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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 12/14/2020 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING December 14, 2020 Held virtually through Microsoft Teams Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, David Zepczyk, Larry Fickbohm, Steve Sandstrom Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Steve Probst, Assistant Administrator 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:02pm. 2. Public Comment: None 3. Approval of the November 9, 2020 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Fickbohm) to approve the minutes as presented. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Salvage Timber Sale Summary Salvage sale 56-20 the salvage sale that was advertised last month has been sold. North Country Lumber was the only bidder at $8,002.50 with a minimum bid of $5,466.50. Since then two additional salvage sales have been established. Tract 57-20 is 100 acres with a minimum bid of $8,823.00 and 60-20 is 28 acres with a minimum value around $1,200. J. Bodine presented maps of both sales. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Silbert) Approve sale 56-20 and approve the sales 57-20 and 60-20. 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) 2020 Budget. Timber sale receipts were well above average in November. Nearly $380k, making November the second biggest month this year. It has been a strong start to December, with just over $272k already this month. We have now exceeded our 2020 timber sale revenue budget of $3.355 million. Could hit $3.6 million by end of year. J. Bodine presented images of the roller chopping project approved last month. b) 2020 Budget Amendment (potential): Bodine believes the few projects/expenses/revenues will all fall in 2021 and there may no longer be a need for a budget amendment in 2020, although still possible. c) 2021 Annual Workplan. All of the figures have been established, but the plan is still in the beginning stages. J. Bodine will present the plan to the committee at the January meeting. d) Carbon Offset/Marketing. J. Bodine has met (virtually) with Bluesource multiple times over the last month. They are very interested in our project. While Finite was interested in a small project, Bluesource has focused on a much larger project to include all of the county forest. Some committee discussion on carbon marketing. e) Red Cliff Land Sale. The previous land sale was completed a few months ago. Currently, we are working with Red Cliff on another potential sale. This sale involves county owned land, non- county forest parcels located within the reservation. J Bodine presented a map of the parcels in question. f) Stewardship Land Acquisition Project. Nothing new to report. J. Bodine continues to work with TPL on a large Stewardship project. g) CAMBA Economic Impact Study. CAMBA recently released the results of their economic impact study focusing on the value of mountain biking in Bayfield and Sawyer counties. Roughly $7.8 million in annual impact. b. Parks. Finished the season right around $113k. There are still a few seasonal sites available at Delta campground. c. Trails and Recreation: a) Motorized Trail Updates: The picnic shelter has been completed. Next year, the club will paint/stain the shelter. b) Non-Motorized Trail Updates: Siskiwit project is almost complete. J Bodine presented a few photos for the committee. The only remaining part is the elevated boardwalk. Those are still being constructed. Once complete, those can be put into place. This project came in well under budget so we may be able to use some of the leftover funds for other small projects on the property. c) Yurt Updates: Bodine presented the occupancy rates for each yurt. Strong December and January. d) Events. No new events were addressed this past month. d. Delta Landfill Update: Wisconsin Emergency Management has had some questions on the plan. Once those have all been addressed, those plans are again submitted to FEMA. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Access Permit Request. Mark Bohm We have a previously approved access permit to the property in question. The current owner Neil Fishbaugher is in the process of selling the property to Mark Bohm. The new owner is asking for a similar permit. I’ve attached the map that we used on the Fishbaugher request. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Sandstrom) Approve the access permit for Mark Bohm. All: Yes. Carried. Silbert noted: this approval of access permit is dependent on the successful land sale to Mark Bohm. 7. Timber Sale Adjustments. With the unprecedented market conditions, Verso mill closures, and subsequent decrease in stumpage values there has been some discussion regarding potential adjustments and/or modifications to existing timber sale contracts. This is not unique to Bayfield County, as many counties in the state are having these same conversations. This year the committee approved free one-year extensions, with no stumpage price increases on all eligible timber sale contracts. After analyzing the fall 2020 sale and summarizing all existing contracts, including sorting bid prices based on type of sale (i.e. summer ground vs frozen ground, low volume vs high volume, significant road work vs minor road work, etc), it became clear that finding any type of definitive trend is not realistic. One option is to adjust stumpage prices on all contracts back to their original winning bid values. Another option: place some of the responsibility on the shoulders of the contractor and adjust stumpage prices on sales that have been extended once or twice back to their original bid prices and adjust those that have been extended three or more times back to the first extension price increases (which is a 5% increase of the original winning bid price). Making this move would only impact about 7 or 8 contractors and about 18 contracts, most of which are frozen ground sales, but could result in about $100k in reduced stumpage values. It should be noted, that in nearly every case, especially for sales on frozen ground, the original winning bid prices are still significantly higher than the average 2020 rates. If we decided to temporarily forgive extension related stumpage price increases, we should also establish a few conditions. For example, the extension related stumpage price increases will only be applied on new volumes harvested (and not on previously harvested, hauled or otherwise paid for materials, nor on any contracts that have already been closed) and will only be applicable in calendar year 2021. There will be no guarantees that the forgiveness of extension related stumpage fee increases will be extended into 2022. Some committee discussion on this topic. MOTION: (Silbert, Sandstrom) Approve Bodine’s proposal for the timber sale price adjustments for 2021. All: Yes. Carried Discussion: Probst expressed his concerns with this adjustment saying we are rewarding bad behavior, giving price adjustments for not cutting the wood based on contracts. But does acknowledge prices are high. 8. Bayfield County Forest Comprehensive Land Use Plan Revision. a. Chapters 1000, 2000 and 3000. The draft chapter are completed. They have been sent to the committee. Chapter 2000 addresses monitoring. That is a requirement of certification. Monitoring that we are meeting our goals. Chapter 3000 is a summary of IRMUs. The goal was to briefly describe some of the characteristics of each unit, highlight a few unique aspects, list some core goals and objectives, and provide a little more detail on forest management related issues/concerns that will need to be considered in the next coming years. Chapter 1000 is the appendix. J Bodine presented it to the committee during the meeting and will send it out for review after the meeting. This chapter contains all of the maps, supplemental tables and then other documents (or links to documents) that are referenced throughout the plan. b. Remaining Timeline. Assuming approved by the committee, the newest versions of each draft chapter will go online for one last round of public review/comment. Then bring any comments to the meeting in January. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Silbert) Give preliminary approvals to chapters 1000,2000, 3000 to make available to public comment. All: Yes. Carried 9. Joseph LeBouton, DNR – No comments. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, January 11, 2020 at 6:00 P.M. Meeting adjourned at 7:15 PM Submitted by, Lindley Mattson