Representative Summerfield listening session covered topics from water quality to Foxconn

By LeAnn R. Ralph

ELK MOUND  — About a dozen people attended the listening session March 12 held by state Representative Rob Summerfield at the Elk Mound Community Center, and they covered a broad range of topics from water quality to Foxconn.

Summerfield (R-Bloomer) is the representative for the state’s 67th Assembly District, which includes the Towns of Colfax, Grant, Hay River, Otter Creek, Red Cedar, Sand Creek, Sheridan, Sherman, Spring Brook, Tainter and Wilson, the Villages of Colfax, Elk Mound, Ridgeland and Wheeler, and parts of Barron County and Chippewa County.

The listening session was scheduled for an hour but actually ended up going for an hour and a half.

Town of Colfax resident Kathy Stahl said she was concerned about the wetland bill that had just been approved (AB547).

Rep. Summerfield described the legislation as “a common sense bill that protects the environment.”

Although Rep. Summerfield said he did not like the bill as it was first drafted, a series of compromises brought it into alignment with what he believed would be workable.

The bill applies to what he described as “wet spots in fields” under an acre in size that cannot be farmed and wetland acreage in urban areas also under an acre in size that cannot be used for anything else because the areas have been determined by the state Department of Natural Resources to be wetlands.

If the wetlands in question are high quality and pristine, “they stay,” he said, noting that “both sides are not happy” with the bill but that both sides “got more” than the original version of the bill.

Stahl noted that Dunn County has a higher than average concentration of nitrate in the well water.

Any legislation that allows wetlands to be removed from the landscape “makes it look like we are not addressing the issue of water quality,” Stahl said.

High capacity wells

One gentleman in the audience wondered whether the DNR still had oversight over the permitting process for high capacity wells.

The man said he was concerned about high capacity wells because in certain areas in the central part of the state, streams, rivers, lakes and ponds had dried up because of the amount of water being pumped out of high capacity wells.

The permitting of high capacity wells is still under the jurisdiction of the DNR, Rep. Summerfield said.

But the DNR and the permitting procedures have been weakened, the man said.

Rep. Summerfield said he did not believe the DNR’s authority or the permitting process had been weakened because high capacity well owners still have to report their usage to the DNR every year, and the legislature did not consider any bills in the last session for new high capacity wells.

Another gentleman in the audience noted the DNR used to be able to consider the overall impact of high capacity wells on the area where they are located but that DNR personnel can no longer consider the cumulative impact of high capacity wells.

“And that’s a problem,” he said.

Research scientists

One woman in the audience said she was concerned about the funding that has been taken away from the DNR and was also concerned about the number of research scientist positions eliminated from the DNR.

“Politicians say they are making legislation based on research, but if the research isn’t being done, then what are you basing your laws on?” she asked.

“The money has to be there. The scientists have to be there. The politicians need to look at the research, believe it, and act accordingly. That’s very important,” she said.

Rep. Summerfield said others have argued there is “too much DNR” and too much regulatory burden.

“I’ve had good experiences with the DNR, and I’ve had bad experiences,” he said. 

“I want to keep protecting our water and natural resources for the future, and what’s the best way to get there?” Rep. Summerfield said.

Colfax resident Pat Eggert said she would like to see a state program to encourage farmers to keep quality wetlands, noting there are no incentives for farmers to do so.

Rep. Summerfield said there was “some money available but maybe not enough.”

During his first 14 months in the state Legislature, Rep. Summerfield said he had learned that while a bill can end up being an “okay bill” sometimes there are “unintended consequences.”

“I always tell people that if we pass a bill, we think it is good. But if something pops up, reach out to me and share your thoughts, and maybe we will need to go back and fix something to make it better,” he said, noting in the last session, the Legislature passed numerous bills to clean up bills that had been passed before.

Open enrollment

One gentleman in the audience said three of his four children were open-enrolled in the Elk Mound school district but the application for the fourth child had been turned down because the child is a special education student.

The man said the part of the application for open-enrollment where students are identified as needing special education services should be removed from the application.

