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VIROQUA — The Vernon County Board voted Tuesday to restore Jersey Valley Lake, which was closed and drained after a manure spill in 2005.
The board, on a 20-8 vote, accepted a $1.7 millio
n plan to fix the Jersey Valley dam and allow the 58-acre lake to be refilled.
The lake was completely drawn down in 2005 after a manure runoff in March killed most of its fish. Fissures then were discovered in a hillside and thought to be the cause of le
aks downstream from the dam. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ordered the county to repair the dam in 2005.
The board’s action Tuesday reverses an earlier vote that would have reduced both the size of the dam and the lake.
Some of the estimate
d $1.7 million plan will be offset by a $500,000 earmark inserted in the state budget by state Rep. Lee Nerison, R-Westby, leaving the county with $1.2 million to finance.
Supervisor Francis Hynek asked the board to “look to the future” and “fix the dam ri
ght and make it something we can be proud of.”
One financing option discussed by the board was a 0.5 percent sales tax. County finance chairman Brian Richardson said state representatives have told him the county could get a sales tax increase passed to he
lp finance all $10 million needed to repair 21 of the county’s 22 flood control structures.
But Richardson said the sales tax would have to be approved by the legislature, which is a long shot, and likely would not be in place for two to three years. The c
ounty now raises about $1 million from a 0.5 percent sales tax.
“It disturbs me very much when I hear that it may take two to three years,” said supervisor Chet Lee. “The Brewers and the Green Bay Packers can get their sales tax passed overnight.”
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