Parks
lagoons in bad shape Jacobus Park recommended
as one of three pilot clean-up sites
April
4, 2006 -- Many of the county's
park lagoons have e. coli at elevated
levels and are increasingly filled with nutrients
that allow the growth of algae and noxious aquatic
plants, according to a new report.
Jacobus
Park in Wauwatosa should be one of three sites
used to study alternative clean-up methods,
county Director of Transportation and Public
Works George Torres wrote in a memo to County
Board Chairman Lee Holloway.
The
other two are Humboldt and Dineen Parks, both
in Milwaukee.
The
county's 68 park ponds, lakes and lagoons also
suffer from noxious plants, shoreline erosion
and high turbidity, Torres wrote.
"There
is evidence of declining water quality over
the last two decades," he said.
The
e. coli counts generally do not pose a threat
to public health because swimming is prohibited
in the lagoons, according to the Milwaukee County
Pond and Lagoon Management Plan.
The
nutrients -- most notably phosphorous -- hurt
the fish population and the pond's aesthetics,
the report said.
The
lagoon in Jacobus Park, close to Story Hill,
is plagued by high turbidity, or stirred-up
sediments or foreign particles; rough fish,
which are fish that stir up bottom sediment
and increase turbidity and reintroducing nutrients;
and nuisance plants.
The
proposed pilot plan for the park includes:
Draining
the lagoon to nearly dry conditions.
Removing
and disposing of all fish.
Removing
nuisance aquatic plants.
A
period of no action.
Re-fillilng
the lagoon.
Re-stocking
the lagoon.
Trying
to fix all the lagoons would be very expensive,
and establishing pilot projects will allow the
county to judge the effectiveness of various strategies,
Torres said.
Parks
to slash seasonals 150
jobs risk; up 20% from earlier estimates
April
4, 2006 -- The county Parks Department
is planning to cut about 150 seasonal jobs, a 20%
increase over earlier estimates, records show.
The cuts -- which will total about 100,000 labor
hours -- will mean reduced maintenance of ball
diamonds, picnic areas, parks, parkways, turf,
bike trails, soccer fields, and roads, according
to Parks Director Sue Black.
Trash
pickup will be reduced, nightly park security
patrols will be curtailed, snow removal will be
cut back and there will be fewer special event
set-ups as the department tries to close a projected
$2.63 million deficit, Black wrote in a March
31 memo to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin, chair
of the County Board's Parks Committee.
The
seasonal staff cuts will save about $984,000,
Black said in the memo, to be discussed by the
Parks Committee on Tuesday.
Black
estimated in January that 125 workers would have
to be cut.
The
150-person cut "is on top of the 20%, or
$1.2 million in reductions that were implemented
in 2005," she wrote.
The
Parks Department's adopted revenue budget is $19.2
million, but the department expects to earn a
total of just $16.6 million, Black said.
The
Parks Department revenue budget has been inflated
"for a number of years."
To
close the gap, the department is cutting a total
of almost $2.6 million from its wages account
for the year, Black said.
"The
Parks Department will continue to require that
the 15 supervisor positions that are currently
unfilled remain unfilled in 2006 along with any
non-critical positions that become vacant during
the year," she said.
The
department also is cutting its services and commodities
budget by $200,000, a move that will lead to reductions
in advertising, housekeeping, building maintenance,
trash removal, postage, training, and portable
toilet rental.
The
department also is trying to save money in other
ways, Black wrote. They include:
Asking
WE Energies to perform energy audits on large
energy-sucking areas of the Parks Department.
"Utility controls have been locked down
and are being monitored to enforce compliance
with energy conservation," Black wrote.
Entering
into service agreements with areas of county
governements that perform services for the Parks
Department for fees, called "cross charges."
The agreements, Black said, will help the Parks
Department ensure the total cross charges incurred
are within budget.
Request
Facilities Management to prepare work orders
and cost estimates for jobs requested by the
Parks Department.
More
closely monitor purchases and other expenditures.
DeBruin
expects to be removed as parks chair
Feb.
3, 2006 -- County
Supervisor Lynne DeBruin said Thursday that she
expects County Board Chairman Lee Holloway to replace
her as chair of the County Board Parks Committee.
