East side residents urged to complete flooding survey
A collaborative effort between local and state nonprofits and municipalities put residents at the heart of planning for future weather disasters
By John McCracken
The city of Green Bay is ramping up efforts to collect survey information from East side residents who live in areas highly impacted by flooding. The survey is facilitated by the city in partnership with NeighborWorks Green Bay, Brown County United Way, The Nature Conservancy and Wello.
Residents who live near the East River and Joannes Park are eligible to complete the survey, with the first 200 households who complete the survey qualifying for a $10 Kwik Trip gift card. This area has a history of major flooding events, such as the 2019 flooding along the East River which led to evacuations and and a state of emergency declared by the city.
The survey was initially announced at a Sept. 3 press conference held at Joannes Park. After leading a private roundtable discussion with local community and environmental groups, Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes, State Assemblyperson Kristina Shelton (D-Green Bay), Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich, former East River Resiliency Collective fellow Blake Neumann and Brown County United Way President and CEO Robyn Davis announced the survey as an eff ort to engage citizens directly impacted by flooding.
Lt. Gov Barnes —who chairs Governor Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change created in 2019—said he commended the eff orts of these intertwined local organizations and officials to address current and ongoing climate disasters.
“We know we can’t take a blanket approach to combating climate change,” Barnes said. “There are different challenges in different parts of the country and different parts of the state. We’re all unique that way, but we’re all impacted.”
Davis said the goal of the survey is to hear from residents directly impacted, rather than impose a plan without their input. “We are all interested and passionate about doing good,” Davis said, “but sometimes we forget to ask the very people who are impacted by good ideas and our big plans.”
Davis said other nonprofit organizations and entities interested in serving residents affected by flooding can apply for funding through Brown County United Way after an emergency response fund was created in 2020.
Following the announcement, roughly 1,000 postcards were mailed to households in the affected area. Now the city is hoping to collect more information online from residents. Residents interested in completing the survey have until Oct. 31 to participate.
The survey can be found at here or residents can call 920-593- 3716 to request a paper copy or take the survey by phone.
John McCracken is the Editor of Green Bay City Pages. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @jmcjmc451.