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Manor approves infection preventionist
LCmanor

DARLINGTON – The Lafayette Manor meeting held Tuesday, July 23, 2019 was called to order by chairman Larry Ludlum. Ludlum welcomed new lay committee member Tom Turpin of Shullsburg to the committee.

Manor Administrator Peggy Rolli brought up a change in the rules for the Infection Preventionist position. This is a nursing home mega-rule change. The federal government is requiring a Registered Nurse (RN) fill the position and not the Director of Nursing (DON), which is who is doing the duty at the Manor currently. It would be a 24 hour a week position that will track, trend and report all infections and symptoms and certify the Manor meets best practice criteria. The job can can joined with another position - a certified room nurse was mentioned.

A motion was approved to create the position. This will need to be approved by Finance and Human Services and the County Board.

In other Manor business:

•It was reported that the Manor lost their Human Resources Director and Scheduler

•Overtime for June was $4,893; this is down from May at $5,609. Questions were brought up by committee member Tony Ruesga regarding how shifts are being filled. Ruesga asked, “Are we filling with available PRN’s (fill-in nurses)? Rolli answered, “Yes.” Ruesga said, “I’ve been receiving complaints that regular PRN’s are being left out when they could have filled instead of having full-time employees fill the overtime shifts. This could save us some money, so I wanted to be sure we were doing this.” Rolli answered, “This has been brought to my attention and I have addressed it with the Director of Nursing.”

•Generator update - 18 rooms have been completed in the re-wiring part of the project. After the panels are completed the Manor will be doing electrical shutdowns for three hours, while Pieper Electric of Middleton will connect everything. Four bollards will be installed around the generator in the end of August. Everything is still on schedule.

•Foundation update – the committee has been looking into setting up a foundation that will benefit the Manor. One of the law firms discussed to set up the foundation was Reinhart Law of Madison. Hiring a local attorney was discussed. It was brought up that a law firm that specializes in 501(c)(3) foundation might be able to do the work with less billable hours. County Board Chairman, Jack Sauer said, “I think setting up a foundation is a really great idea.” No action was taken, the item will be kept on the agenda and continued to be pursued until it gets done.

•An Alzheimer’s Walk & Open House tentative date was set for Saturday, Oct. 26 from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. Proceeds from the event will go to the Alzheimer’s Research and Alzheimer’s Foundation. The event will be done in conjunction with and honoring the Glendenning donation.

•Manor Committee Lay Member Chris Parkinson will be stepping down from the committee due to health issues. A suggested replacement for the committee was put before the board. It was brought up that appointments of volunteer committee positions in Lafayette County are the responsibility of Lafayette County Chairman. The item was dropped.

•No action was made from two closed session items.

•Lafayette Manor Fall Cookout will be Wednesday, Sept. 4, from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. and held at the Lafayette County Fairgrounds.

•Approved utilization report - in June there were four admissions and one discharge. The census at the end of June was 56 residents.

•Finance report – year-to-date numbers through the end of June 2019 - the revenue was above budget by $167,988 and expenses are under budget by $5,620. The year-to-date budgeted levy through June for the Manor is $169,358 and that amount has not been touched. The Manor is at a net income of $4,251 for the end of June.

Sauer said, “Things are running like a fine watch.” Several other committee members commented on the stellar report.

•Approved paying vouchers at $119,856.

•No total numbers staffing report was given.

Hearings set for Badger Hollow Wind Farm permit
Madison June 17, Linden June 24
Badger Hollow map
The proposed Badger Hollow Wind Farm would be near Livingston.

The developers of the proposed Badger Hollow Wind Farm near Livingston will argue their case for approval from the state Public Service Commission later this year.

The hearings on Badger Hollow’s Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity application will be held in Madison June 17 and in Linden June 24.

The proposed 118-megawatt wind farm to be built by Invenergy of Chicago would feature 19 wind turbines 574 to 656 feet tall in the Grant County towns of Clifton and Wingville and the Iowa County towns of Eden, Linden and Mifflin, connected by a 345,000-volt tie line, with an additional collector station.

The turbines would be located in a jagged line from east of Cobb to south of Cobb to the American Transmission Co. Hill Valley substation in Montfort, then south past Livingston to northeast of Rewey. The Hill Valley substation is part of the Cardinal–Hickory Creek power transmission line project.

The PSC sent a letter April 11 saying that PSC and state Department of Natural Resources found in a joint environmental review that “no significant impacts on the human or natural environment are likely to occur because of the construction or operation of this project.”

The PSC/DNR determination means the agencies will not do an Environmental Impact Statement, a more detailed environmental review.

The PSC letter said the turbines would produce no more than 44 decibels f sound, below the PSC noise standards of 50 decibels during the day and 45 decibels at night.

