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HomeMy WebLinkAboutForestry & Parks Committee - Minutes - 1/13/2025 BAYFIELD COUNTY FORESTRY AND PARKS DEPARTMENT COMMITTEE MEETING January 13, 2025 County Board Room Members Present: Fred Strand; Steve Sandstrom; Larry Fickbohm; Charly Ray; Jeff Olsen Staff in Attendance: Jason Bodine, Administrator; Deanna Regan, Office Manager Others in Attendance: Joseph LeBouton 1. Call to Order of Forestry and Parks Committee Meeting. This meeting was called to order at 6:00 PM. 2. Public Comment: None Public comment closed at 6:00 PM. 3. Approval of the November 11th Meeting Minutes. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Sandstrom) Approve minutes and place on file. All: Yes. Carried. 4. 2025 Annual Work Plan. Harvest goals will remain in the 4,000 acre range. Still forecasting a significant decrease in timber sale returns this year compared to 2024. Reforestation, recon, CFI and invasives programs are expected to remain relatively constant. Renewed hope that carbon markets improve. The Rec Coordinator position will add an exciting new element as well as increased time and resources for the rec program. Committee and Board approval of an annual work plan is a requirement to receive the DNR county forest administrator grant, which compensates the county for roughly half the total cost of the Forestry and Parks Administrator position. Discussion ensued regarding various items in the work plan. MOTION: (Ray, Olsen) Approve and forward to County Board for full approval. All: Yes. Carried. 5. Resolution: 2024 Budget Amendment. Total timber sale revenue for CY24 was $4,928,428.78, the fourth highest amount on record and most received since 2017. The stumpage revenue budget was set at $3.4 million. Subsequently, the budget for the mandated 10% town share payment was $340,000. Based on the final stumpage return, the 10% town payment will be $492,842.88, or $152,842.88 more than the budgeted amount. This resolution addresses that difference and increases the stumpage revenue component equally to offset the expense. MOTION: (Fickbohm, Sandstrom) Forward to County Board with recommendation for approval. All: Yes. Carried. 6. Resolution: 2025 Budget Amendment. This resolution is actually comprised of three different parts, but all related to the ongoing land acquisition projects. a) Community Forest Grant - Iron River Community Forest acquisition. Late last year, the Community Forest grant contract was fully ratified. The grant amount was approved at $592,000. Total purchase price for the 860 acre Maki property is expected to be around $1.2 million, with Landmark Conservancy responsible for the entire remaining balance. This resolution adds matching $592k expense and revenue amounts to address this grant. Net zero impact to the budget. b) WI Coastal Grant - Whittlesey Creek acquisition. Also late last year, the WI Coastal grant was awarded though the final contract still has not been received. The grant amount was approved at $71,648. The total cost of the Whittlesey Creek Headwaters 160 acre acquisition is expected to be around $183k, with Landmark Conservancy responsible for the entire remaining balance. This Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee January 13, 2025 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 3 resolution adds matching $71,648 expense and revenue accounts to address this grant. Net zero impact to the budget. c) Board of Commissioners of Public Lands (BCPL) 40 acre land acquisition. This 40 acre parcel in south Barnes, along the boundary line with Sawyer Co, is not eligible for grant funds due to already being in public ownership. It was appraised in 2023 at $27,000 and BCPL would like to sell it to the county for that price. This is a really good price for forested land within our blocking and BCPL is able to close on the sale quickly. This resolution draws $27k from the existing non- lapsing land acquisition balance and adds a matching revenue transfer to maintain a net zero impact to the budget. MOTION: (Sandstrom, Olsen) Forward to County Board with recommendation for approval All: Yes. Carried. Monthly Reports a) Forestry. a. 2024 Budget. 2024 was an above average year for stumpage returns. Total revenue received from the timber management program exceeded $4.92 million and was nearly $1.53 million over budget. However, the strong return means we’ll also end up spending nearly $153k more in stumpage revenue sharing with the towns. In general, overall operating expenses will be lower than budget, making 2024 one of the strongest years (budget-wise) in the past decade. b. Carbon Project. The final payment for the most recent large credit sale was received in December. In 2024, the county received a net return of $410k from carbon credit sales. We continue to work with ANEW on the next issuance, which will involve credits from reporting periods 2 and 3 (the last two years). c. Land Acquisition Projects. • Landowner Outreach Updates. Below is a summary of all parcels with either signed offers in place or with offers in process. Also included is the grant status/expectation for each parcel. i. Hwy 2 Parcels. Town of Hughes. 