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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 5/13/2019 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING May 13, 2019 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Vice-Chairperson; Larry Fickbohm, Harold Maki and David Zepczyk Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Caleb Brown, Forester Others: Joseph LeBouton, WI DNR Liaison; 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 6:03 P.M. 2. Public Comment. Chairperson Strand called for public comment. After repeating the call no one came forward. Closed public comment. 3. Approval of the April 8, 2019 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Zepczyk) to approve the minutes as presented. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Spring Timber Sale Bid Opening J. Bodine read the timber sale bids of the Spring 2019 timber sales. 33 sales offered. The unofficial winning bids were announced. MOTION: (Maki, Zepczyk) to accept the apparent high bids. All: Yes. Carried Of the 33 tracts offered, 5 sales had no bids. The preliminary sold value is $2,362,975.55. One available for direct sale. 5. Monthly Reports. Discussion of general activities, events, issues and accomplishments. Possible action on report(s) only. A. Forestry (all updates) a. 2019 Budget Timber sale revenues retuned to a normal level in April. To date, we have received just under $410,000 in stumpage revenue. To date $1.31 million in stumpage revenue. Expenses are on track. b. Stewardship Grant The applications for the withdrawal of all purchased properties from MFL as well as the application for entry in County Forest Law were both recently submitted. One of the final steps of the grant is to design and order signs. All parcels that were purchased with Stewardship funds are required to be signed indicating that fact. The signs will be similar to those purchased a few years ago. Once all of that work has been completed, we can summarize the final incidental expenses, make a final claim for reimbursement, and close out the grant. All should be closed by mid summer. c. Oak Wilt Our firewood permit has been updated to include Oak wilt restrictions. There is a map included with the permit requiring all applicants to consider the map when harvesting firewood. d. Emerald Ash Borer EAB has been confirmed in Douglas County, roughly two miles from the county line. We acquired 22 units and attractant that we will be putting throughout county forest in 2019 and 2020. Would not be surprised to find some bugs in the traps. Some committee discussion on where to place traps and how many to put out this year. e. Trespass in Iron River J. Bodine met with landowner, Greg Merritt on April 26. J. Bodine’s recommendation is a direct sale with only as much county land is necessary to satisfy set back requirements. J. Bodine displayed a map on the screen showing property that would be sold. Total estimated land would be .10 acres. Mr. Merritt would be required to pay for all the land, survey costs, legal expenses as well as any other incidental expenses associated with the transaction. Mr. Merritt would also be required to remove all his items from the remaining portions of county land, obliterate the driveway and replant the landscaped area with native conifers. The transaction would then need to be approved by the Board and CFL withdrawal request approved by the DNR before we can work on closing the issue. More to come in the June meeting. B. Parks (all updates) Campgrounds will be open May 10. Brenda has done a great job getting everything ready. A hot water heater was replaced at Delta, as well as a pump on the upper well at Twin Bear. One seasaonal site still available at Twin Bear. There has been discussion on replacing the retaining wall at Twin Bear. The goal is to develop a plan/budget this summer to incorporate into the 2020 budget. This project could cost $20,000+ With this project, there is possibility of adding an additional campsite to increase revenue. C. Trails and Recreation (all updates) a. Motorized Trials ATV trails will most likely open Wednesday (15th) This is also the day the roads bans come off. There is some work needed with heavy equipment on a few of the trails so that will get done soon. b. Non-Motorized Trails i. Siskiwit Falls Received a preliminary awarding on the Wisconsin costal grant for some trail work. Estimated project is $60,000 we were awarded $30,000. We are longer eligible for RTP funds since they are both federal funding, so we will be now applying for stewardship funds. Unfortunately, if awarded, Stewardship funds might not be available until late this year. Capital funds have been budgeted for work at Siskiwit, so we’ll have to determine if we want to wait on Stewardship, which isn’t guaranteed (and delay work at Siskiwit for potentially another year) or begin work when WI Coastal funds are released. ii. Fire Hill Some of the matching funds is the Stewardship application, they are doing “clean- up” work on the title. Hoping to have this done in the next month, then goes to JFC for final approval. c. Yurts Evergreen occupancy rates were 43% in April, 52% so far for May, 70% for June and 94% for July. Terra Cotta was 39% in April, 42% so far for May, 73% for June and 58% for July. Cable trails behind, roughly half the occupancy as the Bayfield Yurts. April is traditionally the slowest month. Some spring cleaning was done at both the Bayfield yurts, Cable in the coming weeks. d. Events Two recurring events were approved. The Chequamegon 100 Mountain Bike Race and CARE running event. e. FEMA Grant/Projects i. Motorized Trails J. Bodine has signed both of the motorized trail projects in the last few weeks. Both projects have been closed out. Have not received any money as of yet but hope to see that soon. ii. Delta Landfill Project has just come through for J. Bodine’s approval. Written at $350,000 range based off an estimate from Marcus Jolma. We’ve been collaborating with Conservation and DATCP engineers to develop a plan. Lots of steps to getting this project going. More to come. MOTION: (Silbert, Maki) Receive the monthly report and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Recreational Use Request North End Ski Club is requesting the use of existing trails in Cable for a new running event. The event is scheduled for June 1, 2019. J. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk). Approve the recreational use request for the North End Ski Club. All: Yes. Carried. 7. 2018 Accomplishment Report Final draft was sent to committee members. The staff has accomplished a tremendous amount of work in 2018. J. Bodine opened it up to any questions from committee members. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) Receive the monthly report and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Liason – No Comments Meeting adjourned at 7:42 P.M The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting will be held Monday, June 10, 2019 at 6:00 P.M. at Bayfield County Courthouse, County Board Room, Second Floor, 117 E. 5th Street, Washburn, Wisconsin. Submitted by, Lindley Mattson