County Board October 16 2025

Supervisor meeting to order. Ask the

clerk to call the role, please.

>> Steve Kerianan

>> here.

>> Kay Wilson

>> here.

>> Tweed Schuman.

>> Is he online yet?

>> Here.

>> He's here. Virtual. Stacy Hustle.

>> Yep.

>> Randy Newman

>> here.

>> Mark Hellwig here.

>> Tom Duffy.

>> Marshall Zabitzky

>> here.

>> Jim Evans here.

>> Chuck Banettin.

>> Jeff Haney here. John Regimer

>> here.

>> Ron Kinsley

>> here.

>> Ron Buck Holds

>> present.

>> Dale Magnus

>> here.

>> You have a quorum.

>> Thank you. Next item is the pledge

allegiance.

>> Please rise.

>> I aliance to the flag of the United

States of America and to the republic

for it stands one nation

indivisible.

>> Thank you.

Next item is certification compliance

open meeting laws.

>> This meeting was noticed to the media

and the public as required by section

19.84 of Wisconsin statutes.

>> Thank you. Number six is the county

budget or excuse me agenda.

The agenda is set. Number seven, 2026

budget discussion. Mr. Mark.

>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not

spend quite as much time this month as

we went through it pretty thoroughly

last week, but this is the budget

hearing. So, I will give the highlights

again. Um, the first page you're going

to see there is the actual budget

publication itself. The only thing I

would point out is at the bottom it kind

of shows the distribution of the levy

itself and what the the levy rate is for

each individual component there. Um, so

I'll move on from there. getting into

the actual budget. Again, we looked at

this last month. There are no changes.

Um,

that's the last slide there.

There we go.

Um, our net new construction was 1.457.

That equates to about $152,000.

That's our only real new money for the

year. So, that wasn't a lot. Um, I've

got our salaries increases in there.

Health insurance, we budgeted at 5%

increase. We did get our renewal and it

came in at flat renewal, so 0% increase.

That was very good news for us. Uh, the

next slide shows the

levy limit exemptions. There are six of

them. Sawyer County takes care of takes

advantage of the four that are in yellow

there. So, we've got bridge and culvert

construction and repair, countywide EMS,

payments to public libraries, and

payments on any general obligation debt.

The two that we do not use are property

and casualty insurance and court-ordered

placements.

Um, moving on,

this is a breakdown of the general fund

by department. The only real change

you're going to see here is that very

first line that says general. What that

is is our transfer to other special

funds for 2025. That amount was to

highway. You're going to see quite a bit

of an increase this year and that amount

is going to health and human services.

Otherwise, the rest of it is pretty

normal increases. In some cases, we even

had some decreases this year.

So, moving on from there,

this is the expenditures by breakdown of

major groups. You can see the general

fund. A lot of that increase is due to

that increase in the transfer. And then

HHS itself, we're looking at a little

bit of a decrease from the budget last

year. We've this budget was um had quite

the shortfall. A lot of it was with HHS.

We worked with HHS and the other

departments as well to come up with

solutions. Um we were able to look at

ways to generate some additional

revenues and also trim some expenses. So

that's why that one's down a little bit.

And on the very left, you can see what

we're looking at for a levy for each of

these as well. And then debt service

repayment. That's up a little bit from

um last year. And that is due to both

our communication

upgrade system that we passed in July. I

believe that repayment starts next year.

And then our capital improvement plan is

a little higher over the previous year.

um capital improvements itself there.

That is the remainder of the

communication upgrade that we're working

on. Some of it's already been done this

year. And then other is all of the other

funds. They all fall under level 200. um

their supporting funds and the levy

attributed to those are for um let's see

the wreck officer

conservation and um Nekagan transit.

Um the next slide is the county levy

itself and you can see our operating

levy with a small increase and that is

really our net new construction there.

The debt service does go up because of

those two um increases I discussed. The

special purpose levy, the reason for the

increase, there's a little bit

attributed to libraries, but the

majority of that is due to the ambulance

service from 20

23. We had some fund balance that we

built up that we spent down for 2025.

So, the levy that we're back to now is

really what it was for 2024. So, we'll

we'll look at that a little bit later on

another slide, but there's a breakdown

of the levy.

Um, this is the the next slide is a levy

limit calculation.

Um, it's going to be a little bit hard

to see. You start with the previous year

levy amount. Then you back off the 2025

debt service repayment and then you add

in net new construction. add in the 2026

debt service levy to come up with our

new levy limit. And that's reflected at

the bottom line there. Increase of a

about 600,000 from the previous year.

Um, next slide.

I kind of touched on this, but that 3.2

million, that was what it was going to

take to balance the budget as requested.

So there are the corrections that I've

recommended. Um we went through these

last month. Um a small correction to

senior resource center and then some

revenues that we looked at. I met with

department heads. We looked at history

versus what they had budgeted and then

increased their budget according to the

history. The next slide looks at some

other department expenses that we

adjusted for and then also HHS is kind

of separate there. Um, one thing right

in the middle there you see the HA

drawback revenue 50% of 2026 expense.

We have an HR which basically is a form

of self- insurance. We take our health

plan. We say the deductible is right

here. We make the deductible here for

the employee. The county fills that gap.

The reason we do that is traditionally

about half of that gap gets used, but we

save more on the premium with our

provider by doing that. So that we have

a net gain in that. We were always

expensing all of it within the year and

building up a fund because that was they

used to be a employees used to be able

to carry the HR over so then they could

use it in future years. That was done

away with I believe in ' 09. We still

have staff who were grandfathered in

under that plan. So we had to build up a

balance to cover that future liability

that we have. We have now reached that.

So now we can fund this at back at 50%

which is what we will use in the year.

So that helped us quite a bit there. And

then the very bottom one there, I've got

an anticipated

surplus for 2025 that we will I'll

recommend putting towards HHS into their

fund balance to help with next year. So,

all that said, we got down to a fund

balance draw of 383,000

basically, which is less than we've had

in past years, but we're much more

likely to have to tap into that this

year. We've budgeted fund balance draws

in the past, have not had to use them

because our revenues have have exceeded

budgeted numbers traditionally. And now

that we've increased our budget to a

more realistic number, I'm not

anticipating as much of a surplus as

we've had before.

So then moving on to the next slide,

this again is a detailed levy limit

composition. Um you can see the general

fund has a small increase over last year

and then the far column on the right you

can see the percentage of the total levy

attributed to the general fund and so

forth. HHS again a small increase in

their percentage. The next two remain

flat. We always keep those flat. Transit

has had a little bit of fluctuation.

Um debt service has gone up as we've um

added some debt. highway department had

a little bit of an increase that comes

up up with our overall operating levy

which has to fit under that levy limit.

Then you get down to the special purpose

levies which are outside the levy limit.

And again first there are libraries and

then um and those are handled

differently. Anything within the county

we handle separately than anything

outside the county. Other counties treat

them the same. We have funded our inount

at a higher level than our out of

county. The requirement is 70% and we

exceed that on inount.

And then EMS as I mentioned the next

line there's EMS capital that would be a

new ambulance which we did not do this

year and we are not anticipating

purchasing one next year either. So

there's no amount there. So all that

comes up with a total levy and then

there's a state sir charge which is

related to our outofcount placements.

When we have either an adult or a child

that we don't have services for here we

have to send them somewhere we get a

little charge on that. And then the

bottom line you can see our

um county valuation went up not as much

as it has in the past but it was a

healthy increase again. And then the tax

levy rate itself is decreasing again for

I believe the fifth year in a row.

Next slide

is just a further breakdown of the

ambulance service levy. Um we've got a

budget amount. We have indirect and

allocated costs that are towards the

ambulance service itself and then it

comes up with a total levy. And again

there's an increase over last year

because of the fund balance we drew down

for 2025.

So the levy rate for ambulance itself

went up a little bit. Next slide.

Um we'll take a and I I apologize this

one is smaller.

Um can you grow that a little bit? It's

kind of a history of our library

service. The ones above the line the

first line are our incount

libraries and as I mentioned we do fund

those above formula. on the far right is

the formula.

The third column in is 2026 request.

That is what the libraries requested the

county

um allocate to them. And then the middle

one there on the right is my

recommendation and I'll talk about that

a little bit. So most of these are

formulary. The only two that are not

driven by formula are Weiss and Winter.

Um Winter did not ask for an increase.

So we are recommending that they receive

what they have requested. Weiss did ask

for quite a increase this year. My

recommendation is less than that and I

have a couple reasons for that. Um

number one because our budget was tight

this year. I did go to department heads

and say request that we tighten our

belts a little bit. So, it would be hard

for me as a principal to give an outside

entity more of an increase than we're

allowing inside because I I have to face

my own staff that would wonder why that

happened. So, that's number one. Um,

number two, there was a among county

administrators an email that went around

there's a new county administrator in a

neighboring county. He just asked what

people reimburse libraries at. So there

several people replied to that and the

range was between for in county between

80% and 100% of circulation. Again the

statutory requirement to 70%. So

everybody's exceeding that but um the

range was between 80 and 100. Um Sawyer

County has traditionally been over that

by quite a bit. The request would be at

140% of circulation. My recommendation

is 123% of circulation. So we are

exceeding

anybody around us that I that replied to

that email and we're far exceeding the

statutory requirement. So I just want to

keep that in mind. I always say make

data driven decisions, not emotional.

