'Building on success': Mayor seeks millions for clean beaches center

Zumba is just one of many activities attracted to North Beach in recent years.

Mayor John Dickert is pursuing a multi-million dollar water research laboratory that will build on Julie Kinzelman's work in cleaning up Racine's beaches.

The new clean beaches center would give Kinzelman a $2 million to $3 million laboratory and training facility for her work, Dickert said. He hopes the city can build the facility entirely with federal money. The federal government has committed $5 billion to the Great Lakes and recently released $475 million for clean water programs. Dickert, a former lobbyist, is traveling to Washington D.C. in October to fight for the money. (He has a location in mind for the center, but declined to say where because the city doesn't own the land.)

Dickert said he's pursuing the consortium for two reasons:

1. To keep Kinzelman happy. She's traveling to Ireland soon to lead a seminar on clean beaches (just her latest international presentation) and is well-known throughout the Great Lakes region for her ground-breaking work. Many other cities and organizations would love to lure her away from Racine. Dickert said he won't let that happen.

2. It's a chance for Racine to "build on its success," Dickert said. Clean freshwater is poised to become a major industry and Racine's location on Lake Michigan creates a great opportunity to become a leader in that industry, Dickert said. A laboratory focusing on Kinzelman's work would be a good start, he said. Dickert noted Kinzelman is traveling to Ireland in a few weeks to lead a seminar on beach sciences. If Racine had a world-class facility, it could bring scientists from around the world into the city.

Kinzelman at North Beach

"This might be the way to keep her," Dickert said of Kinzelman. "She deserves her own center."

On a wider scale, Dickert said a clean beaches center would be an example of the city building on its strengths. Racine, thanks to Kinzelman, is already an international leader on cleaning up beaches. Now, it needs to turn that work into opportunities.

"She's the best in the world. Why wouldn't I build on that?" Dickert said.

Kinzelman, who works in the city's Health Department, would use the new building to continue research on cleaning up beaches and to train interns and water quality scientists from around the world on water quality issues, Dickert said.

It's a natural extension of Kinzelman's world-renown work. She's considered an international expert in cleaning up beaches, with Racine's beaches as the best example of her work. Racine's North and Zoo beaches didn't closed this summer because of poor water quality, which is a major change from 10 years ago when the beaches were frequently closed by high bacteria counts. It's also far better performance than beaches in Milwaukee and Kenosha have shown in recent years.

Kinzelman is a leader in the use of "fast-track" testing methods that return water-quality results in as little as four hours. Previous tests, which took three days, did little to determine if beach water was safe for swimming because they returned results after the fact. Long lag times meant beaches were open when water was a health risk and potentially closed when the water was clear.

She also helped clean Racine's beach water by working with other departments to groom sand differently, to clean up water runoff, to ban dogs and feeding seagulls at the beach and to plant native grasses that help clean up water runoff. The result: Racine's beach water was so clean this summer it qualified as drinking water.

Racine's clean beaches has had a significant economic impact. Pro volleyball and an elite triathlon came to the city because of its beaches. The North Beach Oasis has also thrived and a few small businesses renting recreational water and beach equipment cropped up this year.

With water an increasingly valuable commodity, Kinzelman's research may be Racine's best shot at creating a high-tech industry and attracting new jobs and businesses.

North Beach again wins 'Blue Wave' certification

For the fifth straight year Racine's North Beach earned a national certification for water quality and habitat conservation.

The Clean Beaches Council once again designated North Beach a "Blue Wave Beach." It's a prestigious award that city officials, led by Dr. Julie Kinzelman, make look easy.

But 10 years ago when the City Health Department began applying for grants to study, and eventually clean up, the beach, the sandy lakefront property was a mess. The beach was frequently closed due to concerns about the water quality and there was little going on there for people to do.

Now the beach is a hotspot of summer activity. Thousands of people visit the beach to swim, hangout at the Oasis or checkout events like the EVP Professional Volleyball Tournament and the Spirit of Racine Triathlon.

