Egg Harbor earns grant funds, award

• The Village of Egg Harbor has been awarded Great Lakes restoration initiative funds to improve its handling of runoff at the village beach and boat trailer parking lot.

“The parking lot at the beach will be replaced with permeable pavement, allowing water to filter into the ground,” said Administrator Josh Van Lieshout. “We have to replace it anyway, so we figured we would improve the runoff situation at the same time. At the beach, we try to balance the adding of parking spots with a desire to not make it all blacktop. We will add some parking.”

The village also won a Wisconsin Water Star Community Bronze Star award. The Water Star Program honors communities that have taken important steps to protect surface water and groundwater.

The award recognized the village for its proactive stewardship efforts to minimize runoff impacts, prevent fuel spills and improve fish habitat. In its efforts to protect lake waters from the impacts of storm water pollution, for example, the village banned phosphorus in fertilizers two years in advance of the state ban and has installed large biofilters to intercept and filter runoff draining towards the lake. Since the biofilters have been installed, beach closures have been reduced and the community has enjoyed a cleaner bay.

• The Town of Egg Harbor and the Village of Forestville now have new websites. At http://www.villageofforestville.com and http://www.townofeggharbor.org residents can find meeting agendas, minutes, and updated municipal information.

• Sevastopol Elementary School was notified by the Wisconsin Department of Education that it has the highest percentage of students achieving the Presidential Physical Fitness Award of any elementary school in the state. The school hosted a recognition assembly Jan. 19 for the students and elementary physical education teachers Ron Frank and Mike McHugh. It’s the fifth time the school has been recognized.

• The Door County Visitor Guide is now viewable at http://www.doorcounty.com. The guide features more photography than ever before, and a cover photo of kayaking past the Cana Island Lighthouse. The Door County Visitor Bureau printed 250,000 of the 2011 guides to distribute at visitor centers, travel agencies and other outlets throughout the Midwest. Call 920.743.4456 for your copy.

• The Town of Liberty Grove heard a presentation from the ROM Group about how it could investigate the possibility of attracting employers to the town.

“This is just the initial step in the process,” said Town Chairman John Lowry. “The next would be to find out what the prospects would be to attract businesses, what type of businesses, and how to go about attracting them. We need jobs for young families, and something has to be done, and it has to be done soon.”

The ROM Group is a Green Bay-based marketing firm that works to connect business clients who may be interested in relocating or adding locations with communities that may be a good fit for them.