Thanks to an alert county resident who pointed me to this link. On Washington County’s website, you can find 146 pages of letters from county residents regarding the proposed POWTS fee referenced in my column. Interestingly, the email that I sent to my county supervisor is not there. I wonder how many others are missing.
Let’s just say that the people are not amused.
The hearing for this is tomorrow morning at 7:35 if you are able to attend.
Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News yesterday.
Perhaps taking their cue from the Republicans in the Legislature, the Washington County Board is considering implementing a new fee on Washington County taxpayers to do something that the county has already been doing for nearly 20 years. The public hearing being held by the Washington County Planning and Parks Department is at 7:35 a.m. on Thursday. Since, like many people, I work and cannot attend a public meeting at 7:35 a.m. on a weekday, I will offer some thoughts in this space.
The new fee being considered is to pay for tracking the maintenance of private onsite wastewater treatment systems (POWTS). Much of Washington County is rural and residents do not have access to municipal sewer systems, so they install and maintain a private septic system. There are about 20,312 parcels in the county with a POWTS. The state has mandated since 2000 that counties track and report to make sure that these private systems are properly maintained. Washington County has been complying with this state mandate with the use of general county funds since then. The new annual fee being considered is $11 for the vast majority of POWTS owners.
The POWTS tracking system is fairly rudimentary. Every three years, the county sends a postcard reminder to the POWTS owners to remind them that they need to have their system maintained. The POWTS owner contracts with a private company that inspects the system, completes any necessary maintenance or cleaning, and then notifies the county that it is complete. The POWTS owner bears the cost of all of this.
Philosophically, there is nothing wrong with a fee to fund a government service. The difference between a fee and a tax is that a fee is usually voluntary and charged to the specific person who is receiving the direct benefit of the service. For example, a fee for a marriage license is perfectly reasonable. The couple getting married is receiving the direct benefit of the county service and there is no rational reason that all of the other taxpayers should bear the burden.
In the case of a new POWTS maintenance fee, it is not voluntary and the entire county is receiving the benefit. For the vast majority of POWTS owners, it is not optional. There are not any other waste treatment options available to them, so they must install and maintain a POWTS at their own expense. The purpose of the government tracking the maintenance of them is to help ensure that the water supply for all county residents is not unduly polluted. Given that the fee is not optional for POWTS owners and every county taxpayer is receiving the benefit, the fee being proposed would be more correctly described as a selective tax.
Furthermore, remember that this is a service that the county has been providing for nearly 20 years. As they consider supporting this service with a standalone fee, there has not been any corollary proposal to reduce the county property tax levy or sales tax by a corresponding amount. The fee is just in addition to all of the other taxes that county taxpayers are already paying. As presented, this is not a discussion about whether or not this particular service should be funded with a fee or the general tax. It is about whether the county should charge a fee for something they were already doing and then just use the liberated general tax revenue to spend on something else. It is a straightforward path to more spending.
Finally, one must really question the cost. At $11 per parcel, the proposed fee would raise roughly $230,000 per year. Look back at the third paragraph for how this program works. It is sending a postcard every three years and logging that the work is complete. It is something that could be completed by an intern with a spreadsheet. $230,000 per year?
In the program cost detail shared by the Planning and Parks Department, the annual program cost is actually listed at $227,527.28. Only $2,200 is allocated for printing, copying, and postage. The rest is for wages ($126,370), overtime ($400), benefits ($45,100.60), advertising ($300), office supplies ($600), vehicles ($6,300), conference fees ($1,400), cost allocation for planning ($25,578), and on and on. That is a tremendous amount of overhead and larded-up costs for a very, very simple POWTS maintenance program. I find it difficult to imagine why POWTS owners should be charged an extra fee to shoulder the costs of things like conference fees and advertising.
The proposed POWTS fee looks suspiciously like another money grab by a government to continue to fund bloat and waste. The Washington County Board should categorically reject it and apologize to the taxpayers for ever suggesting it.
Good.
The Trump administration rule would rein in states’ ability to enroll recipients earning more than 130% of the federal poverty guidelines — in most cases capping eligibility to an annual income of $32,640 for a family of four. Households are also limited in most cases to $2,250 in countable assets, such as cash or money in bank accounts.
Forty states and the District of Columbia currently use alternative eligibility criteria that allow participants in some federally funded welfare programs to automatically receive food stamps as long as their income is less than double the poverty level.
In an age of 3% unemployment and rising wages, food stamp usage should be almost nothing.
Wha!?!?
TOWN OF LISBON – Former Silver Spring Intermediate School Principal Mark Peperkorn’s resignation was connected to an incident where he allegedly read a finger puppet parody book titled the “Little Penis” to staff members and the superintendent, according to documents obtained by The Freeman via an open records request.
The open records request revealed that Peperkorn, who was the principal of Pilgrim Park Middle School, was at a meeting when he read aloud a book he had previously confiscated from a student.
Peperkorn took a position as principal at Silver Spring Intermediate School in the Hamilton School District and would have started July 1, but he resigned June 14.
A letter addressed to PPMS families states that he had accelerated his resignation in Elmbrook to May 31 due to “unforeseen circumstances.”
[…]
One staff member said the following: “He probably felt comfortable with his staff but in this day and age it is not okay. He has been well-respected in his former district and interviewed very well with us, so I hate someone’s complete career (to) go down the drain for reading a book. If he were to stay on, I would welcome and support him professionally.”
One staff member said Peperkorn had a box full of confiscated items that he shared with staff members during the meeting. As he pulled items out of the box, Peperkorn named whom the items belonged to, according to a redacted interview with a staff member.
