WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:02.000 You 00:30.000 --> 00:32.000 You 01:00.000 --> 01:02.000 You 01:30.000 --> 01:32.000 You 02:00.000 --> 02:02.000 You 02:30.000 --> 02:32.000 You 03:00.000 --> 03:02.000 You 03:30.000 --> 03:32.000 You 04:00.000 --> 04:02.000 You 04:30.000 --> 04:32.000 You 05:00.000 --> 05:02.000 You 05:30.000 --> 05:32.000 You 06:00.000 --> 06:02.000 You 06:30.000 --> 06:32.000 You 07:00.000 --> 07:02.000 You 07:30.000 --> 07:32.000 You 08:00.000 --> 08:02.000 You 08:30.000 --> 08:32.000 You 09:01.000 --> 09:02.000 You 09:02.000 --> 09:11.920 And let's bring the village board meeting to order. 09:11.920 --> 09:14.920 July 27th, 2026. 09:14.920 --> 09:17.920 It's about 603 in the evening. 09:17.920 --> 09:20.920 And we need a roll call of members present. 09:20.920 --> 09:21.980 Harris? 09:21.980 --> 09:22.980 Here. 09:22.980 --> 09:23.980 Anastasio? 09:23.980 --> 09:24.980 Here. 09:24.980 --> 09:25.980 Washburn? 09:25.980 --> 09:26.980 Here. 09:26.980 --> 09:27.980 Batia? 09:27.980 --> 09:28.980 Here. 09:28.980 --> 09:33.980 So the next item is a Pledge of Allegiance. Please join us. 09:33.980 --> 09:47.980 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 09:47.980 --> 10:06.980 So I'm pleased to welcome Kristi Euser. She's with the River Watershed, Rip Pike Wind, and she has a presentation that she wants to update us with. 10:07.980 --> 10:21.980 All right. Hello everybody. My name is Kristi, and I work with Rip Pike Wind. I'm here today because, well, if you don't know Rip Pike Wind, we're a local 501c3 nonprofit that focuses on water quality in the region. 10:21.980 --> 10:29.980 And we are your respect our waters. You're part of our respect our waters program. So that is essentially the DNR has a stormwater permit. 10:29.980 --> 10:39.980 There is a small section that says to do public education outreach, and I am lucky enough to be the person that gets to do the education and outreach for Mount Pleasant and other municipalities. 10:39.980 --> 10:46.980 And working with the DNR, with all our municipalities that have the River Watershed in them, so you guys are lucky, you get the Pike and the Root. 10:46.980 --> 10:58.980 But specifically for our River Munis, I'm going around and doing this brief presentation just to explain kind of what the respect our waters is, what I'm out teaching the citizens, the basics of the issues with the River. 10:58.980 --> 11:05.980 And then what you can focus on as elected officials, since you guys are such a huge part, a huge piece of the puzzle. 11:05.980 --> 11:12.980 So if I haven't met you out and about at different events before, this is a brief overview of a few different displays that we bring around. 11:12.980 --> 11:18.980 So first is the stormwater space experience. This is all focusing on infiltrating stormwater using native plants. 11:18.980 --> 11:27.980 And the kids are the little rain clouds and they blast the water blasters, and we talk about what happens when the water goes down the sewer and all the different pollutants that it picks up. 11:27.980 --> 11:32.980 Versus going on lawn with shallow root systems versus our deep rooted native plants. 11:32.980 --> 11:41.980 And this is a great one for kids and adults alike to see how important it is to have these native plants in the landscape because they act like a sponge and really soak up that stormwater. 11:41.980 --> 11:45.980 Another requirement is actually talking about pet waste and E. coli bacteria. 11:45.980 --> 11:55.980 So we have a pet waste display where people are using pooper scoopers and we're training the kids how to be better because though it seems silly, it is actually a very big issue. 11:55.980 --> 11:59.980 And E. coli bacteria, it is what's closing your beaches downstream. 11:59.980 --> 12:06.980 So this is a great way to get people hands on and involved and it's a memorable one and kids and adults like it. 12:06.980 --> 12:12.980 Then we have the watershed model which gives a great overview of all the different pollutants which I'll touch on shortly. 12:12.980 --> 12:22.980 I love bringing this one to different schools and showing the kids that what happens when I put all these different sprinkles out of the pollutants on the landscape and the water washes across. 12:22.980 --> 12:28.980 And we see our beautiful rivers and lake fill up with junk which is what's happening in real life. 12:28.980 --> 12:31.980 And then the new addition is the salt display. 12:31.980 --> 12:36.980 So chloride levels are rising in all of our rivers and lakes across the state coming from the DNR. 12:36.980 --> 12:39.980 So this one is continually being added to. 12:39.980 --> 12:47.980 The more I get out and about and people ask me questions continue to add to the salt display but chloride contamination is a big issue as well. 12:48.980 --> 12:51.980 And then getting to the root pike basin down here. 12:51.980 --> 12:59.980 So unfortunately of all of these watersheds that are all classified as impaired and that's coming from the EPA and their 303D impaired waters list. 12:59.980 --> 13:03.980 So you can see how large of an area the root river watershed is. 13:03.980 --> 13:09.980 That's all the yellow on here and how many people have the power to make a positive impact on the root river. 13:10.980 --> 13:22.980 And the different issues of why the root river is landed on the 303D impaired waters list along with the pike river as well is going to be excess phosphorus which is causing your algae blooms. 13:22.980 --> 13:33.980 So this is coming from grass clippings and leaves and fertilizer use and to some extent we just have a lot of natural phosphorus down in this area that loves to stick to soil or sediment. 13:34.980 --> 13:42.980 And sediment is going to be your next big polluter and you can kind of see that looks like pond looks like chocolate milk and that is not what our river systems should look like. 13:42.980 --> 13:46.980 So sediment is coming from possibly construction sites that aren't following the rules. 