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HomeMy WebLinkAboutExecutive Committee - Minutes - 6/10/20211 Minutes of the Bayfield County Executive Committee Meeting 4:00pm, June 10, 2021 Meeting was held Remotely through Microsoft Teams and in person in the Bayfield County Board Room, Washburn, WI Members Present: Brett Rondeau, Jeff Silbert, Dennis Pocernich, Fred Strand, Larry Fickbohm, Mary Dougherty Members Excused: Others Present: Mark Abeles-Allison-County Administrator, Kristine Kavajecz-Human Resources Director, Liz Seefelt-BRICK, Mary Motiff-Tourism Director, Paul Houck- Information Technology Director, Jason Bodine-Forestry & Parks Administrator, Cole Rabska- BCEDC Director, Marty Milanowski, Jeremy Oswald, Scott Galetka-Land Records Administrator, Dan Heffner-Register of Deeds Meeting Called to Order at 4:00pm by Rondeau. Public Comment: None Received Minutes of May 13, 2021: Motion Strand, Pocernich to approve minutes of the May 13, 2021 Executive Committee meeting. Motion Carried (6-0). Potential ARA Projects: The BRICK, Liz Seefelt: Handout was provided in the meeting packet. Seefelt provided a brief history of the Brick, which serves Ashland and Bayfield County. They operate 4 food pantries in the 2 counties. BRICK also provides support for persons needing assistance with housing/rental financial assistance. ALICE report from 2020 (2018 data) indicates that 12% of Bayfield County households are below the federal poverty level. 36% of residents are at an income level that does not cover their basic needs such as food and housing. Requesting funding to assist with capital improvements as listed in the document provided in the meeting packet. Hospitality, Mary Motiff Tourism Director: Motiff reported that Bayfield County had the second highest tourism revenue in the state in 2020. She provided a list of items that would assist with ensuring that Tourism continues to be a priority. $27,500 would be needed to fund the top 5 priorities listed. IT Infrastructure, Paul Houck: New storage area network (SAN), which stores everything in the county. Currently has 50 servers on the SAN. Due for replacement at end of 2021. ARA funds can also fund cyber security improvements. Trail Pit Privies: Abeles-Allison reviewed a summary provided by Jason Bodine for privies 2 at 3 trailheads and widening of roads for parking. Business Assistance, Cole Rabska: Expressed support for the Washburn Iron Works sewer improvement project. Incentive for businesses that purchase and remodel vacant storefronts. Support the trail maintenance requests from Tourism and Forestry departments. Bike lane on Hwy M. Possibly reimburse businesses for PPE supplies. Revenue Loss Formula Review: Abeles-Allison reviewed a formula received that can be used to identify funds that can be de-federalized to provide greater latitude in what the funds can be used for. Budget Amendment Resolution for ARA funds approved by the County Board on May 25, 2021. Four ARA projects were approved at the previous County Board meeting. This resolution details the budget amendment related to the four projects totalling approximately $1.241 million, leaving approximately $200,000 of the first year allocation. Motion Strand, Fickbohm to recommend the budget amendment resolution to the full county board for approval. Motion Carried (6-0) Department 2022 Budget Overview: Land Records: Galetka reported that Land Sales have been very positive. Thorough title examinations are being conducted along with surveys. WLIP Grants, about $100,000 per year, will be reduced due to the revenues received through land sales. PLSS identifies section corners. There are approximately 5,000 corners in the county. Approximately 40% have been identified. The department is taking on the rural addressing program from the Emergency Management office. Potential for a LIDAR flight imagery with 75% state/federal funding. The LIDAR is important because of the recent major environmental disasters that have occurred over about 2/3 of the county since the last imagery was obtained. County Administrator: Clerk, Paige Terry is shared between the County Clerk and County Administrator offices. Contractual items are primarily for Human Resources software. Fund Balance Assignments: Abeles-Allison reviewed fund balances. The county currently has an unassigned balance of about $10 million. County policy is to have approximately 25% of balances in the unassigned category. Auditors will likely recommend that there is too much unassigned balance. Abeles-Allison identified a couple of items that could be used to assign some of the fund balance. Items include: paid leave payout liability, unpaid tax liability and future roof repairs. Reports: EMS Advisory Committee Report: Red Cliff has requested to have a representative on the committee. Comments were received from Washburn Ambulance and the City of Washburn. No negative feedback was received. Sales Tax Report: Sales tax collections have increased each year for the past 3 years. 3 Roofing Overview: Review of roofing on each section of the courthouse and annex buildings. Re-roofing of the older portions of the Annex building will be the priority. MMC: Abeles-Allison asked the committee if they would be interested in some sort of recognition for the work that MMC has done throughout the pandemic. Former RR Right of Way: County Quit Claims interest of Railroad grade between Washburn and Bayfield when requested. Construction Project updates: Front stairs have been removed and will be reformed in the next 2 weeks. Sidewalk repairs are also underway. County Highway M will be later in the summer. County Mask Policy: Revised policy was distributed today. Effective Monday, June 14, masks will be optional in the courthouse. Still recommended for unvaccinated persons. Financial Report, end of May 2021: About $700,000 additional revenue in 2021 vs 2020 due to forest revenues. Expenditures are at 42% for the year. About $329,000 over the same time last year. Human Services has reduced revenues and expenses vs this time last year, primarily due to transfer of ADRC accounting being moved to another county. Highway revenues and expenditures very similar to 2020. Treasurer’s Report, end of May 2021: ARA monies have been added to the report. Balances are healthy. Northern Lights and World Class are current on payments. The committee did not go into closed session. Meeting adjourned at 5:53pm. Respectfully submitted by Kris Kavajecz.