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The Brodhead Independent
REGISTER
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922 W. Exchange Street Brodhead, WI 53520
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016
SHOPPING NEWS
Water study proposal falls one vote short of county approval By Tony Ends Staff Writer
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A packed gallery of residents from around Green County, mostly supporting proposed hydro geologic mapping to protect water, went home mostly unhappy last week. Eight supervisors present at the meeting, with three others absent, voted down the proposal. Twenty supervisors supported the project.
from a Madison network affiliate last Wednesday. Yet all but a few antagonists of the measure went home from
the crowd, sorely disappointed. The measure fell one vote short of the 21 needed from the county board’s elected
membership to commission the study. Madeline Gotkowitz, state hydro geologist with the Wis-
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Dining Entertainment Retirement Open House Brodhead Water & Light Operations Foreman Tom Nipple
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MONROE — Some came because their drinking water is already at dangerous nitrate levels, with 16 percent of water samples in Green County testing unsafe. Some came in fear Green County will fill up with massive concentrated animal feeding operations, with no resources in place to site them away from shallow bedrock, vulnerable wells, springs and Karst geology. Some held posters. “Protect our Shared Resources,” read one sign. “Information: Informed Decision Making,” read another.” “Our future depends on Clean Water.” About 120 people filled the gallery of the historic court house for the Green County Board meeting last week. Most turned out to urge supervisors approve study of Green County’s water resources to guide all types of development. With blue star-shaped balloons in hand, also the signs and posters urging water resource protection, county residents, a number of them with children, drew nightly TV news attention
consin Geological and Natural History Survey summarized rationale for studying the county’s geology, water table, bedrock, ground water recharge and contaminant susceptibility. Her proposed 3-year study would have produced Green County’s first hydro geologic atlas. Following earlier presentations she made during four trips to the county, the measure advanced to the full board with required recommendations from two committees. Elected supervisors on the Land and Water Conservation Committee and the Finance Committee made those recommendations. The former did so by majority, the latter unanimously. Because the measure required a monetary increase in the county’s budget – $105,000 allocated across 3 years, the vote required two-thirds approval from the full board. By state statute, the twothirds vote was required from the entire membership. That meant 21 of Green County Board’s 31 supervisors needed to approve the study. Even though 3 supervisors
An open house will be held to honor Tom for his 27 years of service to Brodhead Water & Light. Please join us on Monday, March 28, 2016 from 2 to 5 p.m. at Brodhead Water & Light, 507 19th St, Brodhead, WI
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