Administration Committee

The Village Administration Committee met on Wednesday, June 5 at 8:00 a.m. in the Village Board room, 316 Brad Street S, Grantsburg, WI 54840. Present: Chairman/President Terrance Kucera Trustee Hank Java Trustee Greg Peer Others: DPW John Erickson Clerk/Treasurer Sheila Meyer WI DNR Personnel Michelle Nault, Austin Dehn, Pamela Toshner, James Yach, Madison Johansen via Microsoft Teams Chairman/President Kucera called the Administration Committee Meeting to order at 8.15 a.m. Memory Lake: remote meeting with WI DNR personnel to discuss future requirements. Clerk/Treasurer Meyer explained to the committee that the Village wanted to have this meeting to discuss options for lake management, plan requirements and potential costs for the next five to ten years. The Aquatic Plan Management plan that SEH is working on will be required to be updated every 5 years. This plan is required to allow GRO-Watercross to request weed cutting permits each year. DNR personnel stated that an update would require baseline point intercept aquatic plant surveys to evaluate if the strategies in the existing plan need updating. There are potential grant funds to help with plan update costs. One obstacle in the AMP and weed cutting requests is the amount of wild rice present in Memory Lake which has state protected status. The WI DNR personnel indicated it is not likely to get permission to remove the wild rice from Memory Lake and relocate as it had been presented in the past. DNR Staff clarified that the AMP is only a portion of an overall lake management plan. Clerk/Treasurer Meyer indicated the last lake management plan was completed in 2012 but was not fully executed due to financial reasons. The committee discussed possible options for the lake including dredging, removal of the damn, etc. and asked if the 2012 plan would need to be redone for these types of projects. DNR personnel indicated that it is likely that dredging, dam removal, etc. were not included in the 2012 plan so it would need to be completed to better align with the Village’s updated goals. The DNR personnel explained that the surface water grant could assist with lake management plan development and there may be grant programs for restoration of the lake and implementation of the plan but dredging is generally not eligible. President Kucera asked if Memory Lake was a manmade lake, does the DNR have authority over how the village manages the lake. The DNR indicated that any navigable water is considered ‘waters of the state’ and are under DNR management. The group discussed management of the dam. The WI DNR personnel indicated that draw downs and water levels would be included in the lake management plan and would need to be evaluated if the Village choose to remove the dam. The group discussed this years GRO-Watercross event. The WI DNR indicated that they plan to receive portions of the AMP from SEH this week and Clerk/Treasurer Meyer said the weed cutting permit from GRO- Watercross would likely be submitted at the same time. On a previous call the DNR provided SEH with minimum requirements needed of the AMP to be able to review a weed cutting permit since there was not enough time between last years’ event and weed cutting permit deadlines to complete the entire AMP. The committee clarified that both mechanical and manual removal of weeds would require a weed cutting permit through the DNR. The DNR group indicated that a multi-year permit may be issued after this year if the plan stays the same. The committee asked about dredging and the DNR group asked any questions be sent to them so they can forward on to the waterways and wetlands department as they cover those types of projects. No motions were made. Motion by Trustee Peer second by President Kucera to adjourn the meeting at 9:14 a.m. Motion carried. Allison Longhenry Deputy Clerk/Treasurer