August.11.2026 LWUWEXT Minutes

Land & Water and UW-Extension Committee August 11th, 2026, 8:15 A.M. In Person at County Board Room, Montello WI. Meeting was virtual/recorded. Meeting Minutes Present: Ken Borzick, John Bennett, Eli Schmudlach, Pat Kilbey, Ron Barger, Larry Haygood, Pat Wagner, Christa Van Treeck, and Hannah Zellmer. Borzick called the Meeting to Order Motion Bennett, 2nd Schmudlach to approve Agenda as presented. Motion Carried. Motion Bennett, 2nd Schmudlach to approve June 2026 Land & Water and UW Extension Minutes. Motion Carried Land and Water Department: LWCD Report: Kilbey discussed two upcoming field days in the County. Drone Seeding Cover Crops will be August 19th at Delwin Farms. The 2nd will be a Soil Health Assessment field day at Russell Farms and is made possible due to Marquette County writing a 9-Key Element Plan. Discussion followed. Office completed survey through WDNR for NR151 Compliance with Ag performance standards. 5 sites were selected and staff completed surveys based on current NR151 compliance status. Weaver Project in Westfield has gone out to bid and should be installed this fall. E-Waste event is taking place August 22nd at fairgrounds. UWSP has started 2nd round of private well testing on 20 wells that originally tested over State health standard for nitrates. Agriculture Report: Bennett reported crops are not looking good with lack of rain and even recent rainfalls may not save some corn. County Lakes Association: Haygood reported fall meeting will be Sept. 10th at 6:30. Guest speaker topics include bats and differences between Lake Districts and Lake Associations. Discussion followed. Golden Sands RC&D: Kilbey attended last meeting and updated Committee on Executive Director replacement and grazing plan opportunities. Kilbey also handed out July AIS Report from Golden Sands. Committee discussed Strategic Plan and how Department Staff should report on different aspects of plan. Kilbey handed out Department annual workplan that is approved by DATCP along with MDV Funding that has been made available to Department. Office walk in traffic and tracking were also discussed. Cost Share transfers have been made with Marquette County receiving addition $25,000 SEG cost sharing while giving $5,000 of bonding allocation to another County netting in a $20,000 gain in cost share funds. It’s important to note these are annual allocations and not cash on hand. County will be reimbursed by State as funds are allocated to Landowners. Kilbey presented an updated Recycling and Solid Waste ordinance to the Committee and changes were discussed. Most changes were due to bringing ordinance up to date with State statute changes and changes to recycling processes. Discussion on recycling changes and Municipality haulers was had. Motion Haygood, 2nd Bennett to approve updated solid waste and recycling ordinance and recommend to County Board for approval. as. Motion Carried. June/July 2026 expenses were reviewed and discussed. UW-Extension Department: Educators’ Report: Christa VanTreeck shared the Positive Youth Development Institute’s annual report with committee members as well as the Ameri-Corps annual report. Haddash Pfile will wrap up her work as the Ameri-Corps member in mid-August. Special note that Pfile was also part of the Youth Apprenticeship Program at Westfield Area High School as well and doing joint programming. Hannah Zellmer shared highlights from her June / July educator report and emphasized success of the recent Touch A Truck which realized 300 people and 28 vehicles. Area Director Report – Wagner reported she had attended the budget team meeting at end of July. Extension Department is now working with budget team input to draft the department’s budget proposal and send it to accounting and administration. There will be a 2% increase on the 136-contract. Wagner then shared of the value-added programming Extension is bringing. Wagner shared about recent Extension Value-Added Programming in Marquette County. Kevin Erb, UW- Extension Distinguished Conservation Professional Training Program Manager from the Natural Resources Institute will be facilitating the 9-Key Element Project session described earlier by Kilbey. He will be supported by Maranda Miller, also of the Natural Resources Institute—Water Program. Wagner received a request during fair about ventilation support for the fair buildings from Paul Van Treeck. She elevated the request to the Agriculture Institute and Nesli Onuki, Controlled Environments in Livestock Production Specialist and Biological Systems Engineer has reached out to both Wagner and VanTreeck to lend support. June/July 2026 voucher of monthly expenses was reviewed and discussed. Official Meeting Report— Bennett reported there was no Fair Board meeting in July. It was a HOT fair week. Next year the fair has contracted with a carnival. There will be a financial report coming soon. No other official meetings. Next meeting will be September 15, 2026 at 8:15 a.m. Meeting adjourned by Chair Borzick at 9:42 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Pat Kilbey, Land and Water Conservation Department Pat Wagner, UW-Extension Department