Another staff member said the reading of the book wasn’t as offensive as Peperkorn stating the names of students whom the items belonged to as he removed them from a box in front of staff.
“However, mentioning students real names and their middle school misgivings was much more offensive. One of those students was one of my former special education students, so hurtful. I am also very good friends with another one of the other student’s parents mentioned in your precised jokes, so unprofessional.”
My column for the Washington County Daily News is online and in print. Here’s a taste:
Perhaps taking their cue from the Republicans in the Legislature, the Washington County Board is considering implementing a new fee on Washington County taxpayers to do something that the county has already been doing for nearly 20 years. The public hearing being held by the Washington County Planning and Parks Department is at 7:35 a.m. on Thursday. Since, like many people, I work and cannot attend a public meeting at 7:35 a.m. on a weekday, I will offer some thoughts in this space.
The new fee being considered is to pay for tracking the maintenance of private onsite wastewater treatment systems (POWTS). Much of Washington County is rural and residents do not have access to municipal sewer systems, so they install and maintain a private septic system. There are about 20,312 parcels in the county with a POWTS. The state has mandated since 2000 that counties track and report to make sure that these private systems are properly maintained. Washington County has been complying with this state mandate with the use of general county funds since then. The new annual fee being considered is $11 for the vast majority of POWTS owners.
[…]
As presented, this is not a discussion about whether or not this particular service should be funded with a fee or the general tax. It is about whether the county should charge a fee for something they were already doing and then just use the liberated general tax revenue to spend on something else. It is a straightforward path to more spending.
Finally, one must really question the cost. At $11 per parcel, the proposed fee would raise roughly $230,000 per year. Look back at the third paragraph for how this program works. It is sending a postcard every three years and logging that the work is complete. It is something that could be completed by an intern with a spreadsheet. $230,000 per year?
In the program cost detail shared by the Planning and Parks Department, the annual program cost is actually listed at $227,527.28. Only $2,200 is allocated for printing, copying, and postage. The rest is for wages ($126,370), overtime ($400), benefits ($45,100.60), advertising ($300), office supplies ($600), vehicles ($6,300), conference fees ($1,400), cost allocation for planning ($25,578), and on and on. That is a tremendous amount of overhead and larded-up costs for a very, very simple POWTS maintenance program. I find it difficult to imagine why POWTS owners should be charged an extra fee to shoulder the costs of things like conference fees and advertising.
The proposed POWTS fee looks suspiciously like another money grab by a government to continue to fund bloat and waste. The Washington County Board should categorically reject it and apologize to the taxpayers for ever suggesting it.
Billy Sims BBQ to open in West Bend
A new BBQ restaurant will open before the end of the year in West Bend.
Clay Covert is opening a Billy Sims Barbecue in the Washington Plaza, 1442 W. Washington Street. It’s the strip mall on the north side of the road that includes Little Caesar’s Pizza, Subway, and China Town.
Covert’s store would be on the east end of the strip mall in the former AT&T location. “I have the plans done and they’re with the city,” he said.
A resident of Slinger, Covert previously ran his own marketing firm. “I’m going to use that marketing experience and develop the franchise,” he said.
A native of Detroit, Covert was familiar with former NFL player and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims. “He played for the Detroit Lions and a few years ago he partnered with someone and decided to open a couple restaurants and franchise them,” said Covert. “This is a small, up-and-coming franchise with stores primarily in Oklahoma, Kansas and a couple in Detroit, Iowa and Colorado but this will be the first foray in Wisconsin.”
Covert describes it as a “southern BBQ chain” that features pulled pork, brisket, turkey, chicken and ribs. “One of the unique things they serve is baloney and what really sets it apart is all the meat is smoked with pecan wood; it gives it a sweeter taste,” he said.
During his research Covert focused on the West Bend area because he wanted “a community that would be big enough to support the restaurant, but not Milwaukee.”
“West Bend seemed like the perfect choice because it’s close to where I live, it’s a good size city and one of the greatest things is nobody really specializes in barbecue in this area,” he said.
The franchise format is considered “fast casual.”
“There will be plenty of seating, carry out and we will do a lot of catering,” he said. “The style is similar to a Qdoba where you place your order, go down the line and get your food.”
Covert is expected to employ about 15 part timers and is expected to open in late fall.
Adam Williquette, Broker and Owner of American Commercial Real Estate oversaw the lease of the space.
Registered sex offender to live across from children’s play area at Sandy Knoll Park
Neighbors by Sandy Knoll Park on Wallace Lake Road and Trenton Road in the Town of Trenton are receiving information today from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department regarding a registered sex offender moving into the area.
Washington Co. Sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Hennes is visiting neighbors with an information sheet about Kenneth E. Crass who will be released from prison July 23, 2019.
Crass was convicted in 2014 of five counts of possession of child pornography. The Sheriff’s notice said Crass will reside at 7150 N. Trenton Road.
Neighbor Tim Wollak has lived by Sandy Knoll Park for nearly four years. He said he understands the “rehabilitation” process but questions the choice of location.
“It’s completely unacceptable,” said Wollak. “This playground abuts the property of a convicted sex offender. I am not sure how it was even remotely considered a good location by those involved.”
A release will be posted Wednesday, July 17 from the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. In it Sheriff Martin Schulteis states, “Kenneth E. Crass will have numerous rules and restrictions to follow including wearing a live tracking GPS unit. The GPS monitoring unit will have exclusion zones set up alerting WI-DOC if there is a violation of the exclusion zone rules. One exclusion zone will be Sandy Knoll Co. Park.”
