2024 is off to a busy start for the Dane County Board. Check out this month’s blog for information about county initiatives to support greater food security, innovative waste recycling, and more.

Thank you for reading,

Sarah

Partners in Equity Food Grant Applications Open

Partners in Equity (PIE) Food Project Grant applications are now open until February 26. PIE grants encourage innovative projects that advance equity and access to local food systems across Dane County.

Individuals and organizations with smaller projects are especially encouraged to apply. In 2024, $40,000 is available for PIE Food Project Grants. This is an increase over previous funding years. Note, there are two different application categories:

• Grant A pool will support funding requests up to $2,000
• Grant B pool will support funding requests between $2,001 and $4,000.

For applicants applying in the Grant B category, please note there are three additional questions to be completed.

Proposals should address one or more of the following focus areas:

• Increase access to healthy, local, culturally-relevant food
• Strengthen regional agriculture and ease access to land for growing food
• Decrease food waste and loss via recovery and redistribution of good quality rescued foods
• Enhance community voice in local food system development

Interested groups can submit their application electronically to OEIGrantSubmission@countyofdane.com.

Reusing Food Waste

Dane County will be partnering with Purple Cow Organics to expand food waste and yard waste composting services in the county. Starting in late 2024, the program will have one year of pilot and set-up phasing before expanding to full volumes in 2025. The new compost program will be able to accept up to roughly 22,000 tons of leaf, brush, and yard waste, and up to 1,200,000 pounds of food waste per year. Dane County will be able to expand these volumes, as program participation grows. This collaboration is part of Dane County’s work to develop the new sustainability campus which will foster new recycling and be a resource hub for innovative waste diversion technologies and techniques.

Dane County’s new sustainability campus will also include programs for reuse and resale of usable materials, mattress recycling, and more. Construction of some elements including the Waste Education Center and composting area, are proposed to start by 2025. 

Dane County Jail Consolidation Project

Since I was first elected, my position on the Jail Consolidation Project has been consistent- Dane County needs a new jail that is more humane and safer for those incarcerated there. I have not supported most attempts to add funding to the jail project and have opposed efforts to expand its size. I believe we should continue to make every effort to incarcerate fewer people while ensuring that those who are incarcerated are in a safe facility with medical and mental health services.

In the past several years, the Dane County Board Black Caucus has achieved many reforms targeting racial disparities across all facets of the justice system including within the jail. I was proud to support their efforts to reduce the size of the jail project back in 2022, but unfortunately County Executive Parisi vetoed it which left the County Board with few options but to move forward with a more expensive project and seek construction bids.

When a single bid from Miron Construction was received last fall $27 million over budget, it initially seemed to me that the County should rebid the project to attempt to secure a lower bid. In the months since, it has become clear that the market doesn’t support a successful rebid. The county is not likely to receive a lower bid and it’s possible that a rebid effort may result in no bids. In Fitchburg, for example, the city received a single bid for their police services facility building that was $15 million over budget though it is a much less complex facility than the jail.

Beyond the potential to rebid the project, the County Board had two options remaining: to either fill the remaining funding gap or reopen the scope of the project. Following the leadership of members of the Black Caucus, I ultimately decided to support closing the remaining funding gap to keep the project moving forward so those incarcerated in the jail don’t have to remain in the unsafe, inhumane conditions of the City-County Building for years to come. I did not take this decision lightly.

I am frustrated that this project has continued to sap more and more county funds and continue to be disappointed that our effort to advance a smaller, more affordable jail project was ultimately vetoed by the County Executive. Given the challenging position we are now in, closing the funding gap to complete the project seemed to be the right decision. This project, once complete, will have a smaller overall bed capacity than the current facility by about 20% and will incorporate more options for programming and health services.

PFAS and the Dane County Airport

At our January County Board meeting, we again postponed a vote on RES-168 that would execute a Joint Use Agreement which governs the Air National Guard’s use of the Dane County Airport. After a continued lack of action from our counsel to proactively negotiate on the county’s behalf, a majority of the board agreed that another two-week postponement would give us an opportunity to make a final push for improvements on our own.

Under the Joint Use Agreement as proposed, the Air National Guard would be released from “any liability that may arise from the use of fire-fighting foams, chemicals, or other materials…” which includes situations that “may result in hazardous substance exposure or pollution of or contamination to air, land, water, person or property…”

The Air National Guard has refused to make any changes to the indemnification clause which protects them from responsibility. The agreement also does not include any requirement that the Air National Guard move away from using PFAS foam when possible.

The agreement is coming before the board for what is likely its final vote Thursday night.