get things done in the county. 

County Finance Director

Last October, when we were putting together our county’s budget, we budgeted for a new position of Director of Finance for the County.  We have had problems in several of our operations in determining our financial status at any given time.  Often times we would not receive a factual report until 6 or 8 months after the end of the year results when our audit of any given department was completed.   Obviously, by then it is too late to take any corrective or preemptive steps to mitigate any losses.

We are very pleased to announce we have hired Paul Kunesh who will be joining the county on March 23^rd as our new Kewaunee County Director of Finance.  Paul has 18 years of experience with Manitowoc County and comes to us with a solid understanding of public finance.  Paul will report to the County Administrator Mr. Feldt.  You may recognize the name Kunesh, yes, he is a product of Kewaunee County, born and raised in Carlton Township, graduated from Kewaunee High School and went on to UWGB for a degree in finance.

 IMPORTANT!  - VOTE ON APRIL 7^th 

Kewaunee County Public Health and Groundwater Protection Ordinance
On April 7th all eligible Kewaunee County residents will have the opportunity to go to the polls to vote.  On the April 7th ballot is an Ordinance that you will be asked to approve or disapprove.  This ordinance has been designed to protect the public health and the County’s groundwater. 


This is the actual verbiage that will appear on the ballots—


“Shall the town/city/village (in which you reside) approve the application of Kewaunee County Ordinance #173-9-14 to the town/city/village in order to prevent groundwater pollution, protect human health, prevent the spread of disease, and promote the general welfare of the citizens of Kewaunee County by regulating local land use and management practices in the town/city/village, specifically through controlling the application of wastes on shallow carbonate bedrock areas as well as direct conduits to groundwater?”
Earlier this year, the Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Committee and the Full County Board (your elected County representatives) voted unanimously to approve this new ordinance.  Each voting jurisdiction (Town, Village, and City) will now vote to adopt this resolution for implementation in their jurisdiction.  If passed, this new ordinance will become effective on January 1, 2016.


Simply put, the resolution states that, Wastes (typically manure) shall not be applied to land having less than 20 feet of soil depth to bedrock from January 1st to April 15th of each year.  This is the time of year when our lands are most susceptible to groundwater contamination from melting snow and spring rains. 


Exemptions to this ordinance can be requested by farms in cases of hardship or special circumstances. Your Land and Water Conservation Committee and the Full County Board believe that this ordinance is a solid first step in dealing with the high levels of water contamination found throughout Kewaunee County.

A  “Yes” vote means you support the Public Health and Groundwater Ordinance as approved unanimously by your County Land and Water Conservation Committee and the full County Board. 


A “No” vote means you do not support the Public Health and Groundwater Ordinance.


Please join with your County Land and Water Conservation Committee and your County Board in supporting this first step toward cleaner water and an improved quality of life for all Kewaunee County citizens by voting YES on April 7th.

Questions???  Please call the Kewaunee County Land and Water Conservation Department at (920) 845-9700.

Kewaunee Co. Update - Jan 22

from the Desk of Ron Heuer, Chairman of the Board

Improving our Groundwater and Surface Water
We have a challenging year ahead of us in the county.  The most pressing issues in 2015 facing our board in my opinion will be; the groundwater/surface water issue, disposition of our landfill, the Dominion settlement, a Property Value Guarantee (PVG) ordinance, and a focus on tourism growth.  In this update, I will try provide a brief description of each of those issues and where we are at this moment in time.

Ground water and surface water continues to be a major topic and threat to the well-being of both our citizenry as well as the dairy industry.  I feel confident we are making headway on this issue and are getting positive recognition from the DNR and DATCP in that they have now formed a Kewaunee County Task Force in Madison comprised of personnel from DNR, DATCP, NRCS and EPA to help our county to deal with the problem.  They had their first organizational meeting in Madison on December 22^nd to chart their initiative and we (Kewaunee Co. Delegates) are having our first meeting with that group on Feb 4^th to get the ball rolling.

In addition to working with these state agencies we have been working with our legislators Sen. Lasse and Assemblymen Joel Kitchens on this issue.  Assemblymen Kitchens did meet with the Governor and made him aware of both the problems we are experiencing with our groundwater as well as what our plausible solution would be.  It appears we will be getting support through the legislative branch as well.  The type of support we are looking to the DNR/DATCP and the legislative branch would be both a buy-in plus making low cost money available to all farmers allowing them to install manure processing systems.

