First Community Board Meeting
The first Clean Lakes Alliance Community Board meeting took place on January 18 in the boardroom at Spectrum Brands, thanks to Dave Lumley, CEO. The time was spent getting the group up to speed on our developments to date. A clear direction came from the board – to focus on funding a “project manager” position that will create a master plan for implementation of the 70 recommendations of the Yahara CLEAN report – compiled by government agencies over the past several years. We have entitled this first phase “The Yahara Watershed Initiative.” Next meeting date is March 15.
Spectrum Brands has really stepped up as an organization in this effort with strong financial support, employee engagement … and they are bringing the Spectrum company picnic to the Clean Lakes Festival!
Click here to see who is on the Community Board
Madison Mayor buys in
Mike Gerner (Community Board Chair), James and Don attended a meeting with Mayor Dave and his staff to lay out our objectives. After some discussion, the mayor agreed to support and pursue a budget amendment to invest in a public/private partnership for the “Yahara Watershed Initiative.”
$25,000. Good first step.
County likes the idea too
Topf Wells(County Executive Chief of Staff) and Dave Merritt(Director of Policy & Program Development ) were very receptive to ourplan to hire a top shelf person to create the initial plan. After some discussion, it was suggested that this person be someone that could not only weave through government channels and mounds of data, but coordinate the development and long-term implementation of the plan.
In addition to the County’s commitment in their 2011 budget of over
$200,000 to the Clean Lakes Initiative (for which the Alliance spoke in favor) — one full-time phosphorus trading program staffperson (Dave Merritt) and additional non-point phosphorus reduction program dollars, the County agreed to assist with a significant contribution for the recruiting, advertising, supervising, and housing the new position at the Office of Lakes and Watersheds.
Dane County Towns Association is engaged
A presentation was made to their executive board and we fielded questions. All are aware of the need to accelerate our actions and they will be very helpful with our work in the ag community in the future.
The “Initiative” is a group effort
As you can see, there will be a number of investors in the “Initiative” to create a plan. In addition to the City and County, we are actively pursuing private and corporate sponsors to round out a diverse group that will oversee the first-phase project. A public/private partnership.
Party at Sardine!
Phillip and John at Sardine have agreed to produce two events to help us raise money and awareness! The first one will be a VIP invite-only reception to educate and engage the most influential players in Madison. David Mollenhoff has already agreed to speak.
The second will be a run/walk in downtown Madison. Preliminary idea is to start at Marigold and end up at Sardine for a BIG party outside. Grills, Bands, Tent. Phillip says it’s all about the party. All in favor say “Aye!”
Dick Lathrop is a wealth of knowledge!
Had a great sit down with Dick, a former DNR and UW Research Scientist, at the Clean Lakes Alliance offices last week and learned a lot about the history and his ideas for solutions. Dick will make a brief presentation to the Clean Lakes Alliance Community Board on March 15.
David Mollenhoff is inspiring…and inspired.
After years of preaching to the choir, David sees the promise of the Clean Lakes Alliance “Initiative” and has agreed to help with presentations to the various stakeholder groups we will be assembling, as well as help define our vision for the watershed. Thanks David!
Kevin Connors and the Ag world
Kevin Conners (Director) and his staff at Dane County Land and Water Resources spent a good deal of time with us last week sharing the processes and budgets they currently work with. Wasn’t difficult to see that they have a great crew that has a great relationship with the farmers; just not enough money to make a dent in the issues with phosphorus runoff. Kevin and Pat Sutter are pulling together some basic data for us that will include numbers of farms, cows, etc. for the ag part of our presentations.
Save the Date!
Don’t miss the Clean Lakes Festival this summer on Saturday August 27, 2011 at Olin Park.
Science Forum on tap
The Clean Lakes Alliance is hosting the first-ever Science Forum next month. An expert panel of scientists, limnologists, hydrologists assembled by Steve Carpenter of UW Madison to frankly discuss the issues and solutions of the Yahara Watershed. More details to follow.
LANDS’ END
LANDS’ END has again agreed to the title sponsorship of the Clean Lakes Festival for 2011 and will be taking on a stronger position with the Alliance and engaging their employees in the cause. More to follow.
Thanks Lands’ End!
New Members of the Alliance
Gordon Flesch Company
Smith & Gesteland
Yahara Lakes Association
Doug Bach
Jane and Chris Clark
Michael Gay
Patrick and Kim Walters
YLA Board
Yahara Lakes Association has asked Clean Lakes Alliance to appoint a representative to their board.
Thanks Gialamas!
Special thanks to The Gialamas Company for the generous donation of the Clean Lakes Alliance offices and utilities.
2010 Clean Lakes Festival Sponsors
Lands’ End
Spectrum Brands
DeJope Gaming
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Alliant Energy
MG&E
The Gialamas Company
UBS The Burish Group
Baird and Associates
Wisconsin Distributors
John Roach Projects
Clear Channel Radio
Contact us anytime!
Don Heilman
don@cleanlakesalliance.com
James Tye
james@cleanlakesalliance.com
Phone:608.836.6973
