River Valley Concerned Citizens

Preserving the Quality of Life

• December 29, 2008 Mike Birr "Spring Green Town Election Caucus Information" <- Important message from Mike Birr, please read.
  • Tuesday - January 6^th - "A meeting is scheduled for all of the River Valley Concerned Citizens and residents of our Township
    at the Spring Green library Tuesday, January 6^th at 7:00 PM
    to discuss potential candidates for the April 2009 elections of our Town Board.
    Your attendance is vitally needed at both this and the caucus meeting."
  • Thursday - January 15^th - "Top Priority: "please be aware that the Spring Green Town 2009 Election Caucus will be held
    at the Town Hall Thursday, January 15^th at 7:00 PM.
    This will be an important meeting for all to attend."
     
• "Trench Warfare" - Legal Chaos in Spring Green - Flood of legal fees despite scarce tax dollars for flood victims
  • 12/10/2008 - Email from lawyer for Spring Green Drainage District (SGDD) to lawyer for Town of Spring Green
  • 12/10/2008 - Email from lawyer for Town of Spring Green to lawyer for Spring Green Drainage District(SGDD)
    • "(1) there is confusion as to the legal authority of the drainage district and board members, and
      (2) so that expenses (yours included) are not incurred without understanding who is responsible for payment."
  • SGDD's Motion to Vacate their Oct 3, 2008 request to be appointed so that they can be reappointed
• Wisconsin Winter Weather and Road Conditions
• Mike Birr: "Agenda of Thursday Oct 2 Town Board Meeting"
• Mike Birr: "Attend the Wednesday Oct 1 Town Board Meeting on Drainage District Issue"
• September 26 Mike Birr Letter to the Editor: "Spring Green Flood Buyout Program" Mike Birr Disagress with Stenner on Nov 4 Referendum
• September 17 & 18 Town Board Meeting Agendas - To discuss borrowing $600,000 more for buyouts, Interview with Jewell and Town Board by David Giffey
• September 3, 2008 Letter from Mike Birr to Town Board Members:
  Jewell says "it" will cost $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. Should residents know what "it" is??
   

  Town Board Members; An urgent interest of the residents is for the Board to generate a revised 2008 Town Budget as there is possibly expenditures that are not on the existing approved budget. This being added emergency flood issues, added meeting costs, travel and new expenditures. Additionally, it is requested that the Town Board provide a "draft" of a financial paper showing the proposed terms and effect on a property owner, to retire,(1) fire station, (2) Jewell cost, (3) Flood project cost, (4) FEMA residence buyout - Town's portion, (5) any additional loans needing to be retired at the cost of the land owners. This should be approved by the town residents. The Board must define what is being covered by the Flood Project Costs? For $200,000 there should be an Item list with projected costs. We expect these issues to be answered at the Thursday, September 4th meeting.

   

• August 27, 2008  Clark Creek, Sauk County, Channel 3 News: "Residents Near Clark Creek Looking For Solutions To Flooding"
  "Residents met with local state and federal leaders on Wednesday to brainstorm possible options to help alleviate the chronic problem.
  FEMA is currently attempting to add Clark Creek as part of a study the U.S. Geological Survey is conducting in the state, WISC-TV reported.
  County officials said a federal study like that could definitely unlock some answers for residents."
   
• September 2, 2008 from Mike Birr - Agenda for Town of Spring Green Board Meetings On September 4, 2008 & September 10, 2008
• From Mike Birr: Town of Spring Green Special Town Meeting August 23, 2008
  A special Town Meeting was held for the purpose of obtaining voter approval to borrow funds for issues related to the 2008 flooding. Voters had to be present for the vote.
  1. To give the Town Board approval to pass a resolution to borrow up to $200,000 to pay for operations and road repair related to the 2008 flooding.
     Yes 73 No 15
  2. To give the Town Board approval to pass a resolution to borrow up to $150,000 to contract with Jewell Associates for an investigation/feasibility study for solutions to flooding in the Spring Green valley.
     Yes 71 No 10
• August 20, 2008 Trench Warfare Begins in Spring Green: Jewell Associates To Get No Bid Contract for Flood Control?

