In 2001 a focus group of Evansville citizens met at the historic Masonic Temple to reflect on the "Identity" of Evansville. In the end, the top two choices were "The Grove" and preservation of Lake Leota and the special green space of Evansville.
In the current Evansville Plan to be approved on June 15, 2005, there is only the statement that preservation of Lake Leota is consistent with the goals of Evansville, but that it appears that the taxpayers do not want to pay for the restoration. The truth is that the community has never been asked the question.
Because of a flawed community survey that failed to survey the entire community but only chose to "select" a few "elect" people, there was a flawed result that always happens in small sample surveys. The current Strategic plan document to be approved on June 15th says that the restoration which would cost about 3 million, would not solve the problem. It is the observers understanding that the dredging would only leave a yearly maintance at the upper end of the Lake.
Lake Leota has a long and rich history. In the 1920's a group of women met in the upper park as part of the Lyceum movement preparing themselves for the right to vote. Wisconsin was one of the first states to vote for suffrage for women. Since then Evansville has met at the Park and it has become a space beyond school or government where all can socialize. This is unlike many communities of this cities size.
It is time for the public to decide. Not by city council vote but by referendum. What are your thoughts on this issue?
The Evansville Observer Archive: The unofficial history of Evansville, Wisconsin from 2005-2013: Thousands of Video and Audio and Articles; Free: To Search scroll to the Search this Blog line and enter name of person, topic, or issue. Then scroll up to see all articles. Or use Google Search by topic. Enjoy.
I love the Watercooler, you all. I really respect the way most of the bloggers are commenting on important topics without the backside of namecallin' and such. I hope that this will be a nice way for all to be able to respectfully say their view and and share ideas, and even bring to light areas where threr might be a problem that wasn't brought to light.
ReplyDeleteFor example, someone commented on how difficult it is for some citizens to be involved in an intense way in the meeting that are deciding the future of the city. I am one of those whose obligations and schedule prevent me from putting an all out effort into the meetings, although I have been involved in a minimal way, but not enough to have a real impact.
Another problem I noticed mentioned in the blog is people who feel they have some correct information, but might be missing some essential information. There seems to be a time deadline for people to get viewpoints in to city planners, but it can be confusing to someone like me who isn't in the information track.
Maybe the third issue I see here is that there is some distrust of the city officials. Where has this evolved from? I hope trust can grow between our citizens and the governing bodies since it will be a nicer city if it does. One of the wonderful things about Evansville is that here we still rub elbows with our Mayor, Alderpersons,Bankers,Teachers,Small Business Owners,contractors, longtimers and newtimers and everybodies kids. I love that! Because of that closeness, we have the unique advantage of sharing the real facts openly and honestly and voicing our view openly and honestly. That can only be a good thing.
SOLE--Save Our Lake Environment speaks:
ReplyDeleteLake Leota is one of the city's most beautiful assets. It adds beauty to the park and is an important asset. It is filling with sediments and in some areas is only a few inches deep. One small area near the railroad bridge has already been classified by the WIS DNR as a protected wetland and cannot be returned to lake status. If we do not take action soon the entire lake could be declared a wetland and the city park would have a swamp instead of a beautiful lake.
SOLE is a group working to rehabilitate Lake Leota and reduce the influx of sediments feeding into the lake from upstream. To date SOLE has: 1)Assisted in getting the University of Platteville to conduct a preliminary environmental impact study. 2)Cooperated with the Wis DNR to collect and analyze samples of the sediment in the lake. The samples show no dangerous levels of pollutants. 3) Assisted in writing 3 successful grants amounting to $23000 for study of the lake and Allen Creek. 4)Raised funds to pay expenses for consultants and has paid for part of the riprap used to stabilize the lake shoreline. 5)Volunteered hundreds of hours for data collection and assisted consultants resulting in thousands of dollars of consultant fee saving. SOLE's goal is to assist the city in cleaning and rehabilitating the lake and stabilize Allen Creek to reduce further sediment buildup in the lake.
With respect to the estimated $3 million cost, that figure is only an estimate. There are a number of possible alternatives. For instance the community could take soil for their use, a contractor could do the job in stages during off-peak demand which could reduce the cost, or we couuld locate a firm looking for black dirt who would do the excavation in trade for the dirt. To that end SOLE members have met with city boards, Wis DNR people from other communities who have rehabilitated their lake, consultants and contractors in an effort to explore innovative, effective and economical ways to save our beautiful asset.
The lake is community property and we have the ultimate decision on what will become of the important asset. It is our hope the community will move soon enough so the lake may be saved.
The SOLE Committee
There are state statutes that authorize residents to circulate a petition which, if signed by enough residents, would force a matter to be put on the ballot for a referendum. The process is called "direct legislation." Some topics are appropriate for
ReplyDelete"direct legislation" and some are not. If you do an internet search for direct legislation in Wisconsin, I'm sure you will find many examples of successful and unsuccessful petitions.
I am not aware of anyone in city government who would be afraid to have the issue of whether to fund dredging the lake on the ballot, if that is what residents show they want through a petition. It is up to the residents who want a referendum to investigate how to do a petition and then to do the leg work.
Bill Connors
City Administrator
Lake Leota restoration needs to go to a vote, anything that is a potential increase to property tax needs to go to a vote. My opinion is that it should be left alone to let nature take it's course. After the erruption of Mt. St. Helens in Washington people were very concerned about restoring it to it's prior beauty. DNR issued a plan that consisted of two items,
ReplyDelete1- Assist the lake for drainage
2- Control the traffic, vehicle and pedstrian.
The state virtually left the site alone in all of it's destruction
The result is all of the wildlife has returned except one, the spotted owl.
The trees are returning 50 years ahead of schedule. It is beautiful even through it's destruction.
Why? Because they left it alone to let nature take it's course!