Stevens Point Journal from Stevens Point, Wisconsin • Page 2

itcuens Joint Journal Thursday, May 4, 1989 City wafer system already tests for ranqe of chemicals "Once a year we take a sample of the water at the water tower and run it through 11 kinds of tests," he said. It is checked for alkalinity, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chloride, chromium, copper, fluoride, lead, hardness, iron, magnesium, manganese, mercury, selenium, silver, sodium, sulphate, total solids and zinc. That testing is not required by the DNR, but the city tested the water in November 1988 and will test it again in November 1989 to compare results. It also has test results from November 1973 and 1984 with which to make comparisons. The four years between tests conducted in 1984 and 1988 showed no surprises, Disher said.

"Everything stayed pretty dose to what it was. Chloride went up a little, but that is to be expected, probably due to man's impact on the environment," he said. Chloride salts are soluble in water, he noted, and show up to a degree from septic tanks and road salts. The city also tests for nitrates and manganese at least once a month in all of the wells, and also tests for trihalomethanes. "We've tested for aldicarb, and every test that we've done has come out negative so we just quit doing it," Disher said.

"Maybe once a year we'll do it now." While some of the tests are required by the DNR, the city conducts many on its own. "I think Wisconsin is more pro-environment than a lot of other states," Disher said. "Wisconsinites are more concerned about their environment, I think, because this is 'God's A rigorous testing program is already in place for the Stevens Point municipal water system, and its director of operations expects little to change if new federal water testing standards are adopted. The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing new ceilings on 38 types of cancer-causing chemicals and other pollutants allowed in drinking water. It is anticipated that most public water systems already meet the proposed requirements, with some rural water systems perhaps in need of additional purification equipment "Because Wisconsin has primacy, the Department of Natural Resources looks after all the water utilities in the state," said Greg Disher, Stevens Point Water Department administrator.

Whatever rules the EPA would set for water quality would be sent to the DNR, which would oversee their implementation throughout the state, Disher said. But Stevens Point already is involved in a comprehensive water monitoring program. "We sample our water for volatile organic compounds out of monitoring wells for wells 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and sample for copper, lead and corrosivity to see if the sodium hydroxide system we installed is working properly," Disher said. "We sample nine or 10 various places in the city for bacteriologic samples every week, test the pH every day and also test the chlorine and fluoride every day." A barrage of tests are conducted daily, weekly, monthly, tri -monthly and yearly, Disher said. On your Cow pie will mark the spot for winner of free tuition A Rolstein cow will be brought to the University of Wiscorisia-Stevens Point on Friday afternoon to help determine the winner of free tuition and fees for the fall semester.

The event will culminate 24 campus programs held since last winter, each of which provided an opportunity for one student to advance to "Bessie's Free Tuition Give-away" and a prize worth about $300. lime will be used to create the likeness of a huge bingo card on the intramural field north of die Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics Building. Each of the 24 blocks on the "card" will be about 5 feet square. The cow will be escorted to the free space in the center, let loose, and encouraged to roam over the squares. The free tuition will be awarded to the person whose number coincides with the number of the square on which the cow stops and makes her mark -for the first time.

If the mark spills across another square, the prize money may be divided. John Jury, who administers extracurricular programming on campus, said a special effort was made this year to involve more students in alcohol-free activities outside of barroom settings. To encourage participation, a group of students proposed the tuition give-away and brought a large cardboard cutout of a cow's bead to advertise the plan. "It really started to catch on toward the end of the semester," Jury observed. The name of a person at each of the 24 events sponsored by the University Activities Board, Residence Halls Association andor Campus Activities Office was drawn and the winner was invited to participate in Friday's contest.

No state funds will be used in the project. The prize money was generated from proceeds of the earlier events. Laura Ketchum, a student from rural Mosinee who is one of the coordinators of the contest, said the idea emerged from a "brainstorming session" with Greg Diekroeger of the Campus Activities Office and several students. Her own experiences of having been reared in a fanning area may have been helpful, she concedes. Arrangements have been made to bring the cow from the Henry Bur- meister farm in Little Chicago, Marathon County, to campus for the afternoon festivities.

