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December 12, 2007

Teachers ask for "good old fashioned" contract

Approximately 35 teachers represented a standing room only crowd at the Prairie du Chien School Board meeting Monday night.

"We're in the middle of the third year without a contract," said teacher Mary Gasser of the Prairie du Chien Education Association. "We would like a good, old fashioned, negotiated, fair and settled contract."

"I think that the board wants a settlement also," said Superintendent Drew Johnson, who noted that there are contract negotiation meetings scheduled for Dec. 18 and Jan. 8. Johnson said that everyone will be working hard in an attempt to have a settled contract as soon as possible. The school district and the teacher"s union are currently in negotiations regarding the 2007-2009 school years.

In other business, the board heard a presentation by soccer coach Jim Rohde regarding the first season of soccer at Prairie du Chien High School. Rohde said that this first season was a big success and exceeded expectations. He thanked all of the fans, and everyone else who supported the team.

"This was a very, very exciting and grand season," said Rohde. "Thanks for all of the support." Rohde said that there were 16 players on the inaugural team, including six seniors, two freshmen and eight sophomores. The team played 12 games, winning their final regular season game 4-2 at River Valley. The team had two honorable mention all conference players. Rohde said that the team received praise from officials and from other teams for their high degree of sportsmanship throughout the season.

In addition, the team had total expenditures of $6,335.08 and total revenues of $7,145.88. The team made $810.80 for the season so they will have a beginning balance of $2,810.80 for next fall.

The team should have 16 games next season and will be part of the Southwest Wisconsin Conference. In addition, Rohde said that there are "a lot of girls who have shown an interest" in playing for the girls team this upcoming spring. He noted that the support shown for the boys" team and the success of the boys" team has "carried over" to give a great deal of enthusiasm for the girls" team. More than 30 girls have shown an interest so far, said Rohde. The girls" team will begin their first season in the spring of 2008.

In further business, the board unanimously approved of pursuing a waiver from the state, whereby the school district could exceed the second-grade classroom student-to-teacher ratio of 15:1. The second grade ratio would be 16.5:1. Superintendent Johnson said that because the ratio is so close to 15:1, it would make no sense to hire another teacher.

Reminders were given to any prospective school board candidates that the incumbent non-candidacy deadline is Dec. 21 and the filing of declaration of candidacy deadline is Jan. 2, 2008.

Trumble stands firm: city tourism center cut from budget

After dumping a lump of coal in the city's Christmas stocking last week with the announcement that the Prairie du Chien Welcome Center has been closed by the state, Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble Monday reinforced that decision by saying the closing was irrevocable.

Trumble, along with Deputy Secretary Mark Richardson and Marketing and Communications Director Sarah Klavas, met with about 80 people Monday morning to explain the decision and suggest the group explore alternatives.

Prairie du Chien Mayor Cheryl Mader opened the meeting by describing her reaction to news of the closing: "I did not believe it because I could not understand how it could happen." Mader said she was still angry over the news, but requested that people approach the issue calmly and not "shoot the messenger."

Trumble started off by explaining that the department was instructed to cut $1 million from its $15 million budget within 18 months.

The mission, she said, is to market Wisconsin, and therefore the staff decided to cut operations, the category in which the Welcome Centers fall, rather than advertising. To reach that goal, the department eliminated the Prairie du Chien and Genoa City Welcome Centers (both seasonal centers), reduced funding for the Joint Effort Marketing (JEM) grants and the Ready Set Go program„programs from which the city and county have benefited in the past, merged two departments into one and eliminated a position at the director level. Three other seasonal visitor centers will remain open in addition to the full time centers.

Trumble summed up her department"s presentation with the statement, "We have made the cuts and they are final, and now it"s time to move forward."

In the question and answer period which followed, Crawford County Board Chairman Ron Leys said it felt as if the area was being abandoned by the state. "In a way we're the Appalachia of the state. The area is beautiful, but people struggle with poverty. Salaries here are $10,000 less than the state average." He said the county needed the tourist dollars, but the county government had no money left to devote to running a tourist facility.

Reacting to information that the Prairie du Chien center served 72,339 visitors in 2007 with an operating budget of a little over $60,000 a year, while the Welcome Center in Grant County served 87,052 visitors with a much larger budget, Scott Sklenar, manager of the Star Cinema, said it seemed to him the state had been getting a bargain, serving more people for less money. The Grant county facility will remain open.

Sklenar said when people cross the river from Iowa, they will expect service. He suggested perhaps Prairie du Chien and the surround area would do better to team up with northeastern Iowa rather than rely on the State of Wisconsin.

Asked by Pam Ritchie, executive director of Prairie du Chien Downtown Revitalization, Inc. (PDRI) if the state had done any impact studies on tourist centers which had been closed in the past, Sarah Klavas said they had studied the impact on the state level, but not in a particular area. Ritchie said, "We want to know what happens to towns when they lose their Welcome Center."