That's why I'm giving as much data as I

can. U moving on then that middle

section between the lines are our out

out of county libraries. We fund those

at the circulation requirement of 70% of

circulation.

So the very bottom is the grand total.

Then

um moving on,

these are the rest of our outside

partner organizations. Um these are

funded from general fund monies that we

allocate to them. The first one is

senior resource which I discussed. You

can see the trajectory of what we've

allocated towards them, their request,

my recommendation, which is a difference

of $9,000 and change. And you can see

everybody else um pretty much what they

requested last year. Northwest Regional

Planning Commission is another one

that's driven by a formula. So that that

does increase a hair.

And then um at the very bottom, senior

resource center gets two funding sources

from the county. One is a flow-through

grant which we're going to put forth

tonight and then the other is our actual

county allocation from our general fund

monies. So that is broken down there and

you can see for the last

five years or so the trajectory of what

we've given them both as a flowth

through grant and our allocation from

the general fund.

Um

the next slide then shows the statutory

authority for those allocations that we

do give to our supporting organizations.

I always like to put that in there. The

next few slides

are in regards to our capital

improvement plan. So, it's a five-year

projection

and it's broken down by department. Um,

what I'm one thing I want to point out

is the first line in 2028, so a couple

years down the road, you see an increase

there. There is a request to have some

sort of storage facility for sheriff

vehicles andor highway department. So I

just want we haven't gotten to the point

of digging into what it would be. I just

want to have that on everybody's radar

that that could be coming down the road.

So if you wanted to skip through a few

slides, we don't need to look at quite

all the detail because I've got a

summary at the end here about four

slides down.

So right here is the summary of the

request. Um did not make any adjustments

to the request from the departments.

Um you can see the majority of it is

taken up by um law enforcement squad

replacement

and highway are kind of the big ones.

Another one I'd point out I guess that's

larger is the zoning ordinance rewrite

that has been requested by the zoning

department. It's something other

neighboring

counties have undertaken. Um I think our

ordinance as a whole is fairly old.

We've made several changes along the

way, but we get some things that don't

quite go together or maybe even conflict

with each other. So a rewrite is

probably in order for us.

Um next slide then.

is our debt repayment schedule. What

you're going to see is all the

outstanding debt issues that we have or

any one we're looking at for the next

year. So, the first one is the ambulance

um building that I believe is in Ojiway,

isn't it?

>> Yes.

>> Yes. And then the courthouse

construction, we had two issues for

that. We had the first main one and then

a second one to do some finish up work.

Along with that second one, we did our

capital improvement plan for 23 and 24

and we paid off a property that we had

purchased to refinance that debt and

group it in with that overall levy. And

then our communications project we did

this summer and then the anticipated CIP

for 2026.

So, you're going to see five-year

repayment schedule and then the

remaining of the schedules are grouped

together at the end.

Um the

asterric I always want to put by this is

after 2026 there it doesn't include CIPs

because we don't know what those are

going to be yet. So, there will always

be something there. So, it looks like

our payments are going down more than

they would be. So, I just always want to

mention that.

The next slide is our county tax rate

levy history for the last several years.

And as I mentioned, we've gone down

five years in a row after one little

jump in 2021.

Um it's a strong trajectory. A lot of

it's buoied by just our evaluation going

up. A lot of that is due to

um appreciation of residential. We have

had each year I've been here, we've had

a record net new construction. So, we do

have strong new properties being added

to the um evaluation, too. So, it's a

little bit of both.

And then the last slide related to the

budget is I also did a little survey,

dug in and found data on every county

that touches Sawyer County, what their

levy rate is for the last seven or eight

years there. And Sawyer County has had

the lowest each year in that period. And

you can see each county's rate. If you

look to the right, it's the average over

those periods. If you look to the

bottom, it is the average levy of each

of the count the total of all the

counties that I have in the survey. Just

some useful information.

All right, so that is all I have on the

budget. Are anybody have any questions

before we move on?

I

>> Mike on this zoning ordinance rewrite

for 100,000.

I I know we need to rewrite our

ordinances, but ain't there another

easier, cheaper way to have somebody go

through the ordinances that we do have

and get any torques or whatever that's

not right out of there to take a look at

it that way. I guess it's just a

thought.

>> The We need to have it changed.

>> The zoning director and I have discussed

this. There obviously would be a cheaper

way if we did it in house. It would be

quite an undertaking

and

it's something that having an outside

set of eyes look at it who does this for

a living

>> living

>> that would really help it cuz having the

same people rewrite it that either wrote

it or have made adjustments to it along

the way. It I don't know that would not

that there's ever a guarantee but we

have a better chance of not having

things in contradiction with each other.

I was just looking for a way to save

maybe the county some money, but I

understood. It's a hard pill to

swallowing straight now. So,

>> thank you.

>> It

if we get it done right, it should help

down the road and hopefully save some

attorney's fees with some of the things

we've had in zoning, too.

All right. So, then moving on to the

county fee schedule.

Um it's a big packet but not a lot of

changes.

So um Alex, I'll try to name off the

page number just within this section so

we can get to it quicker. So starting on

page five.

So this is from the county clerk. Um not

looking for a lot. We no longer produce

a written or typed out county directory.

So we just remove that one altogether.

And then we're asking for a 25 cent

increase on those election fees you see

down below.

So that one's pretty simple. Um the next

page is 13.

This comes from HHS up on top.

Behavioral health services

looking at a $50 increase in

an assessment for an OWI and a $25

increase in driver safety plan. So

again, not a huge increase. Those have

not been changed in quite a while. The

next page is again with HHS.

One, the first one is a just a cleanup

of language. It looks like that title

there was actually what happened at a

board meeting. The actual title should

be adult protection. So there's that

change there.

And then they would like to add a new

category under children and families

home study for adoptions. Um we've been

getting a few more calls for that and

that is quite a lengthy process.

The next one is on page 21.

This is the county treasurer.

Whoops, I missed one. Sorry about that.

Page 19, register of deeds.

Uh, so we use Laredo. Um, a lot of

community members use Laredo. There is a

fee to us for that. There's a part of

the fee we pass on. It has been a flat

fee of $85.

Um the

register of deeds would like to make a

tiered system there. So, there would be

an increase um per minute. the first

tier being 0 to 50 per month and then

you can see the tiers after that. Um

that one does have some increases but

Laredo has ex increased as well. So

we've been having to eat more of the

cost and it really should be more of a

pass through.

Now the next one is treasure

and this is another addition. This would

be for a notice of commencements, an

admin fee for that of $300.

Um, if you recall, I believe in April of

this year, we did put forth the two fees

above it for this is when we get a

property back for delinquent property

taxes.

And the first two are working. If we get

the property totally back, we charge out

those fees and we can recover those when

we sell the property because as you

recall the law changed where we don't

get to keep the proceeds. We return any

proceeds above our cost to the property

owner, previous property owner. So

that's why we set up that fee schedule.

What we didn't notice until we got into

this is that

if we have a notice of commencement,

which means we do the publication, have

attorney's fees put into publishing that

this is a delinquent property, they

still have time to come back and pay the

first year of delinquent taxes to get it

back in good standing. We don't get

anything at that point, but we've had a

lot of money put into it. So that's what

this new fee would be for to recover our

cost there. Any questions on that one?

The next page is zoning.

Um there are a couple fee changes and

then also some language changes too.

That middle one there um that is for

telecommunications facilities

um

collocation and the addition of tower

modifications.

Um we've had more of that as

owners of towers are getting requests to

put more things on their towers.

Sometimes they have to modify it,

including beefing up the structure,

beefing up the tie down so that it can

handle the wind resistance from the

additional equipment. So that's why that

is on there. Um sanitary permits, an

increase of $50 there.

Another language clarification for

transfer fees. This is related to

sanitary permits, not just for site

change, but plan revisions. We're

getting more and more of those, too. So,

that would just cover that. So, we can

charge the fee there. Um,

this next one,

I think that's just an elimination of

that fee there.

Then down a little bit further, this is

not an elimination of the ordinance

book. We moved it to a different area.

So that we'll see that again later.

The next page,

this is looking at increasing fees for

these um structures. The column on the

left is by $50. The column on the right

is by 25.

So the $50 one is for primary

structures. The $25 one is for

additional structures on site.

And then the last page in zoning,

um, it is eliminating

tapes. We haven't had a request to

provide a tape in a long, long time. And

then this is where you're going to see

the zoning ordinance book replaced.

And then,

um, fax and scan. We just don't see that

anymore either. And then the final one,

um,

we've had an uptick in people

doing things without going to zoning and

then paying a double fee if they get

caught with that. Uh, we're recommending

a triple fee to try to discourage that

practice. I think in the past it's maybe

been worth the risk and at a triple fee,

we're hoping it's not worth the risk. So

that's why that one is requested there.

And that is all for the changes in fee

structure. Any questions on any of them?

All right. The next slide we have talked

about already, but there's no action on

any of these tonight, but this is the

these are the action items for the

November meeting. So that's why they're

in here duplicative at some point. This

is the CIP. Again, um we've talked about

that already, but the next slide then is

our county full-time equivalent

positions by department. And there are

no changes there. Um the one thing I

guess I'd point out is under

administration, we're carrying five. We

have four right now. Um as you remember

when I took this position, I did not

relinquish the director of finance. So,

we're carrying the position. No

intention to fill it, but we also wanted

to carry the position and just in case

we wanted to look at something else down

the road.

