County considers a "Citizen Monitoring Program" for construction sites

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The Dane County Office of Lakes and Watersheds has proposed a new, half-time position of volunteer coordinator.  The new position was outlined in the 2014 Budget Recommendations.

Proposed "citizen monitoring program" for construction sites

At its end, the budget proposal lists five activities that would benefit from increased volunteer participation.  One of them is the following...

"A community engagement coordinator could explore creation of a citizen monitoring program for construction sites. This requires the detailed attention of someone with well-developed volunteer engagement skills. Having more eyes and ears around the county identifying potential erosion problems could help protect water quality. Among other things, this person would need to be responsible for matching volunteers with sites, providing the materials needed for the activity, and collecting data on volunteer participation."

Edgewater Hotel reconstruction, by Findorff.

So even if the position is funded, the "monitoring program" is not a certainty.

The "citizen monitoring program" may have been inspired by ContractorReport.

Proposed Action

"Add a Community Engagement Coordinator position (half-time permanent FTE) to the Office of Lakes and watersheds within the Dane County Land and Water Resources Department. The purpose of the Coordinator would be to facilitate citizen engagement in meeting county water resource management goals."

"Position at P-07 ($22-$29/hr) level, with salary and benefits of approximately $32,000 annually for a half-time permanent FTE, consistent with an existing volunteer coordinator position."

Duties

1. "Promote collaborations between various organizations (citizen, employer-based, etc.) that either need volunteers or are looking for volunteer opportunities. 
2. Identify and maintain a directory of existing citizen and employer-based groups contributing to meeting Dane County water resource goals and compile, maintain, and advertise a year-round calendar of events and activities held by these groups. The purpose of this calendar would be to facilitate volunteer engagement and strategic collaboration among organizations.
3. Organize and collaborate on specific volunteer projects such as streambank clean-ups, restoration and water condition monitoring; lakeshore, beach and boat landing clean-ups; clearing streams for navigation; maintenance of buoys (changing lights); water monitoring; outfall monitoring and rapid response clean-ups (trash, illicit discharges, clogged inlets etc); Clean Boats, Clean Waters (inspections at boat landings).
4. Work to strengthen strategic partnerships among organizations contributing to meeting Dane County water resource goals.
5. Increase citizen group access to training and technical assistance related to strategic planning, fund raising and communication/marketing.
6. Identify funding sources for implementation of projects and other volunteer activities.
7. Measure, evaluate (projects completed, new volunteers engaged, and volunteer hours contributed) and communicate the impacts of volunteer activities, training, and other services provided by this position."