Wollak believes there are holes in the monitoring process. “What if a child wanders on to his property or if the technology stops working,” he said. “The GPS unit does not prevent a crime from occurring, it simply alerts the agent he left his property. Furthermore, it appears he will be able to view the children’s play area from his property which is very concerning as he was convicted of five counts of possessing child pornography.”
The release from Schulteis also states Crass’s “criminal history places him in a classification level which reflects a low potential to re-offend.”
The release given to neighbors by Sgt. Michael Hennes also said, “This sex offender has served the prison sentence imposed on him by the courts. He is NOT wanted by law enforcement at this time. This notification is not intended to increase fear, but rather it is our belief that an informed public is a safer public.”
Hennes said there is one Public Relations D.A.R.E. officer, Deputy William Niehus, who visits registered sex offenders in Washington County twice a year.
According to Wisconsin Department of Corrections Sex Offender Registry there are 195 registered sex offenders living in Washington County.
Crass is scheduled to be released from prison Tuesday, July 23, 2019. He will be on probation until July 29, 2024.
A note of clarification: In 2014 Crass pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of child pornography, however a check of Wisconsin Circuit Court Access shows there were five additional Felony D charges of possession of child pornography. According to CCAP those charges were dismissed but read in.
Crass appeared before Washington County Judge James Muehlbauer.
Washington Co. Sheriff said registered sex offender will live by children’s play area at Sandy Knoll Park in Town of Trenton
The Washington County Sheriff’s Department is issuing more information regarding a registered sex offender who will be released and living at a home next to the kid’s playground at Sandy Knoll Park.
Clare Hendricks from the State Department of Corrections offered a bit of insight on how Crass will be monitored once he is released.
Our top priority as the Department of Corrections is to ensure the safety of the public while assisting those in our care. We encourage anyone that suspects an individual is not complying with their rules of supervision or is acting unlawfully to reach out to local law enforcement and the Division of Community Corrections.
Mr. Crass is expected to be released from prison on 7/23/19 and will be living in Trenton, WI. He is required to meet with his probation officer every week. He will be on GPS monitoring and will not allowed in any parks next to or near his residence.
Mr. Crass is required to register with the Wisconsin Sex Offender Registry. He is on standard sex offender community supervision rules including he may not have unsupervised contact with minors, may not enter taverns, bars and liquor stores, may not use an alias, and may not have contact with previous victims.
Craig Hoeppner leaving for Oconomowoc Parks Department
West Bend Park, Recreation and Forestry director Craig Hoeppner is leaving West Bend to take a similar job in Oconomowoc.
On Tuesday, July 16 the City of Oconomowoc approved Hoeppner as its new director of Parks, Rec and Forestry. The job was posted May 17 at a salary between $90,790 to $116,730.
Hoeppner will replace Oconomowoc Park and Rec director John Kelliher, who recently left for a similar position in Brookfield.
Hoeppner has been with the City of West Bend since 2004. A couple standout projects where he played an integral part include the completion of the east side of the Downtown Riverwalk, helping oversee construction in 2018 of the basketball/pickleball/volleyball courts at Regner Park and of course the launch of the popular Dirty Ninja Mud Run.
In 2016 Hoeppner received the “Professional Award of Merit,” the highest award given by the Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association to a park and recreation professional in the State of Wisconsin. Hoeppner was the second person in the West Bend Park and Rec Department to receive the Professional Award of Merit. Juliene Hefter also received the award and she began her career as Manager of Recreation Services for the City of West Bend.
In 2017 Hoeppner was a co-recipient of the Betty Pearson Community Leadership Award along with Mike Nowack.
West Bend City Administrator Jay Shambeau said he will fill in the position in the interim along with West Bend Park and Forestry Superintendent Mike Jentsch.
St. Lucas Lutheran to Host National Night Out Block Party August 6
On Tuesday, August 6, neighbors in Kewaskum and Washington County are invited to join forces with thousands of communities nationwide for the 36th Annual National Night Out crime and drug prevention event. National Night Out which is sponsored by the National Association of Town Watch and cosponsored locally by St. Lucas Lutheran Church and School, will involve over 16,790 communities from all 50 states, U.S. territories, Canadian cities, and military bases around the world. In all, over 38.6 million people are expected to participate in “America’s Night Out Against Crime.”
National Night Out is designed to: (1) Heighten crime and drug prevention awareness; (2) Generate support for, and participation in, local anticrime efforts; (3) Strengthen neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships; and (4) Send a message to criminals letting them know neighborhoods are organized and fighting back.
A block party for our whole community will be hosted Tuesday, August 6, 5:30- 8:30 p.m. at St. Lucas Lutheran Church and School, 1410 Parkview Drive. Parkview Drive will be closed and activities will take place in the church parking lot and the school grounds. Handicapped Parking will be available along the alley between Parkview Drive and Bilgo Lane. Bring a lawn chair and stay a while. Food and refreshments will be available. Free entertainment for children will include a bounce house and various games.
The Kewaskum Police Department and Kewaskum Fire Department will have equipment on display. The West Bend Community Band will perform at 6 p.m. The Kewaskum Big Band will follow at 7:30 p.m. Both groups will perform in the church parking lot. In case of rain, the event will be held in the St. Lucas Lutheran School Gymnasium. On National Night Out, we invite neighborhoods nationwide to join us and “give crime a going away party.”
