Commission Meetings
Time: 5:30 PM
Where: Birch Room Wausau City Hall
Next meeting: Monday January 23rd, 2012
Archived agendas & minutes can be accessed HERE.
NEW! -Check out the green events pages for calendars of upcoming events for the Bridge Community Graden, Lost Creek Folk School (Bayfield), MREA (Custer) and Treehaven (Tomahawk)
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Community Gardens update
In addition to the $400 we pledged to the Community Garden and the Bridge Street Clinic, the Commission has quite possibly arranged for their Community garden to be moved to in the event of their expansion of the Clinic. The new possible location would be around the old Stinchfield Creek, a creek that was buried around 1891. It runs through the properties recently acquired by the city in the NE Wisconsin River Corridor that is between Fulton and Bridge Street. The city is currently doing studies for what environmental remediation that might be necessary, and when this is complete the site should be a perfect location, given the high water table.
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Urban Forestry Update
The Commission has also arranged a preliminary agreement with the City Forester to begin a tree replanting initiative in the city of Wausau. According to DNR statistics, there are not enough coniferous trees in proportion to the amount of deciduous trees. Therefore, this spring we will begin this reforestation initative with the planting of 200 native pine trees in places like Barker Stewart Island, Fern Island and hopefully with the collaberation of 3M, in the Wauleco site which is currently, forgive me for saying it, quite the eyesore. The exact locations are not specific, and a formal presentation has not yet been made to the city, but it is the hope of the Commission that we can do this in celebration of Earth Day or Arbor Day.
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CNG In the News
There has been a recent surge of interest in Compressed Natural Gas as fuel from area businesses. Whereas the Commission understands the importance of alternatives to foriegn oil, we only support this movement should the natural gas being used, be derived from biogas and NOT from gas fracking. Indeed it is of grave concern that if the CNG used is indeed from gas fracking, it could possibly in future endanger the environmental integrity of this area should these companies decide to pursue gas exploration locally. The Commission will actively block any attempt to pursue such a course, as wherever hydraulic fracking occurs, earthquakes follow. This was the case New Years Eve in Ohio(http://www.enn.com/energy/article/43798). This is in addition to flammable tap water. As stated before, the Commission understands and welcomes interest in alternative fuels, but only if they are truly sustainable, and not swapping one short-sighted ill conceived approach for another.