1 00:00:03,660 --> 00:00:05,820 Okay, we are officially live. 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:16,740 Right, hello everyone. This is the Land Conservation Committee meeting. It's Monday, July 20, 2026 at 1 p.m. 3 00:00:16,980 --> 00:00:18,800 We get a roll call. The committee, please. 4 00:00:19,140 --> 00:00:20,860 Chair, Brian Holtz. 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:21,000 Here. 6 00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:23,280 Vice Chair, Rick Stacey. 7 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:26,860 Supervisor, Sheila Reeve. 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:27,140 Here. 9 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,080 Citizen member, Richard Kunky Jr. 10 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:30,700 Here. 11 00:00:30,700 --> 00:00:38,060 And I have received word that citizen representative Michael Bergman will not be present and let 12 00:00:38,060 --> 00:00:41,120 the record show that Rick Stacey is not present at the moment. 13 00:00:42,250 --> 00:00:43,520 We have a quorum. 14 00:00:44,140 --> 00:00:44,460 Thank you. 15 00:00:44,980 --> 00:00:47,020 Next would be approval of the agenda. 16 00:00:49,010 --> 00:00:49,650 So moved. 17 00:00:50,290 --> 00:00:51,410 Motion by Comkey. 18 00:00:53,380 --> 00:00:53,840 Second. 19 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:55,320 Second by Reef. 20 00:00:56,150 --> 00:00:57,520 All those in favor say aye. 21 00:00:57,900 --> 00:00:58,200 Aye. 22 00:00:58,640 --> 00:00:59,220 Any opposed? 23 00:01:00,060 --> 00:01:00,340 All right. 24 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:01,220 Our agenda is approved. 25 00:01:01,220 --> 00:01:07,840 Next is the approval of the minutes from May 18th five of your packet. So moved 26 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:14,520 Second. Motion by Reeve second by Conkey all those in favor say aye. Aye. Any 27 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:19,340 opposed? Okay our minutes are approved. Next is the time period allotted for 28 00:01:19,340 --> 00:01:22,440 public comment is there anyone from the public wishing to speak or anyone on 29 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:22,780 the phone? 30 00:01:25,610 --> 00:01:29,970 Okay we'll move on to item six this is the Potter's Lake Protection 31 00:01:29,970 --> 00:01:37,190 and Rehabilitation District. This is the county representative in interview. Pages six through 32 00:01:37,190 --> 00:01:40,570 seven. And at this point, I'll invite Christopher Ozele. 33 00:01:43,310 --> 00:01:46,310 No, it's not. I'll get it right. Come on 34 00:01:46,310 --> 00:01:51,150 up. We'll do our interview here. Yep. And then just make sure that the microphone is turned on. 35 00:01:51,270 --> 00:01:57,290 Just a single press will cross the red. You're good. Yep. You're on. Okay. Welcome. Thanks 36 00:01:57,290 --> 00:02:04,150 for coming in. Thank you for having me. Are you a resident of Walworth County? I am. And are you residing 37 00:02:04,150 --> 00:02:08,990 in the district where that you are going to be representing? Yes. Okay. Do you own property 38 00:02:08,990 --> 00:02:13,890 within the boundaries of Potters Lake? You've said yes. Do you have experience with Potters Lake 39 00:02:13,890 --> 00:02:18,970 Protection and Rehabilitation District? Mostly just by attending local meetings so far. 40 00:02:19,470 --> 00:02:26,270 I've never served in any capacity yet but try to make as many meetings as I can 41 00:02:26,270 --> 00:02:29,670 and familiar with Kathy and the board over there. 42 00:02:29,970 --> 00:02:30,310 Okay. 43 00:02:31,070 --> 00:02:32,970 What are the most important responsibilities 44 00:02:32,970 --> 00:02:35,250 for serving as Walworth County's upon? 45 00:02:36,270 --> 00:02:37,330 That's a good question. 46 00:02:38,130 --> 00:02:40,710 I read through, excuse me, the job description 47 00:02:41,570 --> 00:02:44,150 and it seems to me that the primary task 48 00:02:44,150 --> 00:02:46,350 is to serve as liaison between the county 49 00:02:46,990 --> 00:02:49,170 and the Potter Lake rehabilitation district. 