Students from Washington Co. make Dean’s List at UW-Parkside
Lauren Treptow of Kewaskum, WI was named to the Dean’s and Provost’s Lists at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for the Fall 2018 semester.
Alexa Bingen of Slinger, WI was named to the Dean’s List at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for the Fall 2018 semester.
Jodi Simmelink of West Bend, WI was named to the Dean’s and Provost’s Lists at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside for the Fall 2018 semester.
To qualify for the Dean’s List, students must earn at least a 3.5 grade-point average. To qualify for the Provost’s List, students must earn at least a 3.8 grade-point average.
Postponed 2018 Property Taxes By Jane Merten Washington Co. Treasurer
The Washington County Treasurer would like to remind taxpayers their postponed/second installment 2018 property taxes are due on or before July 31, 2019.
If you are paying by check, please make sure that the numeric and the written portions of the check are the same and that your check is signed otherwise the check will be returned, and this could result in interest and penalty charges, if postmarked after the due date. Postdated checks will not be held and will be processed the day that they are received. Checks should be mailed to the Washington County Treasurer, PO Box 1986, West Bend, Wisconsin, 53095. If you require a receipt, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
The County Treasurer encourages mailing your property tax payments early and not waiting until the last week of July. Mailing your payment early helps make sure the USPS postmark is timely and provides greater opportunity to correct errors before the deadline. “The cost of missing the July 31 deadline is severe. Under state law, interest and penalty charges are 1.5% per month back to Feb. 1, (10.5% in August for 2017 taxes) and continue to accrue until the taxes are paid in full. So, it is imperative to pay property taxes on time to avoid delinquent charges.”
You can also pay your property taxes online using a credit card or electronic check through Point & Pay. Please visit our website at www.co.washington.wi.us, click on Departments, then County Treasurer, and Pay Real Estate Taxes Online. You will need your tax parcel number as well as the amount due. Please be advised that Point & Pay will charge you a convenience fee of 2.39% of the amount for this service.
The Washington County Treasurer’s office hours are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. You can contact the office at 262.335.4324.
Buck Blodgett impacting state prison inmates By Samantha Sali
On July 15, 2013, six years ago this week, the city of Hartford was rocked by the news of the brutal murder of 19-year-old Jessie Blodgett. Today, her father, Buck Blodgett, has made headlines for forgiving his daughter’s murderer, Daniel Bartelt, during the sentencing hearing and for starting up a non-profit called The LOVE > hate Project, targeting to end male-on-female violence.
One of the key parts of Blodgett’s nonprofit is giving presentations around the state titled, A Message from Jessie. To date, Blodgett has presented Jessie’s story to hundreds of people at college campuses, high schools, conferences, and community groups. He also travels to prisons, impacting inmates around the state of Wisconsin.
Buck Blodgett said he has done “about two dozen” presentations for the state prison system in the last two years, reaching 3,000 inmates and staff. “As The LOVE > hate Project returns to prisons this year that we visited last year, we are hearing more and more stories of the impact,” Blodgett said.
Blodgett said last year at Prairie du Chien Correctional, an inmate stood up during the Q&A after the presentation. The inmate said, “I don’t believe you forgave your daughter’s killer; don’t believe you could, don’t believe you would. I know I couldn’t, and I definitely wouldn’t.”
Blodgett replied, “I didn’t drive across the state and come to prison today to hear you say you can’t and won’t. We need you. You’re getting out soon and your calling needs you to answer it.”
When Blodgett returned to Prairie du Chien Correctional this year, he witnessed the same inmate attended the presentation with an entirely different attitude. He learned that Prairie du Chien had since started their own program called The Forgiveness Class. The inmate leader for the class was the same inmate who expressed his opposing viewpoints just the year prior.
Blodgett shared his new goal of expanding his reach within the prison system with a new, 4-part, faith-based series. “I’m hoping to distribute the video series farther and wider than I can do in person in other states,” he said.
“Buck has been invited into all the prisons within the state of Wisconsin. He’s made such an impact that it has caught the attention of the wardens and the chaplains. The chaplains wanted a faith-based presentation, so this series is called The F-Words…think Faith, Forgiveness, etc.,” said John Bass, pastor at Cedar Springs Church, 3128 Slinger Road, Slinger. Bass also serves as the Director of Promotions and Fundraising on The LOVE > hate Project’s Board of Directors.
“Buck is just a dynamite guy. Cedar Springs Church has just fallen in love with him and his message of love and forgiveness,” Bass said. “Our church has taken on The LOVE > hate Project as one of our missions because it’s about something we are passionate about; love, forgiveness, and overcoming and conquering hate. He’s been a huge part of our church; people look up to him and follow his example. The congregation has grown through Joy and Buck’s forgiveness,” said Bass.
The series is being recorded at Cedar Springs during its 9:30 a.m. service. Part 3 will be recorded Sunday, July 28, 2019.
Public info meeting for roundabout at CTH Q and Hillside Road in Village of Richfield
There is going to be a public information meeting for possible improvements to the CTH Q and Hillside Road Intersection in the Town of Lisbon / Village of Richfield in Washington and Waukesha Counties:
Wednesday, July 31 – 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Presentation at 6:05 p.m., followed by Q & A
Richfield Village Hall, 4128 Hubertus Road, Hubertus, WI 53033
Washington County is planning to apply for funding to construct a roundabout at the intersection of CTH Q and Hillside Road. The project is designed to improve safety at the intersection. Construction timing will be based on the approval of funding with an estimated construction schedule of 2021 or 2022.
Please attend to view displays, learn more from Washington County Highway Department staff, review informational displays, and provide your input on these proposed improvements.
