5/30/2007
Today marked the first day that I would report to the Chippewa Falls Municipal Building, located in downtown Chippewa Falls, WI. I began the day with a heightened sense of anticipation as I would soon be finding out what my first project – a public access cable television agreement – would actually entail. After a tour of the building led by City Administrator Dan Elsaas (who would also be my supervisor), I received a manila folder containing all documents pertaining to the project. A quick scan over the various documents certainly elicited one thing, that the project was far from simple. I learned that the City of Chippewa Falls had entered a one-year trial period where they received free public access coverage from Community Television of Eau Claire that was then carried to viewers through designated channels on Charter Communications cable television service. The trial period had already expired, however having failed to put in a real bid or estimate for service, Community Television was continuing to provide the free coverage. Researching costs would prove difficult however, as I soon learned that the Executive Director of Community Television, as well as the V.P. for Governmental Affairs at Charter, were both away fighting Wisconsin Assembly Bill 207. This bill is purportedly aimed at creating cable television markets that will allow for fair competition (as opposed to the exclusive franchise system existing today). The opposition to the bill exists due to an apparent negative externality, the elimination of funds depended on by most public access television companies in Wisconsin. After a long day researching, I left the Municipal Building tremendously excited about the project. –Posted by Clark Disney.
Day 2 – Thursday May 31st
Today started with learning how to run the new HP map scanner that the County Planning and Development Department just got. It only took me a few minutes to figure out. Once I got the scanning down I then had to take all of the paper copy CAD blue line maps, which are of all of the townships in Eau Claire County and scan them into a digital file so I could later convert them into GIS. Locating all of the maps took some time because their coding system is quite complicated but I finally figured it out. After I scanned them into GIS ArchMap, I then had to take each individual township and make a 36inch by 41inch map so I could later take them into the field to update all of the addresses for the upcoming 2010 census. Each of the maps was of the entire county but they also included a zoomed in area of all the densely populated areas, so I could have a clear view of all of the neighbor hoods to know which address to change. This portion took the longest because I had to change or move all of the CAD maps I scanned into a layout mode where I could see all the areas I needed to go. Once I made the maps for all of the townships I then had to take all of the data they had on false or incorrect address and plot them on the maps so when I go into the field I will know what addresses I need to change and where they are all located. I didn’t realize how many addresses change or are incorrect, because it took me a long time to accurately plot all of the addresses. I had to take my time on this portion because for each address that is incorrect when it comes time for the census, the county will lose $2,800 dollars for each incorrect address. So I couldn’t rush that part. It felt great to be doing something this important because it makes you feel like you’re really contributing. –Posted by Chris Martin
6/3/06
I’ve been looking forward to this experience since my first semester at Wittenberg, when I first heard about the program. And I have to say thus far the experience has exceeded my greatest hopes. As I have said, I have done analysis work on transit systems before, but it was always basic legwork for a possible extension, like ridership counts. Here I am being given the lead role in the preliminary stages of a transit expansion–an absolute pipe dream for someone who hasn’t even received his undergraduate degree yet. Yes, it’s a small system without fixed routes, which is not what I’m used to, but at least it’s real and tangible, as opposed to something that I scribble on paper just for fun.
The staff here has been so wonderful and welcoming. I have to say, the picnic we had on orientation day really caught me off-guard, they went to so much effort to give us a fantastic meal, they were clearly very excited to have us with them. I mean, considering that most of them have such a full list of duties as it is, the fact that they can find as much time for us as they have is really amazing.
Right now I am primarily working for the city of Chippewa Falls. I was given very basic parameters for my project, so this first week I have been primarily feeling out what the question is, before I can really get my teeth into possible answers. I was asked to “explore possibilities for the expansion of transit service into Lake Hallie.” Well, this turned out more complicated than it sounds. First of all, Chippewa Falls and Lake Hallie have a very combative history on a municipal level (the village of Lake Hallie was founded purely to resist annexation efforts by Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire, the entities that make up its northern and southern borders, respectively). So there isn’t a lot of enthusiasm from some staff members who see Lake Hallie, I think in some respects rightly, as more competition than neighbor. –Posted by Seth Morgan
June 4, 2007
The start of week two began with more projects and learning. The engineers thought it was important for me to gain experience with month-end payouts. I then got to work with Lori the Fiscal Clerk II. We first took a look at the payables we needed to file. We then entered the accounts into the government financial software and found the specific vendor numbers we needed to bill. The city presents the figures in front of the council to make sure departments aren’t spending funds that weren’t in the budget. After the process is complete we then present the figures to the board and then actually write the checks. Then we began the month-end payouts. We needed to prepare the different journal entries required to make sure things balanced with the bank. It is important to be balanced with the bank at the start of the month or figure out why you are not balanced and fix it. I was amazed that we had to use journal entries to show the different accounts the numbers belonged in. We also used journal entries to make corrections from accounts that accidentally were credited. I thought this was an accounting concept I would never see again! –Posted by Tricia Wendt