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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTribal-County Relations Committee - Minutes - 6/16/2016Tribal Relations Minutes 2016-06-1610 Page 1 of 3 Minutes of the Bayfield County Tribal Relations Committee Meeting 9:00am, Thursday, June 16, 2016 Bayfield County Annex Building, Washburn, WI Members Present: Jeff Silbert, Bryan Bainbridge, Nathan Gordon, Brian Goodwin Others Present: Mark Abeles-Allison, Kristine Kavajecz, Dave Ujke, Ellen Kwitkowski, Chad Abeles, Bonnie Chivers, Alana Babineau, Jason Bodine, Wade Williams, Jeremy McClain, Katie Gorman, Curt Basina, Linda Basina, Jennifer Croonborg-Murphy, Called to order at 9:00am by Goodwin. Roll Call: All present Public Comment: None Received Minutes of April 21, 2016: Motion Gordon, Silbert to approve minutes of the April 21, 2016 meeting. Motion Carried. Motion Bainbridge, Silbert to move the Child Support Discussion up on the agenda. Motion Carried. Chivers provided an update on the cases transferred from Bayfield County to Red Cliff Child Support. 108 cases have been transferred concluding all transfers. There were originally over 200 cases estimated as eligible for transfer, however, many of them were closed cases and a handful had objections from the participants regarding transfer. Red Cliff Child Support reported that the two agencies worked well together to facilitate the transfers. Clarification was made that any new cases will begin directly with the Red Cliff Child Support Agency. Tribal Lands MOU: Abeles-Allison reviewed the draft MOU and input from both the county and tribe for suggested modifications. Lengthy discussion was held regarding the “Whereas” statement: “Whereas all Bayfield County lands are open to the public and have offered recreation and hunting opportunities to residents and visitors alike over the decades”. The committee agreed that the wording needs to be clear so that in future generations there is no question of the intention of any land transfer and whether it would be restricted or unrestricted to the general public. The tribe will propose additional language for consideration. The intent is that the issue or any restrictions on public access would be addressed in the associated land documents for each parcel during any change of ownership transaction. The consensus of the committee is to tentatively agree on the language of the Whereas’ s with the exception of the “Whereas” previously discussed. The committee discussed whether there is a legal requirement that may require the county to not observe a net loss of land assets. Tribal Relations Minutes 2016-06-1610 Page 2 of 3 Fractionalized Interest clause may be removed because the county does not have a fractional interest in any known parcels. Under the Specific Parcels Clause, several suggestions were made for modification. Bainbridge suggested the use of the word “repatriate”. Question was brought up whether mineral rights would be included in any transfers. The consensus of the committee is that this would be included in discussions on each individual parcel. The county’s current process is a 5-year tax delinquency, then an additional 3 years before the parcel is put up for sale. This agreement suggests the 5 year, plus 4-month timeline for tax delinquency situations. The Tribe suggested that the duration should be modified from 4 months to 6 months. The language on tax delinquent parcels should be separated to its own paragraph. The committee discussed the Clause for Establishment of Tribal Lands Working Group. The committee discussed who would make up the working group and the authority that they would have. Suggested that the working group meet “periodically”. Three elected officials from the County and Tribe, plus advisory members will be identified to serve as the working group. The intent of the County-Tribal Relations committee is to have a final document for consideration at the next committee meeting, then to be recommended on to a Joint County Board-Tribal Council meeting. Land Option Scenarios: Various options are being investigated that could facilitate the transfer of county owned properties within the reservation boundaries. Bodine reported that the Forestry and Parks committee has not yet reviewed/discussed any specific options. Ellen reported that funding sources may be available to facilitate the transfer of large amounts of land, rather then experimenting with one small parcel. Goodwin suggested that a land contract could be considered on a couple of smaller non-County Forest parcels to get this initiative started. Having an option on certain parcels may be a better route. Bonding is another option that could be considered by the tribe. The committee suggested revisiting a parcel that was suggested for transfer 2 years ago. The parcel was partially logged by the county. Motion Bainbridge to direct county and tribal staff to revisit and review, map out and provide information on the parcel near Frog Bay or another parcel that may be a simple transaction. Motion Carried. Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) 2017 Application: Abeles-Allison reviewed a resolution supporting an application for funding. Red Cliff prefers to have a TAD officer dedicated to tribal members. Suggestion was made to modify the final Therefore to not identify specific department, but keeps it more broad. Suggestion that the third whereas also include the Red Cliff Tribe. Tribal Relations Minutes 2016-06-1610 Page 3 of 3 Motion Bainbridge, Gordon to approve the resolution as presented with changes discussed. Motion Carried. The committee took a short break at 10:55am. The committee resumed the meeting at 11:08am. Zoning Issues Correspondence: Abeles-Allison provided an overview of this topic. Several attorney letters have gone back and forth. The topic is on the agenda in an attempt to resolve this issue. Jennifer Croonborg-Murphy provided a background on the specific issue. Ujke explained that the tribe follows a comprehensive scheme of tribal regulation. The county’s contention is that they have authority on fee simple properties on the reservation. The tribes’ contention is that the county does not have authority to regulate lands within the reservation boundary. Suggestion was made to have the Tribal Zoning Administrator and County Zoning Administrator attempt to work out this issue. It was noted that the property under discussion is not taxed, so is not fee simple. Suggestion was made that an overlay district may be the best solution for this issue and future issues of this nature. Motion Bainbridge, Gordon to have the County and Tribal Zoning Departments to make recommendations on how to cross-reference the two zoning ordinances/codes. Motion Carried. Basina’s asked if they have authority to move forward with their project. The Tribe stated that under Tribal zoning, they have permission to move forward. The issue will go to the County Zoning Committee meeting today for consideration of a conditional use permit. Reports: Tourism: An June 22 there is a celebration at the Legendary Waters Resort honoring treaties and relationships. Next Meeting: August 18, Next Full Board / Council Meeting: The next County Board-Tribal Council meeting date is tentatively being planned for either November 8 or 15th, 2016. Motion Silbert, Gordon to adjourn. Meeting adjourned at 12:00pm