The next slide shows the salary

schedule. We have a pay grid um where

people step up both

they can step up but generally the steps

are to the right. So, we've recommended

a 2% increase across the board in

January and a 1% in July and then

continue with the steps on employees

anniversaries. And this is all in the

budget.

Any questions on that one?

Um the next slide I'm not going to

discuss that is a very lengthy one line

by line the budget. So it's there for

your information. If you have any

questions on any specific line item feel

free to reach out to me

and if there are no further questions

this is the point where I am formally

turning this budget over from an admin

budget to the board budget. So it is now

in your control.

The end of my presentation.

>> Thank you.

The next item on the agenda is number

eight, public hearing for the 2026

budget. At this time, members of the

public will be given an opportunity to

address the board to provide comments

regarding the 2026 budget. Please adhere

to the following rules. Comment may be

limited to three minutes per individual.

Comments should be directed to the board

as a whole and not individuals. The

board cannot respond to your comments.

Um, please state your name, address, and

try to stay to the three minutes so we

can get through everybody. Um, the first

person will be Ann Larson, please.

>> Good evening. My name is Ann Larson. uh

14274 W Christensen Road and I'm the

director of the Sherman and Ruth Weiss

Community Library. Good evening and

today I'm here to tell you how the

library is the heart of our community

and why we're in need of a stable public

funding and asking for the $245,000

annually. Last year, we welcome more

than 58,000 visitors, including

residents and tourists, a 10% increase

over the previous year. We hosted nearly

245 programs and our patrons came from

over 28 different communities, many of

which don't have libraries of their own.

The library provides an incredible

return on investment for every dollar

the county invested. The ROI was nearly

10 times that amount, saving Sawyer

County residents $1.98 million. and our

unit cost is one of the lowest in the

area with the highest circulation.

We offer early literacy programs, free

internet and computer access, job and

technology support, and safe and

welcoming space for all ages. Our staff

spend a lot of time helping patrons

navigate their tech needs. Usage keeps

growing, but funding has flatten

flatlined. We continue to build strong

community partnerships with over 20

organizations and groups including

Justice Point, ADRC, LCO, and Hayward

Community Schools, and many more. This

past summer, there was no summer school,

so we stepped in to provide additional

programming and space for children.

participation increased, including the

tween and teen program, giving young

people who don't always have a place to

belong a safe, welcoming community of

their own. We're able to do our

programming through the support of the

friends of the library, Hayward

Foundation, and donations. There is no

money from the budget for programming.

Currently, Sawyer County provides just

over half of our operating budget,

compared to the 90% level back in 96

when they gra when you graciously took

over funding from the city of Hayward,

making us the only library in Wisconsin

without municipal financial support.

While the city does provide

administrative help, the gap in funding

is significant with consequences. In

2022, we had to cut hours that we were

open and we had to cut staff just to

stay within budget. Staff salaries lag

behind the local market and in my 17

years here, the staff have not received

a cost of living adjustment. We also

could not operate without the volunteers

who donate more than 700 hours per year.

Public donations currently make up about

25% of our budget, but those

contributions are unsustainable.

Without additional support, we will have

to continually withdraw from our capital

improvement fund. That would leave us

with no cushion for repairs for a

20-year-old building. believe it or not,

uh currently looking at tens of

thousands of dollars for repairs,

including plumbing, doors, air

conditioning, uh tile grout, library,

trail bridge, and pier, and evaluation

of our sprinkler system, and possible

replacement. Also, this increase would

cost the taxpayer less than a single

paperback book and provide them with all

the libraries resources for the entire

year. Thank you.

>> Thank you. is Donna Nucky.

>> Uh my name is Donna Nucky and I live at

3416 W County Road W in Winter and I am

the Winter Public Library director. The

Winter Public Library is a 12,200 square

foot building on Main Street in Winter.

The library is open Monday through

Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00 during the

week except on Wednesdays. We are open

until 7 and Saturdays until 2 during the

summer months. And right now we're in

our fall and winter and spring hours. So

basically we open at 10:00 instead of

9:00. We operate with two part-time

clerks and one part-time library

director.

I can say probably um I say that

probably that with because with a small

amount of space of that 1,200 space we

offer a large amount of activities and

services to the area communities. I

don't have the time in my three minutes

to talk about all that we do at the

library. I'll save that for my library

board secretary.

But I wanted to talk about our budget.

I've submitted a request of $78,253

from the county, which is the same

amount that we've had for the past few

years. It is not that we do not have a

need for an increase or have building

improvements that need to be done as our

building is over 100 years old, but the

library board and I have combed through

the budget and were able to create a

balanced budget with funds that we

received from MC County area

municipalities fundraisers, grants, and

donations.

Um, I know that Mr. Mark showed um you

that $88 I believe is what the

percentage of the statute the statutes

for reimbursement for the library looks

low like we aren't used but it's because

we're a joint library so therefore all

of our patrons in the township of

Curteray Rison Melebrook Ojaba Winter

Village of Winter and Town of Draper

which are part of our joint library

agreement if they go outside of the

county to use uh other libraries. Those

county libraries cannot bill the county

for reimbursement,

but that's the bonus to you. The def the

deficit is for us. We can't request

additional funds with the statutory. So,

we are highly used for our small

library, heavily used, and we're just

asking for our regular um funding that

you have done, which we truly

appreciate.

Right now, our library board is working

on a strategic plan, a five-year plan

that we're updating that we've had from

before and capital improvement projects

as we do have needs. But I just wanted

to take this time to ensure the county

that the Winter Public Library is being

fiscally responsible with the funds

because you do fund us higher than is

required by law.

We without the funding though and the

allocation from the county, the services

and resources in the community that we

provide would not be possible for our

end of the county, for the taxpayers,

but also the visitors to the area. We

appreciate your continued financial

support and I just want to thank you for

your time.

>> Thank you, Miss Julie Johnson.

Joey Johnson, director of the Senior

Resource Center, 15110W

Spring Creek Road, Hayward. Um, I've got

a couple props here tonight. Jeff is

going to pass around a meal on wheel.

This is the meal that we serve to our

seniors today. It's um spaghetti and

meatballs, green beans. We also have a

bag and in that bag also is the milk,

the salad that goes with it. I also have

along with that because I've been

listening to what people have been

saying as I've been coming to meals um

to meetings that were overfeeding our

seniors. So, I'm going to show you the

things that we use to figure out what it

looks like, what goes in those meals.

Okay, these scoops. This scoop right

here is typically used for mashed

potatoes. Um, and it's a level. It's not

a heaping. It's a level right across.

This is, for example, if you get a

dessert, a jello or something that has

whipped cream on it, this is the scoop

they get. Level. If, for example,

yesterday we had pork roast with

stuffing, this is what they get. All of

these scoops, all of these things that

we use and the meal that they're getting

is dictated to us by the requirements by

the state of Wisconsin. guire and the

meal plan set forth by the federal

government. So in saying all of that,

this is what we give our seniors. We

give our se we've heard we give our

seniors too much food. This is all based

on the guidelines that we have to

follow. There are places we can cut.

Maybe we should prioritize our meals on

wheels. Since the last meeting I

attended, here are some of the things

that we have done and are working

towards. Cook staff meeting has taken

place. We've talked about portion

control. What can we do differently with

a tighter food budgets, rising cost of

food, and if funding falls short, what

will the sites look like? Open 5 days a

week or maybe only three days a week?

Maybe we'll only deliver meals two or

three days a week? These are all things

we're discussing and all the things that

we have to look at. How can we change

our menus to reflect the rising cost of

food and still maintain the integrity of

meals on wheels and still meet the

dietary requirements of our seniors?

I'll give you an example. I ordered beef

last week for beef s beef and cheese

sandwiches to go with our pea soup next

week. It'll be the last time we have

roast beef sandwiches. One box just to

serve the Hayward site alone for the

meals that we have to serve is $100.

Last year at that same time, that box of

beef was $48.36.

Okay. Right now, we have a fundraiser

going right now called Treat a Senior to

a Meal. Instead of buying Halloween

candy, buy a meal for a senior. As of

this morning, we have raised $6,500 for

that. And we're not to October 31st yet.

Stone Lake Lumber at Cranberry Fest last

week or two weeks ago had a booth at the

senior center and they raised $4,896.17

for the Meals on Wheels program.

Cranberry Fest parade, myself and my

healthy promotions coordinator, Jod

Only, we do that parade. We receive

$1,000. We have an annual donations um

for the Stone Lake Meals on Wheels

program from a donor. A yearly donation

of $1,115

to go towards Meals on Wheels for Stone

Lake. We do Monday night bingo, which

averages $400 a night or $1,600 a month.

That's before we pay the sales tax and

occupancy tax. We don't pay sales tax

and occupancy tax on the $400 that we

get. We pay that on the $800. So if we

receive $1,600, we pay taxes and sales

tax and occupancy tax on the full $3200.

Okay. Prioritize meals. We cannot start

that until sometime in 2026 and possibly

um completed in 2027. First, I need to

know what my budget is. No contracts

from the state as of this time. I

received an email just before I came

over here from the state saying we have

a meeting next week. Many of you may

know or not know the state of Wisconsin

cut $21 million from the Meals on Wheels

budget for next year. We also have the

opportunity to take money from one

program to another in the meal program

for 6 months. I get $101,000 to feed

people to come in and eat. and I get

just over 31 $31,000

for four months or 6 months for people

on meals on wheels. So, I don't know.

