April Update: County Newsletter
Happy April Kenosha. I hope the slow spring warmup is treating you well and you’re taking advantage of the increased activity happening across the county. There are only a few more weeks of the public market at the Kemper center. The outdoor harbor market begins on Saturday, May 10th, and I know we are all very excited for that. The Biergarten at Petrifying Springs had a soft opening on April 12th, so that is a great option before all the summer festivals start in full swing. If you’re looking for events at our county parks, there is a link at the end of the newsletter. Things really start taking off in June, but check the page for updates!
Yesterday was Earth day, and the county launched its adopt-a-highway program for stretches of our county highways. This program, similar to the program by the same name at the state level, gives organizations and individuals the opportunity to “adopt” two-mile sections of any county trunk highway that they take care of by removing debris and litter alongside roadways at least two times a year between April 1 and Nov. 1. There is more information as well as a fillable form that you can use to indicate interest in adopting a section of highway in the link below. While this is only a small step toward the work we need to do to protect our home and its resources, I am happy to see any public effort toward taking care of each other and our community.
The county is hosting a drug takeback day this Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm in various locations. If you have any extra prescriptions or over-the-counter medications that you have been meaning to dispose of safely, please try to stop by one of the locations in the link below. There will also be free narcan training available at each dropoff point; this training is simple and having a strong community understanding of how to use narcan is one of the most effective ways to decrease opioid overdose deaths. More information about the drug takeback event and narcan training are in the links below.
Official county board business has been relatively quiet in April. After some deliberation, we passed a long awaited modified version of our County Board Rules and Ethics code at our April 2nd meeting. I will spare you the details, but the conversation can be found at the recording below. There were several approvals of appointments to various committees and division heads, and we are lucky to have such qualified candidates that these appointments are no-brainers to pass. Both the April 2nd and April 15th county board meeting recordings can be found in the links below. We will have our first budget visioning session for next year’s budget next week, and we will start the long and critical process of figuring out how to most effectively distribute our resources.
Thank you all for your time and attention! I hope you have a lovely springtime, and I will talk to you again in May.
Links:
Events at Kenosha County Parks: https://www.kenoshacountywi.gov/2249/Park-Events
Adopt-a-Highway Program: https://www.kenoshacountywi.gov/AdoptAHighway
Drug Takeback Day (Saturday, April 26th): https://www.kenoshacountywi.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=3324#:~:text=National%20Drug%20Take%20Back%20Day,%2C%203928%2060th%20St.%2C%20Kenosha
Kenosha Narcan Distribution Program: https://NarcanTrainedKenosha.com.
County Board Meeting Recordings:
April 2nd County Board Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/ss9i0XFW0bc?si=s5xrzJOIbt8FVIQo
(Discussion of County Board Rules / Ethics: 8:16)
April 15th County Board Meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZLhrnYpwdp4?si=ckH5IRr6GYOCSz2T