Laura's friends, Mark (Sparky) and Jerry (Ace) Bacon of Hamburg, will escort the bovine. A jazz band, "Tangents," has been booked to begin playing at 1 p.m. Friday for the "pre-event," Diekroeger announced. Dairy concessions will be available on the grounds. Bessie will be escorted to the free space at 2 p.m.

Browne receives prison sentence A former Nelsonville man, accused of escaping from the Portage County jail, was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday on another charge. Judge Michael Brennan of Clark County, substituting for Judge Fred Fleishauer, handed the sentence to Terrence J. Browne on a charge of being party to delivering a controlled substance. The sentence was stayed for two weeks so Browne can remain in Portage County until his trial, scheduled for next week, on the escape charge. Browne was also given credit for 649 days spent in jail.

On March 29 a Clark County jury of seven men and five women found Browne guilty of being involved in the sale of cocaine to an undercover agent in a town of Hull tavern on March 9, 1987. Brennan, who presided at the two-day trial held in Neilsville because of pre-trial publicity, then ordered a presentence investigation. Browne was being held in jail when he allegedly escaped with two other men on Sept. 6, 1987. He was recaptured in Austin, Texas, on Nov.

11, 1987, and pleaded innocent to escape charges on March 10, 1988. Judge Raymond E. Gieringer of Adams County was scheduled to preside at the trial on Tuesday but has withdrawn from the case, which may delay the trial. Man sentenced for attack on Plainfield woman The 26-year-old Nekoosa man who attacked and robbed an elderly Plain-field woman a year ago has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Allen W.

Person was sentenced Wednesday in Waushara County Circuit Court. He had been found guilty on four counts following a jury trial in February. The charges stemmed from an attack on Bonnie Foster, 67. The attack occurred at Foster's town of Plainfield home May 16, 1988. Person and a co-defendent, Mark.

T. Frye, 28, previously had been charged with eight counts in the attack, and with attempted robbery in an incident earlier that day in the town of Hancock. Frye, also of Nekoosa, previously had been convicted of armed robbery in the Foster attack. He is awaiting sentencing. Person will be eligible for parole after 18 13 years, with mandatory release after 19 34 years, according to Waushara County District Attorney James L.

Thomas. During the attack on Foster, Person beat the woman, tied her up and tortured her. Sauk County Circuit Judge Robert Curtin cited the viciousness of the crime when sentencing Person. Charges bring prison term for local man A Stevens Point man was sentenced to two years in prison in connection with two incidents last year. Judge John V.

Finn sentenced Curtis Wilder, 3100 Rice to two years in prison on charges of battery and Plover, DNR agree wafer system needed (Journal photo by Tom Chutefworth) continues to be hit rJfirivinn kit attest to that as they grow amid fallen oak leaves. After mild cold air is forecast to return Friday and Saturday. energy group sets for construction use restrictions in the Twin Towers Industrial Park and the recharge area. By Jan. 1, 1990, the village is required to submit an action plan and preliminary engineering plans for addressing elevated nitrate levels in the system.

The order also requires the village to adopt and implement DNR-ap-proved cross-connection control and well abandonment ordinances before placing the water system in service. The DNR has supported village efforts for the water system because of nitrate problems in private wells, including the wells serving the Plover Municipal Center and Roosevelt School. Fred Bailey, a DNR water quality specialist and state well inspector in Portage County, wrote the village that he suspected approximately 40 percent or more of the village's wells have a nitrate content above the federal health standard of 10 parts per million. Nitrates aren't the only problems with water in the village, the DNR reported. Pesticides and fertilizers have been detected in wells, the DNR said, and an area of gasoline contamination has been identified, without contamination of wells at this time.