That sounds like we may not get that

$40,000 that I want to take from the um

congregate meals to home delivery. I

won't know till next week. So, there's a

lot of unknowns out there. What is the

amount coming from the county? What can

we really fund raise in 2026? We set a

goal of that we could raise somewhere

between 25 and $30,000. That 25 and

$30,000 probably takes approximately 10

to 20 hours a week of staff, volunteer

staff time to do those fundraisers.

Okay. Only after that can we prioritize

meals on wheels if necessary. The first

there has to be public notification.

Meals on wheels participants need past

and present and future need to be

assessed. What will what does that come

with? Staff time, mileage, bookkeeping,

and more. Do we have the staff and time

to efficiently do this and provide meals

and meet the needs to stay in budget?

No, we don't. Because staff time right

now, we have a lot of part-time staff.

We have a few full-time staff. The only

people that are qualified right now and

trained to go out and do those

assessments are myself and the healthy

promotions coordinator. Um, my healthy

promotions coordinator, she works

approximately 40 to 45 hours a week. I

presently work anywhere from 45 to 50

hours a week. And that's still not

getting my job done. A lot of that every

week I'm probably putting in anywhere

from 5 to 10 hours every week in

fundraising. So, it's important that we

all look at what's out there. And in the

year 2020, in the year 2030 and 2035, we

are going to have a large population of

seniors. What is our infrastructure and

how are we going to support them? Thank

you.

>> Thank you, Miss Kathy McCoy.

Good evening. My name is Kathy McCoy,

11503 Enrichman Road, Haywood,

Wisconsin. Um, I'm here to first off

thank the board for their support for

the libraries in general, all libraries

in the area for the last, I don't know,

20 years or whatever, probably more. Um,

I also want to talk about the value of

spending money upfront versus spending

money on the backside. I've had the

pleasure of sitting on the criminal

justice coordinating committee for a

number of years. Uh, in the beginning,

it was a rough go. Um, people didn't

think that we could reduce our jail

population. They didn't think we could

um get into deflection deferral

programs. Um, but thank you. Everybody

for the last 10 years has worked very,

very hard and we have spent money

upfront and we've seen the money saved

on the backside. Our jails used to be

full and we are sending people out of

county and paying for it. Our jail

population now is half of what it was.

We are helping people with their

problems. We are getting them

employment. We're getting them to safe

places. And we're saving money. We're

saving more money probably than we're

spending at this point. So I'm looking

at the libraries in the same way.

They're a upfront expenditure, but what

you save on the back end is probably

more. They're the heart of your

communities, whether it be Hayward,

Winter, or LCO. They provide valuable

services for everybody in the community.

There is no discrimination. It doesn't

matter if you have a lot of money or no

money. So I look at the programming

that's being done and I think of

especially the youth that's being done

the programming and I know health and

human services juvenile justice is a big

problem now truency is a big problem

we're sending kids away and we are

paying hundreds of thousands of dollars

for those placements if we can provide

programming through our libraries that

can save us and send sending one child

not to go to Lincoln Hills or somewhere

else. If we spend that extra $30,000

now, what difference can we make on the

back end in terms of possibilities of

saving money? So, and I'm going to give

a nice donation to the Meals on Wheels

because I think that's the same thing.

Spending the money up front to keep

seniors in their homes through a program

like meals on wheels saves everybody in

the community money on the backside by

not having them go into nursing homes or

facilities sooner. So, I thank you for

your support and I would encourage you

to allocate the money to the Hayward

Weiss Community Library at the amount

requested. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Barbara Kelly.

>> Barbara Kelly 10492N

Namikagan Trail, Hayward. Um, of all the

places that my tax money goes toward,

the library is one of the things that I

value most in this community.

and I just am here to support to express

my support for the library. I love my

library and I would hope that you would

approve the request by the library

director for the budget. Thank you.

>> Thank you. Eileen Timberman

>> Eileen Timberman 16572W

Company Lake Road. I currently am the

president of the um library foundation

which helped to support the library and

I am well aware of the needs of the

library. I have lived here for over 53

years and as many of you I too witnessed

the growth of our beloved community. We

all know the importance of honest

government, protecting our ecology, our

natural resources, and education.

I am here to respectfully request an

increase in the county budget for the

Weiss Library for the upcoming fiscal

year.

Our library plays a vital role in the

educational, economics, and cultural

well-being of the community. Yet, we are

facing rising demands without the

funding necessary to meet them. Our

library is the cornerstone of this

community with over 5,000

card holders and nearly 60,000 visits a

year. I cannot begin to tell you of all

the services it provides.

Libraries are not a luxury. They are

infrastructure. They are the backbone of

a strong, informed, and connected

community. I urge the county to continue

investing in the essential institution

and the people it serves. Thank you for

your time, support, and continued

partnership. Thank you.

>> Thank you,

Good evening. Tish Keano 16033 West 4th

Street. I am here to talk to you and uh

request the increase for the requested

increase for vi library funding this

year uh by beginning to talk a little

bit about imagination.

Um each of you I know began probably

going to libraries as a young person.

Um, and and as you see from the people

that are here today, we have young and

old, it's it's a resource for the

community that is used throughout

people's lives. It's it's one of those

few resources that goes full spectrum

for our community. I really appreciated

the gentleman that explained the

breakdown of of how the area around us

comes up with funding, but we're not the

area around us. This community supports

a best um array of people that either

come for the weekends or they live here

full-time. We provide services that are

unlike other areas and Weiss Community

Library is is a hub of that that

service. It helps people with um job

searches, education for education

support for young families. And when

people are looking for places to live, I

can tell you as someone who who did have

young children, the library is one of

the very first things you look to. So

the increase and the support are an

investment, but also a reflection of

wanting people to join the community and

improve our economic uh situation in the

area. And it's about imagination. Thank

you.

>> Thank you.

>> Daniel Flynn.

>> Daniel Flynn.

Wheeler.

>> Wheeler.

>> Yep.

>> How many names you got?

>> Uh Danielle Wheeler, 15820 West Trout

Hollows Trail in Hayward. and I am here

to support the requested budget increase

on behalf of moms and small children in

the area. As you saw with me earlier, I

had my um

7-year-old and 5 and a halfyear-old and

our good friends and three were here

briefly as well. Uh, we moved here four

years ago and as soon as I got a piece

of mail with my address on it in

Hayward, I went right to the library and

I got my library card. Um, I use the

inter library loan system daily. Um, and

the funding that comes from being able

to get books from all over the northwest

Wisconsin area.

I borrow books for myself. I love books

and for my children. We often use the

inter library loan to respect request

specific books learning about pow-wows

or natural disasters, other things in

the area. We also use the library um to

borrow STEM resources. We join their

Lego club. Um we drop in and we work on

the puzzle that's there for everybody to

work on together. My kids love to be

able to put a couple pieces in or borrow

puzzles to bring home for us to do

together as a family or for me to do

with friends. We first started coming

here, we joined story time and we found

a lot of our community just by showing

up at the library because there's not a

whole lot of places in Hayward where

young families with kids can just show

up and find community. We did the story

walk almost daily. Although I would call

it the story run because I had two boys

and we would run to each sign and read

it as fast as we could and run to the

next and run to the next cuz they are

going to be runners. You can look for

them in a few years at the high school.

Um we enjoy the I spy the find its that

are around the library. As soon as we

enter the library they immediately run

to the front desk to vote. um because

every month they have like a would you

rather um and they like to guess how

many candies are in the jar.

We participated in all of the summer

programming that we could including

Little Naturalist that was funded last

year and this year um to be at the

library. So, I'm just here to say that

the library gets a lot of use. I would

love to see it open even earlier than

10:00. as a mom with kids who wake up at

6:00 a.m. um funding more hours um to

just get out of the house and bring my

boys to a safe place where they can play

with friends and read books. Thank you.

>> Thank you, Mindy Simons.

>> Hello everyone. I am Mindy Simons, 6720

Florida Lane, Stone Lake, Wisconsin. I

am the director of the Hayward Lakes

Visitor and Convention Bureau. I know

that you all understand the vital role

that tourism plays in supporting local

businesses, including lodging, dining,

and services, all while generating

significant tax revenue. But I just want

to remind you of some of the hard fact

numbers that we have to support this. In

2024, Sawyer County Tourism generated

$151 million in economic impact. In

2024, Sarah County Tourism generated

$10.5 million in state and local taxes.

In 2024, Sarah County Tourism supported

960 jobs within the county. And without

tourism in 2024, uh, each Wisconsin

household would pay an additional $678

in taxes. These all come from the

Department of Tourism economic impact

study that's released each year in June.

Sawyer County has a long history of

supporting tourism beginning with their

own tourism entity, the Sawyer County

Recreation Association from 1962 until

2003. In 2003, the Sawyer County

Recreation Association merged with the

Hayward Lakes Resort Association,

forming the Hayward Lakes Visitor and

Convention Bureau, Sawyer County,

Wisconsin USA, which is actually our

official name to keep the county ties.

In 2017, the county board of supervisors

passed a resolution encouraging

municipalities in Sawyer County to

establish room tax for purposes of

funding the HLBC.