Those unable to attend can submit comments to scott.schmidt@co.washington.wi.us Informational displays will also be available on the County Highway Department website on August 1. Feel free to contact the Washington County Highway Department with any questions at 262-335-4435.
Welcoming Smart Warehousing to the Village of Germantown
A ceremonial “Massive Panel Raising” will officially welcome Smart Warehousing to the community of Germantown with the construction of Germantown Gateway Corporate Park’s newest industrial building. The building is one of two industrial buildings currently under construction within the newly established 140-acre corporate park located less than one mile east of the I-41 and Holy Hill Road/CTH 167 interchange. The Panel Raising will occur on Monday, July 22 at 3 p.m. on the construction site.
With completion scheduled this fall, the 200,000 square foot industrial building will be home to Kansas City-based Smart Warehousing. Smart Warehousing is an industry leading warehousing, fulfillment and logistical solutions company with operations located throughout the country.
The developer, Zilber Property GroupSM, recently completed a 706,000 square foot build-to-suit for Briggs & Stratton Corporation’s global distribution operations and is also currently developing an additional 200,000 square foot speculative building at the park. Additional land sites are available for development.
Participating in the “Massive Panel Raising” will be Dean Wolter (Village of Germantown President), Mark Barbari (Executive Director of Strategic Accounts, Smart Warehousing) and John Kersey (Executive Vice President, Zilber Property Group). The panel raising ceremony will begin promptly at 3:15 p.m.
Public hearing July 25 for Washington Co. special assessment on septic / Private On-site Wastewater Treatment System
On Thursday, July 25 in Room 1014 at the Washington County Courthouse there will be a public hearing at 7:35 a.m. regarding a proposal to place a special assessment on property tax bills for the tracking and maintenance of the Private On-site Wastewater Treatment System (POWTS) throughout Washington County.
According to the County website:
This assessment is currently estimated at $11 annually per parcel served by POWTS or $11 annually per system located on a single parcel, whichever is greater.
The report on the Special Assessment is available HERE or for inspection at the County Clerk’s Office and Parks and Planning Department Office during business hours.
In short, this report details the proposed special assessments intended to recover or defray Washington County’s costs related to developing, maintaining and enforcing a POWTS inventory tracking system as required by §145.20 Wis. Stats. The assessment district includes all incorporated and unincorporated areas of Washington County within which POWTS are located. We continue to evaluate programs and costs in Washington County in order to best serve all County residents and ensure that we are mindful of the future. As such, the County has passed a preliminary resolution authorizing this report, a letter to homeowners and a public hearing because the cost of this program makes sense to be borne by users rather than taxpayers at large. Roughly 40% of properties within the County are serviced by POWTS (an estimated 20,313 parcels as of 6/13/2019) and the remaining properties are serviced by sewer. 25 other Counties throughout Wisconsin currently use fees to support POWTS system programming.
Some frequently asked questions include:
Q: Why are you holding the public hearing in the morning?
The public hearing is scheduled during the Land Use and Planning’s monthly standing meeting. We are considering the addition of a possible additional evening information session in order to accommodate a variety of residents and stakeholders. Any comments received in writing, via email or letter, will be added to the record of the public hearing. Written comments received on or before Wednesday, July 24 will be distributed to the committee prior to the hearing. Written comments received after the public hearing will be distributed to the committee via email. All written comments will be posted to the county’s website.
Q: What would the fee pay for?
The proposed fee is for the administrative costs of the county to administer the POWTS maintenance program as required by state law. This includes maintaining the inventory of systems and sending maintenance reminders to POWTS owners when their system is due for maintenance. If compliance is not obtained, then a Wisconsin Uniform Municipal Citation may be written and an appearance in court may be necessary. Other duties performed within the program include database management, analysis and quality control of the POWTS program, mailing and emailing information, reconciliation reports and general customer service duties.
Q: Why do you mail postcards? Could you save money by sending reminder e-mails?
The county looks to employ technology whenever possible. Our current systems do not have a way to email owners instead of mailing a card. Even mass email clients could require yearly subscription fees. Additionally, when property ownership changes, the email would be obsolete. It’s more accurate to mail property owners, because mailing addresses are updated with ownership changes.
Q: $225,000 for this program cost annually is a lot.
The preliminary/proposed program costs are outlined on the county’s website. These were developed based on a series of assumptions for public and County Board dialogue. Costs shown are based on the county’s estimated current programming costs for Land Use Programming. A quick note, the fire capacity for Room 1014 is 100. County officials are planning for overflow; however, those details have not yet been released.
In addition to the public hearing, an informational session will be held August 6 at Richfield Fire Station #1 at 6 p.m.
Letter to the Editor | Objections to Washington Co. special assessment for Private On-Site Treatment Systems | By David L. and Lynn S. Williams
I choose to present my strong objection to the Special Assessment for properties with Private On-Site Treatment Systems in written form and trust that as the letter to residents states, “Written comments will be read at the public hearing and will be given the same weight as oral testimony.”
My comments follow relevant sections of the synopsis…..
EXCERPTS FROM: Private On-Site Wastewater Treatment System (POWTS) Maintenance Program Special Charge Tax Assessment Report June 2019
(1) ” …..because the cost of this program makes sense to be borne by users rather than taxpayers at large.”
