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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 12/11/2017BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING December 11, 2017 County Board Room Members Present: Shawn Miller, Chairperson; Fred Strand, Vice-Chairperson; Harold Maki; and Jeffrey Silbert Members Absent: Larry Fickbohm Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Steve Probst, Asst. Administrator and Pat Bruno, Office Manager Others in Attendance: Eric Sirrine, WI DNR Team Leader; Joseph LeBouton, WI DNR Liaison; Chris Buboltz, Xcel Energy Representative; Chad Abel, Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Representative and members of the public 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. The meeting of the Forestry and Parks Committee was called to order by S. Miller at 6:01 P.M. 2. Public Comment. S. Miller called for public comment. Wendy Stein, resident of Town of Washburn and member of Bayfield Peninsula Energy Alternatives (BPEA) citizens group. Requests the forestry committee delay a decision on Xcel Energy using county forest lands for the proposed line to allow the group to do more research and analysis to offer the best solution for all. Phil Norrgard, resident of Washburn and Bayview land owner. Recommends the committee delays action until the citizens’ group presentations are made to the town boards and full county board at their next meeting. Kathleen Russell, Bayfield County property owner. Invites the committee to delay making any decisions tonight in favor of allowing the county, citizen’s group and towns to evaluate and review alternatives based on research presented to determine the best solution. Lorraine Norrgard, resident of Washburn and Bayview land owner. Requests no final or provisional approvals are made at this time to allow citizens to review and present information gathered. S. Miller called for other public comments. There being no further public comment, the Chairman Miller closed public comment. 3. Approval of the November 13, 2017 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Silbert, Strand) to accept the minutes from November 13. Carried. 4. Fall Timber Sale Bid Opening. Four sales totaling 196 acres and a minimum bid value of $102,628.71 were advertised. Of the four sale tracts offered, only tract 47-17 had bids (2). Prior to the December committee meeting, Tract 56-16, the fifth Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 2 of 6 December 11, 2017 Meeting Minutes unsold sale in November, was eligible for and offered as a direct sale for a 20% increase in the advertised value. The three unsold sales are now eligible for direct sale and will be advertised on the website. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) to accept the bid of B&B Logging. Carried. 5. Presentation: Xcel Energy. Alternative route option for the proposed Bayfield 2nd Circuit low voltage transmission line project, on county owned lands, within the existing transmission circuit corridor, in the Towns of Bayfield and Bayview. Chris Buboltz, Xcel Project Manager presented information regarding the project’s intent which is to provide a second circuit a 34.5 kV transmission line to improve electric reliability and voltage support for the system area. In August 2017, the Committee gave provisional approval to the proposed line (purple line on the map). Since then and after receiving and review public input, an alternative route which utilizes the existing corridor, is the second option (blue line on the map) that will be submitted to the Public Service Commission (PCS) as part of Xcel’s application for the permit. The PSC makes the final decision on which route will be permitted. The transmission planners would prefer building the non-corridor route to avoid vulnerabilities found when sharing the existing corridor route. The planners are working on another alternative; a portion of the line that could follow an existing Little Sioux Road. This option was made at the suggestion of J. Bodine and would significantly eliminate the need to cut new corridors through the forest. If found to be feasible, Xcel would request to present that alternative to the Committee at the next meeting as a third option. MOTION: (Silbert, Strand) to open the floor for 5 minutes total time for points of information at the end of Xcel’s presentation. Carried. C. Buboltz explained part of the old right of way proposal (existing corridor; green line) would be widening the right of way by 20-25 feet if needed, and new three phase lines (taller) poles would be installed as are installed between Herbster and Cornucopia. Alternative route changes potentially affecting private land owners are also under consideration. Once Xcel has finalized the options, they would present all recommended routes to the full county board in January and prior to submitting to the PSC. The Forestry and Parks Committee could recommend one or more options to the full County Board for consideration. The County Board could recommend one or more options also. S. Miller opened the floor to public comment. Chad Abel, resident and landowner on the existing corridor. The existing easement goes within 15 feet of front door