As I start on my first full term as chair of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, several issues stick out as challenges the County Board will need to face. It is not a comprehensive list, but here are a few that will define us as a county in the years ahead.

Drug- and alcohol-addiction treatment for offenders

We will begin serious planning for a Huber/treatment facility to provide services to repeat offenders with alcohol and drug addictions. Dane County has the opportunity to be a leader in trying to aggressively address the root problems of crime in our community. Eventually we may need to construct more maximum-security beds, but I hope we can first try to do business a different way. It is our obligation to try every way to turn around the lives of our citizens who are in danger of being lost to addiction and mental illness.

Look out for our most vulnerable citizens

We enter the final stages of planning for a new Badger Prairie Health Care Center, with a goal of breaking ground in 2007. The quality of the new facility will reflect on this county board and its values. Those who reside at Badger Prairie are some of our most vulnerable citizens with severe mental and physical disabilities who depend on us for protection. How we treat them is a reflection on the type of people who live here and their values.

Prioritize healthy lakes

We need to redouble our efforts to improve our lakes. A new Aquatic Plant Study Committee will consider ways to reduce algae blooms and lake weeds. We need look at other ways to reduce the premature aging of our lakes including stronger controls on soil erosion and urban runoff. We should accelerate the rehabilitation of old storm sewers, particularly in the metropolitan area, which can significantly improve water quality. Using the Conservation Fund, we need to restore stream banks, a critical step we can undertake in a watershed to remove sediment in streams, lakes and rivers downstream and improve fish habitats. The lakes are the greatest natural asset this county has, and we need to work hard to protect them for future generations.

Regional approach to transportation

It is time for the county to take a stronger lead in transportation planning. Madison Metro is aggressively expanding into other parts of the county. The City of Madison and Dane County are knee-deep in rail and streetcar planning. The time has come to finally treat transportation as a regional concern as our transportation needs grow beyond traditional urban boundaries.

Manage growth through planning

The county is nearing the completion of an intensive four-year process to complete our first comprehensive plan under the state's Smart Growth law. We have held numerous meetings throughout the county and have benefited from the input of scores of citizens who have been members of the work groups and attended the public meetings. Working with our partners in local government, we will adopt a comprehensive plan next fall that will be the basis for improved coordination as we make decisions about land and resource conservation, land use and growth, transportation, and economic development and housing. This process may end up having the greatest impact on what Dane County looks like a century from now.

As an elected official, it can be easy to get wrapped up in details or to be daunted by the enormity of the task. But nothing worthwhile is easy, and I know this county board is up to the task of tackling the issues that will affect the county for years to come.

Chair Scott McDonell Dane County Board of Supervisors