The question prevails, what possibly can be done in our county to protect our groundwater from contamination going forward.  I have given this a lot of research and thought and fortunately in my previous life in the travel industry I was exposed to the cruise industry where they have been employing technology onboard ships for the past 15 years or so, to process all the sewage onboard on a daily basis and to extract the vast majority of water from the daily sewage onboard.  Their technology is very advanced and they have gotten their sewage residency time down to one day, this compares with current on farm technology where residency time averages about 27 days. 

Kewaunee County currently has about 75,000 head of cattle.  That number includes lactating cows, wet calves, open heifers and beef cattle.  Cumulatively, these cattle produce about 550 million gallons of liquid manure annually with about 58% of the total manure originating from 15 operating CAFOs in the county.  Because this manure contains so much water, the nutrient value per gallon is quite low which requires the farmer to haul somewhere between 18K -24K gallons per acre.  This represents 3 to 4, 6,000 gallon semi loads of liquid manure to each acre.  Simply stated, by reducing the amount of water in this liquid manure, we increase the nutrient value and thus reduce the number of truck loads required for each field.  By removing 70% of the water with a digester and a RO/UF (Reverse Osmosis / Ultra Filtration) process, the nutrient value of the remaining effluent would require one truck load of 6,000 gallons per acre to reach the same levels today with 3 loads.

My proposal for the county is a three phase approach.  With Phase I kicking off immediately and taking us through the year 2017.  During that time the primary goal would be to process manure for over 20,000 cattle with emphasis on the NW corner of the county where we have the greatest exposure for additional pollution of our wells.  Overall in our county, 30% of those wells tested have tested positive for either high levels of nitrates, e-coli or both.  If we could attain the goal of processing for 20,000 animals, we would, in effect be reducing the number of gallons spread on the fields by over 103,000,000 gallons annually.  That is significant, without question. 

Phase II goal would take us out to the end of year 2020 when we would have all farms in Kewaunee County with over 200 animal units or operating liquid manure operations having on-farm treatment of manure.  Yes, that is an aggressive goal and there is a lot to be done to hit that goal. 

Phase III goal – remember, we have reduced the water content of this manure and now more than likely we’d have excessive nutrients that could be transformed into a pelletized, slow release fertilizer that could be exported from the county, sold as a fertilizer for application elsewhere.

In order for any of this to work, we need buy-in from the governmental agencies, DNR, DATCP, NRCS and EPA.  We also need the DBA (Dairy Business Association) to get on board, we need the local farmers and the legislative body to get onboard as well.  Not an easy task, but doable.

Other important issues facing Kewaunee County in 2015
Other than the ground and surface water issues in the county, we also have to deal with our Kewaunee County Landfill, our deal with Dominion, a Property Value Guarantee ordinance and our overall approach to increasing Tourism in our county.

The Kewaunee County Landfill is at a crucial time, we have to decide; do we build our phase III which will require the county to borrow over $5M to build, sell the landfill to a private concern who would continue to operate the landfill or continue to operate that landfill with the current operations until it is full and then turn it into a transfer station.  Tough decision for the county, but one that has to be dealt with in the next 3 months or so.

Dominion had negotiated what the county thought was a fair payment over the following 10 years.  All in the deal that Dominion had put on the table was near the $10M mark which would have kept both the county and Carlton Township whole on payments over the next 10 years.  However, Carlton Township has to date not signed on to this deal and has retained new legal counsel to pursue a different avenue with Dominion.  Meantime, the county will have to negotiate a separate deal for the county.

For those of you that are not familiar with the proposed windfarm in southern Kewaunee Co. and Manitowoc County, a company by the name of Capital Power recently acquired the Element Power Tisch Mills wind farm from Element Power.  They are planning on installing about 80 wind turbines, each 496 ft. tall from Kewaunee City limits to the city limits of Two Rivers.  They have all the land contracted and providing they receive a power purchase agreement will build this windfarm.  The County has no say in the siting of these turbines as the State of WI has given that authority to the Public Service Commission, and PSC 128 outlines all the details in that regard.  However, one thing we can do to protect the value of our land is put in place a Property Value Guarantee ordinance which would require the windfarm developer to insure the value of individual’s homes in the affected area.   Therefore, a PVG ordinance as several hundreds of homes in the townships of Carlton and West Kewaunee County would be affected.

Many challenges and a lot of work ahead for this board.  I am happy to report that this board is engaged and are making good decisions for the taxpayers of the county.