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City, county aim to clean up lakes

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Also by Emily Lind:

by Emily Lind

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk unveiled their joint initiative Monday to help keep Madison's lakes, beaches and shorelines clean.

According to Topf Wells, Falk's chief of staff, Falk has proposed $80,000 in the county's 2008 budget for the purchase of a barge and crane that will aid in the cleanups. Likewise, Cieslewicz has proposed to set aside $20,000 from the city's 2008 operating budget to staff the new equipment.

"This purchase is important to County Executive Kathleen Falk and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz because we hear from citizens and volunteer groups that they would like help cleaning up debris or litter that finds its way into the lakes," Wells said.

According to George Twigg, Cieslewicz's communications director, there have been issues with the quality of the water itself as well as with weeds and other debris.

"It's a difficult problem that the mayor wants to put initial resources into," Twigg said, adding the city and county working together on this initiative would provide more resources with which to work.

"The city and county wanted to collaborate on a way to give us more tools to keep the shores clean," Twigg said.

Both Twigg and Wells said this is not the first time the city and county have worked together to solve community problems.

"The city and county team up pretty often actually," Twigg said. "We've collaborated on issues like storm water management, and we recently combined our city and county health departments to provide better service from a single agency."

In addition to city and county efforts, Wells said there are a number of organizations in Madison that already work toward keeping the city clean.

"Residents love these lakes, and there's been a focus on what can be done to get our lakes in even better shape," Wells said.

Both Falk and Cieslewicz often hear suggestions from residents about how to improve the area's lakes, according to Wells.

"There's a strong communitywide interest," Wells said. "The county executive and Mayor Cieslewicz thought that we could help those interested organizations and citizens take care of the lakes."

Despite Falk and Cieslewicz's dedication to the issue, however, both the county and city executive budgets are subject to review and approval by the Dane County Board and the Madison Common Council, respectively.

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