77.85 acres. Signed offer. Will be included in KN Stewardship grant application. Work on the grant application started this week. ii. Lamont Rd. Town of Russell. 110 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship application. iii. Highway C/Siskiwit River. Town of Bell. 125.41 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship and WI Coastal grants. WI Coastal grant already submitted and expected to be awarded at roughly $94k. iv. Lindgren Rd. Town of Hughes. 120 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship. v. Rabbit Hutch Rd. Town of Barnes.113 acres. Offer in process. KN Stewardship. vi. 43 Rd. Town of Barnes. 80 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship. vii. Totagatic Lake. Town of Cable. 80 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship. viii. BCPL. Town of Barnes. 40 acres. Agreement in place. No grants. ix. Highway 13. Town of Bayfield. 40 acres. Offer in process. KN Stewardship. x. Frels Rd. Town of Cable. 20 acres. Signed offer. KN Stewardship. xi. Total: 806.26 acres. Total estimated value of around $1.36 million. KN Stewardship would address up to 50% of the accepted appraised value of each parcel. WI Coastal will address roughly $94k of the Siskiwit River parcel. If all grants are awarded, the total grant value is expected to be around $745k. County share is expected to be around $615k for the land, plus appraisal and closing costs. This also does not account for the potential match value of the Topside Lake parcels, which, if included in the Stewardship application, would reduce the county share of the total costs significantly. • Community Forest Grant-Iron River Community Forest. No changes to the status of this project, other than the budget amendment addressed above. Still expecting this project to close in Q1 2025. • Whittlesey Creek. No change to this one either, other than the budget amendment. Closing is also expected in Q1 2025. Bayfield County Forestry & Parks Committee January 13, 2025 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 3 d. 4-H Properties at Topside Lake. Bodine still recommends enacting the reversionary clause in the deed to return full ownership of the properties to the county (a 40 and 20 acre lot). This would then make each available for inclusion in the upcoming Stewardship grant application. The other 20 acre lot, tagged as Park-Bayfield County, was not part of the 4-H deed transfer and can be included in the Stewardship grant regardless. Bodine estimates these properties would have a grant value/impact of between $125k-$200k and could reduce our out-of-pocket expense by that amount. e. Herbicide Overspray Issue. Corp Counsel submitted the demand letter prior to the holidays, and I’ve since heard back from the contractor. Bodine is meeting with Corp Counsel next week to discuss next steps. f. WCFA Board Member Update. WCFA has been very active politically and has hired a lobbyist. Senator Quinn has been placed on the Joint Finance Committee. There is a bill relating to the status of county forest administrators requiring them to be certified foresters. b) Campgrounds and Day Use Parks. Materials for the final stage of the retaining wall project are on site. We’re ready to go on the project first thing next spring. c) Trails and Recreation. a. Motorized Trail Updates. So far, the lack of snow is a carbon copy of last season. Snowmobile trails are still closed and we’re waiting for snow. We’ll begin work on the next round of motorized grants soon. b. Non-Motorized Trails Updates. Nothing to report. c. Rec Coordinator Position. Bodine is meeting with Mark later this week to discuss advertising the position. We should be ready to go soon. Bodine’s goal is to have someone in the office by late Q1. d. Yurts Updates. Cable yurt rentals are still lower than the occupancy rates of the Bayfield locations. e. Events. The standard Birkie events were approved last month. Committee acknowledges that reports are received and placed on file. 7. Committee Members Discussion. None. 8. Joseph LeBouton, DNR Representative, Comments: DNR guys spend a lot of time in the County Forest. Good partnership. The next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting has been scheduled for Monday, February 10th, at 6:00 PM in the County Board Room. Meeting adjourned at 7:16 PM. Submitted by, Deanna Regan