Patti Wacker, tourism coordinator for the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce, said it seemed as if more and more activities in this area were being left out of the state promotional activities. It is very difficult, she said to find Prairie du Chien or Crawford County on the state tourism website. She added that the number of visitors steered to the Prairie du Chien tourism website from the state website had dropped dramatically.

Wacker also said that since the state cut back on their advertising in Iowa, many more Iowa tourists visit Minnesota, which has advertised heavily in Iowa. "All this has hurt this area big time," she said.

Eric Frydenlund, tourism coordinator for Crawford County Tourism Council, echoed Wacker's concern about the state tourism website. "Crawford County is not listed as a destination," he said. "The Prairie du Chien Welcome Center is an economic point of entry for the small villages in Crawford County. Now how do we assure theses small villages their share of tourism?"

Robert Moses, executive director of the chamber, said visitors from all parts of Iowa cross the river at Prairie. "What this area will lose is much more than northeast Iowa," he stated.

Dale Klemme, director of Community Development Alternatives, questioned the fairness of the cut. "How much are the 800 pound gorillas contributing in these budget cuts," he asked. "Should we be looking at ways these larger entities should be helping with this effort rather than putting 10 percent of the cuts on the back of Crawford County?"

At the close of the meeting it was clear that people wanted a plan in place. Crawford County Community Development Educator Laura Brown said that a group of people is currently in the process of preparing a tourist assessment, and that would be one avenue for addressing the problem. That team will meet again in mid-January.

Contacted after the meeting, Eric Frydenlund said the Crawford County Tourism Council would address the issue at Wednesday's meeting. He said he expected that the Chamber of Commerce, PDRI and The Crawford County Tourism Council, all involved in the tourist assessment, would probably form a core group, but said there was potential for much more involvement. "There are a lot of groups within a 60 miles radius that would benefit," he said.

Mayor Mader said she agreed with Frydenlund's assessment, and added, "I think the people in this area are committed to economic development from tourism, and I'm 100 percent confident that this center will remain a place where visitors to Wisconsin are welcome."

The present Welcome Center was completed in 1979. The Chamber of Commerce moved into the building in February of 1980, and a grand opening ceremony for the tourist center was held May 15, 1980. Prairie du Chien, however, has had a tourist center for approximately 40 years.

December 10, 2007

State drops a bombshell with with closing of Welcome Center

"We will not let our businesses down, and if the State doesn't want to help us, we'll help ourselves." That was the comment of Prairie du Chien Mayor Cheryl Mader after she learned that the Wisconsin Welcome Center in Prairie du Chien is being closed.

Mader said that Kelli Trumble, secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, contacted her Dec. 6 to notify her that the Prairie du Chien center, a tourist information site, is one of two in the state to be closed because of budget cuts.

Mader said it was hard to believe they would close that center, right at the end of the Highway 18 bridge which is a major gateway from Iowa.

"This will affect not only businesses in Prairie du Chien and Crawford County, but the entire state," said Mader. She said tourists coming from Iowa stop to pick up information on all areas of the state.

Robert Moses, executive director of the Prairie du Chien Chamber of Commerce, said he had made contact with area legislators, Sen. Dan Kapanke and Rep. Lee Nerison, and is hoping to have a roundtable discussion to see what could be done at the state level.

"The Wisconsin Welcome Center is a huge, huge asset to our community and Crawford County," said Moses. "We are going to move forward very positively. We definitely want to keep the center a viable place for visitors coming to the city."

Mader and Moses are working to assemble a group of people to determine how best to fill the gap once the busy tourist season beings in May. "We can't not do it," said Mader. The date and place of the meeting is yet to be decided.

In the meantime, Trumble agreed to meet with those concerned at 11 a.m. today in City Hall. Reached by telephone Friday afternoon, Trumble said there was no possibility the state would reopen the Prairie du Chien facility in the spring. She said visitor needs should be met by visitor centers in La Crosse and Hazel Green.

She said she was coming to Prairie du Chien to have a face to face discussion about how the department arrived at the decision and how it can work to bring more tourism into the southwest area of the state. Trumble did not say how many visitors were served by the Prairie du Chien center, but said the operating cost for 2007 was close to $65,000. "This was not at all about staff performance; it is a pure strategic business decision," she said.

The Prairie du Chien center and the facility at Genoa City, the other one to be closed, were the state's only seasonal Welcome Centers.

New state department head began career in city of Prairie du Chien

When Reggie Bicha, recently appointed to head Governor Doyle's newly-created Department of Children and Families, visited Prairie du Chien last week, he did not come as a stranger. It was here that he started his career as a social worker at Wyalusing Academy in 1992.