of his residence. The double structure option would run down both sides of his road. A taller structure option is also undesirable. He asks for consideration of all who the decision potentially affects. Kathleen Russell. She emphasizes that the BPEA group encourages the Committee, Board and Xcel to consider that all parties use rational and objective criteria in this model. She inquired if the PSC considers public municipalities and the counties input and if so, that they should not make a decision without considering all of the input and information from all sides. Phil Norrgard. He wants to clarify that the BPEA has not made any recommendations regarding the routing to date but they are recommending the consideration of a criteria that could be used in making the decision. He also commented that transmission and not generation is the topic. BPEA hopes the County Board and Towns consider generation of electricity that may make the transmission a more desirable outcome. Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 3 of 6 December 11, 2017 Meeting Minutes S. Miller called for other public comments. There being no further public comment, the Chairman Miller closed public comment. J. Silbert requested that the Xcel representatives and the BPEA citizen group meet to discuss the criteria and model to come to a mutual recommendation. MOTION: (Strand, Maki) given that we are on this study/evaluation period, believing that all options need to be considered and with that, to approve to further develop this alternative (existing corridor) which uses some different county land being one of the options to be considered. Roll Call Vote: Yes: All No: None. Carried. 6. Land Acquisition Proposal: Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa regarding a proposal from Red Cliff to purchase approximately 80 acres of county forest land located near Sand Point Rd. in the Town of Bayfield. This a follow up to the same land acquisition proposal presented by the Tribe last month. The differences being that they are interested in only the eastern most 80 acres and they will no longer be pursuing another grant to cover the other half of the purchase using appropriated Tribal funds. Of these 80 acres, 25 are in management status; 16 acres are aspen that was harvested in 2016 and 9 acres contain 26 year old aspen. It will be 20 years before the 9 acres will be managed. C. Abel, Red Cliff Tribe, is requesting approval of purchasing 80 acres for $1,000/acre, which meets conservation value of these wetlands. The Committee approved the Tribe’s pursuit of a grant that would be used to purchase the property. The comparable value was determined to be $1,000/acre. If the Committee approves the sale, the process would be the same as before. County Board and DNR approvals would need to be secured. All proceeds would be re-invested in land with the goal of entry into CFL and another Stewardship grant would be applied for resulting in adding 130-160 acres within our CFL blocking replacing the 80 acres sold and removed from CFL. MOTION: (Silbert, Miller) to approve the land acquisition proposal with Red Cliff and the eastern most 80 acres of the said parcel for $1,000/acre for a total of $80,000. Discussion: The proposed sale of the land serves what is contained within the signed MOU with the Red Cliff Tribe. C. Abel explained the Tribe used non-grant funds to purchase. By doing so, access is limited to tribal members only. AMENDED MOTION: (Strand, Maki) to request that the Tribe will voluntarily allow non-tribal access. Discussion: The County benefits by doubling the purchasing power of the revenue of the sold land via a stewardship grant. The signed MOU with the Red Cliff Tribe meets their goals. Also, there would be no expectation of access to the public if purchased privately. H. Maki opposes the sale because the land will no longer be accessible to the public. S. Miller and J. Silbert requested H. Maki recused himself from voting because he is an adjoining landowner. Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 4 of 6 December 11, 2017 Meeting Minutes AMENDED MOTION VOTE: Strand: Yes; Silbert: No; Miller: No; Maki: Recuses. Motion failed. MOTION VOTE: Strand: Yes; Silbert: Yes; Miller: Yes; Maki: Recuses. Carried. 7. Monthly Reports. a) Forestry 1) 2017 Budget Update. J. Bodine anticipates the year end timber sale revenue could reach $5 million for the third year in a row. The expenses have been average. A 10% to the Towns budget adjustment will be necessary for the year due to the increased revenue. 2) New Position Update. Jason Holmes has accepted the inventory and analysis position in the Department. The vacant position was advertised and ten will be interviewed. b. Parks. Over $104,000 of parks revenues have been receipted for this year and the parks have been buttoned up for the season. Improved beach access at Delta Lake has been completed. The 2018 budget will include upgrades at Big Rock. c. Trails and Recreation 1) Motorized Trail Updates. The Trail 13 re-route is completed which accomplished moving the trail off of the town road right- of-way. There have been beaver dam problems in the Town of Barnes on the trail next to the snowmobile bridge. The closing of the Barnes parcel is in limbo at the state level due to the appraisal but an answer is expected this week. Once completed, it will go to the full county board. Access to the trail has continued. Trail connectivity issues through private land continue. New landowners are changing how they use their properties. The Department may explore incentive or appreciation options to allow access. Also, in Wisconsin, snowmobile registrations have decreased by 21% since 2010 and ATV registrations have increased by 25% could determine if the existing trail system is too large. The businesses that benefit from the trails may be tapped to help secure trails. 