“Program Benefits
Land Resources programming in Washington County has a vision for “protected and improved land & water resources.” One of the primary reasons for POWTS regulations and properly maintaining POWTS is the health of families, communities and the environment. When septic systems fail, inadequately treated household wastewater is released into the environment and human contact can pose a significant risk to public health. Failing systems can contaminate nearby wells, groundwater, and drinking water sources. (EMPHASIS ADDED) …”
RESPONSE: The benefit of POWTS monitoring DOES benefit ALL taxpayers. As stated, failing systems can contaminate groundwater and drinking water sources. All homeowners , including those on on city sewers, DO realize a benefit from the program.
CONCLUSION: The cost for monitoring POWTS should be borne by all taxpayers and be part of the county budget, as it has been ever since monitoring became required.
(2) The allocation of 40% of “Salary & Wages” (and similarly in all the line items) in the proposed 2020 Budget to the POWTS program is excessive.
RATIONALE: Proof of compliance is only required every third year. Therefore, in any year only one-third of the 20,000 POWTS owner need to be contacted, i.e. 6,666. Suppose that 80% of the owners comply after the first post card mailing, then only 1,333 require further follow-up.
CONCLUSION: If there is to be Special Assessment the Board should require the Department to evaluate and justify how it could possibly require $227,527 to monitor the program.
Respectfully submitted,
David L. and Lynn S. Williams
Letter to the Editor | Attention owners of Washington Co. Private On-site Wastewater Treatment System | By Frank Mayer
Attention Washington County POWTS Owners
RE: Public Hearing on July 25 at 7:35 a.m.
I have numerous questions and thoughts regarding this Public Hearing
# 1 This seems to be a strange time for a Public Hearing.
# 2 This special Assessment does not fully explain what this money will be used for.
# 3 The notices for pumping have been sent out for 19 years and the pumpers send in their report to Planning and Parks Department. If the money $11 per household is used for computer entry only, this seems like a money grab. $11 per year times 3 years per household. This is way out of line for such little work. What’s next $11 per well?
# 4 If onsite inspections were done with this money, and consider 8 inspections per day per household, ( counting travel time ) 40 per week and 200 per year it would take 9 years just to complete the Town of Farmington which has 1900 households give or take. The County has 20313 systems. At $11 per year per household in the County times 20313 that comes to 223,443 per year for computer entry. Systems are pumped every third year. In a three year period this would amount to 670,329. What a windfall for Planning and Parks.
# 5 Special Assessments on the TAX BILL ARE NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
# 6 I would hope you, Jamie Ludovic ( Central Services Director ) would consider holding another Public Hearing or an extension of such hearing at a future date and time between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Concerned Town of Farmington Resident
Frank Mayer
Disclaimer: Opinions and letters published in http://www.washingtoncountyinsider.com are not necessarily the views of the Editor, or Publisher.
50 years ago, a man step foot on another celestial body for the first time in human existence. It was an amazing accomplishment and one for which we can all be proud. Huzzah, huzzah, huzzah.
The British-flagged oil tanker ‘Stena Impero’ was heading to Saudi Arabia’s port of Al-Jubail from the UAE port of Fujairah when it was seized by the IRGC, the semi-official Fars news agency reported Friday, citing a statement from the IRGC.
The IRGC statement said the ship was making an entry from the exit point of the Strait of Hormuz in the South, “disregarding the established procedures that require all entries be made through the Northern pass,” Fars reported.
The ship has been escorted to the Iranian coastal waters in Hormozgan province for further legal procedures and investigations, Fars said.
The Dutch supreme court has upheld a ruling that the Netherlands was partially responsible for 350 deaths in Bosnia’s Srebrenica massacre.
The court said the state had 10% liability, as this was the probability that its soldiers could have prevented the killings.
Bosnian Serb forces killed a total of 8,000 Muslim men in the town of Srebrenica in 1995.
The Dutch had been guarding a UN safe zone when it was overrun.
It is rare for a state to be held responsible for failures in UN peacekeeping work, but the court emphasised that the Netherlands bore “very limited liability”.
[…]
The court ruled that if Dutch forces had given 350 men hiding in the UN compound the chance to stay, there was just a 10% chance they would not have fallen into the hands of the Serbs, and so the Dutch state should be liable for only that proportion of the damages suffered by the bereaved.
The ruling did not give details on how it calculated the 10% chance of survival.
The final verdict draws a line under years of legal battles between the Dutch state and the plaintiffs – a group of victims’ relatives known as the Mothers of Srebrenica.
The case was escalated to the highest court because the state wanted to be cleared of responsibility, while the Mothers of Srebrenica wanted it to be held accountable for all 8,000 deaths in the genocide.
An appeals court had previously set the liability at 30%, but the supreme court’s ruling has drastically reduced that figure.
This is the Dutch court system ruling that their own people were partially responsible for failing in a UN peacekeeping mission that resulted in a genocide. While noble, war is incredibly ugly and I question the rationale of lawyers assigning percentages of blame decades after it happened – particularly for a NOT doing something. These soldiers didn’t commit a war crime. They merely failed to act to prevent one when they might have been able to.
Darn those stores for offering products people want at competitive prices.
New York (CNN Business)As dollar stores sweep across America, they are facing growing scrutiny from opponents who argue that discount chains stifle local competition and limit poor communities’ access to healthy food.