Parents should not have to tell the school district their child needs special education services. The school district can find out special education services are needed after the child is enrolled, he said.

The money should follow the student. The resident school district should not keep the $3,000 from the state for a special education student when the school district is not providing services, he said.

State law no longer allows schools districts to estimate the cost of special education services for open enrollment students but instead only allows a flat rate of $12,000 — even if the services cost the school district $150,000.

The man said he had received a letter from state Senator Terry Moulton (Senate District 23) suggesting perhaps the family would want to send the child(ren) to private school.

The gentleman said he did not want to send his children to private schools.

Private schools are not required to provide special education services.

“Maybe if the money followed the kid, we wouldn’t be having conversations about (school districts) not having enough money (to take on special education students) … you take the money, send it with the kid, you fix the open enrollment problem, and you stop the discrimination,” he said.

Rep. Summerfield said the issue is “a work in progress,” and “we have to do what is best for kids.”

The man did not say whether he and his family had considered moving into the Elk Mound school district so all of his children could attend their school of choice in Elk Mound.

Tech ed

One gentleman noted high schools used to have shop classes and industrial arts and wondered if those classes are still offered.

“Yes and no,” Rep. Summerfield said.

Some school districts have tech ed shops and classes and some do not, he said, noting tech ed is an expensive program for small school districts with few students.

Rep. Summerfield said school districts, companies and technical schools should work together to develop internships and programs.

If the students can get the training while they are in high school, then they would not have to spend time and money on technical school, the man in the audience said.

Most schools have advanced placement classes, such as algebra and English, and advanced placement classes also should be available for technical education, Rep. Summerfield said.

CNAs

One woman in the audience said she was concerned about a proposal to decrease by half the amount of education needed for a Certified Nursing Assistant, from 16 hours to eight hours.

Decreasing the amount of education is not going to increase the number of people working as CNAs. Wisconsin is below the national average for CNA pay, and 41 percent of the CNAs in the state do not receive any benefits. With the increasing numbers of baby boomers who will need CNA services, the situation is only going to grow worse, she said.

The state Legislature approved a 2 percent increase in Medicaid reimbursement to provide more money for CNA pay, Rep. Summerfield said.

“I wish it had been 6 or 8 percent,” he said.

“It needs to be 20 percent,” one of the audience members commented.

Even though 2 percent is not enough, “it got the ball rolling. It’s a step,” Rep. Summerfield said.

Foxconn

One woman said she was concerned about the $4 billion taxpayers will be providing for the Foxconn plant in southern Wisconsin.

The money could have been used for economic development in Northern Wisconsin. The money could have been used for education, for public transit, for fixing roads, she said.

Foxconn “was a difficult decision. What got me to vote for it was they do not get the majority of the money until they create the jobs. They are spending $10 billion. It will ripple throughout our area,” Rep. Summerfield said.

Many businesses in this area will get work from the Foxconn project, he said.

“There will be suppliers, to the suppliers, to the suppliers,” Rep. Summerfield added.

The Foxconn project will keep graduating students from leaving the state, and it will grow the whole state, he said.

The state Legislature also allocated $50 million per  year for rural economic development, Rep. Summerfield said, noting that over 20 years, the $50 million would amount to $1 billion.

If anyone knows of any businesses with plans for expansion, “call my office, and I will call WEDC (Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation) to find out what can be done for the business,” he said.

“There are programs that can help small businesses, but people don’t know about them … Foxconn is getting all the news, but there are other programs,” Rep. Summerfield said.

One woman in the audience was concerned about the amount of water Foxconn would be taking from Lake Michigan, estimated at more than seven million gallons per day.

Even at seven million gallons per day, water usage is not at the level it was in Racine when CaseIH and other manufacturers were in operation, Rep. Summerfield said.

“Those companies used more water back in the day, but now they are gone,” he said.

The woman wondered if the Foxconn water usage would be subject to approval by the members of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact.

Rep. Summerfield said he believed the Foxconn water usage would be subject to the Great Lakes Compact.