Since then, only three municipalities

have been added um to the six or to the

four that have already Let me explain

this. So, there's six municipalities

within uh Sawyer County that have a room

tax ordinance. Two of them do not

contribute to the HLBC. Um, the city of

Hayward gives theirs to the Hayward Area

Chamber and the town of Lenri gives

theirs to the Nelson Lake Resort

Association. Uh, the town of Hayward has

been funding their room tax since 2005.

So that was well before the 2017

ordinance. So after the 2017 um

resolution from the county passed, only

three municipalities have joined up

since. Um, by the responsible use of

room tax by the Wisconsin state statute,

it says that room tax must be used for

tourism promotion and development likely

to generate paid overnight stays. And

the HLBCB follows this rule very

strictly. Our room tax funds are used

only for advertising, promotion,

convention and sport recruitment,

visitor services, and destination

development. We do not use our room tax

funds for payroll, operating costs,

insurance utilities training or

seminars.

Since the implementation of a countywide

room tax has not been fully imp

implemented by municipalities, Sawyer

County has generously assisted by

providing an annual contribution, which

we appreciate. Your investment in

tourism helps keep Sawyer County

competitive against other destinations

within the Northwest.

Bayfield County, for instance, is 100%

funded by their county, their tourism

entity, and Washurn County is 75 to 80%

funded by their county. Other county uh

other counties nearby us that have

significant county funding include

Ashland, Baron, Bernett, and Pulk

counties. Your county contribution helps

us ensure our operational expenses in

case of revenue fluctuations. Although

we have contracts with each of the room

tax paying municipalities, those

contracts have expiration dates and they

can change. Those room tax funds are not

always guaranteed.

The $50,000 investment that the HLBCB is

asking for is a fraction of a

percentage, actually 0331% to be exact,

of the overall tourism economic impact

generated for Sawyer County. Thank you.

>> Thank you. This Jen or Jen W.

Jen,

sorry.

>> Hi again. Um, Jen Wland here. Uh, 6544

West Railroad Avenue in Winter,

Wisconsin. Um, I've been lucky enough to

be part of the Winter Public Library for

in several capacities for about 14

years. Um, currently I'm in the library

board secretary, but I also chair the

Friends of the Library Committee. and

when I'm not teaching kindergarten in

winter. So, one of the many benefits of

being part of such a small town are the

close connections that we're able to um

find within our community and around our

surrounding community. Um it we're able

to make partnerships, programming, and

most importantly for us, fundraising. Um

so, we know the costs for goods and

services are obviously not going to go

lower anytime soon. Um I really feel for

some of the people that are get really

getting hit hard like the senior center.

Um so we want to make sure that for us

those connections stay an integral part

of um the such a small nonprofit like

our library. So as a teacher what I

really appreciate is I'm able to make

connections for my families and my

students on a daily basis. So, um I

really appreciate getting my family

library cards that first I remember mine

from Duth um way back when. Um it was

really special to me and I later on had

it laminated.

Um my kids are able my students are able

to attend fun programming um like the

Lego club, the summer reading programs,

story hours, reading challenges. Um, we

partner with the local schools to get

some really great reading challenges to

try and get that love of reading just

for fun back in our kids' lives. Um, as

a as a a daughter, my mom moved um to

the area several years ago now, and I

really appreciate the fact that the

library is there to help her with faxing

needs like to social security, her when

her husband had a massive stroke. um

that's there to answer questions. It's

there to help her have a an area um to

to socialize with people her own age,

people she might not know. My mom's kind

of a hermit. She's totally not like me.

Um so all of these things, what's really

nice is our families and our local

communities have access to all these

programs. It's all ages from puzzle

challenges to research opportunities um

and science backpacks, all of the thing.

You never know because this is a

constantly changing community. Our needs

are constantly changing as well. And

what's nice is we're able to kind of

keep up with that. Um that is most

tremendous help when it comes to

fundraising and finding alternatives to

our funding. So as part of the library,

the friends of the library committee,

finding bonus sources to offset costs

has been a huge part of our fiscal year.

We now have six annual fundraisers that

help provide things like pop-up costs

for supplies, for programming, community

efforts, prizes, books, and emergencies

like our flooding of our of our

basement. With our building being over a

hundred years old, that would have been

a huge detriment had we not had some

alternative resources to pull from. Um,

it really would have mean meant the

death of our library. So, um, we're

really trying hard. We wanted to just

come and say thank you so much for your

support. We're trying really hard to be

fiscally responsible, but your continued

support has been amazing and we

appreciate the continuation. Thank you.

>> Thank you. Mr. Rick Christensen,

you want you want to speak for him, J?

So, Jan Snider, 15863 Edward Street,

Herbert, Wisconsin. I'm here on behalf

of the Sawyer County Fair. Um, one thing

that I would like to do um initially is

uh thank the past board that has

continued on with the UW extension and

continuing to provide the youth educator

in the area. at one point um that was

probably not on the area for um some of

the local communities. um they've had to

share and Sawyer County is very lucky to

have that continued support um and for

us to continue to move forward with the

4 which is one of the major programs

that is supported for the and supports

the fair um primarily it's major a major

showcase for that um the continued

support that we have um for the fair

from the county allows us to provide

um a great family fun community

opportunity for the community to get

together. We have uh over

7,000 me members of the community that

come and join us during the fair. Um

this past year we had a great fair even

though we were rained out all of

Saturday. Um you know we can never count

on um count on the weather. Um, so we

always have to continue to provide and

work through our different funding

through our sponsorships and things like

that. So we always continue to work for

sponsorships and appreciate the funding

that is provided with that um from the

county.

Other areas that we work on is we are

continually working on improving the

county grounds that we have. So that is

why we very much often ask for um our

capital improvements and a lot of times

we're doing the work ourselves with that

for um we're often asking for um

equipment to go along to um for us to

put in and dig fences. um add on um

bleachers, you know, all of those types

of things for us to provide a self and

healthy fair for us to do. Um so I'd

like for you to um consider and um

continue on with our um funding that we

have and I thank you guys for your

support.

>> Thank you. That's all the slips I have.

Did I miss anybody? Is anybody else want

to speak?

>> There's hands up. Yeah, that's where I'm

going next.

>> Miss

>> thank you. Um, I sent an email today to

the board members and I'm just going to

summarize it. I'm representing the

Sawyer County Resource Center. My

address is 9891N Kingfisher Lane,

Hayward, Wisconsin. And according to the

Wisconsin Department of Administration,

Sawya County has a population of nearly

28% being 65 or older. By the year 2030,

we are expected at 65 or older to be 34

to 39%.

The request from the Senior Resource

Center is to consider increasing the

funding to help compensate for the

statistics that I've itemized in the

email that I've sent you. if not that to

consider a plan that could assist us

possibly later in the year should we not

be able to meet the increasing

population dem demographics

as I've itemized in the charts which are

not going to be the same possibly that

Mike Mrron has as I've gotten these from

our volunteer bookkeeper some of the

significant statistics that we've been

negatively affected by are the growing

in our growing demands are number one

the increase for delivery of meals on

wheels within our county has increased

by nearly 3,000 meals in just 2 and 1/2

years.

Number two, the cost of preparing and

delivering those meals has increased by

$1.113 each just this past year, and

that represents an increase in costs of

more than $7,800 in just one year.

Meanwhile, the income funding these

programs has decreased significantly

over the past five years since I've been

on the board, and it continues to

decrease despite our fundraising

efforts. For example,

while the state of Wisconsin and the

county funding remain relatively stable,

the amount of reimbursement coming in

from our meal recipients who get those

meals has drastically decreased each

year for the past three years. In the

past three years alone, the decrease in

this category reached nearly $20,000.

Secondly, while we continue to increase

the number of fundraisers each year, the

amount we have been able to raise has

steadily declined. We all compete for

the same money in this community. And as

well, um, this has allowed us to raise

between 30 to $35,000 a year recently as

compared to previous years where we were

able to raise between 50 and 55,000.

That is quite a difference.

So in summary, the continuous shortfall

is truly a result of increased

population requiring more services with

no net increase in funding and in fact

decreases in funding.

Seeing the increases in cost and

decreases in revenues that I've listed,

it's not difficult to understand why the

resource board members struggle to keep

our senior community members fed when

projections of need continually outpace

the projections of revenue. At this

point in time, we cannot deny an

individual a meal should they request

one. Going forward, however, the state

will provide a formula through a

need-based assessment tool, which should

help us better control this situation.

We're also evaluating further cost

cutting options, which may include

reducing delivery dates. We don't want

to do that, but it may be necessary.

Therefore, please consider this year's

request for an increase in funding or

approve a plan for a mid-year adjustment

should we need the have that need arise.

We won't know what the need is until the

state competes for its completes its own

budgeting process, which sadly is much

later than our county budget approves

its. So, I provided details of the

calculations in the form that you have a

map of the increase in population. And

so, as you can see, we're facing an an X

decreasing funds in the next five and

five years and beyond, but increasing

demand, and I don't know any

organization that can try to sustain it

at that rate. Thank you for your time.

>> Thank you. The Mills had their hand

raised Alex

[Music]

>> Mr. Schuman.

This concludes a public hearing.

>> Okay. Thank you. At this time, this

concludes our public hearing the 2026

budget. Thank you.

>> Yeah.

We'll take a fivem minute recess.

Thank you.

Um, number nine is public comment for

the regular board meeting. Does anybody

have anything they want to discuss with

the county board? Talk to them hearing

none. Is anybody online?