Since then, the 38-year old Bicha has accumulated an impressive list of credentials. He was Director of Human Services in Pierce County for five years and served as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Services. He has also served on the Wisconsin County Human Services Association, the Child Welfare Case Process Committee and the La Crosse Board of Education. He and his wife, Becky, also were foster parents from 1995 to 1998.

He will remain in his current role as Division Administrator of Children and Family Services at the Department of Health and Family Services until July 1, 2008, when the new department becomes operational.

The new department, Bicha said, will oversee more than 30 programs now divided between the Department of Health and Family Services and the Department of Workforce Development. This change, he said, should streamline the delivery of services represented by these programs.

He cited as an example a single mother named Ashley, who has a full time job and needs child care assistance. As things are currently structured, she would have to take time off of work to visit two different agencies. "We shouldn't expect people who are trying to support themselves and their families to take time off work to do that," he said.

The governor, said Bicha wants to focus on prevention and early intervention efforts. "If we invest in young children and give them a safe environment and nurturing families, that investment will come back to us many-fold," he said. "It's important to assure," he added, "that children and young families have what they need to start out right."

Bicha said the department will be working closely with the counties to learn from them and improve services locally.

The change, he said, will require no extra monies. It is a cost-neutral proposal, and while he anticipates no reduction in employment positions, he does not anticipate adding any.

Before the new department is implemented, Bicha plans to spend a lot of time talking to people, both those who provide services and those who need them. "It is important to me to design the programs in a way that is most effective to those receiving the service, and to talk to those who are providing theses services locally," he explained. "People need to understand that service has to be locally driven, and the best way is to establish local connections. The people in Madison need to hear from the local guy," he added.

He anticipates that there will be a series of town meetings and other discussions throughout the state. He hopes to be back to Prairie du Chien after the first of the year. "I want to go back to my old stomping grounds and find out how we should be doing business in the state," he concluded.

No decision yet, hog farm license application delayed for further review

The Crawford County Land Conservation Committee decided not to decide at its meeting Friday morning about the application by A.V. Roth for a license to double the size of his hog operation to 2,900 sows. After a discussion of more than a half-hour, the committee voted unanimously to table any action on the matter until its Jan. 3 meeting.

"We haven't taken the steps to hire a third party to review the nutrient management plan further," said committee member Phillip Mueller. "We need to spend the money and the time to hire a person who is impartial and state certified to review this plan."

"We need to cover our ass on this and it's not covered right now," Mueller continued. "We haven't done the work."

Several other committee members agreed that a neutral state-certified crop specialist is needed in order to review the plan to make sure that it meets state standards.

"There are strong emotions and strong opinions on both sides," said Peter Flesch. "We need to do the best job that we can. We need to do what we think is right."

"We need a third party," said Harriet Behar. She has concerns because Roth's farm in the Town of Wauzeka is only 181 acres and is close to the Wisconsin River.

Mueller, Peter Flesch and Harriet Behar volunteered to review a list of state-certified crop specialists and to select one to review Roth's manure management plan. The review of the plan and the opinion of the crop specialist is expected to be completed before the Jan. 3 meeting.

The proposed expansion of Roth's hog operation has been a hotly contentious issue from the beginning. More than 180 people packed the meeting room at a public hearing Nov. 26 and members of the committee have received numerous letters and phone calls from both sides of the fence. At Friday's meeting, committee members were especially cautious in their approach to the issue.

"We're on very, very treacherous ground," said Committee Chairman Virgil Butteris at the outset of the discussion. "We must proceed very carefully." Butteris then asked if there should be a vote on whether or not to vote on the issue that day.

"There is a lot of material to consider," said County Board Chairman Ron Leys. "This is very deep water." Leys said that he didn't think that the committee should vote on the matter until all members had read the county attorney's written legal advice. Some members had not yet read the county attorney's report by the time of the meeting.

The committee decided that all members would read the County Attorney's report, along with a legal report by Jamie Saul of Midwest Advocates. Saul has said previously that the manure management plan is not sufficient to meet state standards and to protect public health.

When the committee finally voted on whether to table the matter for further review, it appeared at first as if they were going to vote by secret ballot. Mueller questioned the method, however, and voting was done in the usual roll call manner and the 25 people in attendance heard the results.

"Is there anything I could have done better in going through this process?" asked Roth following the tabling of the issue. "It's been 63 days. I want an answer someday."

Mueller conceded that Roth couldn't have done anything better in the process.

"You are a lightning rod in this case. People are concerned about odor and property values, but we can't consider that," Mueller said. Mueller, Flesch and many other committee members told Roth that this is their first time dealing with such an issue and that they just want to make sure that everything is done properly and as thoroughly as possible so as to make the best decision.

The Jan. 3 meeting appears to be the time when the committee will finally make a decision on whether or not to grant Roth's license. However, if the impartial and state-certified crop specialist is not done with his or her review by that time, the matter could be extended. The issue could also be extended for some other "just cause."