PLATFORM
LIST OF ISSUES
I know what it takes to find solutions, navigate the complicated governmental agencies, and get things done."
Space and Security Needs
http://www.postcrescent.com/story/opinion/2015/08/14/outagamie-county-need-room/31710207/
Outagamie County in need of more room
In 1957, Dwight D. Eisenhower was in his second term as President of the United States, and a young fellownamed Elvis Presley was on his way to becoming the king of rock ‘n’ roll.
In that glorious year, the Milwaukee Braves won the World Series, taking down the New York Yankees (who else?) in seven games.
And here in Outagamie County in 1957, we were celebrated the opening of our brand-spanking-newcounty building, known to us today as HHS South.
For generations, that facility has served us well. But we have grown, grown and grown some more. We are,in fact, one of Wisconsin’s fastest growing-counties.
When the HHS South building went up almost 60 years ago, our population was about 100,000. Today, it is almost 180,00. And by 2030, says the U.S.Census Bureau, our county will be home to 209,000 people.
As anyone who has used county services lately can tell you, our current facilities (HHS North, HHS South and the Justice Center) just cannot do the job any more. Departments are scattered throughout the complex and residents waste a tremendous amount of time just trying to find the office ordepartment they need — often with young children or a less-than-mobile senior citizen in tow.
But that’s just for starters.In these antiquated facilities, employees are shoehorned into corners. The District Attorney’s Office, for example, is so overcrowded that staff members literally cannot pass through hallways when someone else is making copies.
And worst of all, in my opinion, is that the hearing rooms for emotionally charged cases — divorce, child custody and placement, and restraining orders — are smaller than most of our living rooms. This is a tinderbox, just waiting to explode.
In an effort to help alleviate our growing space and security issues, the county commissioned Venture Architects to perform a detailed study andrecommend solutions. This spring, we received the results of the space and security needs study and were given four concepts to consider, ranging inprice from $24.4 million to $61 million. Of these options, only D is being considered.
Option D, a broad generalized outline, would construct a new 114,000 squarefoot building on what is currently part of the parking lot adjacent to the Justice Center at an approximate cost of $36.7 million. In addition, the current HHS building and Justice Center would be renovated to make betteruse of existing space. All departments would stay at the downtown campus.
This new facility would cover 100 percent of our space needs for the next 10 years and 75 percent thereafter (HHS will likely need more space in 10years). It also leaves open the option for building on the other side of the current HHS building in the future. About 60 percent the additional spacewould be dedicated to satisfying the space and security needs of the Sheriff’’s Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the courts.
I believe that we need to do something. For years, Outagamie County has debated the issue of space and security needs and for just as many years has punted on making a decision. In my opinion, punting again is not an option. Too many of our citizens depend upon the essential services providedby the county. Many more will in the future.
Therefore I voted to move forward with option D with the full understanding that this is just an outline that illustrates the current space and securityneeds not an actual plan. A plan will come later when the architects actually put pens to paper.
Dan Grady is an Outagamie County supervisor from Appleton. He can be reached at dan.grady@outagamie.org.
Sustainability
As Chairman of the Sustainability Committee I have become deeply involved with reducing Outagamie County's carbon footprint. Our efforts are not only good for the environment, but good for the County budget.
We have already gone after most of the low hanging fruit such as switiching to energy effecient flourescent and LED lighting, more insulation in county buildings, replacing old windows with newer more energy effecient windows.
There is much more we can do. For this reason we are looking into the feasability of switching our county vehicles to natural gas (CNG). Besides loweing our carbon footprint, converting out our fleet to CNG would allow the county to take adavantge of a fuel source that is cheaper than gasoline or diesel and a fuel that does not experience large swings in prices.
We are also looking into the feasibility of installing a biodigester at the county landfill. This is a truly exciting idea. In a nutsell, the idea is to take biomass that would normally go into the landfill and instead use it to generate and capture methane for energy.
After the methane is captured it can be burned as is for electricity generation or the imputies (water and silicates) can be filtered out of the methane. The cleaned methane can then be used for CNG vehicles -- we can power our county vehicles from material that would normally get landfilled or sold directly to the natural gas market.
As an added benefit, we would be extending the life of our current landfill. Anything that we can do to extend the life of our landfill
Healthcare
In 2013, Gov. Walker decided to reject accepting over $200 million in federal monies to expand Badgercare for families living between 100-133% of the federal poverty lines. This decision has had very serious negative financial consequences for Wisconsin's counties.
Had Gov. Walker accepted the federal monies for the expansion of Badgercare, Outagamie County would have been able to save at least $1 million year in our Health and Human Services budget. Outagamie County would have been able to bill Badgercare for treatment provided to county residents instead of those costs coming directly from the County levy -- the county portion of your property tax bill.
Too many of friends and neighbors are still receive quality and affordable health care. This hurts all of us - our families, friends, communities, and employers. I will continue efforts to persuade Gov. Walker to do what is right for the people of Wiscosnin and accpect the federal funding for Badgercare expansion.
Parks and the Dog Park
As a members of the Property, Airport, Recreation, and Economic Development Committee and and as a member of the Ad Hoc Parks Committee, I have been working hard to improve our County park system.
In the Summer of 2015, the Ad Hoc Parks Committee recommended 2 options for future park development. These two options are a traditional park in the Duck Creek area and a linear park along the Fox River.
In the coming months, we will be looking at our options and trying to find partners in helping make this new park a reality.
Regarding the dog park, I working to see that we will always havea dog park and that improvements are made using the generous donations of users and the Friends of the Dog Park group.