We'll go on to number 10. Consider

approval of the minutes of the previous

meeting which was September 18th.

>> A motion to approve those minutes.

Motion by Mr. Evans, second by Mr. Duffy

to approve as presented. Any discussion?

Hearing none. All in favor of the

motion.

>> Opposed?

>> I.

>> Motion carries. Number 11, strategic

planning update.

>> Thank you. Um, so as you recall in

August, committee members gave their

priorities to each department within

their jurisdiction. That information was

brought to the board last month. The

board came up with their top five

through voting for three each um areas

of focus for the strategic plan. I took

that data and you'll you'll get all of

this when it's we get closer, but we had

a department head meeting yesterday. So,

I took those top five areas. I analyzed

the data that you all gave us and looked

at um how many times something was

mentioned and also how many times

something was mentioned across different

departments and came up with two county

goals for each of those five areas of

focus. So then from that

I'm asking the department heads to pick

two areas of focus and come up with one

or two

goal department goals within those

county goals and then from that they're

going to take each department goal and

come up with at least two

strategies to attain that goal with a

measurement and a timetable. So I think

at the end we're going to have a very

good project product. I have a deadline

to get the department goals and

measurement back or strategy and

measurement back to me by November 17th.

And then I'm hoping to compile all of

that and bring it to the board in

December or if not January with mostly a

finished project for your review. We'll

have to come up with a mission and

vision statement from there. And I have

a couple ideas for each to at least get

us started. But that's kind of where

we're at in the process. Any questions

on any of that?

>> Just a quick question, Mike. Like when

So when you say department head like I

don't know where like housing

development fell on that list, if it

even made the cut, I don't know. Like

where does that fall as far as

department head though? It seems like

that is that you or

It did make the cut. Okay.

>> It was the third one out of the five.

Third highest full getter.

>> And I we talked about this one yesterday

because that's a really hard one for the

county to address, right?

>> We're not a municipality where we can

start a TID to help development or any

of that. So, you know, it's we're going

to have to get creative and I don't

know, to be honest, how much impact we

can have in the end as a county other

than working with other entities to

improve that.

So, it's a roundabout answer, too. I

don't know. Yeah.

Anybody else have questions regarding us

moving forward?

Thank you. Number 12, zoning committee

zoning committee report. Mr. Buckles.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The zoning

committee will hold its uh monthly

public uh hearing tomorrow morning. At

at last month's meeting, the committee

heard that approved three conditional

use permits and one uh uh preliminary

plat review. At tomorrow's meeting, the

committee will hold an additional public

hearing process for the proposed

campground amendments focused around the

percentage of park model trailers. A

poll was sent out to the towns asking

for their input. again on the proposed

percentage and a re recommendation from

the zoning committee will again come

back uh to the board. Also as part of

meet uh tomorrow's meeting the committee

will review citation ordinances

amendment and an update on the

multi-dwelling uh development ad hoc

committee in conjunction with assembly

bill 449 which seeks and allowing access

uh accessory dwellings units on all

residential uh lots. That ends my

report, Mr. Chair.

>> Thank you, Mr. Buckles. Number Anybody

have any questions for him? Number 13,

public works committee report. Mr.

Vanett, could you help us out, please?

>> What was that committee?

public works met on uh October 8th and

we went over the normal stuff and uh

maintenance department had a report, the

airport had a report, the highway

department had a report and I believe we

discussed with the highway department

that they have somebody on call now and

that that was some new business. They

didn't do that before. The heads took

care of that. Um

basically that was it and then we

adjourned. Thank you.

Good job.

>> Thank you. Number 14, public safety

committee report. Mr. Buckles.

>> Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh, the

public safety committee met on October

2nd. Uh, clerk of, uh, courts register

and probate reports. Miss Kelsey, give

us, uh, pdeium raised for the jurors

from $25 per day to $50 per day. and $25

per half day. Jurors will also receive

51 cents per mile. New court security

measures implemented include having

lunches brought into the jurors uh

juries. Uh sheriff's department report

uh Lieutenant Rapinsky called have been

continued to decrease with uh 696

received in September. There has been 11

crashes in September. uh two 20 28 year

to date and three fatalities year to

date. The department has been awarded

two grants for the speed enforcement and

seat belt enforcement uh jail report was

given by the sheriff. There was 64

average inmates incarcerated with 69%

uh unemployment rate at the time of

booking. The department received good

reviews during the annual general uh

inspection and no changes were required

to be made. The dispatch and emergency

management

uh was chief sedera updated the

committee at the next gen 91 911 grant

and the aabs

bas uh deployment in Sawyer County

dispatch is interviewing for two open

positions. Code enforcement reported the

dog pound and public health code

enforcement for the month of September.

A child uh report was submitted.

Emergency services, Mr. FM presented in

a written report. Ambulance runs. Sawyer

County EMS respond to a total of 192

calls during the reporting period with

an average response time of 10.6

minutes. City and Town of Hayward

continue to have the most calls followed

by Bass Lake. Mr. Fremla is finalizing

the contract with Glidden for coverage

in the Clam Lake area and the department

continues to support the Hayward and

winter football and will be teaching an

EMR class in Hayward and possible winter

in the coming school year. Um, a medical

examiner report showed a single vehicle

car accident resulting in a fatality.

Um,

Mike, do you have the CJCC report or you

want me to do it?

>> Oh, okay. Um, that ends my report, Mr.

Chairman.

>> Thank you. Let's go back to number 13

for just a moment, please. Public works.

I think it's important to know that the

county board knows that there is request

to open all the rest of the roads,

county roads, ATV, and UTV. um trying to

communicate with the tribal members and

having a meeting with the tribe to ask

that request to open up the rest of the

roads. I think it's important that the

county board members know that is being

worked on. So that could be coming

forward through the public works again.

Thank you. Number 15, Land, Water,

Forestry Resource Committee.

>> Uh thank you, Mr. Chairman. Land, Water,

and Forest Resources Committee met on

October 8th. Uh, Treasurer Brian Laner

requested approval for the sale of an

inrem tax parcel number 42750

for $300.

That property had previously been listed

with a minimum price of $500, but no

offers came through, so the committee

unanimously approved the sale for $300.

Um,

register of beads, uh, Rachel Thompson

provided a written report requesting fee

increases for the the radio pro program

in 2026.

Committee unanimously approved the free

increases.

Committee received written reports from

land records and the county surveyor's

office. Mr. Peterson's county forestry

report noted 11 active timber sales in

September.

uh $4.3 million of sold but uncut timber

on file and year-to-ate timber sale

gross revenue of $1.84 million.

Mr. Morris's DNR report shows 676

hours of county hours for sale

establishment and recon. He also noted

that fall fire season is underway with

the unusually dry conditions.

Mr. Davidson detailed updates on fall

cleanup, braiding, and trail rehab. The

association is waiting for DNR to

collaborate on culvert replacement on

the Tuscopia Trail.

There's lots of ATV and UTV activities

on the trail and they're waiting for

snowmobile season to begin.

Committee unanimously approved a

resolution to support the Forestry

Revitalization Act.

Mr. Kuzlowski reviewed the conservation

report and Mr. Cidle updated the

committee on the land and water resource

management plan update and asked the

committee for approval of the land

conservation committee notification

form. The committee unanimously approved

that request.

Mr. Ziggger's USDA report included four

separate requests for pass through

funding to reimburse farmers for

wildlife damage to crops. Committee

unanimously approved all four requests

that included the 2025 cross crop price

terms 26

2026 wildlife damage program budget 2026

deer donation agreement and the 2025

damage assessment deadline of December

21st 25.

Future agenda items. Uh there's going to

be a public hearing on the land water

resource management plan at our next

committee meeting on November 5th. Thank

you.

>> Thank you.

Number 16, Health Service for Miss

Wilson.

>> Uh the Health and Human Services

Committee met on October 7th. Um it

began with a report from Miss Johnson on

the um senior resource center about

meals on wheels being cut. Um they have

a Halloween meal drive. Uh it raised

over $4,000 for me on wheels. The Sawyer

County has been identified as having a

high incidence of diabetes and will be

coordinating with LCO to offer living

with diabetes classes starting October

16th. Eight people have already signed

up. I don't know how many attended.

November will feature SOS, Save Our

Seniors, with a turkey trot theme to

educate the public on services.

The staff is looking for at ways to save

money and keep the program running. We

talked about the grant resolution 85

uh21 which is a grant for uh

transportation program which provides

$79,889

in state aid with $15,978

county match funds and we'll talk about

that later today. Uh, Miss Lions

reported that the HHS staff is busy to

increase due to increased referrals in

all programs. Uh, Carol Pearson

announced her retirement uh at that uh

meeting and her resignation was accepted

and the position will be filled by the

county administrator and confirmed by

the county board per the uh HHS uh

bylaws.

She presented the fee schedule which we

voted on to approve. Um we talked about

the aging and disability resource center

and she gave us a report that the county

has had three recent chapter 55

commitments related to Alzheimer's and

dementia which present complex

challenges for resource and placement

arrangements within the statutory

deadlines. She said a closer dementia

crisis center is needed for the northern

counties and would be a goal of

strategic planning.

In behavioral health, we reviewed a

written report and updated on committees

with OI assessments. There were eight

last month. Uh CLTS has 59 clients. CST

is the afterchool program which serves

75 children in fourth and fifth grade.

and CCS referrals. Uh we have one client

with four additional referrals. Uh to

date, um Miss Migrant provided the

community support mobile crisis report.