The DNR said a significant number of wells in Plover are also shallower than allowed under the state well code, presenting the potential for "acutely hazardous microbiological contamination." The Plover Village Board has agreed to install a water system in the village. Wednesday night the board approved a consent order reached with the state Department of Natural Resources to provide the water services to areas with high nitrate problems by July 1, 1990, and to the entire village by Jan. 1, 1993. The order is additional evidence for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to consider in accepting the village's application to establish a water utility. Plover has drilled two wells for the system, has installed some water mains and is preparing to begin construction of the system in June or July.

But it has to wait for commission approval of its application. The commission held a hearing on that application last week but hasn't acted on approval yet. The consent order says the village waives rights to a hearing and a challenge of the order in Circuit Court. In addition to installing the system, the order calls for the village to have a wellhead protection plan implemented by Aug. 1, 1990.

The plan has to address the impact of agricultural fields adjacent and up-gradient of the well field and provide for installation of sewers in the subdivision upgradient of the well field. Other provisions of the plan call for installation of natural gas lines to the subdivision to reduce the need for on-site fuel tanks and establishing land- Robert J. Webie Robert J. "Bert" Webie, 9, Iowa City, Iowa, a former resident of Stevens Point, died Wednesday at the University of Iowa Hospital following a lengthy illness. Services will be at 1:30 p.m.

Friday at the George L. Gay Funeral Home, Iowa City. The Revs. George Vande-vender and Clayton George will officiate. Burial will be in the Oakland Cemetery, Iowa City.

Friends may call at the funeral home from 5-8 p.m. today. A memorial fund has been established. He was born Dec. 27, 1979, the son of Debra (Taylor) and Ronald Webie In Stevens Point.

Survivors besides his parents include two sisters, Melissa, and Mi-chele, both at home; a brother, Ronald at home; a nephew, Harley Brown, at home; his grandparents, Lawrence and Betty Taylor, and Earl and Ernestine Webie, all of Stevens Point; and great-grandparents, Ernest and Ann Lyons, Stevens Point. He was preceded in death by his paternal great-grandparents. Portage and Waupaca have a tentative agreement to participate in the project, which calls for the two counties to contribute their solid waste for a RDF (refuse-derived fuel) facility. The waste would be incinerated in the faculty to generate fuel in the form of steam and electricity for UW-SP. The grant application seeks state funds of approximately $43,000, and Stemple said the counties will split about $15,000 in local funds.

Portage and Waupaca have already indicated they will provide $7,500, he said, and the amount would be reduced to $5,000 if Waushara participates. Greg Kiel of the East Central Regional Planning Commission, who is helping, Waushara County on a solid waste study, said he felt the county would invest $5,000 in the project. In addition to the local funds, Stemple said the counties, UW-SP and the UW Systems office will contribute about $70,000 through in-kind services such as personnel and per diem on the project. Advertisements have been placed in periodicals for a consultant on the project, he said, and that consultant should be hired in July. ic tnAaaA enrln UAHAr( By Dec.

1, the project could have a vendor to develop the facility and potential sites identified, he said. Between Feb. 15 and May 15, 1990, Stemple said a site should be selected, the state Department of Natural Resources should have approved necessary permits and construction could begin. While not a cooperating partner in the project, he said the DNR will be heavily involved when permits are considered, particularly those involving the incineration. In the event the timetable is too optimistic, Stemple said the counties would have to apply for another grant because they would be unable to obtain an extension on funding.

Roger Holman, Waupaca County solid waste manager, said that within the next month or two the Waupaca County Board will be acting on an agreement with Portage County to participate in the project. In return, Portage will accept county solid waste from June 1 until Nov. 1, 1990, at a rate of $5 per ton above the established tipping fee for the landfill. The present fee is $27 per ton. Both counties are awaiting review of that agreement by their attorneys before acting on it.

Adopted a preliminary resolution for special assessments for road improvements in Forest View Acres Subdivision. Approved an agreement with the American Legion for licensing at the Memorial Park concession stand. Permitted Central Wisconsin Environmental Station to use Springville Pond Park for the Project Earth program for youths ages 6 to 12 from 10 a.m. to noon on Mondays from June 12 to Aug. 4.

