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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 12/19/2019 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING December 19, 2019 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Larry Fickbohm, David Zepczyk, Jeffrey Silbert and Harold Maki Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Steve Probst, Assistant Administrator Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton, DNR Liaison; Eric Sirrine, DNR Team Lead; Nikki Marten, DNR Forestry; Ray Kangas, Chairman Across the Pond Veterans Park; Roger Johnson, Across the Pond; Larry Frostman, Across the Pond 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This was a rescheduled meeting from the cancelled December 9th meeting that was cancelled due to weather. The meeting of the Forestry and Parks Committee was called to order by Chairman F. Strand at 5:00 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 November 18, 2019 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Zepczyk) to approve the minutes as presented. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Resolution: Sale of Land to the Across the Pond Veterans Park. J. Bodine presented a draft resolution to the committee. Roger Johnson presented some background information on the plans for the park as well as went over the need for additional land. He went over some of the donations already received. Larry Frostman commented on the economic impact of the park will greatly benefit the county. Ray Kangas commented about his excitement for the project and proud of how his board’s work ethic. Nikki Marten presented a slideshow documenting the CFL withdrawal process. It can be a time- consuming process with many steps. Some committee discussion on the timeline of the process, what the DNR needs as documentation/proof for withdrawal and will this additional acreage be enough for new plan. Questions/comments regarding the draft resolution: Silbert questioned, in reference to a “whereas” in the resolution, if the 10 year operating budget and maintenance plan has been submitted yet to the Forestry and Parks department. J. Bodine responds that it has not been submitted. Bodine believes a 10 year budget is asking a lot and proposes dropping it to 5 years. Committee agrees. MOTION: (Silbert, Fickbohm) Move that we approve the resolution for Across the pond and the withdrawal of county forest law with the recommend to the Full County Board with the change that the 10 year maintenance and operating plan be changed to 5 years. All: Yes. Carried. 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 in November were a little below average, just under $180,000. Roughly $131k already in December with two weeks left to go. Looking at $4.15 million for the year. Expenses are on target. Beginning of the new year, we will send checks to towns for the 10% share. Since we are over budget, that will be slightly overbudget as well. b) Certification Audit. Final Report from the FSC Audit. Copy of the certification we received. c) CFL Withdrawal/Trespass in Iron River. Not a lot of progress. Waiting on the closing of the property. We seem to be waiting on the final corners to be set. d) Jackman Lake Property Issue. J. Bodine has not received any notification from any of his contacts in regards to this property. As far as he is aware, it has not sold. e) Bibon Swamp Committee Meeting. The agenda for the annual Bibon Swamp Advisory Council meeting was provided to the committee as well as the minutes from the previous meeting. D. Zepczyk is our County Representative for the council. He attended the latest meeting and gave a brief overview of the meeting. Since the Bibon Swamp is now part of the county forest we will be developing a plan for the property in our new 15 year land use plan. f) Gypsy Moth Update: Maps put together by DATCAP were provided showing the number of moths trapped this summer as well as egg counts. Trap counts were fairly high, egg mass counts were low. We will be working with the DNR to put in more egg mass counts in usually suspect areas. Overall, the egg counts have declined over the last few years. We hope that trend continues. b. Parks: Will talk about parks later in the meeting. c. Trails and Recreation: a) Motorized Trail Updates: Snowmobile trails are open. Some issues with the wet areas. Considering trails in “early season condition” Lots of trees down from the heavy wet snow. Clubs are working hard to get the trails ready for the season. b) Non-Motorized Trail Updates: i. Siskiwit Falls. Official grant was awarded last month. RFP will go out early spring. ii. Fire Hill. There has been a lot of movement on this project. We are exploring options for the funds, since the WI Coastal Grant has not been awarded yet. There is an extra push to have this done by the end of the year. c) Yurt Updates: Evergreen was at 43% for November and currently 55% for December. Terra Cotta was 30% for November and 52% for December. Cable, 23% in November and 32% for December. We did have some “Yurters” stranded up at the Evergreen Yurt in the last big storm. Luckily they had enough food and water to tide them over. The highway department had to assist the town in plowing up to the parking lot. This storm was a great test to the durability of these yurts. d) Events. Events approved this month: The American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation previously approved events were again approved. MOTION: (Maki, Fickbohm) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Access Permit Request. Kevin Jacobson. J. Bodine presented a map of the area of access. This is a reciprocal agreement where the county would be granted the use of about ½ mile of trail for the use of about 2.5 miles of county forest. The fee would be waived when the county gets access as well. MOTION: (Maki, Silbert) Approve the reciprocal access permit for a 10 year period. All: Yes. Carried. 7. 2019 Fall Timber Sale Summary J. Bodine went through the timber sale development process with an emphasis on how minimum bid prices are determined. Bodine presented a summary of the results from the last few timber sales broken down by species. He also presented a summary of the unsold sales and how unsold sales are managed. Some discussion on price development and how the market effects the prices. 8. 2019 Campground Summary J. Bodine provided a list of accomplishments as well as a to do list for the campgrounds. Some of the developments/improvements for 2020: policy for last minute camping cancellations, accepting credit card payments for campers, additional parking areas, repair driveway at Twin Bear, fishing pier off Puig’s Point, hiking trail development at Big Rock as well as other smaller projects. 9. Comprehensive Land Use Plan A box ad was placed in the paper providing info on the plan revision process with directions on how to sign up for notifications. An email went out to our stakeholder list with the same instructions. We have 24 people signed up to received notifications at this point. 10. 2020 Forestry and parks Department Annual Work Plan. J. Bodine presented an executive summary on the work plan. As of now, the Forest Management part of the plan is updated. In summary, the sustainable harvest goal is about 5,300 acres or 2020, an almost 400 acre increase from 2019. Reforestation: planting is similar to 2019; seeding is going to be a little larger for 2020; site prep will be little above average at 1,100 acres; plantation maintenance has been coming down steadily; monitoring plantations is becoming a larger time commitment, 25 stands covering 1,100 acres will be monitored for success; natural reforestation 2,000-3,000 acres are regenerated naturally and monitored on a regular basis, one of our most time consuming tasks; inventory and monitoring 4,000 acres on stand updates and 10,000 acres on compartment updates, focusing on potential problem areas. Continuous Forest Inventory, this is also a time-consuming process. We are putting 670 plots on county forest, we were hoping to get it done in a few years but it will most likely take 5 years. Approximately 270 are completed. Goal for 2020 is 140. Timber sale administration: in a normal year we have 60-90 active timber sales. DNR partnership hours are down a little for 2020, 3,640 of assistance from the state for next year. Increase to $90,000 in the town road aid for 2020. Some committee discussion on work plan. Final draft at the January meeting. 11. Recreational Use Request. American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation. ABSF is requesting the use of existing trails in Cable for the Seeley Hills Classic cross country ski race. This race was previously hosted by the Seeley Hills Ski Club. Attached is their formal request. J. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Silbert) Approve the recreational use request for Seeley Hill Classic Cross Country Ski Race. All: Yes. Carried. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Liason – no comments Eric Sirrine, DNR Team Lead – no comments The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting will be held Monday, January 13, 2020 at 6:00 P.M. at Bayfield County Courthouse, County Board Room, Second Floor, 117 E. 5th Street, Washburn, Wisconsin. Discussion on changing the meeting time to 5:00pm on a regular basis. Committee members prefer to keep it at 6:00pm Meeting adjourned at 6:44 PM Submitted by, Lindley Mattson