There were 20 consult calls, 10

assessments were completed, one uh

emergency

detentions for safety plans,

uh one person refused assessment and

then there were uh three voluntary

admitted to the hospital.

The mental health monthly uh expenses

were reviewed and the cost of client

report was reviewed. Out of county

placements continue to be an expense rec

uh concern for the county as we've

indicated many many times and the

projected expense for four clients is

$813,00060

676.

Uh then she presented uh Miss Lions

presented the out of home care report

which was a increase in foster care

cases in August. Youth justice has 26

open cases with eight referrals in

August and Sarah presented positive

numbers for truency. She was really

excited about that because the diversion

program that they're working on at the

school um has 32 uh children in the

program. 15% 15 children presented 100%

attendance for the first month of the

year and then it went from there.

There's going to be a tall cop uh

presentation on November 12th uh which

uh will concentrate on dangerous

substances found in gas stations and

dispensaries that our local youth have

access to.

Um Miss White pre presented the Northern

Income Maintenance Consortium report.

There were 1,64 food share or 265,359

benefits. there were 1346 badger cases

evaluated

and for the elderly, blind and disabled

there were 218.

The consortium had 6,483

calls

that month. Miss McCallen provided a

written report that stated the clean

sweep had a large number of electronics.

Um, there were 384

vehicles that participated in the clean

sweep, 30 230 lbs of sharps, 96 pounds

of medication, and an unbelievable

amount of electronics. There's a was a

walk for tomorrow that was held on

mental health and suicide awareness. 40

people in winter participated and 162 in

Hayward. Um, Miss McCllum also reported

that there are nine cases of pertasus or

hooping costs in Sawyer County. There

are 36 cases of measles in Wisconsin,

but none in Sawyer County right now. The

flu, RSV, and COVID cases are low.

>> Hey, that's it.

>> Thank you.

Just one thing I'd like to add is the

electronics with clean sweep will be

again coming in the spring to let us

know what it is. So, it's very

wellreceived. So, keep that in mind for

people that want to get rid of TVs and

stuff. That's the place to do it. Thank

you. Um, letter B 2026 185.21

grant resolution.

>> All right. Thank you. This is the grant

that I discussed earlier for senior

resource center. um the two forms of

support they get from us. This is the

pass through grant that I mentioned. So

this would be a resolution in support of

applying for that DOT grant.

>> Mr. Rheimer,

>> I'll make a motion to approve.

>> I'll second that.

>> Have a motion by Mr. Rheimer, second by

Miss Wilson to approve. Any discussion?

Hearing none. All in favor of the

motion?

>> I opposed.

>> I

>> opposed.

Motion carries. Thank you. Finance

report, Mr. Riggimer.

>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We met on

October 9th, uh started with the

treasur's report. Mr. Lanner provided a

written report on county land sales. He

also notified us that he'll be attending

the WCTA fall conference, which is

October 21st through the 24th in River

Falls. For the finance department

report, uh Mr. Mark was downstate on

county business. So, Miss Ean reviewed

sales tax revenues for July budget

performance reports for August 25 and

July CIP purchases.

For department financial updates, we and

the ambulance budget reports. Mazine

reviewed December 24 financials and

September 25 revenues and expenses for

the ambulance. For 2025, year-to- date

revenues are at 86% of budget expenses

are at 84%.

For the highway budget reports, Ms. Een

reviewed the 24 financials and August 25

revenues and expenses for highway 2025

year-to- date revenues are at 60% of

budget and expenses are at 66%.

For the investment review and update,

August investment report was provided.

Interest rates are still holding above

4%. For the 2026 administrative budget

presentation, Mazine presented Mr.

Markin's recommendations for the 26

budget. Uh the proposed 2026 Sawyer

County fee schedule was reviewed and

proposed 2026 capital purchases were

reviewed. Uh full-time employment county

uh 2026 proposal for wages were reviewed

as well.

Uh wage grids were reviewed and uh

detailed 2026 budgets for each

department provided. Discussion on

senior uh resource center uh was

requested.

Establishment county board of

supervisors 2026 2027 term salary. The

motion was to keep the 2627 county board

of supervisor salary per DM at its

current rate for recommendation to the

county board.

And that ends my financial finance

report.

>> Thank you.

Letter B. established county board

supervisors 2627 salary terms per deal.

>> Yes.

>> I make a motion to keep the county board

supervisors 2627

uh term salary as is.

>> Second have a motion by missile second

by Mr. Evans to remain the pdeium as is.

Any discussion?

Hearing none. All in favor of the

motion.

I

>> opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.

Number 18, economic development W

extension committee report. Mr. Rickham,

>> thank you. We met on October 6th. Um

started talking with the library budget

updates. Uh winter library. Ms. Anucky

updated the committee on upcoming future

plans with the strategic plan being

finalized at the next meeting. She

reported on the garden harvest and

budget and stated the library is not

asking for additional funding in 26 for

the Weiss Library. Miss Lararsson

presented Weiss Library documents to the

committee. She stated there has been a

10% increase in visitors and the library

is asking for additional funding for the

26 operations. I inquired at that time

about possible funding help from the

local municipalities

and Miss Larson explained to do that

there would need to be joint agreements

in place for the Hayward Lakes Visitors

and Bureau Convention report. Miss

Simons reported on the tourism and room

tax revenues which townships contribute,

how the funds are distributed. She

explained the room tax revenues are used

strictly for advertising and marketing

and requested 50,000 for the budget.

Northwest Regional Planning uh

Commission report. Mr. Johnson presented

documents to the committee regarding the

comprehensive economic development

strategy. He spoke regarding the

community development block grant ending

in April 26 and provided details

regarding the new Northwest Regional

Housing Program. The hazardous waste

collection has been completed. He spoke

regarding the upcoming forestry

resolution and stated the NWRPC will be

creating resolution to support that act.

The Sawyer County LCO Economic

Development Corporation report Mr.

Lamaro reported the Thrive grant has

been accepted and they are now working

on submitting the business plan. There

is now a Thrive 2 grant available.

October 8th 25 there will be there was a

fraud prevention workshop from 11:00

a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on how to handle

fraud in the workplace. He stated that

the forestry revitalization act will be

an amazing opportunity for our area. Um

on the resolution to support the uh

forestry revitalization act uh we

approved that uh motion unanimously. On

trail reports there was no motorized

reports. Mr. Duffy reported on

non-motorized trails and Telmark trail

run was um a couple weeks ago uh was in

work is being done and also work is

being done to the Berky trail and the

500 seat expansion is underway at

Lumberjack Bowl. And that completes my

report.

>> Thank you.

Letter B, resolution 2025, support

forestry violation act, discussion of

possible action.

>> All right. This is a resolution that's

gone through two committees. Um, and

I've had the opportunity to speak on its

behalf twice in Madison now. It would

just be huge for the area. Um, as you

know, logging has been a hundredyear

industry here in northern Wisconsin,

Sawyer County. It's been it's fallen on

hard times as paper mills closed. We

haven't been hit quite as hard here as

some other areas, but it has had an

effect and this would really help

restore it to what it was. Beyond that,

it would just be a huge economic boost

for this area. It's a $1.6 or 7 billion

investment right here in Hayward. And

what they're requiring of or requesting

of the state is a $210 million

investment. 150 million of it is a bond

issue that would be repaid through the

forestry account itself from incremental

earnings. So it's forestry supporting

forestry. It does not cost any other

department anything at the state level.

The second investment is a $60 million

WEDC

investment which is economic development

and that is a five-year tax credit. So

there's no money sent out from the state

to the investors for this, but it would

be tax credits as they make money. They

don't make money, there's no tax credit.

But the other point is

there's nothing to tax right now. If

they make money, there's new tax revenue

to the state and it expires in five

years. For us locally, what it means is

that we are traditionally we've been

dependent on two things, timber and

tourism. Timber has slid a little bit.

We're heavy on tourism. It was mentioned

there's 960 jobs in the hospitality

industry in Sawyer County. The average

income for those jobs is $37,000

and they do not have benefits most of

the time. So, it's not a living wage

adds to the affordable housing crisis.

This would bring in 150 jobs to the

plant, which again is located in

Hayward. Those would be very well-paying

jobs.

um people that would be able to buy some

of the higherend homes that are for sale

also afford enough where it would entice

builders to build homes for them which

boosts another economy. You got

construction, you've got electricians,

you got plumbers, HVAC, everything all

in those areas. So, it's a boost there.

Beyond the 150, it brings in 200

supporting jobs in the logging industry

and the trucking industry and everything

related to that. So it just would be a

huge boost to our area to all of

northern Wisconsin. It would be a boost.

So they're projecting a hundred billion

dollar a year boost to our economy in

northern Wisconsin primarily. Um there's

never

to my knowledge not been this kind of

investment in northern Wisconsin from

the state. So this would support that

and go to the legislature in support of

that if passed.

>> Mr.

>> Mr. Mark group. I heard early on that

they were going to also do housing for

their employees in town somewhere. Is

that still there?

>> I had not heard that.

>> It might have been a rumor, but I

thought I heard that.

>> Yeah.

>> To accommodate their uh the new

employees that might be coming from

elsewhere.

>> All right.

>> Mr. Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to

approve

uh the

resolution 2025 to support the forest

revitalization act.