Authorized using the North Central Community Action Program for low income unemployed persons to assist village employees in performing various tasks. THE WEATHER FORECAST These flowers in Plover will weather the past two days, Waste to timetable WAUTOMA A proposed waste-to-energy project at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point could be ready for the construction phase at this time next year. Mike Stemple, Portage County solid waste manager, told the Waste-To-Energy Joint Study Committee Wednesday that's the timetable for the project in an application to the state Department of Development for a grant. Kurt Meenk, an engineer with UW Systems in Madison, said the timetable may be optimistic but consulting firms and potential vendors are expressing interest in the project. Nine firms have already contacted the UW Systems office, he said, and five of them have indicated they will actively pursue the project.

They have until May 19 to file letters of intent, he said. The committee consists of representatives from Portage, Waupaca and Waushara counties, but Stemple said the project may involve just Portage and Waupaca unless Waushara agrees to participate financially. "If Waushara County wants to be involved in this specifically, you have to start coughing up," he told the Waushara members of the committee. Plover sets Mailboxes in the village of Plover will have to be at least 4 feet from the outer edge of the asphalt road surfaces. The Plover Village Board adopted an ordinance Wednesday night, requiring that distance between the road and the mouth of the mailboxes.

Monday night the Public Works Committee had discussed the problems with residents placing mailboxes, too close to the road surface and asked village staff members to propose some measurements for a standard distance. In addition, the ordinance says the mouth of the mailbox should be posit disorderly conduct as a repeat offender. Wilder had pleaded guilty to the charges on Jan. 17 after the battery charge was amended from a felony to a misdemeanor. Finn ordered a presentence investigation and gave Wilder credit for 38 days spent in jail since he entered the plea.

The battery charge involved a Sept. 4 incident in Bruiser's and the other charge involved a Nov. 4 disturbance at his former residence. Correction Delphine Zakoski, 5311 Highway 66, signed a petition supporting the annexation of property she owns in the town of Hull to the city of Stevens Point. A wrong name was given to the Journal for a story in Wednesday's Journal.

Approved installation of an exhaust fan in the Memorial Park concession stand for $795 and purchase of materials to install an 8-foot fence around the public works garage. Established a salary of $26,873 for Bill Konkol, public works manager, and raised the salary of Mark Arnet-sen, village administrator, by $1,500 to $36,500, saying he had successfully completed a probationary period within four months. Said the village would begin advertising for a water systems operator and approved the purchase of a truck for water systems operations. mailbox location standards Scott A. Bohlman Scott A.

Bohlman, 17, 148 Seventh Clintonville, died Monday in Madison following a lengthy illness. Services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Friday at St. Martin Lutheran Church, Clintonville. Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery, Wittenberg.

Friends may call at the Eberhardt-Stevenson Funeral Home, Clintonville, from 5 to 9 p.m. today and again at the church after 9:30 a.m. Friday. He was born Oct. 22, 1971, in Clintonville, son of Gerald and Ilene (Wendler) Bohlman.

He lived there all his life. He was a junior at the Clintonville Senior High School and was active on the basketball, football and baseball teams. He was a member of St. Martin Lutheran Church. Other survivors include one brother, Jeff, Madison; one sister, Sara, at home; maternal grandparents, Milton and Esther Wendler, Wittenberg; and paternal grandfather, Melvin Bohlman, Wittenberg.

ioned at the back of the curb in areas where curb and gutter are installed. Several other public works items were considered Wednesday night. The board: Accepted the low bid of $96,861 from T.E.C. Inc. of Tomah to install sewer and water mains in Norway Haven Subdivision.

Bids were received from eight contractors. Adopted a mandatory recycling ordinance, with implementation to begin June 5. Accepted a change order for development of the wells, mobilization of a second drilling rig at the wellfield and rental of pumps for test pumping. i.