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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 9/9/2019 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING September 9, 2019 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Vice-Chairperson; Larry Fickbohm, David Zepczyk and Harold Maki Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton, 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 6:01 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 August 12, 2019 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Fickbohm) to approve the minutes as presented. All: Yes. Carried. 4. 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 were a little below average last month. Roughly $350k in revenues for August. To date a total of 2.96 million for 2019. Estimate final 2019 revenues to be around $4 million. Expenses may be a little less than estimated as we received a number of grants this year. b. Certification Audit Still waiting on final reports. We have the preliminary report from SFI which we have been looking at. Will bring final reports to the committee once received. c. Oak Wilt J. Holmes went up in a plane with the DNR this past month for initial investigations and sixteen different points were marked from the air. The drone was then used to pin point a more exact location and those points were then field checked. To date, we have confirmed only four new infections. Fortunately, they have been detected early in the process and only involved a single tree. But the treatment area can consist of anywhere from a half dozen oaks to upwards of 40 trees. This can become quite a time commitment. If oak wilt continues to spread, it can quickly escalate into a significant workload and one that we can no longer accomplish in house. Contracting out this work will most likely become the norm. Some committee discussion on contracting out services; training requirements etc. d. CFL Withdrawal/Trespass in Iron River Withdrawal was approved and has now been forwarded over to Land Records for the CSM. Next step is a survey on the property. All expenses will be billed to the landowner. Hoping to wrap this up by end of September, early October. B. Parks (all updates) With Labor Day behind us, parks are winding down. 2019 has set a new record for parks. To date, a total of $108k in revenue with another estimated 5k for the remainder of the year. Will likely see Brenda, campground manager, at the October meeting for updates. One ongoing concern with the campgrounds is parking. Will need to revisit that issue before next season. Names were drawn for 2020 seasonal sites. All sites were filled at both campgrounds with 9-10 new names for the coming year. Some complaints with our random selection process but they are beginning to understand that this is a public facility and we are an equal opportunity provider. C. Trails and Recreation (all updates) a. Motorized Trials Nothing new on our trails. We have had a few calls regarding the Tri-County Corridor and their bridges. b. Non-Motorized Trails i. Siskiwit Falls Lots of good news, we have received all the grants we have applied for. We will have hopefully $60,000 for trail improvements next year. The primary access trail on the east side will be the main focus. The infrastructure work has been done over the past month with assistance from the Highway Department. We can revisit the parking lot this time next year to see if any adjustments need to be made. We still have signs and kiosk to purchase. We are working with Landmark on the language that will be on the signs. Fire Hill Not a lot to report. We are waiting for the other half of the funding. Erica is still positive that it will happen still this year. This will be another recreational property that will absorb staff time. c. Yurts Both Bayfield yurts were near 100% for the summer months. Looking at close to $40k in revenue this year. Return on investment will be about midpoint next year, all three yurts will be paid off in about four and a half years total. d. Events The South Shore School Cross Country running events were approved this path month. These were previously approved events that utilize existing logging roads located just south of the Northern Pines Golf Course in Iron River. e. LCORP Update Letters have gone out to municipalities, the tribe and various nonprofits for information to update the plan. We are giving them two months to get the info back. Once all info is received we will have a new plan together for you at the November meeting. f. FEMA Grant/Projects i. Delta Landfill Scheduled to meet with DATCAP sometime in October. Hope to develop plans this winter, RFP’s or bid info should go out in the spring and plan to complete the project by mid 2020. Conversations have been started with Wisconsin Waste Management and FEMA to get extensions on the project. DNR will begin working on cleanup south of the pit in the next month. MOTION: (Maki, Zepczyk) Receive the monthly report and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 5. Access Permit Request: Dan Vaughan. J. Bodine presented a map with the request. The request is located off Lenawee Road in the Town of Port Wing. Dan is primarily looking to access his hunting 40, which is about 2.25 miles off the forest service road (FR447). He is advised to use extra caution as about half of this route is part of the trail network. 6. Recreational Use Request: Iron River Area Chamber of Commerce This is a previously approved request. This year, they would like to change the race course and utilize more county forest land. Attached is a map of last year’s event, as well as their request for this year Most of the course is located on existing logging roads. However, about 2,100 feet of new trail construction would be required to form a connection across the Muskeg Creek. New trail construction would mostly entail brush clearing, with a minimal amount of trees cut (nothing merchantable). The crossing over the Muskeg would require a permit and also only be temporary (and most likely a bridge) and removed shortly after the race. If approved the Chamber would be responsible for acquiring the permit, as well as installing and removing the crossing. The request is for permission to use the new route for the race, including the construction of new trail. If approved, the Department would oversee the new trail construction, as well as the installation and removal of the temp crossing. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Maki) Approve recreational use request. All: Yes. Carried. 7. County Conservation Aid Grant This is an annual state grant that requires a formal application. Every year, we are allotted $3,993 to help cover the costs associated with various conservation related projects. In the past, we’ve used this money to help with bud capping, red oak reforestation, jack pine seeding, barrens development and/or maintenance, and other similar activities. We are waiting on the outcome of another grant application before making a final decision on this one. But reforestation activities in the barrens and/or other barrens related projects would most likely be the focus. The application process has changed a bit, but still requires Committee approval to apply. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) Approve application for County Conservation Aid Grant. All: Yes. Carried. 8. Recreational Opportunities on the County Forest J. Bodine is asking for input on new recreational opportunities for Bayfield County and the Forestry and Parks department. With recent addition of campgrounds, state funded trails, yurts, Lost Creek Falls, Siskiwit Falls and potentially Fire Hill, the workload associated with recreation has increased. There could be additional opportunities for rustic camping, hiking in the Glacial Kettles, or we could improve opportunities to water features. Any additional recreational opportunities would require maintenance. At this point we can’t absorb any more increases in workload without additional resources. But creating better access to the lakes, possibly carry-in canoe access, rustic campsites and/or day use areas, a picnic table or two, access to the shore for fishing, possibly a fishing pier, even improve the structure/habitat of the lakes, etc would be very beneficial to Bayfield County Recreation. This was brought to the committee to see what direction they would like the Forestry and Parks department to go in. Committee agrees that adding more recreational opportunities would greatly benefit the department and also Bayfield County as a whole. Some discussion from committee on different options/ideas. Committee would like administrator and staff to continue to develop ideas and bring to a future meeting. 9. 2020 Budget A draft of the 2020 budget was reviewed and approved during the last meeting. Attached is a copy of the final 2020 budget, as submitted. Also included is the budget narrative and summaries of various capital requests. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Liason – Wanted to reiterate how well the audit went. Bayfield County Forestry staff are excellent at their jobs. A new forester will be starting for the DNR next week. Meeting adjourned at 7:03 PM The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting will be held Monday, October 14, 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