Kinzelman, who has given talks about beaches around the world, said a team approach made North Beach's turnaround possible. One example was how the health and parks departments worked closely together to study the best way to comb the beach. They found that scraping the surface and creating a picturesque sandscape actually increased the amount of bacteria that could wash into the water. Now they use a much deeper comb to prevent bacteria from growing, Kinzelman said.

The city also completed some important stormwater utility projects, banned dogs and feeding seagulls on the beach and worked with volunteers to plant grasses and create mounds that prevent contaminated rain water from washing into the lake.

It's this kind of problem solving that other cities along the Great Lakes and around the country are taking note of and trying to replicate, Kinzelman said. While universities and government scientists can share research, Racine offers a real-world example of how to clean a beach - and the positive effect it can have on a community.

Work on Racine's North Beach began under former Mayor Jim Smith after the public complained about how often the beach was closed. The issue came to Kinzelman as a public safety concern. How can the city clean the beach so people can use it without getting sick?

That question led to improved water quality - and all of the fun stuff that came with it. As North Beach came back to life, the North Beach Oasis opened, the city built the Kids Cove playground and events started to appear. The beach is now, arguably, the best beach in southeastern Wisconsin and possibly the entire state.

Kinzelman, a Racine native who was hired by the city in 1990 as a lab technologist, and others are now working on tests that will reduce the amount of time it takes to get back reliable information on water quality at the beach. Racine is working on a DNA test that can determine water quality in three hours - six times faster than the current test. (Incidentally, the test the city uses is for E. coli, but the E. coli is only an indicator of water quality. Unlike E. coli in food, the E. coli found in the lake is itself not harmful - it's just a sign that other contaminants are located in the water.)

The rapid test appears to work, Kinzelman said, but it needs Congressional approval before it can become the new standard. A bill was introduced in the House to allow the tests, and the Senate is also expected to take up a proposal.

Along with North Beach, Kinzelman is also studying water quality in the Root River. The intensive effort is designed to provide public officials with data to make decisions on how to clean and protect the river, she said.

One example is if Waukesha receives permission to tap Lake Michigan it will have to return water to the lake through the Root River, Kinzelman said. If that happens, Racine will want a baseline to judge whether the Waukesha water is harming the Root River.

"You can't gauge change unless you know what you have now," Kinzelman said.

Mayor John Dickert celebrated the designation by noting North Beach was the first beach in Wisconsin to receive the Blue Wave honor.

“This is a great day for the city of Racine” said Mayor John Dickert. “Once again the efforts of Julie Kinzelman working together with the Parks Dept. and Public Works have rewarded our citizens and visitors with one of the cleanest beaches in the country.” For more information on the Clean Beaches Council see here.

Dickert added, “This reminds people across the country that Racine is one of the best destinations in the Midwest to spend your summers.”

The news comes as the mayor prepares to attend the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative Conference this month, where the use of water from Lake Michigan will be one of the topics.

The first national environmental certification for beaches, the Blue Wave designation is given to beaches which uphold a rigorous set of environmental, ethical, and water quality standards.

Health Notes: City may require muzzles for biting dogs

Dogs that bite would have to be walked with a muzzle during their probationary period under an ordinance being considered by the Board of Health.

The board voted at its meeting Tuesday to ask the city attorney to draft the ordinance. While the board seemed supportive of the change, they were skeptical that it could be enforced. There is not enough city staff to follow up on complaints and ensure owners are compling with the muzzle requirement, said Marcia Fernholz, the city’s director of environmental health.

Fernholz also told the committee she is working with the police department to get quicker notification of incidents involving dog bites. Sometimes the health department doesn’t learn about incidents until well after they occurred, Fernholz said. That limits measures that can be taken to quarantine the animal and have them tested for rabies.

