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Cross Plains committee discusses using $1,000 Focus on Energy grant to compensate focus-group participants
Summary
Committee members reviewed a $1,000 grant from Focus on Energy that the sustainability committee can allocate and debated whether to use funds to compensate people who participate in focus groups; members agreed to check legal and administrative constraints before deciding.
The Village of Cross Plains Sustainability Committee reported it has $1,000 available from a Focus on Energy grant intended to support local energy-audit follow-up and engagement.
"We have a thousand dollars that we can allot to wherever we want to. We just don't know what to do with it," committee member Steve Douglas said during the meeting. Committee members discussed using the money to compensate participants in public focus groups to boost attendance while weighing the difference between stipends and gift cards.
Michael Palmakowski, who ran the energy-audit data entry, summarized the grant and previous Focus on Energy work: the program required municipal staff to collect meter data and participate in an audit, and Focus on Energy provided the grant and an educational presentation. "Because we completed all of that, Focus on Energy gave basically, the sustainability (committee) a thousand dollars," he said.
Members noted different practices: one attendee said nonprofit groups commonly stipend participants, while village staff observed gift cards are often disallowed but direct check payments to individuals can be possible. The committee did not adopt a final decision; members said they would consult village staff and the village president about whether the funds can be used to pay individuals and whether payment should be by check rather than gift cards.
The committee also discussed alternate uses if stipends are not permitted, including directing the funds to other energy-saving projects or village priorities connected to the sustainability plan.
Next steps: staff will verify permissible uses of the Focus on Energy grant funds with village administration and report back at a future meeting before the committee finalizes how to allocate the $1,000.