Mike Birr, "Here is a copy of Jewell's proposal our Town Board expects to approve at 9:00 AM Saturday, August 23rd meeting to be held at the school theater without a referendum. We all need to attend this meeting to voice public concerns and needs. Acceptance of this without competitive proposals should not be allowed no matter how urgent the situation is today." 'Probable Costruction (sic) Costs $3,000,000 to $5,000,000.

• August 16, 2008 WSJ "Floods create unlikely fishing hole at Spring Green airport"
  Does spending million$ on digging a trench really make sense? Did pumping water for a month in Spring Green lower the water level at Hwy 14 and Hwy 23? Will digging an "extremely deep" trench pollute well water?
• August 16, 2008 EPA Proposes to Loosen Rules for Contained Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO)
• August 16, 2008 Video of Wisconsin River cleanup from Lake Delton and floods.
• August 14, 2008 Letter to the Editor from Mike Birr - "The Town Board is circumventing the Feasibility Report"
• August 13, 2008 - Is the restoration of prairies, oak savannahs and wetlands part of the long term solution to flooding in River Valley?
  Read this report by Sally Konnak: "Some speculation about how River Valley valleys and terraces may have handled water absorption and runoff prior to white settlement" (3.2 MB .pdf file)
• July 10, 2008 RVCC Exclusive - Photos of Gov. Doyle and FEMA Visit to Spring Green
  Related story by Channel 3
• Don't Drink the Beer! Is it safe to drink unopened cans of beer and soda that were floating in floodwater?
• July 9, 2008 WSJ "Floodwater 'just not going away' near Spring Green"   Click here for Images
  "Let 's not sugarcoat this. On Gene Dischler 's dirty, stinking, fetid, scum-covered front lawn Tuesday, the water that has been there since June 8 would make you puke if you were so foolish as to come anywhere near it."
• July 7, 2008 From Mike Birr: July 8 Plan Commission Meeting Agenda
  "As residents, we all need to be involved in helping out our Town officials and the residents most effected by this flood and put measures in place to protect homeowners from future disasters."
• July 7, 2008 From Sharon Stark to Town Officials:
  "At a time when it is critically important for the town to act as quickly and effectively as possible, you are unable to deal openly with town residents. This must change."
• July 7, 2008 From Timm Zumm Checkup on Wisconsin River Water Quality Before Taking the Plunge
• July 5, 2008 Mike Birr Asks Town Board, "Who Approved Construction in Flood Areas?"
• July 3, 2008 Town of Spring Green Board Meeting
• August 31 KC's River Valley Flood Victim Benefit Program
• July 16 Lower Wisconsin River Road Scenic Byways Advisory Committee in Boscobel
• June 28, 2008 Health Officials Warn Not To Play In Floodwater  - Boy's E. coli Might Have Come From Floodwater
• June 27, 2008 Spring Green and Sauk County Declared Federal Disaster Area - if you have flood damage you can seek assistance from the government.
• 2008 Flood Information
• 6/25/2008 - Pair on town board to stay; Marcellon voters decide to keep members

• May 24, 2008 Gotham-to-Spring Green ATV Trail?
• May 20, 2008 "Cardinal Glass to open solar panel factory in Mazomanie"

  Cardinal Glass will build a $60 million factory in western Dane County that could employ 120 people by the end of 2009.

  The Spring Green Village Board had approved plans for the new factory and heavy equipment began clearing the land. But within three weeks, the work abruptly stopped. Residents nearby opposed the project, so they hired an attorney, Bond said. "They had a whole list of demands that would make it very, very difficult to operate," he said.

• May 22, 2008 "MAILBAG: Opening Marcellon Township's Pandora's Box"
• May 21, 2008 "MAILBAG: Marcellon quarry issue a learning experience"
• May 20, 2008 Portage Daily Register: "Marcellon officials to face recall June 24"
• May 16, 2008 Portage Daily Register: "Marcellon officials face recall effort; Anti-quarry group seeks to unseat two town board members"

Group Concerned Citizens of Marcellon (http://www.ccmarcellon.org/ ) is formed to fight Kraemer Co.

Letters to Concerned Citizens of Marcellon.