Other newspm this page:
Flags lowered in county parks.
EPA criticizes WisDOT's North-South I-94 statement.

Lunch order in Mitchell Blvd. Park

One squirrel, done very rare...

...to go.

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Flags lowered in county parks
Will return when they can be treated properly

Feb. 4 -- The "vast majority" of American flags that usually fly in county parks have been removed until the county can figure out how to properly treat them, according to County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.

"We don't want a lot of those flags down. We want them back up as quickly as possible," she said.

The flags were removed after one of DeBruin's constitutents -- a military veteran -- expressed concern that a flag in Kops Park was left up 24 hours a day, even though it was not lit at night.

That violates United States Code Title 4, Chapter 1, which says the flag should be illuminated if displayed on a pole or building at night

The flag in Mitchell Blvd. Park was badly tattered, but then...

The Kops Park flag was quickly illuminated, but that was not so easily done with other parks flags, DeBruin said.

The county generally has 107 flying in its parks, but only seven or eight of them are lit.

The County Board Parks Committee has endorsed a resolution directing the Parks Department to develop recommendations on displaying flags in the parks. The department should consider, according to the resolution:

• Lighting all flags versus manually hoisting and lowering flags on a daily basis;
• Lighting certain flags and manually hoisting and lowering the remainder of flags; and
• Costs for both lighting and providing manual labor.

DeBruin said there may be better options than manually raising and lowering the flags. Paying for staff to do that "is more expensive," she said.

One possible solution, she said, is to ask civic groups, veterans' organizations and others to "adopt" individual flags and pay for solar lighting that would illumate them at night.

How successful such an effort will be may well depend on the cost of the lights, which the county is investigating.

"It will make a big difference if the solar light is $50 or $250...that's a different story," she said.

MilwaukeeRising.net contacted the Parks Department and the tattered flag was replaced, but...

Representatives from veterans' organizations appeared at the Parks Committee meeting last week and offered to help the county, DeBruin said. She said she was moved by the meaning the flag held for the vets.

"It's a symbol people feel so strongly about they're willing to die for it," she said.
"The bottom line is the county is going to keep flying the flags and keep flying them right."

...the county took down all flags not properly displayed, including the Mitchell Blvd. Park flag. It will be back when the situation is resolved.

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WisDOT analysis of air pollution, wetlands impacts inadequate: EPA
I-94 study reviewed

Feb. 1 - The Wisconsin Department of Transportation failed to adequately consider the impacts of air pollution and the loss of wetlands its draft Environmental Impact Statement for the North-South I-94 reconstruction project, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

"We have rated the DEIS as Environmental Concerns -- Insufficient Information," wrote EPA official Kenneth A. Westlake.

"Our concerns center on how wetland impacts and air quality concerns are characterized and how mitigation strategies will be evaluated. Additional information is required to support the analysis and findings in the document," he wrote.

WisDOT's analysis of the impacts of vehicle-related pollutants "is not consistent with current academic literature and other published guidance," the EPA said in a comments attached to the letter.

WisDOT said in the DEIS that potential impacts of the pollutants could not be quantified.

Current literature, though, says that "reasonable scientific evidence exists that indicates adverse impacts may occur as a result of MSAT (Mobile Source Air Toxics) emissions, particularly at locations in close proximity to concentrated motor vehicle activity," the EPA said.

"We believe more could be done to quantify MSAT concentration in those areas where potential higher concentrations may be expected," the agency added.

On the wetlands issue, the EPA noted that the impact statement repeatedly mentioned degraded floristic quality of the wetlands.

"While many of the wetlands in the study area are limited in their floristic quality, they remain critical to the water quality of the region," the EPA said.

The 56 acres of wetlands that WisDOT says will be affected by the project "is a high number, but reflects the length of the project and its linear nature," the EPA said.

About 49 acres of affected wetlands will have to be replaced on a 1:1.5 ratio, meaning about 73.5 acres will need to be restored, the EPA said.

"The restoration project(s) need to replace the wetland types lost, such as riparian forested wetlands, shrub swamps and wet meadows," the EPA said. "The wetlands need to be provided for in one or more of the project's watersheds. "

Another 14 acres of wetlands may be needed to replace 7 acres that could be filled for the project, the EPA said.

"It is absolutely critical that these 14 acres contribute to restoring wetlands in or next to the primary environmental corridors of the Des Plaines and / or Root Rivers, and to continue the water quality function of wetlands for this region," the EPA said.

The agency recommended WisDOT correct the EIS shortcomings in the final version of the document.

More at the The Daily Reporter.

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