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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 10/11/2021 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING October 11, 2021 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand, Chairperson; Jeffrey Silbert, Steve Sandstrom, David Zepczyk Members not in attendance: Larry Fickbohm Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Lindley Mattson, Office Manager; Steve Probst, Assistant Administrator Others in Attendance: Joseph Lebouton, DNR Liaison, three members of the public were present 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:00pm. 2. Public Comment: Mark Peterson, Town of Bayfield resident walked trails using the timber sale map and came away comfortable with the trees that have been selected to be thinned. He also commented on the new Carbon Project that Bayfield County Forestry is getting into. Mark likes the idea of selling carbon and believes we should reinvest funds into alternative energy in Bayfield County. 3. Approval of the September 13, 2021 Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Sandstrom) to approve and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 4. Recreational Use Request and Agreement. Iron River Chamber of Commerce The Iron River Chamber and Northern Pines Golf Course have been hosting the Northern Pines Sled Dog Race since 2019. A significant portion of the race has been held on county forest land. Bodine provided a summary and proposal for expansion of the new trails. In total, approximately 1.9 miles of new trail would be established, the majority of it occurring on existing infrastructure. There was a slight change to the initial route to move the trail further from a few landowners who did not want a trail near their property. Tim Landgreen spoke to the committee on behalf of the Northern Pines Sled Dog Race. MOTION: (Zepczyk, Sandstrom) approve the expansion of the trails and approve them for Use of dog sled race for next year. All: Yes. Carried. Consensus: Develop a rec use agreement for Northern Pines Sled Dog Race 5. Recreational Use Agreement. AOEF Bodine presented the long-term recreation use agreement with Ashwabay Outdoor Education Foundation to the committee. This agreement has very heavy map components. The agreement addresses the cross-country ski trails, down hill skiing (two of Mt. Ashwabay’s downhill runs are on county property) and all associated infrastructure that will be permitted on county owned lands within the Ashwaybay SMA. The SMA will involve both AOEF and CAMBA. The SMA is to be developed once the long-term plan is approved. MOTION: (Silbert,Sandstrom) Adopt the recreation use agreement with AOEF. All: Yes. Carried. Sandstrom noted, he would like to see the topic of how we plan to spend carbon revenue on an agenda in the next six months. 6. Land Use Request. Xcel Energy Xcel has started work on the temporary bypass line as part of the Second Circuit project. A map of the final location of the line was provided to the committee. Also provided was the lease agreement, line will impact just under 20 acres of county forest land. Combined payment to the county will be around $28,000 for stumpage lost and land lease. The county has potential to retain a few poles for future broadband work. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Zepczyk) accept temporary easement with Xcel Energy as proposed. All: Yes. Carried. 7. Monthly Reports. Discussion of general activities, events, issues and accomplishments. Possible action on report(s) only. a. Forestry (all updates): a) 2021 Budget. Stumpage revenue was down in September, just over $103,000 in total. Total stumpage revenue for the year is $2.98 million, expecting to surpass $3 million next week. Expenses are on target. b) Carbon Project. Beginning to gather pictures and videos for Bluesource to help with marketing our carbon. c) Red Cliff Land Sale/CFL Withdrawal. Application for withdrawal is still in process. d) Burns/Duquette Trespass CFL Withdrawal. The DNR is still processing this request. e) Stewardship Project. An offer was made on the Mathy properties in the Town of clover contingent upon us finding full funding. The offer has not been formally accepted as of yet. f) Conservation Aid Grant. Looking at two lake access projects in 2022 for this grant. New access at Richardson Lake and improving the existing infrastructure at Pine Lake. Bodine presented maps for the committee. g) Barrens/Wildlife Project: Still working with NRRI on the sharp-tailed monitoring project. We received notice that the GPS unit on the last banded male has stopped sending signal. NRRI is hoping to do more banding this fall and/or spring. b. Campgrounds and Day Use Parks: 2022 Seasonal applications were due last week. The selection process was held Saturday at Twin Bear campground. Parks revenue is nearly $131,000 with a little more revenue expected to trickle in. Expense are slightly up. a.) Siskiwit Falls Celebration: The event was held on Saturday, August 14 and was well attended. The previous landowners were impressed with the improvements. Still a few improvements, entrance sign, trail markers, possible bench and picnic table. There is some remaining grant funds and we are looking at developing a short section of trail along the west side of the river. c. Trails and Recreation: a) Motorized Trail Updates: Nothing new to report b) Non-Motorized Trail Updates: The RFP for the work at Lost Creek went live. Proposals due on October 22. c) Yurt Updates: Bodine presented occupancy rates. Continue to be very popular. d) Events: No new events over the past month. d. Delta Landfill Update: A joint meeting was held between Forestry, Highway, Land Conservation and FEMA to discuss the procurement process and get plan of action. Very productive meeting. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Zepczyk) Receive and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 8. Fall Timber Sale Offering. A total of 33 sales covering 3,040 acres will be included in the fall 2021 offering. Ten sales are reoffers, one of those reoffers is a salvage sale for the storm in July of 2020. Timber sale summary, maps and bid sheets were provided to the committee. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Silbert) approve the proposed timber sales as presented. All: Yes. Carried. 9. Access Permit. Edward Stoczynski. Bodine provided a map of the access location. This access is 550 feet and has been in place for quite some time. It is well maintained, no issues. This is just a formality. Bodine recommends approval. MOTION: (Silbert, Zepczyk) approve the access road permit as proposed. All: Yes. Carried. 10. Committee Members Discussion. Committee touches again on finding new and exciting ways to utilize carbon revenue. Bodine gives examples of: invasive species control, land acquisition, recreation and wildlife etc. 11. Joseph Lebouton – No comments. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, November 8, 2021 at 6:00 P.M. Meeting adjourned at 7:25 PM Submitted by, Lindley Mattson