Marquette County land-and-water committee approves wildlife damage payouts, $1,000 AIS mini-grant contribution and accepts MDV funds
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Summary
The Marquette County Land & Water Conservation Committee approved six wildlife-damage claims (one abstention), agreed to contribute $1,000 toward AIS mini-grants, and voted to accept DNR multi-discharge-variance (MDV) funds—roughly $152,000 available to spend over three years—while clarifying administrative and implementation details.
The Marquette County Land & Water Conservation Committee on Feb. 11 approved six payable wildlife-damage claims, agreed to a $1,000 contribution for local aquatic invasive species (AIS) mini-grants and voted to accept multi-discharge-variance (MDV) funds from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
At the meeting, Trevor of Wildlife Services reviewed the six claims and the committee moved and seconded to approve payment. "We had the same same people that had them last year, so there's 6 of them total," Trevor said while distributing paper copies of the claims. Ken (Kenny) Borzik announced he would abstain from that vote; the chair noted Borzik's abstention and the motion carried by voice vote.
The committee also authorized a customary $1,000 contribution from the tree‑sale account to the local lake association pool that Golden Sands RC&D will use to issue $500 (and occasionally $250) mini‑grants to lake associations for AIS work. Committee materials note the county formerly signed its AIS allocation (about $11,600) over to Golden Sands for countywide coordination.
On a larger funding item, staff described a DNR-sponsored MDV program in which wastewater treatment plants that cannot immediately meet phosphorus limits may fund watershed practices elsewhere. Staff said initial small sums to counties have grown as plants in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac participated; the county said eligibility rose from roughly $60,000 to an amount cited in committee material of about $152,000 to spend over three years on practices such as cover crops, no‑till incentives and structural projects.
Members asked about the program's cost‑share and administration. Staff said construction projects would generally follow existing cost‑share rules (about 70% county share on structural projects) and that they were querying whether administrative costs could be charged to the MDV funding. "There is possibility of charging some administrative cost back to this," a committee member said; staff replied that they had an email on that topic and expected some mechanism to offset additional work.
The motion to accept MDV funds was made, members discussed implementation mechanics and the funding was approved by voice vote.
What happens next: staff will finalize grant paperwork, confirm whether an administrative fee is allowable under the MDV agreement, and begin program outreach to producers and watershed partners.
Votes at a glance: agenda approved by voice; minutes approved by voice; six wildlife‑damage claims approved (Ken Borzik abstained); $1,000 AIS mini‑grant contribution approved; MDV funds accepted.