The PSC letter said blade flicker, which “some individuals may feel extremely affected while others experience little distraction,” would be expected for 29 hours 47 minutes per year. The letter says the developer is “willing to evaluate options such as vegetative buffers, blinds, and/or turbine curtailment to reduce shadow flicker” if mitigation is needed, including for “non-participating residences or occupied community buildings that receive more than 20 hours of shadow flicker per year.”

The letter said the project is “not expected to have a significant impact on rare species during the construction or operational phase,” including on bats and birds.

The PSC letter said the project would “affect the aesthetics of the area for as long as it is in operation which may be looked at favorably or unfavorably depending on the viewer.”

The deadline for public comment on the environmental review was May 2. One person who commented was Gina Metelica of Platteville, who said the Driftless Region and its sensitive karst geology should not “become a Sacrifice Zone.”

Metelica said in testimony to the PSC that wind farm projects were put on hold in two other areas with karst geology — the Timberwolf Wind Project in Fillmore County, Minn., which was supposed to become operational in 2023, and the Republic Wind Farm in Ohio, which was canceled after 27 of 47 wind turbines were to be located on “areas exhibiting karst features.”

Metelica said the vibrations from wind turbines in karst areas “can accelerate the collapse of sinkholes and impact ground water flow. Construction activities such as driving piles for turbine foundations can generate higher vibration levels which can impact groundwater flow to surrounding wells or the water quality,” including in areas with abandoned lead and zinc mines.

The PSC’s Madison hearing on Badger Hollow will be held in the Hill Farm State Office Building, 4822 Madison Yards Way, Tuesday, June 17 at 10 a.m.

The PSC then will hold a public hearing at the Village of Linden Community Building, 460 Main St., Tuesday, June 24 at 2 and 6 p.m.

Both meetings will be able to be viewed on Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/my/pschearings. The meeting will also be shown at www.youtube.com/@PSCWI-Hearings. Those who can’t access the internet will be able to access the meeting audio by calling 312-626-6799 and entering meeting ID 809-513-2930.

The PSC meeting notice says that due to “technical limitations at the Linden hearing location” Zoom may not be able to be used. A notice on Zoom in Linden will be posted at https://apps.psc.wi.gov/apps/Calendar/External/HearingDetails/55.

Comments may also be written by June 26 at https://apps.psc.wi.gov/pages/publicCommentCase.htm?util=9827&case=CF&num=100. or mailed to Docket 9827-CE-100 Comments, Public Service Commission, P.O. Box 7854, Madison, WI 53707-7854.

The proposed Badger Hollow Wind Farm is east of Red Barn, built by Allete Clean Energy of Duluth, Minn., which has 28 turbines producing 92 megawatts. The wind farm is 90 percent owned by Wisconsin Public Service Corp. of Green Bay and 10 percent owned by Madison Gas & Electric.

Red Barn, which began operation in 2023, has been the source of complaints including health effects. The blade of a Red Barn turbine separated from its hub on Annaton Road west of Livingston last September. Two other Red Barn turbines have flaws in blades.

The Badger Hollow project is one of four proposed for this area.

The largest proposed area wind farm is Pattern Energy’s Uplands Wind project, with a map submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration in April that showed 181 possible locations for wind turbines in the 600-megawatt $1 billion project. According to the FAA map three wind turbine locations are immediately west of the Platte Mound and two are south of the Mound between Lafayette County B and U.S. 151. Other locations are near Belmont Mound State Park.

Allete proposed building the Whitetail Wind project in the Town of Clifton, which would install 21 2- to 4.2-megawatt wind turbines to generate 70 megawatts of power east of Red Barn. However, Allete sold the project to Invenergy, the builder of the Badger Hollow Solar Farm east of Montfort, which proposing building the Badger Hollow Wind Farm near the solar project.

Allete’s PSC application lists the towers as 410 to 650 feet tall from ground to the tip of the top blade, with rotor diameter of up to 492 feet. The application said Whitetail Wind is negotiating with a wind turbine supplier “and will confirm the final number and model(s) of turbines” for the project when negotiations conclude.

Allete’s Whitetail Wind application said it has “formal leases/easements” with landowners for more than 5,000 acres in the 12,793-acre project site.

Seven turbines are slated to be located on Wisconsin 80, five on Rock Church Road, four on Grant County E, two on Old 80 Road, one on New California Road, one on Hickory Grove, and one off Hopewell Road, according to the application. Two meteorological towers also would be built on four locations — two off County E, one north of Crow Branch Lane and one west of 80 just south of the north Livingston village limits.

Whitetail Wind does not require a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the PSC because the project is smaller than 100 megawatts, according to the application.

Liberty Utilities, a subsidiary of a Canadian utility, is proposing a 30- to 40-turbine project, with turbines up to 656 feet tall, to generate 200 megawatts of electricity in western Grant County. The proposed project area is south of U.S. 18 west of Wisconsin 133 and along Wisconsin 35/133 and generally west of Grant County J.