50 00:02:50,110 --> 00:02:52,470 Seems like that can be anywhere from 51 00:02:54,130 --> 00:02:58,810 voting regulations all the way through waste management or anything that comes 52 00:02:58,810 --> 00:03:04,870 up that would affect the district. Then just acting simply as liaison between 53 00:03:04,870 --> 00:03:10,650 the two parties and making sure that everyone's on the same page. Great. I'll 54 00:03:10,650 --> 00:03:14,010 expand on that a little. There's several of us here that service those 55 00:03:14,610 --> 00:03:21,210 representatives and just from our experience there are it will be 56 00:03:21,210 --> 00:03:26,510 important to be tapped into what the land conservation is doing or what this committee 57 00:03:26,510 --> 00:03:32,450 is doing are just county-wide issues because when you're going to do your report monthly, 58 00:03:32,510 --> 00:03:36,790 quarterly, whenever you guys are meeting, there'll be a question, what's happening at the county? 59 00:03:37,010 --> 00:03:42,670 Sometimes that's nothing, but sometimes if there is a key initiative happening around lakes, 60 00:03:43,230 --> 00:03:48,290 it's kind of your job to make sure that that information is passed on to the district 61 00:03:48,290 --> 00:03:53,510 so that they can act on it if they choose to, including programs that are coming down from 62 00:03:53,510 --> 00:04:01,550 the DNR, etc. What I'll say in this too is that pending approval, just keep my number and Mandy's 63 00:04:01,550 --> 00:04:08,250 number around. You have any questions. Sometimes one of the main things you do is save the district 64 00:04:08,250 --> 00:04:15,530 money if they're considering doing aerial photo, talking to the Regional Planning Commission, 65 00:04:15,530 --> 00:04:19,570 those type of things there's always it's always easy enough to ask us a question 66 00:04:19,570 --> 00:04:22,510 so that we're not duplicating efforts or it's something that could fall into 67 00:04:22,510 --> 00:04:26,490 something that we're doing sure next one would be it's a little bit unique with 68 00:04:26,490 --> 00:04:32,830 you also being a member of the district to just keep in mind that you can vote 69 00:04:32,830 --> 00:04:38,070 on anything you'll be a voting member but in this case you're voting as a 70 00:04:38,070 --> 00:04:42,210 representative of the county not necessarily in your personal interests as 71 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:43,550 So like district, I'm sure. 72 00:04:44,010 --> 00:04:44,470 Understood. 73 00:04:45,570 --> 00:04:46,390 Thanks for that. 74 00:04:47,270 --> 00:04:47,750 Yeah. 75 00:04:48,170 --> 00:04:49,890 What are the most, okay, we got that one. 76 00:04:50,050 --> 00:04:52,070 What qualifications make you a good candidate? 77 00:04:52,350 --> 00:04:52,510 That's fair. 78 00:04:52,930 --> 00:04:54,410 I think on my resume over there, 79 00:04:54,630 --> 00:04:57,550 I mentioned that for the last 10 years, 80 00:04:57,730 --> 00:05:01,470 I served as a secretary treasurer for my pilot union. 81 00:05:01,670 --> 00:05:03,130 I'm a pilot right now for American. 82 00:05:03,390 --> 00:05:05,050 I was formerly with spirit, 83 00:05:06,010 --> 00:05:07,910 but I was the secretary treasurer. 84 00:05:07,950 --> 00:05:09,510 So I oversaw 32 committees 85 00:05:09,510 --> 00:05:15,930 and $7 million of dues income a year and allocated funds back and forth. How 86 00:05:15,930 --> 00:05:22,510 that's relevant is to your point that you just mentioned, I was responsible for 87 00:05:22,510 --> 00:05:29,910 making sure that that the vote or the will of a bigger body was represented, 88 00:05:30,070 --> 00:05:36,030 not just my own. Sometimes that came with an education piece and sometimes 89 00:05:36,030 --> 00:05:42,130 that that just was simply a straight vote. So I come with a parliamentarian 90 00:05:42,130 --> 00:05:48,910 background with Roberts Rules of Order and kind of more of a we'll call it like 91 00:05:48,910 --> 00:05:55,070 a servant style leadership background where it's not necessarily me doing 92 00:05:55,070 --> 00:06:00,790 something directly with a large body but more in a listening capacity and 93 00:06:00,790 --> 00:06:05,130 education capacity. Well great when you're done being a pilot you can run 94 00:06:05,130 --> 00:06:05,970 for local office. 95 00:06:08,350 --> 00:06:12,630 Are you currently receiving any salary compensation or fees for services 96 00:06:12,630 --> 00:06:15,910 that could be considered a conflict of interest with your appointment? 