>> A second

by Mr. Buckle, second by Mr. Steve

Kerian to approve. Any discussion?

>> Just a quick quick question. Where does

this sit

like at the state level? Like what's the

timeline on that as far as when they

would approve or not approve? Well, when

I spoke in favor of it last Thursday,

we were under the understanding that

that was going to be a joint Senate and

assembly presentation. When we got down

there, we found out it was to the Senate

only. So, now we're they're trying to

get a meeting with the assembly. Could

be a couple weeks. Um, from there it

would those are committees. would have

to go to the full Senate full assembly

and then to the governor's desk. So

there's no timetable set.

There's hope by the end of the year.

>> Okay. Any other discussion? Hearing

none. All in favor of the motion.

>> I opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.

Number 19, county administrator report.

Administration committee report. um

administrative committee met and Miss

Klein reported about new voting machines

coming forward to the towns. Uh the

value of $9,000 and they could be

delivered for $400. A few things to be

taken care of. Um the veteran service

office reported Mr. Elliott. He gives a

nice report. He does a lot of hard work

down there. Mr. Coulson reports from the

IT department. Him and Alex do a nice

job. Human resource report. Miss Rose

Liyroot gave us a report. We get a

county administrator report

and we have a veterans tribute update.

Um we are moving forward with the phase

two which is soil borders at the site.

That concludes my report.

Next item is the county administrator's

report.

>> Well, we've touched on a lot of what

I've got in my report already. I

mentioned the department head meeting we

had yesterday which was mostly focused

on the strategic plan. and I did give an

update on both the 25 and 26 budget and

um that was basically all we hit on. Um

it was a very good meeting and I was

happy with

the um involvement in the strategic

plan. I think they're going to take this

seriously and we're going to get a

really good product in the end which you

know everybody has to take it seriously

to get it. And I I emphasize this is

something we want as a living document

that guides our decision making, not

just something we take steps to get

through and put in our desk. So I think

we're going to find a really good

project. Economic development, I've

talked about this. Um Mr. Keren and as

well spoke the first time down in

Madison and gave a very good

presentation there.

Um had a economic development

corporation appreciation mixer a couple

weeks ago. Adam gave some really good

updates there. Um,

Bill Johnson gave an update on the

forestry revitalization act at that time

as well. Um, finance, you got to second

look at the budget tonight. There will

be a third and final look at the

November 12th meeting. That is when we

will vote on the budget and the levy at

that time among those other things that

I mentioned tonight.

Um strategic planning we've discussed uh

the airport really nothing to note

there. The transfer of ownership

fully to Derek Leslie has occurred for

Hayward Aviation. No update on the

master plan. We've heard nothing from

the FAA. So um that's still in the

waiting period there.

Um contracts for service. I have not

issued that yet, but I am working on

those to get them out along with the

budget this year. and

um connections went to the WA WCA annual

convention in the Dells. I did have to

miss Monday morning to go to Madison.

Um, one thing I will note, I did meet

and have a nice conversation with

Senator Mary Felscowski, who is a

co-author of this force revitalization

act. And then she also spoke at the

conference in one of the breakout

sessions I went to and it was

kind of addressing issues with northern

Wisconsin and it was

more problems than solutions, I guess I

would say. So it was kind of a negative

tone, but at the end she did mention

that the announcement for this act and

there was a lot of applause and clapping

and cheering for that. There's a lot of

northern counties in attendance. So

there's a lot of momentum to get this

passed so that we can get this

investment up here for all the counties.

And then um lastly, the safety network

improvements we're working on. We had an

initial meeting with Gencom on that.

We're meeting every Friday now and um

we're moving forward. Still waiting

to here on the WGB tower, but um we've

got solution for the other part there in

southern Wisconsin in the Edgewater

area. There was a tower that had been

proposed that was denied in zoning

because there was a tower nearby. That

nearby tower actually works better for

this plan because it's not only is the

tower itself higher, it's on an elevated

ground right there. It will allow us to

get redundancy in the main part of

Sawyer County because the towers will be

able to reach each other going two

different directions. So that will help

if one goes down, we can use the reverse

to get it to work. And um it potentially

will cost more on the monthly lease, but

it will give us a better product in the

end and more reliable.

That's all I've got. Any questions?

Moving on to CJCC.

We met on October 8th. Some things to

note. Uh the jail population is up a

little bit from a year ago. We're at 65

for

um September and the average

unemployment rate at the time of booking

was 69%.

Um that's not the I don't think it's the

best we've had this year, but it's down

from a lot of the months. Um we're

working on anou with LCO for the medical

assisted therapy program that would

allow

um tribal members to give shots out

there to some of the people that need

them. Um just point they just submitted

the deflection grant and the TAD grant

um a week ago. Those are very large

funding sources for our criminal justice

program.

Um, Youth Justice gave a report as well.

Some of that was mentioned already. I'd

just like to point out that there are 15

kids in the program who have attended

100% of school this year. So, that's

remarkable in that program. That's a big

win for us there. And as was mentioned,

Tall Cop is going to be here on November

12th to give a presentation and also um

have a discussion too.

Um, also at the meeting, the 2026 opioid

budget was presented, which is a

$100,000

investment in our

um local youth and adults for that.

That's all I've got for that one.

>> Okay.

Next is board appointment committee

updates. Anybody that's been to other

meetings that wants to share with the

county board?

I passed out the uh SEP board report

covers activities and programs uh

staffing and office updates for

September and October. So read at your

leisure. And u as far as Indian Head

Community Action Agency, we'll uh

continue to uh work on our uh community

needs assessment and kind of dovetail

that with the budget here uh in the next

month or so.

>> Thank you.

Mr. Buckles.

>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I got a quick

update here from transit. Uh, ridership

for September was up for 4,833

rides, which is up 113 rides from 2024.

They finally received the titles from

DOT on the buses that are eligible for

disposal. Uh, they will put them up for

bids on a public auction. Uh they

provided rides for the 530 rides for the

Cranberry Fest this year which was down

from 777

in 2024.

Uh they believe it was less people

attended due to the hot weather with the

increase in the fair charge though it

was brought in more money from 2024. Uh

Darren the mobility manager and Carrie

attended the 2025 Wisconsin Minnesota

joint transportation conference in

Rochester August or October 5th through

the 8th. There was a lot of great

information and a vendor expo and

wonderful opportunities for network

networking with their peers. Uh they had

applied for a scholarship from RTAP to

cover the cost of the attendance. That

ends my reports.

>> Thank you. Just a minute. Miss

um this morning I was at a meeting in

Superior for the Northwest Regional

Planning about the block grant program.

They run the block grant program for

Sawyer County. Um they have $2 million.

They're asking for a third $1 million.

And I guess understanding that we were

informed that that is because the

government shut down that is also trying

to be cut. Whether it be cut or not, I

don't know. it'll be but the block grant

program is very important to our

community I think because we have such

low income it'll really hurt that's what

I learned at that program Wilson

>> um I'd like to uh report from the

library as um I'm the Sawyer County

representative to that board um I just

wanted you all to know that the funding

for the library depends on Sawyer County

the friends who pay for summer

programming the foundation which helps

with the operating expenses

and donations. We do not get any money

from the municipality like so many other

libraries do. So, it comes down to

donations.

In 2020, we had $59,000 in donations. It

went up to 68 and 21. It went down to 44

and 22. It went up to 73

and 23. Then in 24 there was 32,000.

And this year to date, there's $22,000

in donations. So, we're really in the

hole on donations. So, it looks like

we're going to have to pull $57,000 from

our capital funds to pay for operating

costs for 2025.

And that is the reason why we are

requesting a full 245,000.

>> Thank you.

Anybody else? Yesterday we met for the

senior resource center and um we're

still down a handful of board members.

We took three resignations in the past

couple months. Uh you heard people talk

earlier today about uh funding being cut

which goes directly from the meals on

wheels program. So ensuring that our

seniors get fed. It's kind of important

we find that that funding and that was a

huge topic of last night's discussion.

Um amongst those board members who left

there were three real go-getters too. So

last year we raised all that money to

put a roof on that senior resource

center. Well, we lost those people and

they moved out of town or out of the

city. Actually, one of them left the

state. So, a lot of that burn is going

to fall on those who are currently there

now. So, um just trying to find ways to

find money for that program.

>> Thank you, Miss Vessel.

>> U Marsh, can I ask you a question? Since

you're the liaison for the senior

center, has there ever been any talk

about them about the county taking it

back over

>> as a group as a board over there? No, we

haven't talked about that yet.

>> Okay. But you are nonprofit, right? It's

a nonprofit.

>> Nonprofit.

>> Okay. Thank you.

>> Anybody else have anything?

21 correspondence, reports, conferences,

future agenda items. The budget will be

on the agenda next month. You want to

explain a little bit about

if we're going to change the budget at

all, how that's got to take place.

I will do a brief presentation again and

then it'll be open up to the board as

we've done in past years to recommend

changes or recommend

accepting the budget as proposed and

then seconds and discussion approval

after that.

>> Okay. so you understand how the it's

going to work at the next meeting when

we approve the budget. If someone has

something that they really want to push

through, please take some time to call

Mr. Markin and communicate with him so

that he can have things prepared if that

was to happen. Okay,

anybody else have anything hearing?

None. Thank you for your valuable time.

Meeting adjourned. Have a nice Halloween

coming forward.

>> November 12th.

>> Remember that