2) Non-Motorized Trail Updates. No discussion or action. 3) Yurt Updates. Mt. Ashwabay and Cable area groomers are out on the nearby trails; creating an interest increase. A third yurt project may be underway as early as January. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) to receive the monthly reports as presented. Carried. 8. 2018 Work Plan. After considerable time was spent analyzing data and reviewing various stand and landscape level criteria, the preliminary harvest goals are expected to be approximately 4600-4700 acres; a slight decrease from the last two years. Aspen goals are increasing to reach a peak of 1,500 acres within the next 5 years. Northern hardwood and oak are decreasing slightly. Jack pine management goals are decreasing from 345 acres in 2017 to 192 in Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 5 of 6 December 11, 2017 Meeting Minutes 2018. Scrub oak and red pine are increasing slightly. All other species types are stable. The Continuous Forest Inventory (CFI) and Forest Regeneration Monitoring (FRM) plots analysis will be used to improve the regeneration of all-age oak stands due to sites not responding to textbook treatments. Regeneration surveys will be aggressive along with other targets such as reconnaissance, reforestation, recreation (both motorized and non), access management, parks/campgrounds, yurts, invasive species control, etc. The final plan will be presented in January. 9. Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Grant for County Forest Land Acquisition. Priority parcels to purchase have been identified with the focus on large industrial parcels situated within the blocking. Another advantage is that they are all currently on the tax roll as MFL open properties and are taxed at $.79/acre; they contribute a fairly insignificant amount of revenue to both the county and towns. Of the $.79/acre, 80% stays with the town and 20% to the counties. A PILT payment of $.20/acre is paid at the rate of 80% to the town and 20% to the counties. These taxes are the advantage of CFL versus MFL properties. Two stewardship grant scenarios were discussed. Option 1 utilizes all identified match properties (3,209 acres) and the $80,000 from the sale to Red Cliff for a total grant value of $2,766,687.50. The purchase properties are all owned by Meteor Timber (2,326 acres). Option 1 contains $4-500,000 in manageable timber value in the next few years. Appraisal and other fees are estimated to be $50,000 covered by the remaining grant balance. Option 2 utilizes the Bibon Swamp properties and recently acquired tax delinquent 17-acre parcel off of Happy Hollow Road as match properties (2,965 acres) and the $80,000 in cash for a total grant value of $2,331,300. Tax delinquent property values should be utilized as soon as possible because it decreases in value by 50% after one year of ownership. The purchase properties are also all owned by Meteor Timber (1,950 acres). Appraisal and other fees are estimated to be $80,000. Both options include a portion of Grandview and Lincoln Townships which would receive respectively $7,800/year and $1,600/year in tax payments. In this option fewer identified match parcels would be used thus saving them for a future $600,000 stewardship grant. MOTION: (Strand, Silbert) to move forward with Option 1. Discussion: If using all the match properties (Option 1) and then the second $80,000 sale goes through with Red Cliff, there would not be remaining match properties to utilize for unforeseen future purchases. Also, if not utilizing the smaller parcels, negotiating a price per acre in the future may be higher. The stewardship program funding is available until at least the year 2020 but the budget is set biennially; currently $9,000,000 is available. MOTION VOTE: Maki: No; Miller: No; Silbert: Yes; Strand: Yes. Motion failed. MOTION: (Strand, Silbert) to move forward with Option 2. MOTION VOTE: Maki: No; Miller: Yes; Silbert: Yes; Strand: Yes. Carried. 10. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative. Excited to see the Department’s staff growing and going in a good direction; addressing the forest regeneration work. Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 6 of 6 December 11, 2017 Meeting Minutes 11. Adjourn Meeting adjourned at 7:52 PM. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting and timber re-sale bid opening will be held Monday, January 15, 2018 at 6:00 P.M. at Bayfield County Courthouse, County Board Room, Second Floor, 117 E. 5th Street, Washburn, Wisconsin. Submitted by, Pat Bruno