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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 5/10/2021 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING May 10, 2021 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Steve Sandstrom, David Zepczyk, Larry Fickbohm Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Steve Probst, Assistant Administrator, Charly Ray; County Board Member Others in Attendance: Tessa Levens, Joseph Lebouton DNR 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:00pm. 2. Public Comment: Tessa Levens, Town of Russell resident, came to follow up on her concerns from the last meeting. Wanted to thank committee members for addressing her concerns. 3. Approval of the April 12, 2021 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Sandstrom) 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): WCFA is lobbying to reauthorize the Knowles-Nelson stewardship funds with no changes. Current changes want to limit which counties are eligible to receive funds based off the amount of public land in the county. a) 2021 Budget. April revenues were above average for timber sale revenues. Just under $450k was received. As of the day of the meeting, timber sale revenues are at about $1.87 million, well ahead of schedule. Expenses are on target. b) Carbon Project. J. Bodine has had regular meetings with Bluesource over the last month. The next step is to develop a project name and narrative. After removing all non-forested lands estimated acres are around 157,000. Assuming the project continues as planned, the project should be verified and registered with ACR by this time next year with revenue expected in fourth quarter 2022. c) Wildlife Monitoring Project. To date, 5 males ad 1 female sharp-tailed grouse have been captured and fitted with GPS collars. d) Across the Pond CFL Withdrawal. The DNR has almost finished their review of the latest withdrawal request. A few questions have come up: Can ATP transfer or sell this property to a private party in the future? What happens to their assets if they dissolve? Essentially, the DNR is questioning if the property could be sold/transferred to a landowner who could restrict public access/use. We are looking into answers to these questions. e) Trespass in the Town of Bayview. Bodine recommends carving out just enough county forest land to bring all structures into compliance. It is estimated that about .28 acres would be involved. The landowner will be responsible for all survey costs, ($1,250) legal fees, ($500) as well as fair market value of the land. ($2,000/acre) A final proposal will be brought to the June meeting. Once accepted, this will go to the DNR for CFL withdrawal. Proceeds will be deposited into the land acquisition account to be used on future land purchase. b. Parks (update). Campgrounds opened on May 7th. Most seasonals have moved in or are moving in. Boat launches have been busy. Big Rock has been busy as well. We have an order in for a new dock at Puig’s Point. Both outhouses will need to be rebuilt at Delta, one this year and one next year. We are looking into a new sign at Twin Bear, the sun has faded the sign substantially. c. Trails and Recreation: a) Motorized Trail Updates: Motorized trails opened on April 23, earlier than normal. We were recently informed that a private landowner in the Town of Clover the rec trail will no longer be allowed on his property starting 8/1. This will impact the Wally Polk trail. We are working with the USFS on the construction of a re-route through federal land. Users are able to use portions of Flag Road as a way to maintain connection to the trail system. b) Non-Motorized Trail Updates: We are still working with Landmark Conservancy on the final signs for Siskiwit Falls. They are planning a small celebration on the property this summer to recognize previous landowners and major donors. There has been a lot of interest in potential future recreational opportunities. Town of Bell recently organized a Cornucopia Trails Club that is looking to expand the use of the existing trails as well as building trails/opportunities to other features. Ie: Lake of the Clouds, Pratt’s Peak, etc. If this moves forward, a long-term rec use agreement with the Town of Bell would be in order. Bodine believes with the ever-expanding recreation in Bayfield County, it may be time for a full time, recreation coordinator. With the new Carbon revenue and the huge increase of outdoor recreation due to COVID now is the time to explore this further. c) Yurt Updates: Bodine presented occupancy rates. Dates are being booked as soon as they become available for fall. We are getting some estimates on updates to the yurts. New locks, doors, expanding woodsheds, etc. d) Future (Potential) Recreation Use Agreements: As mentioned earlier, the amount of recreation in Bayfield County is increasing. Per county policies, a long-term rec use agreement with a third party is preferred/required whenever a designated trail is not maintained internally. Current agreements include CAMBA, Birkie, North End Ski Club, North County Trail and the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce. Birkie’s agreement expires this year and may be updated to include old Telemark trails. A long over-due agreement is set to be developed with Ashwabay. A few other agreements may be developed this year as well. e) Events. Two 180 Adventure races were approved, both previously approved. One at Ashwabay (6/26-27) and Cable (9/10-11) d. Delta Landfill Update: More Q&A. We are currently in the environmental review phase. This should hopefully be the last step. If approved with the additional funding, we will have to go to the DNR for permits. If everything goes well these next few weeks, this project will be completed by this fall. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Zepczyk) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 5. Spring Timber Sales The bid opening results were provided to the committee. Of the 32 sales, 11 went no bids. 4 of these are previous no bid sales, one is a salvage and 5 sales with hard to market wood or seasonal restrictions. One sale, Bodine believes to have just been overlooked. Grand total of all sales is just under $1.6 million. With this many no bid sales Bodine recommends doing an immediate re-offer. Set up and done identical to our current sales. From there offer anything that does not sell, as a direct sale. MOTION: (Silbert, Sandstrom) Accept apparent high bids and authorize advertisement of 11 unsold sales for a June bid opening. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Timber Sale Contract Extensions Nearly all sales are set to expire 5/31(with the exception of the few that were extended to 12/31/2021) As per the last few years, due to poor markets, we have provided free one year extensions (no stumpage price increases and no $100 extension processing fee). Bodine recommends this again for this year. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) Approve the extensions from May 31, 2021 contracts to May 31, 2022 with processing fee be waived. All: Yes. Carried. 7. 2020 Accomplishment Report Bodine presented the 2020 accomplishment report to the committee. He asked the committee if they had any questions or comments on the report. Some committee discussion on the report. Committee praised administrator and staff for their hard work. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Fickbohm) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 8. Committee Members Discussion New agenda item for committee members to discuss topics. Topics discussed at this time could become agenda items at future meetings. Some topics discussed, nothing to be listed as future agenda items at this time. 9. Joseph LeBouton, DNR – Nothing to add. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, June 14, 2021 at 6:00 P.M. Meeting adjourned at 7:31 PM Submitted by, Lindley Mattson