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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 6/11/2018 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING June 11, 2018 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Vice-Chairperson; Harold Maki; and David Zepczyk Members Absent: Larry Fickbohm Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Steve Probst, Asst. Administrator; and Pat Bruno, Office Manager 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. The meeting of the Forestry and Parks Committee was called to order by Chairman F. Strand at 6:00 P.M. 2. Public Comment. Chairman Strand called for public comment. No one from the public in attendance. Closed public comment. 3. Approval of the May 14, 2018 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) to approve the minutes of the last meeting. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Monthly Reports. A. Forestry (all updates): 1) 2018 Budget. Timber sale revenues for May are approximately one-half of normal; however, the total stumpage revenues are only slightly behind the three-year average. Road bans were removed mid-May. Expenses are normal. The new summer intern, Ashley Seufzer, started this week. She will be assisting mainly with the Continuous Forest Inventory Project (C.F.I.), regeneration monitoring and some park and recreation maintenance. 2) Red Cliff Land Sale (80 acres). The purchase has been finalized. Proceeds from the sale are now available to include in the future Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant applications. 3) Stewardship Grant. The DNR appraisal review is completed and as expected, the lowest valuation, by Compass Land Consultants, Inc., was selected. The number of subject properties to purchase will be adjusted to maximize the approved valuation. The best scenario will be to purchase from Timber Investment Resources (Meteor Timber) 1,110 acres (1080.15 acres on GIS) for a total of $1,312,383.15. The match will come from the appraised value of 3,221.25 acres of county owned land, plus roughly $65,000 from a previous land sale to Red Cliff. The per acre price is $1,215 which is more than Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 2 of 4 June 11, 2018 the appraised value of the same subject parcels. Due to the low valuation on the Bibon Swamp, the project will be approximately one-half of what was initially anticipated. The grant will not cover the difference so the $65,000 will be tapped for that purpose. After submitting all of the updated information to the DNR this week, the DNR will present the grant applications for review and decision by the Joint Finance Committee; hopefully to be completed prior to the end of the state fiscal year. If successful, this project will add 4,331.25 acres to county forest land, some of which are ready for immediate management. This would make Bayfield County the third largest county forest in the state, exceeding Iron County by 900 acres. 4) Siskiwit River Preserve. This land purchase closed June 4. The next step will include a meeting with the Town of Bell Parks and Lands Committee. The process to re-zone to a Conservancy designation has begun. The property is being evaluated to formulate detailed plans, goals and future direction. Parking has been an issue with nearby private land owners. J. Bodine spoke with the Town of Bell Chair regarding the parking issues. The interim plan is to direct visitors to park on the north side of Siskiwit Falls Road. Parking is restricted on and adjacent to the bridge. Before any work can begin, the rezone must be approved. Items that will be addressed include $5,000 worth of invasive species removal; removal of the yellow cabin, grade and seed the site (to be paid by previous landowner); cap the water well; improved trails and install signage. Also, the valuation of the Siskiwit property of $400,000 could be used as a match for another Stewardship grant to purchase another 300-400 acres of land. This option is being explored. 5) Wisconsin Habitat Partnership Fund Application. Preliminary approval has been received for an approximately $68,000 grant which includes CORE road development in the Barnes barrens and also invasive species control. If successful, the grant would fund 75% of the project’s costs. B. Parks (update). Both Twin Bear and Delta Lake parks were full to capacity over the Memorial Park weekend with lots of busy beaches and playgrounds. Some stumps were removed at Delta Lake to improve some of the sites. Also, a tree removal specialist was at Big Rock for 40 hours trimming dead branches. A large, dead white pine needs to be removed also. The DNR will pay for one-half as it is on DNR owned property as are three campsites. Because the property was purchased with federal dollars by the state, it would be difficult for the county to purchase and the state to sell to the county. The state was agreeable if the county wanted to build a small picnic pavilion. C. Trails and Recreation (all updates). 1) Motorized Trails. ATV trails are open with reports of high use. 2) Non-Motorized Trails. Lost Creek Falls is still very popular. Jolly Jerry Trails are scheduled for gravel work and sign maintenance. The Mt. Ashwabay trail grooming agreement may be revisited late summer. Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 3 of 4 June 11, 2018 3) Yurts. The Bayfield yurt site continues to be busy with the yurt rented all but four nights from June through August. The Cable site is at 47% occupancy in June and only the weekends in July so far. UDC (building code) issues had slowed the start of the third (Bayfield #2) yurt. The issues are resolved, and building should begin soon. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) to receive and place reports on file. All: Yes. Carried. 5. Recreational Use Request. 180 Adventure, LLC. Stubborn Mule Adventure Race; Town of Cable. June 30. A request was received to use existing trails located on county forest land in the Cable block for a 75-90 participant orienteering/biking/canoeing event. J. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) to approve the request by 180 Adventure. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Access Permit Renewal Request. Lance Klessig. Town of Bayview. This permit was approved 10 years ago, but no work was started. Access would cross approximately 3,200 feet of county forest land in the Town of Bayview. Approximately 500 feet are on existing trail and the remainder would require new construction. L. Klessig has no current plan to construct the road but is requesting the permit in the event other access routes are cut off. If that happens, they would be required to work with our Department on the actual location of the access road and pay for any trees removed as part of the road construction. J. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) to grant access. All: Yes. Carried. 7. Policy Review. Recreational Use and Access Permits. F. Strand explained that the current policy for all recreational use/event requests, including minor trail maintenance and development, as well as access permit request for approval come to the Committee. In most cases, they are approved. Also, many access requests are renewals of previously approved permits. Finally, most trail improvements/development requests have already been identified and/or approved in a recreation use agreement. The recommendation is to assign the Forestry and Parks Administrator the authority to approve all recreation use/event request, access permit requests, and minor trail maintenance/development requests, unless there are significant changes in the event or access permit renewal request, or a request was not previously approved as part of an existing recreation use agreement. Approved requests could be included in the monthly report to the committee. This change would provide increased efficiency and workflow. All new event and access permit requests, as well as significant trail development and/or maintenance requests that were not previously approved, would come to the Committee as per past practice. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) to approve the idea as presented and anything new, unusual or major changes would come before the committee. All: Yes. Carried. Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Committee Page 4 of 4 June 11, 2018 8. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative. J. LeBouton explained that the current agreement with the County is the DNR will provide 3,390 hours per year of work on county forest land. One of two vacant positions to fulfill those hours was recently filled by Jacob Coonen; and the goal of reaching a total of seven filled positions. The meeting adjourned at 6:42 P.M. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting will be held Monday, July 9, 2018 at 6:00 P.M. or August 13, 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