Dollar stores have never been more popular. Yet a wave of cities and towns have passed laws curbing the expansion of Dollar General (DG) and Dollar Tree (DLTR), which bought Family Dollar in 2015. The companies are the two largest dollar store operators in the country, combining for more than 30,000 stores throughout the United States, up from under 20,000 a decade ago. By comparison, Walmart(WMT), America’s largest retailer, has 4,700 US stores.Advocates of tighter controls on dollar stores say the big chains intentionally cluster multiple stores in low-income areas. That strategy discourages supermarkets from opening and it threatens existing mom-and-pop grocers, critics say.“The business model for these stores is built on saturation,” said Julia McCarthy, senior policy associate at the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest and a critic of dollar stores. “When you have so many dollar stores in one neighborhood, there’s no incentive for a full-service grocery store to come in.”Opponents also express concerns that dollar stores don’t offer fresh produce. Dollar General and its dollar store rivals mostly sell snacks, drinks, canned foods and vegetables, household supplies and personal care products at rock-bottom prices.
However, Dollar General and Dollar Tree argue that they benefit communities by offering shoppers convenient places to grab food and essentials at low prices.“In rural places without existing grocery stores, having a Dollar General might be viewed as an asset,” said Christopher Merrett, director of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs at Western Illinois University. Dollar stores bring in new sales and property tax revenue for cities, create jobs and expand shopping options for customers, he added.
WEST BEND — A Town of Erin homeowner helped break up a burglary at her house this week after getting into a struggle with the alleged suspect, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office has said in a statement posted to the department’s Facebook page.
The 65-year-old woman was reportedly at home by herself when she saw another woman standing outside her door. That person, a 27year-old Milwaukee resident, asked for directions before leaving, per the sheriff’s office statement.
“The alert homeowner immediately noticed that she was missing credit cards, cash and her vehicle keys out of her purse that was located inside her residence,” the sheriff’s office said.
The local resident, who wasn’t identified in the sheriff’s statement, immediately began to search
the area for the suspect and later found her walking nearby.
“The victim confronted the suspect and a struggle ensued,” law enforcement reported, noting the homeowner was bitten in the incident but was able to get take the suspect’s wallet. The suspect then fled on foot again.
When a sheriff’s deputy eventually arrested the suspect, she was found with property belonging to the homeowner. A search of the suspect’s wallet also uncovered drugs and paraphernalia, the sheriff’s office said.
Officials took the suspect — who was also not named in the sheriff’s online report — to Hartford Rescue for treatment of drug withdrawal symptoms. Once there, the suspect allegedly spat on a nurse and grabbed at another nurse, law enforcement said.
Laila Laurel, from Norwich, won a major award for the seat which is crafted so that men sit with their legs closed.
She said the “concept” chair was inspired by her experiences of men “infringing on my space in public”.
But since the award, she said: “I have received a lot of explicit messages from men who seem to be under the impression that I hate all men.”
The University of Brighton student said this “couldn’t be further from the truth frankly”.
[…]
She also made a second chair intended for women which encourages sitters to push their legs apart.
“I don’t take myself too seriously, because for I really want my work to be both important and thought provoking, whilst also being engaging and funny.
“I think humour is a really interesting tool in order to tackle social issues.”
I’m glad to see them taking the death of a child seriously.
(CNN)A mother and daughter accused of murdering a pregnant woman and cutting her baby from her womb were charged Thursday with murder in connection with the baby’s death.
Clarisa Figueroa, 46, and Desiree Figueroa, 24, were charged with the murder of “Baby Ochoa” Yovanny Lopez, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County, Illinois, State Attorney’s Office.The two women appeared in bond court on Thursday, Simonton said. They previously pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery in the April 23 killing of the baby’s mother, 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez.The baby boy died June 14 after weeks on life support.Police say the women lured Ochoa-Lopez to their Chicago area home with the promise of baby items, including a stroller. Police say the two women then strangled her and cut the baby from her womb.
The protests erupted after Puerto Rico’s Center for Investigative Journalism published leaked chats between Gov. Rosselló and his inner circle, including profanity-laced, homophobic and misogynistic messages about fellow politicians, members of the media.Nearly a week after the messages were made public, it’s impossible to walk the streets of Old San Juan without seeing signs of the protests calling for Rosselló’s ouster.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has long maintained that the veto power in the hands of the Wisconsin governor is excessive and is contrary to how the legislative process should work in a democracy.
Governors of both political parties have often used their veto power to change the intent of the legislation that lands on their desks and to increase spending.
This amounts to taking powers that properly should reside in the hands of the legislature.
Agreed. So far, so good.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign believes that any governor, when he or she is exercising a line-item veto, must veto each item or appropriation in its entirety rather than using “creative editing” to construct a bill, or a section of a bill, that was not the intent of the legislature.
Still good.
The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign recognizes the hypocrisy of Republican officials who only now are aghast at the governor’s veto power when they had no problem with that power when the governor was from their own party.
What’s more, the current proposal from Sen. Dave Craig and Rep. Mike Kuglitsch is only concerned with the governor using the veto power to increase expenditures rather than to alter the meaning of legislation.
For this reason, the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is neither endorsing nor opposing the Craig/Kuglitsch bill.
Wha!?!? So they agree that the veto should be eliminated, but they don’t like Republicans’ hypocrisy and the amendment doesn’t go far enough. Um, why not support the move in the right direction even if it doesn’t go as far as they want? And who cares about the motive? Better government for the wrong reason is still better government.
Ha!
(CNN)The House on Wednesday easily defeated an effort from a Texas Democrat to impeach President Donald Trump in a vote that highlighted the Democratic fissures when it comes to impeachment.
