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Suamico board hears plan to overhaul wetland mitigation bank to speed credit releases
Summary
Evergreen Consultants told the Suamico Village Board it will refile a 1,200-page mitigation bank instrument to use 2025 guidance, divide the site into seven zones and seek early credit releases — potentially unlocking credits the village already constructed.
Chad Ferdette of Evergreen Consultants asked the Village of Suamico for authorization to refile and overhaul the village's wetland mitigation bank instrument and compensation site plan, calling it "a 1,200 page document" and seeking to use new 2025 state guidance to accelerate credit releases.
Ferdette said the bank covers about 92.8 acres across three properties (village land plus the Jones and Coxman parcels), was originally approved for 58.35 credits and currently contains roughly 6.04 acres that produced no credit under the old plan. Under the proposed revision, the presentation said the former stream corridor would be converted to wet sedge meadow so the village can claim about 4.11 credits for that 6-acre area. "I want you to authorize me to submit a complete overhaul of your mitigation bank instrument and your compensation site plan that's at 1,200 page document," Ferdette told the board.
Ferdette explained a key change is dividing the site into seven hydrologic zones tied to subsurface barriers so hydrology achievement and credit releases can be evaluated zone-by-zone rather than on an all-or-nothing basis. He said the new approach would allow partial hydrology releases (for example, 15% then another 15% rather than waiting to meet hydrology across the whole site) and would reallocate the initial 10% release across habitat types to unlock credits the village has effectively already built and monitored. "This is all about credits and being able to sell them and earn dollars," Ferdette said.
Evergreen proposed filing the revised instrument on the Wednesday following the meeting and expected the Corps/IRT review and any comment period to yield a decision near the end of September if there are no major changes; construction for the remaining segment was proposed for October-November. Board members pressed staff for clarification on the DNR/IRT acceptance of the new rules and on market pricing for credits during question-and-answer. The presentation closed with the consultant asking the board to authorize submission and to allow engineers to bid construction pending positive early IRT feedback.
