HomeMy WebLinkAboutExecutive Committee - Minutes - 10/10/2018Minutes of the
Bayfield County Executive Committee Meeting
4:00pm, October 10, 2018
Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Bayfield County Annex, Washburn, WI
Members Present: Fred Strand, Tom Gordon, Dennis Pocernich, Jeremy Oswald, Brett
Rondeau , Jeff Silbert
Members Excused:
Others Present: Mark Abeles-Allison-County Administrator, Kris Kavajecz-Assistant, Harold
Maki, Tom Snilsberg, Jim Crandall, Larry Fickbohm, Ben Dufford-County Conservationist,
Andy Teal-AIS Coordinator, Denise Tarasewicz-Register of Deeds, Sara Wartman-Health
Director, Kay Cederberg-Clerk of Court, Barb Flynn-Criminal Justice Coordinator, members of
the public
Meeting Called to Order at 4:00pm by Rondeau.
Public Comment:
Terry Short spoke in support of the AIS position and the importance of protecting our water
resources.
Minutes of September 27, 2018: Motion Pocernich, Silbert to approve minutes of September 27,
2018. Motion Carried.
2019 Budget Discussion and Direction
• Personnel Positions and Finance, Presentations and Review:
4.4FTE new positions were requested in the budget. A spreadsheet was provided with the
meeting packet outlining the costs related to each position.
Register of Deeds has requested a half-time Clerk I position to index scanned documents.
Funding would come from the Register of Deeds and one quarter of the position would
be funded through grant funding in the Land Records office. This position would not be
eligible for any benefits. Tarasewicz provided a handout outlining her department’s
request. $28,176 has been provided to the county through recording fees so far in 2018.
These monies are used for the modernization of land records. Back-indexing currently
goes back to 1999.
$22,000 is the estimated cost to increase the current half-time person to full-time. The
estimate includes all benefits except health insurance, although that cost could be added
at a later time. Cederberg provided a history of staffing levels in the Clerk of Court
Office. She reported that a temporary half-time position was added in 2017. Since that
time several staffing changes have occurred, so it has been difficult to gauge the impact
of the half-time position. The office is understaffed when utilizing the recommendations
of the state for staffing levels. Cederberg shared several metrics and statistics supporting
the department’s request for the half-time increase.
Dufford explained that the AIS Coordinator position has been a contracted grant position
for 12 years, beginning as part-time and progressing to full-time. It is anticipated that in
2020, the DNR will be decreasing the funding for the AIS program. He emphasized the
multiple water-related issues the county has faced in the last few years (CAFO, flooding
etc). In anticipation of reduced AIS funding, the department is recommending including
50% AIS grant funding, and that the county fund the other half of the position, converting
the position from a contract position to a county employee position. Abeles-Allison
explained that the department budget request included funding for this position, however,
the budget proposed by the County Administrator did not. The committee discussed
activities that the AIS position has been involved with.
The Maintenance budget proposes to include 300 additional hours for the current part-
time staff in 2019 to do painting of offices. The cost for the additional 300 hours would
be $6500, whereas if the painting were contracted out, it would be at a cost of
approximately $20,000.
Land Records Department had 2 full-time contracted positions, Survey Tech and a GIS
Technician. The Survey Technician position has been reduced to 2 days per week
allowing the individual to work with a private surveyor the other 3 days in order to gain
experience and complete schooling to obtain his Surveyor Licensure. It is the county’s
intent to consider this individual for a full-time Surveyor position at a later date. The GIS
Technician is 100% grant funded. Converting this contract position to a county position
would result in an estimated $4,000 savings, although the county would have other
liabilities that would come along with the county position.
A spreadsheet was reviewed that showed the calculations related to each position
proposal.
• Department Adjustments: Flynn was introduced to the committee members. Handout was
provided outlining a plan for use of $36,500 included in the proposed budget to combat
opioid, meth, and substance abuse in the county.
• CIP Adjustments
• Fund Balance
• Budget Changes Spreadsheet: Abeles-Allison reviewed the summary of changes to the
proposed budget that are being recommended as a result of discussions by the committee.
The committee clarified that all of the staffing proposals would actually result in true new
staffing hours of 1 FTE (½ time Register of Deeds and ½ time Clerk of Court). The other
positions are existing, just as contracts rather than county employees. The Maintenance
position would simply be a one-time temporary increase in hours for a specific task of
painting. The committee had discussion regarding budget figures for Economic
Development. The topic of EMS services having challenges obtaining and retaining
volunteers was also identified as a future potential cost consideration.
When asked what the department would do if they did not receive grant funding for the AIS
position, the department responded that they would request county funding for the position.
The committee had a lengthy discussion regarding the proposed positions. Consensus
appeared to be to include the Maintenance temporary increase in hours and status quo on all
other positions, with no additional new positions.
Next Meeting Budget Agenda Topics, October 11, 4pm
a. Budget Changes Spreadsheet
b. Master Spreadsheet
Meeting Adjourned at 6:30pm.
Minutes submitted by Kristine Kavajecz