97 00:06:16,410 --> 00:06:16,510 No. 98 00:06:16,910 --> 00:06:20,890 Okay. Do you have any other perceived conflicts of interest with the Lake District? 99 00:06:21,150 --> 00:06:21,290 No. 100 00:06:22,210 --> 00:06:26,990 Do you have any restrictions that represent times or days that you could not attend 101 00:06:26,990 --> 00:06:27,910 district meetings? 102 00:06:29,150 --> 00:06:34,670 My schedule is fairly random, but that being said, if I know about something the further 103 00:06:34,670 --> 00:06:40,210 out I know about it the easier it is to maneuver around it but there will be times I don't know if 104 00:06:40,210 --> 00:06:46,390 you've traveled recently but I'll get stuck somewhere so does the district offer a virtual 105 00:06:47,570 --> 00:06:53,230 option yes I'm pretty sure that they do I don't think I've actually witnessed it but I think 106 00:06:53,230 --> 00:06:59,810 that they do I know that this body does correct yeah okay that's all the questions I have any 107 00:06:59,810 --> 00:07:00,890 any other questions from the committee? 108 00:07:01,810 --> 00:07:02,930 No, thank you for coming in. 109 00:07:03,090 --> 00:07:03,590 Very good, thanks. 110 00:07:09,710 --> 00:07:12,990 Do you want us to entertain approval or denial now? 111 00:07:13,670 --> 00:07:16,210 Yes, you certainly can if you're ready to move forward 112 00:07:16,210 --> 00:07:16,610 with that. 113 00:07:17,010 --> 00:07:17,950 Great, a motion from the committee. 114 00:07:18,070 --> 00:07:19,030 I'll do a motion to approve. 115 00:07:19,710 --> 00:07:19,970 A second. 116 00:07:20,470 --> 00:07:22,970 Reef and then Konke, any other discussion? 117 00:07:23,950 --> 00:07:25,470 All those in favor say aye. 118 00:07:26,070 --> 00:07:26,490 Aye. 119 00:07:27,590 --> 00:07:28,110 Any opposed? 120 00:07:29,270 --> 00:07:30,390 All right, congrats Chris. 121 00:07:30,390 --> 00:07:37,710 Yep, it'll move on to the County Board meeting Monday August 10th for approval 122 00:07:38,410 --> 00:07:40,730 and then would be finalized at that meeting. 123 00:07:42,550 --> 00:07:46,350 Information from your office will go out to the Lake District about your 124 00:07:46,350 --> 00:07:53,470 appointment. Correct. If there's a meeting between now and then I would just 125 00:07:53,470 --> 00:08:01,090 attend in a non-official capacity. Yeah and then if you have any I guess detailed 126 00:08:01,090 --> 00:08:05,950 questions on like yeah communication back and forth and stuff like that we 127 00:08:05,950 --> 00:08:06,630 can certainly 128 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,420 yes sure 129 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:23,100 yeah I I imagine she'll let you know everything and and 130 00:08:23,100 --> 00:08:27,840 it yeah I'm sure it'll be accurate but yeah if you have any questions let me 131 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:32,880 know. All right, thank you. Okay, we'll move on to Mid-Year Item 7 Mid-Year 132 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:35,280 Progress Report for the Water Quality Specialist Intern. 133 00:08:38,900 --> 00:08:40,320 Good to see 134 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:44,540 everyone again today. So this is just a mid-summer update kind of what I've 135 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:51,380 been up to so far this summer. So first I just wanted to highlight both our June 136 00:08:51,380 --> 00:08:57,600 and July newsletter. So our newsletters are posted to our Facebook as the 137 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,380 county website. So they all include just kind of the general first slide. So this 138 00:09:02,380 --> 00:09:09,720 one on the left is the exit from June and then an informational one as well. So 139 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:14,220 the one for July highlighted those cleaning stations around Wallworth 140 00:09:14,220 --> 00:09:19,060 County that have done a great job and so we have a variety of different ones. 141 00:09:19,380 --> 00:09:25,060 There's homemade ones, there's the DNR removal ones and then there's also 142 00:09:25,060 --> 00:09:31,700 the CD3 stations that