City/County Health Clinic

Alderman Bob Mozol reported he’s received three or four flyers in recent months talking about the city/county health clinic, which was opened in an attempt to save local governments money. Mozol was concerned not enough was being done to publicize the clinic. The flyers were sent out in response to those concerns. “Everyone knows about that now,” said Mozol, who sits on the Board of Health.

Outbreak in Unified

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is continuing to investigate the outbreak that made about 90 students and staff sick in October. Tortillas served at three middle schools are believed to be responsible for the illnesses, though no final ruling has been issued. The health department is awaiting the FDA’s final report on the incident.

New Employees

Two new health department employees were introduced to the Board of Health. Ana Stier was hired as the healthy birth outcomes coordinator and Tara Needham was hired as the new teen parenting nurse.

Stier is filling a new position created to address the city’s high infant mortality rate. A $500,000 grant from the state is paying for the position. Stier will oversee the Racine Healthy Births Healthy Families program.

Needham is replacing Diane Lange, who left the city to take a job with Racine Unified. She started on April 21.

Measles

The city’s health department worked for 2-1/2 weeks on the measles outbreak in the city in April. Twelve people were quarantined for 21 days after the case was discovered. A second case was discovered after it had been through its infectious period, so no quarantine was required.

Public Health Administrator Janelle Grammer noted that there is an aggressive response to measles because it is highly contagious. One outbreak in 1989 infected 2,200 people in Chicago and led to eight deaths.

“Our staff was like a well-oiled machine,” Grammer said. “They did everything the right way.”

Kenosha Country Club

The city’s Health Department recently got a nice surprise. The Kenosha Country Club gave the department $10,000 to help Racine women get tested and treated for breast and cervical cancer. The city had anticipated receiving $5,000 from the country club, but found out the number doubled when they went to accept the check.

The money will be used to support the city's Well Woman program. The department has screened 75 women for breast or cervical cancer through the state-sponsored service. It’s on pace to reach a goal of serving 252 women with little or no health insurance this year. For more information about the Well Woman program, call the health department at: (262) 636-9201.

Clean Water

The city will have a graduate student from England here for the next year studying water quality at beaches and in the Root River. The student has a master degrees in civil engineering and environmental engineering. He will work with the city unpaid.

The department’s current grad student, Jenny Lavender, is leaving the department after completing her master’s degree from the UW-Parkside.

Racine continues to receive international acclaim for its work on cleaning up its beaches. Julie Kinzelman of the health department, met with representatives from the United Kingdom Environmental Agency and the Scottish Environmental Agency about her work in Racine.

Racine was also chosen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the site of a national press release about a newly created beach sanitary survey. The press release will bring national attention to Racine’s clean beaches.

Recycling

Here’s a note to clarify confusion: Racine residents can recycle plastics labeled with numbers 1-7.

The news came up during a Board of Health meeting where members of the board were confused about what can be recycled in the city. One member thought it was 1-5, others had given the issue much thought.

John Berge, a member of the board and president of the local chapter of the Sierra Club, said the issue gets confusing when you start looking across communities. While the city may accept 1-7, others may accept fewer numbers. The Sierra Club is hoping to standardize recycling across local communities.

Medication collection

811 pounds of medication were collected and safely disposed last month, instead of dumped in the garbage or flushed in the lake, according to Fernholz,

The city’s Health Department sponsored a medicine collection at the same time as the household hazardous waste collection in April. Sites were setup throughout southeast Wisconsin. An estimated four tons of medicine were collected throughout the area, Fernholz said.

She added that she is working with the police department on creating a secure drop-off location for unused prescription drugs. The site would have to be inside the police department because narcotics would be involved.

“We’re looking at a more permanent solution,” Fernholz said.

Board of Health meeting

The Board of Health met May 13. Dr. Mohammed Rafiullah, John Berge, Maria Morale, Alderman Bob Mozol and Alderman Ray DeHahn attended the meeting. Dr. William Little showed up about halfway through the meeting. Dr. Sarah Fouse and Mary Sollman were excused.