DeBruin
described herself as a "ringleader" in
the current attempt to remove Holloway as board
chairman, and said she expected him to boot her
as committee chair "because of the history
with the other supervisors."
Holloway
last month removed Supervisor Joseph Rice as chair
of the Judiciary Committee, and removed Supervisor
John Weishan as a member of the same committee.
Earlier, he removed Supervisor Roger Quindel as
chair of the Personnel Committee.
DeBruin
also said she and Holloway recently "had a
pretty frank discussion of when we might have to
part ways."
While
she expects to be ousted, she said, "if it
doesn't happen -- great."
DeBruin
is among 10 supervisors who have signed a letter
calling for a special County Board meeting Feb.
20 to elect a new chairman. There are legal questions
about the move.
storyhill.net
interview:
The
parks deficit
Jan.
31, 2006 -- What does the chair of the
County Board's Parks Committee thing about the $2.3
million deficit in the county parks department?
Listen
to an interview with Parks Committee Chair Lynne
DeBruin.
We
ask:
Should
Parks Director Sue Black be fired?
Does
DeBruin agree with with Budget Director Steve Agostini's
negative view of County Executive Scott Walker's
management team?
And
listen to DeBruin's assessment of Walker's claims
about the parks: "Trust, but verify."
Listen
to the interview (conducted Jan. 26):
Parks
Department projects $2.3 million deficit
May
23, 2005 -- The struggling county Parks
Department is projecting a $2.3 million revenue
shortfall, according to a county report released
last week.
The
department will have to cut its $37 million budget
about 5% to to break even this year, county budget
figures show.
The
county was struggling to maintain its park system
even before the deficit was revealed.
Parks
Director Sue Black said in a memo that her department
would again reduce expenditures to ensure a balanced
budget, as it did last year.
"If
revenues collected exceed the internal projections,
the additional revenue will be allocated for increased
expenditures," she wrote.
This
is at least the sixth year in a row that the county
significantly overestimated the revenue the department
would bring in, according to county figures.
Parks
Department revenue reality never quite measures
up to target
Year
Target
(Mill. $)
Actual
(Mill. $)
2000
$18.3
$16.3
2001
$18.6
$16.7
2002
$18.9
$17.4
2003
$21.0
$16.2
2004
$19.5
$15.8
2005
$19.2
Source:
Milwaukee County
County
battles geese, invasive weeds
Dec.
13, 2004 -- The county will launch new
efforts next year to rid parks of geese and invasive
weeds, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.
While
it will be a fight to the death with the invasives,
the county simply wants the geese to stop multiplying
themselves and their poop, DeBruin said.
The
county will issue a broad request for qualifications
for geese busters, DeBruin said. Different de-geesing
tactics will be used in parks best suited for them,
she said. Officials even are willing to consider
allowing more dogs in parks as a goose deterrent.
But
won't that just be trading goose poop for pup poop?
"The
amount of dog poop generated in a park compared
to goose poop is nothin'," she said.
A
big reason that the county has so much trouble getting
rid of the geese is that people keep feeding them,
she said.
"Our
number one problem is parents with little kids and
grandparents and grandchildren," DeBruin said.
The
county may seek authority to hire wardens who can
issue citations, she said.
"If
somebody actually got ticketed for feeding the geese,
they might think twice about doing it," she
said.
The
wardens also would be able to issue tickets for
other ordinance violations that occur in parks,
she said.
On
the invasives issue, DeBruin said the parks division
will establish four full-time positions Jan. 1 to
deal with invasives and natural area issues in the
parks, she said.
"We
need an all-out plan for the natural areas,"
she said.
The
natural area on the west side of Story Hill's Mitchell
Blvd. Park is a success, she said, and is used as
a model by the Parks Department.
The natural area on the west side of Mitchell
Blvd. Park is a success
The
natural area on the southeast end of the park, however,
has been overwhelmed with burdock, an invasive weed.
Neighborhood
residents have refrained from pulling the weeds
because of union objections to volunteer work in
the parks while County Executive Scott Walker was
whacking staff positions. Now, however, the union
has relented on Weed-Out participation, a mainly
volunteer effort to control invasives, DeBruin said.
Mitchell
Blvd. Park could be a candidate for a Weed-Out
effort, or the neighborhood could work to get the
Parks Department to take care of the burdock problem,
DeBruin said.