Rep. Al Green was able to force the vote under House rules — the first that Congress has taken related to impeachment since Democrats took control of the chamber this year — in what amounted to the most direct challenge yet to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s handling of impeachment.The 332-95 vote divided Democrats, with 95 — a little more than 40% of the Democratic caucus — voting against tabling it, or voting to keep it alive. There were 137 Democrats who joined all Republicans in voting to defeat the measure.Green’s decision to bring up his resolution presented a dilemma for impeachment supporters and moderate Democrats alike, as they’re now on the record for their vote, even if Green’s resolution was only focused on one issue — what he says is the President’s “bigotry and racism” — out of many Democrats are wrestling with on whether to move forward on impeachment.
It’s all fun and games until the military turns you into a fine red mist. They ain’t the docile Berkeley police.
As of Wednesday morning, over 1.5 million people said they were “attending” the event, called “Storm Area 51, They Can’t Stop All of Us.” The event is scheduled for Sept. 20 at 3 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time. Another 1.1 million Facebook users indicated they were “interested.”
“We will all meet up at the Area 51 Alien Center tourist attraction and coordinate our entry,” according to the Facebook page. “If we naruto run, we can move faster than their bullets. Lets [sic] see them aliens.”
No one is questioning the right of members of Congress and others to criticize Israeli policies. But Omar is crossing a line that should not be crossed in political discourse. Her remarks are not anti-Israel; they are anti-Semitic.
Whether consciously or not, Representative Omar is repeating some of the ugliest stereotypes about Jews—tropes that have been unleashed by anti-Semites throughout history. She is casting Jewish Americans as the other, suggesting a dual loyalty that calls our devotion to America into question.
Putting aside the outright lie about Google being impartial (that’s been proven wrong time and time again), the next question is, what do we do about it, if anything?
Karan Bhatia, Google’s policy chief who was at the hearing, denied the claims and said it would be bad for business if users didn’t trust the company to be impartial.
Bhatia also said Google had done all it could to remove offensive content on YouTube but the volume of videos being uploaded makes it difficult to police.
Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, told Bloomberg after the hearing that Section 230 was originally put in place to protect smaller tech companies in the 1990s rather than giants.
[…]
But Rep. James Sensenbrenner, a Wisconsin Republican, said the investigation could easily generate a gratuitous and unhealthy level of government control.
‘Just because a business is big doesn’t mean it’s bad,’ Sensenbrenner said Tuesday. He argued that breaking up big companies could hurt smaller firms around the U.S. and might compound privacy problems.
Here is my full column that ran in the Washington County Daily News yesterday:
When the Wisconsin Legislature passed the state budget, it already had an irresponsible $500 million spending increase for K-12 education. With a stroke of his pen, Governor Evers used his powerful veto to increase spending by another $87 million. Now some lawmakers are proposing reining in the Wisconsin governor’s ability to use a veto to increase spending.
Governor Evers and his comrades have decried the attempt to curb the governor’s veto power as a partisan endeavor. Perhaps it is. And perhaps it would have been a worthwhile reform when one part controlled the legislative and executive branches. Even so, it often takes the abuse of power to spark reform, and this reform is badly needed.
Wisconsin’s governor has the most powerful veto pen in the nation. Forty-four states give their governor some form of line item veto authority, but they all have restrictions. Wisconsin’s governor has the fewest restrictions. He or she can veto numbers, strike out individual words, edit the meaning of sentences, and even arbitrarily reduce appropriated amounts. Up until 2008, when the voters last reformed the veto power, the governor could even strike out individual letters to create new words.
This vast veto authority gives Wisconsin’s governor an extraordinary amount of power to essentially write legislation by carving up what the Legislature sends to his or her desk. While it is true that the Legislature can override a veto by a twothirds majority, it rarely happens due to the high electoral bar.
There is an argument that governors should not have a line item veto at all. The governors of six states and the president of the United States do not have a line item veto authority. When a bill reaches their desks, they must veto the bill in its entirety or allow it to become law.
Our federal Constitution, which also served as a model for many state constitutions, was predicated on the notion that concentrated power is injurious to liberty. That is why our three branches of government are integrated with a complex system of checks and balances that are meant to assure that no one branch, and certainly no one person, can wield too much power.
While in theory, a line item veto can be overridden as easily as a full veto, the real world disproves that theory. Legislation – particularly a budget – is always the amalgamation of a thousand different compromises. Any final piece of legislation has been put through the grinder of legislative committees, public hearings, and two houses of the legislature. By the time it reaches the governor’s desk, a piece of legislation is a network of interdependent priorities and conditions. When a governor vetoes a part of the legislation, it short circuits the network and undermines the legislature’s intent. Since a partial veto only strikes out a piece of the compromise, there are rarely enough votes behind an individual item in a bill to override the governor’s veto.
The constitutional amendment being circulated by Sen. David Craig and Rep. Mike Kuglitsch does not even approach eliminating the governor’s line item veto. Their amendment would simply prohibit the ability of the governor to use a veto to increase spending. The rationale is simple. No single person in government should have the power to spend $87 million on their own authority.
That is entirely too much power for one person to have over his fellow citizens. Our state constitution explicitly grants the power to appropriate money for precisely the reason that spending decisions should be subject to a rigorous legislative process and not be the subject to the arbitrary whims of a solitary governor.
The process to amend the state’s constitution is, rightly, a lengthy one. The amendment must pass both houses of the legislature in two consecutive sessions. Then the amendment must pass a statewide referendum. Fortunately, the governor is not involved in the amendment process.
Wisconsin’s governor’s veto authority makes him or her too powerful. It was true for Governor Walker. It is true for Governor Evers. It will be true for the next governor. It will be true for the one after that unless we change it. Taking a small step to limit that veto authority is not a partisan issue. It is just a simple reform to make a better government.
