HomeMy WebLinkAboutExecutive Committee - Minutes - 10/14/2010Minutes of the
Bayfield County Executive Committee Meeting
4:00 PM, October 14, 2010, Emergency Operations Center (EOC),
Annex Building, Washburn, WI
Members Present: Beth Meyers, Brett Rondeau, Marco Bichanich, Kenneth Jardine , Dee
Kittleson, William Kacvinsky
Others Present: Mark Abeles-Allison-County Administrator, Kristine Kavajecz-Confidential
Secretary, Tom Waby-Bay Area Rural Transit, Rich Lavigne-AERC, Eileen McCutchen, Dale
Peacock, Dick Pufall, Karl Dursh
Meeting called to order at 4:00 pm by Rondeau.
Motion Jardine, Kittleson to approve minutes of the September 13, 2010 Executive Committee
Meeting. Motion Carried.
Motion Jardine, Meyers to approve minutes of the September 15, 2010 Executive Committee
Meeting. Motion Carried.
Motion Bichanich, Kittleson to approve minutes of the September 20, 2010 Executive Committee
Meeting. Motion Carried.
Motion Kittleson, Bichanich to approve minutes of the September 30, 2010 Executive Committee
Meeting. Motion Carried.
AERC: Abeles-Allison introduced Rich Lavigne, President of the AERC. It was noted that a
copy of the current AERC lease is included in the meeting packet. The counties are currently in
the 14th month of the lease.
Lavigne reported that the AERC has a proposal for an agricultural business incubator. There are
3 start-up businesses proposed. A copy of proposed sub-leases with each of the 3 organizations,
along with a cooperative agreement for them were discussed. One copy was provided to Abeles-
Allison for distribution to committee members for review after the meeting. Lavigne explained
the 3 businesses: Building & Pasture lease for up to 18 cows, Horse Boarding of approximately 6
horses, Poultry production operation of up to 6,000 chickens. Lavigne and Eileen McCutchen
answered questions specific to the poultry operation. The birds would be shipped out for
processing. The operation would be a hybrid of free-roaming and confinement. They would be
housed in portable “chicken tractors” and would follow behind the cows as the cows are
rotational grazed. There is an estimated die off of 2-10%. There is a plan to use black soldier
flies to compost both the carcasses of animals that die on site as well as any other waste collected
in the buildings. The flies/larvae would be used as natural feed for the chickens. The horse
boarding operation would include one building and an exercise trail along the field north of the
Tri-County Corridor. A map of the Ag Station properties was provided identifying the areas that
each operation would occupy or utilize. There would be some overlap. The contracts must be
approved by both Bayfield and Ashland Counties. Abeles-Allison stated that the 14-days
allowed in the contract may not be enough time for either county to evaluate the contracts and
take action on whether to approve them. The group decided that a meeting would be scheduled
once the contracts were reviewed by both counties.
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Bay Area Rural Transit: Tom Waby provided a packet of information for each committee
member and provided a presentation on the creation of a Regional Transit Authority with the
implementation of a proposed .2% sales tax. Waby reminded the committee that it would take at
least a year before the tax could be implemented. He further estimated that the .2% proposed
should be sufficient for about 5 years. The maximum allowed would be .5%. After hearing the
presentation and statistics, the committee asked several question specific to Bayfield County
Ridership and “unique/individual” riders.
Motion Kacvinsky, Bichanich to hold public hearings prior to the county board considering
action on this topic. Motion Carried. The committee discussed several options for locations of
public hearings.
Motion Kacvinsky, Meyers to skip items 4-9 and 11 until a future meeting. Motion Carried.
Reports:
Budget Publication: Abeles-Allison reported that the County Journal missed publishing the
county budget publication. The publication was in the Daily Press within the statutory limit of
time, and was printed in the County Journal on October 14th. Budget hearing is October 26th.
Vivitrol Pilot Project: Judge Anderson is working on a possible pilot program using an alcohol
addiction deterrent. Participation would be voluntary. Bayfield County could be a pilot project
used to study the effectiveness with incarcerated individuals.
County/Tribal Law Enforcement Agreement is currently being discussed.
Park & Ride: The University of Wisconsin Superior and WisDOT will be conducting a survey on
this topic.
Northern Lights has not yet purchased the property previously discussed, but are still considering
the purchase.
Worker’s Compensation ratio for 2011 is .95, which is a reduction from 2010. Claims are down.
2010 year to date budget figures are appropriate. There is a decline in revenues and it is
anticipated this trend with continue.
Lawsuit Updates: No new information has been received regarding the Johnson et al Trail
Lawsuit. Citizen for Responsible Land Use issue will be before the Planning & Zoning
Committee next week. The County was served with a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit this week
with regard to the Soulier case. This lawsuit has been forwarded to legal counsel.
Next meeting is scheduled for November 10th at 4:00pm. Bichanich will reschedule the Highway
Committee meeting.
Meeting Adjourned at 5:35pm