HomeMy WebLinkAboutExecutive Committee - Minutes - 9/10/20251
Minutes of the
Bayfield County Executive Committee Meeting
4:00pm, September 10, 2025
Meeting was held Remotely through Microsoft Teams and in person in the Bayfield County
Board Room, Washburn, WI
Members Present: Dennis Pocernich, Mary Dougherty, Fred Strand, Marty Milanowski,
Madelaine Rekemeyer (virtual)
Excused: Jan Lee
Others Present: Mark Abeles-Allison-County Administrator, Kristine Kavajecz-Human
Resources Director, Jeff Olson, Sue Rosa (virtual), Kim Mattson-Finance Director, Kelly
Westlund-Deputy County Administrator, John Carlson-Corporation Counsel, Town of Barksdale
Chairman, Mary Motiff-Tourism Director, Steve Sandstrom, Gail Reha-Bookkeeper,
Called to order at 4:00p.m. by Chairperson Dougherty
Motion Milanowski, Rekemeyer to approve minutes of the August 14, 2025 Executive Committee
meeting. Motion Carried (5-0)
Public Comment:
Barksdale Wayside Quit Claim Deed, Bono Creek, Land Sales Action: Bayfield County
received the attached quit claim deed from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for the
Bono Creek scenic property. WisDOT is in discussions with Barksdale. Transfer of property
requires Land Sales / Exec Committee approval. John Carlson reported that the state needs to
clean up the title. The DOT needs to deed their interest to the Town of Barksdale. Bayfield
County needs to quit claim any interest they may have in the property to the state.
Motion Milanowski, Strand to approve a quit claim deed to transfer any county interest to
WisDOT with a corrected description. Motion Carried (5-0)
Town of Cable Entry Sign Request: The Town of Cable is planning a welcome sign on
Highway 63 entering Cable. They have asked Bayfield County if we would contribute $2000.
Tourism has supported this initiative. Mary Motiff shared details of the proposed sign, which
would include a copy of the Bayfield County logo on the sign. Discussion on how this would be
handled when other towns erect or improve their signs. Gateway communities entering Bayfield
County could be considered.
Motion Rekemeyer to develop a plan outlining when County Logo signage would be considered.
Motion Rekemeyer, Strand to request the Tourism Committee to develop a plan for handling
sign requests with county logo and financial support. Motion Failed (2-3)
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Pocernich stated that the town is erecting the sign regardless of whether the county puts their
logo on it or not. The question is whether the county wants to add their logo and contribute
financially, and if yes, where the funding will come from.
Motion Milanowski, Pocernich to approve adding the county logo to the Town of Cable sign
entering Bayfield County and authorize the use of $2,000 from contingency funds and forward to
the full county board for approval.
Discussion that there should be a policy for this type of request before approving the request.
Motion Carried (3-2)
Budget Amendment Resolution for Federal Housing Grant: In 2023, we applied for a
congressionally directed spending request ($1M) for site prep and infrastructure installation to
support new residential development in Bayfield County. That request was approved in FY24
and is payable on a reimbursement basis. Cinnaire has requested payment for $900,000 worth of
work at Aurora Place ($100,000 remains for other County housing projects). We need to
establish a line in the budget for receiving and spending these funds so that Cinnaire can be paid.
Motion Pocernich, Strand to forward the resolution to the full county board for approval. Motion
Carried (5-0)
Budget Amendment Resolution for Work on HVAC Systems at Four Emergency
Management Towers: Bayfield County has released an RFP for communication tower HVAC
upgrades. We have four county towers, all with older equipment that is failing. The amount is
more than was budgeted in the capital line, however, due to cost savings, Emergency
Management has sufficient funds in their overall budget as a result of staff vacancies. The
attached resolution summarizes this. RFPs are due on Monday, September 15, 2025.
Motion Pocernich, Milanowski to forward this to the county board for their action when the
proposals are received with no action by the Executive Committee. Motion Carried (5-0)
Tourism/Fair Budget Amendment Resolution for Tractor Purchase and Trade-In: The
Tourism / Fair department is in need of a replacement tractor. Their current tractor was
purchased in 2016. A replacement trade has been identified. Sufficient funds are available in the
tourism budget as a result of staff vacancies to facilitate the purchase in 2025 rather than 2026.
Estimated cost for the tractor, less trade-in is approximately $20,000. Tourism Committee has
recommended this.
Motion Milanowski, Rekemeyer to approve the tractor purchase and trade-in in 2025 within the
existing Tourism budget. Motion Carried (5-0)
Proposed Budget Presentation: Abeles-Allison presented the draft 2026 budget. The printed
book is thinner because the financials are available electronically on the County Web Site.
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Proposed levy is $15,986,983, $1,668,486 (11%) increase over 2025. This reflects a 3.235 mill
rate or 7.5% mill rate decrease. Net new construction is $78,686. Short term borrowing is
proposed at $5.5 million for highway improvements, courthouse improvements and northern
lights services improvements. The budget does include several bridge aid projects, but no levy
for them because there is a balance of bridge aid funds of about $110,000 that were not used in
the past that will be used for the 2026 projects. The structure of the budget book was reviewed.
A QR code is included in the budget book to link directly to the county budget on the website.
The proposed budget includes $125,000 for transitional crisis funds to potentially offset some of
the programs impacted by federal cuts. A list of capital improvements proposed for 2026 was
reviewed. A complete list of items requested (proposed to be funded or not) are included in the
budget book.
Committee members requested to consider adding Judge’s carpet back into the budget and
potentially postponing the parking lot chip-seal. This item to be discussed when the Capital
Improvements topic is reviewed.
$5.7 million of fund balance is proposed to be utilized in 2026. Abeles-Allison reviewed the
history of fund balances budgeted and actually utilized. Approximately $600,000 of fund balance
is being budgeted for operating costs. The balance is for capital projects.
The committee reviewed the proposal for the UW Extension office. Several major changes in
staffing are proposed.
Proposed 2026 Budget Meeting Dates:
i. September 16 at 4:00 PM
ii. September 24 at 4:00 PM (Could be virtual / the day after WCA)
iii. September 25 at 5:00 PM
iv. October 1 at 4:00 PM
v. October 7 at 4:00 PM
The proposed budget must be published in the newspaper 2 weeks in advance of the county
board meeting.
Major departments will make presentations on Sept 16th. The committee also asked for a
presentation about the possible ERP system.
WCA Conference Agenda and Plans: Three counties presented sales tax resolutions, which
were postponed. A request will be made at the meeting to discuss the resolutions separately.
Abeles-Allison suggested asking WCA to consider resources to assist counties with AI-related
technologies, training, implementation that enhance efficiencies and save money.
Animal Control Ordinance Updates: Ordinance modifications were recommended by
Corporation Counsel. The ordinance allows the Executive Committee to make appointment of
Humane Officers. Committee asked if the new ordinance replaces the previous ordinance in its
entirety. Committee would like to see the original ordinance marked up with changes.
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Reports: Reports were reviewed and place on file.
• Financial Reports end of August 2025
• Treasurer’s Report, end of August 2025
• Washburn Power Outage: City of Washburn experienced a power outage of 6 hours.
The generators performed well and ensured that county operations could continue.
No updates have been provided by the state on the Pigeon Lake project.
Meeting adjourned at 6:10pm.
Respectfully submitted by Kristine Kavajecz