13:46.980 --> 13:50.980 It could be coming from agriculture and then just general stream bank erosion. 13:50.980 --> 13:59.980 So there's a lot of energy when we get these big storms that comes rushing through our rivers and knocks that sediment down into the water which we do not want. 14:00.980 --> 14:02.980 As I mentioned chlorides are a big issue. 14:02.980 --> 14:11.980 So when I see salt like that that really stresses me out but I'm working with a lot of our Department of Public Works and then also just the citizens in general. 14:11.980 --> 14:14.980 So everybody kind of has their piece in the puzzle with chloride reduction. 14:14.980 --> 14:17.980 And then I already mentioned E. coli bacteria is another issue. 14:17.980 --> 14:19.980 So it's coming from our pets. 14:19.980 --> 14:20.980 It's coming from geese. 14:20.980 --> 14:22.980 It could be coming from manure management. 14:23.980 --> 14:25.980 So there's a lot of different sources. 14:25.980 --> 14:30.980 But as someone who's out talking to the citizens I really like to focus on what they can control. 14:30.980 --> 14:37.980 And then other issues that land the river on the impaired waters list is just degraded habitats and low dissolved oxygen. 14:37.980 --> 14:40.980 So you can kind of see before and after. 14:40.980 --> 14:41.980 This is perfect for here. 14:41.980 --> 14:43.980 This is a great local example of the Lambert Creek. 14:43.980 --> 14:46.980 Kind of what it looked like before versus after. 14:47.980 --> 14:50.980 And this one isn't necessarily as much of a concern for everybody. 14:50.980 --> 14:54.980 If you're not someone who's focused on ecosystem health and kind of those warm and fuzzy things. 14:54.980 --> 14:57.980 But you can see when you do these river restorations. 14:57.980 --> 15:00.980 I think you guys know better than most municipalities. 15:00.980 --> 15:03.980 How much it enhances the community. 15:03.980 --> 15:08.980 So kind of the quick overview of what you as elected officials can focus on. 15:08.980 --> 15:12.980 So including more native landscaping in municipal owned spaces. 15:13.980 --> 15:16.980 You already have native plants outside of your village hall which is wonderful. 15:16.980 --> 15:21.980 But in any other parks that be a great space and private residents as well. 15:21.980 --> 15:26.980 Encouraging residents to do their part to get these native plants in their landscape. 15:26.980 --> 15:29.980 Because as you can see in that red box that's turf grass. 15:29.980 --> 15:34.980 The roots are going about three to five inches under the ground versus our native plants are going six to 15 feet under the ground. 15:34.980 --> 15:38.980 So they form this beautiful sponge and they really soak up that water. 15:38.980 --> 15:40.980 And the more we can soak up the water where it lands. 15:40.980 --> 15:44.980 The less it's going to rush into our rivers bringing all of those pollutants that I talked about. 15:44.980 --> 15:48.980 And then this looks familiar probably for most of you. 15:48.980 --> 15:51.980 A few years back we developed a stormwater pond playbook. 15:51.980 --> 15:54.980 And I know I came in and did a midi presentation at some point on this. 15:54.980 --> 15:57.980 But if you would ever like another copy I would love to send it to you. 15:57.980 --> 16:02.980 But essentially we went through these different solutions of how we can improve our stormwater pond design. 16:02.980 --> 16:07.980 Not just from a water quality and an ecosystem perspective but from a cost perspective. 16:07.980 --> 16:10.980 So when you're getting them installed and then you're maintaining them long term. 16:10.980 --> 16:14.980 How can we make it cheaper but also better for our environment. 16:14.980 --> 16:22.980 And looking at these stormwater pond designs as developments come through your pass through your desk and you have to look at the stormwater management plans. 16:22.980 --> 16:30.980 We'd like to get rid of more of your standard stormwater ponds that are just these circles with grass up to the edges and geese surrounding them. 16:30.980 --> 16:35.980 Because that's just pumping the phosphorus, the sediment and the E. coli right into our watersheds. 16:35.980 --> 16:44.980 In a perfect world if we could start with a low hanging fruit is just converting the pond buffers from the grass to native plants. 16:44.980 --> 16:50.980 Because as you know they have those deep root systems we can catch more over land flow and we can really lock in those banks. 16:50.980 --> 16:55.980 So we're not getting the wave action and the ice action just kind of knocking the sediment into the water. 16:55.980 --> 16:58.980 And it can be really gorgeous when it's maintained properly. 16:59.980 --> 17:04.980 Some alternatives to a stormwater pond would be the regenerative stormwater conveyance system. 17:04.980 --> 17:12.980 So this is an example that was working with the DOT this is right on Green Bay and KR so right on the border. 17:12.980 --> 17:21.980 And instead of doing a standard stormwater pond they put in the regenerative stormwater conveyance system which is really just like a series of rain gardens kind of hooked up in a line. 17:21.980 --> 17:27.980 And instead of that water coming in and just being stored in your pond it's infiltrating back into the ground which is really important. 17:27.980 --> 17:31.980 And it's beautiful because it just blends right into the landscape. 17:31.980 --> 17:37.980 And you can see with a big storm event it fills up with water and then it disappears within a few days which is really great. 17:37.980 --> 17:40.980 It can also be done on a much smaller scale. 17:40.980 --> 17:45.980 So at UW Parkside they did an RSC just in their ditch lines. 17:45.980 --> 17:52.980 So maybe you have an area here we're really focusing on slowing down chloride contamination was part of the big reason I'm putting this one in here.