are at Geneva Lake as well. And then additionally in those 143 00:09:31,700 --> 00:09:36,920 newsletters we have a species spotlight so that's different for each month. For 144 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:42,420 June that was Purple Loose Drive and then also just a page going over the 145 00:09:42,420 --> 00:09:49,680 upcoming events as well. Can I ask a question on? Yeah go ahead. Is there 146 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:56,060 still signups available and then what's the finest go to the county website and 147 00:09:56,060 --> 00:10:02,040 click yes so there is still signup available signup closes noon August 7th 148 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,660 so that's the day before and the county website there's a link on there and then 149 00:10:06,660 --> 00:10:12,480 also there's a direct link and then where is where it's the meet up 150 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:18,300 happening that is we're starting here outside and then we're going to 151 00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:23,260 different locations across the county. So we have White River, we're going to White 152 00:10:23,260 --> 00:10:29,440 River County Park to do some there, Comis Lake, and then maybe if we have enough 153 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:37,620 people and enough time, then what is it Baymen Lake? Bayman Park? Bayman Park, and 154 00:10:37,620 --> 00:10:42,980 then as well as a station off of Geneva Lake, there's like a creek that runs 155 00:10:42,980 --> 00:10:47,560 that way as well. So how many people is too many people? Because I could get 156 00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:49,640 at the Elkhorn Rotary Club, most likely to show up 157 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,420 to bateman to manage that park stand, 158 00:10:52,680 --> 00:10:54,000 or I should at least invite them. 159 00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:59,400 Yeah, yeah, it all depends on the size sometimes. 160 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:03,320 And, you know, we have about three hours or so 161 00:11:03,320 --> 00:11:04,400 to complete it. 162 00:11:04,660 --> 00:11:07,200 So if we get a large enough group, 163 00:11:07,560 --> 00:11:08,760 it will be Hannah and I, 164 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,220 participants will split up and each take a group 165 00:11:12,220 --> 00:11:16,080 and kind of do a divide and conquer situation. 166 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:21,500 situation. Let me see if I can get some interest from the club on Wednesday and I'll let you know. 167 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:22,500 Yeah, that'd be great. Sure. 168 00:11:24,870 --> 00:11:29,790 All right. And then also something new that I decided to do this year 169 00:11:29,790 --> 00:11:35,470 was also make a kids newsletter. So these are just three examples of what the pages are looking 170 00:11:35,470 --> 00:11:42,150 like. I also had a couple of other pages with more activities, but these were handed out to 171 00:11:42,150 --> 00:11:49,790 some of our local libraries. So Elkhorn, Williams Bay, Fontana, East Troy, Tuxam, and so those 172 00:11:49,790 --> 00:11:55,350 were offered and they're also going to be on the website as well. And so first our first 173 00:11:55,350 --> 00:12:00,970 page here just kind of highlighting what aquatic invasive species are. And then I made a variety 174 00:12:00,970 --> 00:12:06,390 of activities. So we have an I spy page as well as a coloring page. And then there's 175 00:12:06,390 --> 00:12:11,350 also. A maze, a quiz as well. So yeah. 176 00:12:16,660 --> 00:12:18,940 And then I figured since I was going around to the local 177 00:12:18,940 --> 00:12:24,540 libraries anyways, that I'd make an informational bookmark for them as well. So this is just kind 178 00:12:24,540 --> 00:12:26,600 of highlighting some invaders. 