County board approves forest land purchase

Deal depends on county receiving state stewardship funds for half of cost

Taylor County and the town of Rib Lake will likely see an increase in revenue generated from an 119.8 acre parcel under county ownership versus being under private ownership.

At Tuesday’s meeting of the Taylor County Board, board members voted 14-3 with supervisors Rollie Thums, Catherine Lemke, and Ray Soper opposed to purchase the parcel that is land-locked within the Taylor County Forest at a cost of $263,560.

Funds for the purchase would come from the land acquisition fund in the county forestry department. Under state rules, 20% of the stumpage fees received by the county for logging in the forest go into the land acquisition account with it capped by the county at $500,000. In addition, the sale is conditional on the county receiving state Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Funds which would cover 50% of the appraised land values plus appraisal and closing costs. If the county does not receive the stewardship fund the sale would not take place Furthermore, the parcel has 82 acres of northern hardwoods which would be available for a summer harvest and has a selective cut value which would generate about $65,000 in revenue when sold. All of these would reduce the county’s actual cost in purchasing the property.

County forest administrator Jake Walcisak explained that the parcel is currently enrolled in the state’s managed forest law program for 50-years until 2066. Under that program, the property taxes on the parcel are about $244 with none going to the Rib Lake school district.

Based on the average payments per acre for countyowned forest land, the school district will not receive any more, but the town will receive about $350 more per year and the county will get revenue of about $4,000 more per year based on the five-year average.

Walcisak noted that the summer harvest potential for the parcel means that it will be a premium for loggers because most areas in the forest require frozen ground for harvest conditions.

Board member Rod Adams questioned if the sale would hamper future development in the town, noting there would be significantly more taxes generated from large homes being built there. Walcisak replied that a challenge with developing the lot for private use is that there is currently no road access to it with it surrounded by county forest.

Thums spoke against the purchase describing it as being a “slap in the face” to the taxpayers and department heads after the county went through the process in the beginning of the year to try and cut the budget. He said that even with all projected revenue and stewardship funds, the county taxpayers would be paying $100,000.

He said the county would be better off to move the $100,000 from the land acquisition account to the general fund and move on.

Walcisak clarified that while the land acquisition funds are within the forestry budget, they are the county’s funds. They are considered part of the county’s fund balance reserves which help with day to day county operations between tax and state revenue payments. Walcisak noted that at many times in the past the county board has used those funds for other purposes. “It is county money,” he said.

In making the vote to purchase the property, board members used their electronic voting devices for the first time. For votes requiring a roll call vote, in the past the clerk would read the roll with each member vote for or against. This led to concerns of vote tallying with board members voting one way or another based on how others in the room voted.

With the new electronic devices, members will have a period of time to press the button to cast their vote and can change their vote up until the vote is closed. The results are then displayed on a screen and recorded.

In other business, board members:

  Approved an ordinance with changes to the advisory committees for the North Central Region Comprehensive Community Services Coordination Committee. There are nine members of the board with representatives from Taylor, Iron, Price and Sawyer counties. As the lead county and the one with fiscal management of it, Taylor County has two of the nine seats. The major change is to set the breakdown of members with one third being consumers and no more than one third being county employees or providers.

  Approved changes to the departmental authorizations to add a position to the information technology department with the staff member to oversee the county’s broadband infrastructure project.

  Approved an ordinance to repeal the economic development and land use planning committees. Economic development dealt with a state grant program that no longer exists and the land use planning only takes place every 10 years and will be recreated when the current plan needs to be updated.

  Approved distribution from the county’s opioid treatment settlement accounts. The county had received $266,311 in opioid settlement funds which are designated to be spent for specific needs. Board members approved using $47,000 for the Taylor County Treatment Court with $20,000 to be spend for in-patients and treatment needed and rent and sober hosing, $9,000 for peer recovering coached support; and $18,000 for family support person counseling with participants. Human services will receive $20,500 to assist with inpatient treatment, detox, sober housing and transportation expenses as needed. The health department will receive $20,000 to help with salaries and other expenses for prevention and harm reduction programs.

  Received an update on the county’s comprehensive planning committee with Mildbrand stating the plan is to have specific questions to come to the board for a vote for changes in the committee structure by the October meeting. It was noted that the October meeting, which includes the budget, can be lengthy and depending on the other agenda items it could make for a lengthy meeting. Changes to the committee structure would go into effect following the board election and reorganization next spring.

  Approved a resolution recognizing Marcie Boie for 24 years as a part-time nutrition site manager and custodian for the county. “Marcie was dependable and displayed an outstanding work ethic as a Taylor County employee,” the resolution reads.

  Approved a resolution recognizing Robert Meyer for his 30 years as the county surveyor. Meyer led the effort to re-monument and establish coordinates for 90% of the approximately 3,300 Public Land Survey System corners in the county.

  Presented a plaque to former board member Lester Lewis who served 22 years on the board. Lewis was not there to accept the plaque, but a statement was read thanking the board and the county employees he had worked with for their support over the years.