179 00:12:30,190 --> 00:12:34,550 And then we had our clean boats, clean waters training. So we had 180 00:12:34,550 --> 00:12:41,170 one here at the county as well as with Lake Biola. So in total we had 29 volunteers between 181 00:12:41,170 --> 00:12:45,430 the two events so trained a whole bunch of people a lot of people were engaged 182 00:12:45,430 --> 00:12:47,870 and came with a lot of questions which and 183 00:12:49,920 --> 00:12:54,140 then lastly here if it changes to the 184 00:12:54,140 --> 00:12:59,020 next slide there we go so I've also been doing some early detection monitoring 185 00:12:59,020 --> 00:13:04,680 trainings I assisted Amanda from Waukesha County as well as Scott who 186 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:10,260 works for WC grant he does Kenosha County's aquatic invasive species so 187 00:13:10,260 --> 00:13:15,420 So this trained me on the protocols for early detection monitoring and how to do them myself. 188 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:19,840 So now I'll be doing some around our county in the upcoming weeks, which I'm super excited 189 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:20,100 about. 190 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:26,020 So yeah, those were just some of the things that I had so far. 191 00:13:27,100 --> 00:13:30,840 And yeah, so let me know if any of you guys have any questions. 192 00:13:31,380 --> 00:13:33,080 Well, Lake Beulah is finally doing it. 193 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:33,960 Yes. 194 00:13:34,460 --> 00:13:39,920 I know they're they're running just kind of like a whoever volunteers for it this 195 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:44,520 year and then seeing how it goes next year. They want to actually hire people to 196 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:50,880 go and do it. It also seems pretty glad I got you to connect with him. Yes, yeah. Yeah, 197 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:57,320 he attended our event when we did it here upstairs early in the season. I'm really 198 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:02,220 glad to see you took the initiative to move forward on it. See one of the pictures 199 00:14:02,620 --> 00:14:03,680 was that this year? 200 00:14:04,020 --> 00:14:04,980 Yes, that was this year. 201 00:14:05,600 --> 00:14:06,360 When was that? 202 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:10,340 That was, I think it was in like June, mid-June, I want to say. 203 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:10,820 Okay. 204 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:12,240 Thank you. 205 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:12,840 Yeah. 206 00:14:13,820 --> 00:14:14,680 Any other questions? 207 00:14:15,640 --> 00:14:16,140 All right. 208 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:16,820 Thank you for the report. 209 00:14:16,980 --> 00:14:17,460 Yeah, thank you. 210 00:14:18,940 --> 00:14:23,640 Our next item is 2027 budget ideas or considerations. 211 00:14:24,620 --> 00:14:27,840 This is, again, it's our open-ended discussion about stuff that the 212 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:30,340 committee would like to see on the budget or questions. 213 00:14:30,340 --> 00:14:39,500 Correct. Yes. So I don't have anything specifically to talk about, just an open dialogue if there 214 00:14:39,500 --> 00:14:47,340 was anything. I guess the one thing I will mention, the annual SWARM grant the county 215 00:14:47,340 --> 00:14:56,660 receives for staffing costs with the governor's biannual budget in 2026. Each county did 216 00:14:56,660 --> 00:14:59,820 see an increase in allocations so that 217 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:09,480 We'll carry forward into 2027 as well. It may be slightly more than we saw in 2026, 218 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:16,400 but yeah, we'll get that again in 2027, and then I guess we'll see what happens with the next budget. 219 00:15:23,730 --> 00:15:29,810 Thank you for that. Our next meeting date is going to be Monday, September 14th, 2026. 220 00:15:30,270 --> 00:15:37,230 That meeting will be here in this room at 1 p.m. I'll entertain a motion to Jane. 221 00:15:38,310 --> 00:15:39,010 So move. 222 00:15:39,990 --> 00:15:43,370 We got a motion by Reef, second by Stacey. All those in favor say aye. 223 00:15:44,210 --> 00:15:48,570 Any opposed? All right. We're adjourned. Thank you everybody. Thanks for coming and Chris.