The monthly meeting of the Rusk County Land and Forestry Committee was called to order at 9:00 A.M., Monday, May 12, 2008. Present from the committee were: Gene DuSell, Phil Schneider, Jim Platteter, Tony Hauser, Roger Svoma.
Also present were: Paul Teska – County Forest Administrator; Randy Tatur – County Board Chairman; Wayne Tappon – DNR Forester. From the public, Don Mansky
Election of Forestry Committee Chair and Vice-Chair. DuSell stepped down as chairman of the committee. Vice-Chair Svoma asked for nominations for Chair. Platteter nominated DuSell as chair. Schneider made the motion to close nominations and unanimous ballot for DuSell, 2nd by Platteter, carried. DuSell asked for nominations for Vice-Chair. Schneider nominated Svoma.
Svoma did point out that he will be gone a few months this winter. Committee had no problem.
Hauser made motion to close nominations and cast unanimous ballot for Svoma, 2nd by Platteter, carried.
Motion by Hauser to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, 2nd by Platteter, carried.
Motion to adjust the agenda as necessary by Schneider, 2nd by Svoma, carried.
Timber Sale Contract # 2192 – Great Lakes and Associates/Scott Hageny. Had been renewed last month, it is one of our oldest sales. He had a letter of Credit that was up for renewal on April 30. $3,546.50, which he was not renewing so Teska drafted on the letter before it expired. Hageny had not made any attempt to contact the office regarding the Letter of Credit. Schneider made the motion to close out Contract # 2192 and confiscate the bond, 2nd by Hauser, carried. Teska will mark a sale near this one, re-mark this sale and combine the 2 areas and advertise as one big sale in the future.
Contract #’s 2196 and 2198 – Rick Lukes, has cut a small amount on both jobs. Jobs will be 4 years old in October 2008. Next to a NEW PAGE sale. New Page’s forester was asking if they could cut these jobs this winter. New Page is concerned with the next upcoming increase in stumpage prices, which would be an additional 10% in October. Svoma has concerns with setting a precedent with other loggers when they get increases in stumpage prices. Committee agreed that we cannot wave increases for these particular sales. Motion by Hauser to deny the request to wave the 10% increase on Contract # 2196 & 2198, 2nd by Schneider, carried.
Garbage on County Land – 2008 Bear Hunter’s County-Wide Cleanup: Every spring the Bear Hunters Association goes through the County Forest and clean up areas. Jeremy Perry the DNR Game Warden is a part of this group. They filled 3 30 cubic yard dumpsters with garbage that was picked up on County Forest Land. Still a lot of electronics and White Goods are left because they have no-where to take it. People will bring a refrigerator to the gravel pit and shoot it up. Perry suggests NO Shooting Postings at the Murphy Gravel Pit and Gate or block off the gravel pits. Motion by Hauser to have Teska Post NO SHOOTING at Murphy Gravel Pit and also have The Murphy and Hwy “W” Gravel Pits Gated, 2nd by Svoma, carried. Teska will draft a resolution amending the county ordinance to post no shooting, to present to County Board. Platteter would like to acknowledge the Bear Hunters for their work. Motion to send them a letter of appreciation for cleaning up our property, 2nd by Svoma, carried.
Dairyland Flowage Project – RBF Grants – Teska reported that he has not yet heard if we are awarded the Dairyland Project Grant yet. Our Parks Supervisor will be going to a Waters Commission Meeting on Tuesday and will find out if we are awarded that grant. We did receive the grants for the Island Lake and Amacoy Lake Boat Landings. We are supposed to find out from the Highway Dept., on the estimates for Black-topping Josie Creek. Estimates will be going up because of the high cost of fuel. Discussion on the town bridge going into Josie.
Motion by Schneider to allow Gary Albrecht to attend the Water Commission meeting in LaCrosse, 2nd by Svoma, carried.
Summer Intern – Gary Albrecht recommends Jake Martino for the summer intern job. Motion by Platteter to hire Jake Martino for the summer intern. 2nd by Hauser, carried.
2008 Budget amendment resolutions - Motion by Schneider to approve the County Owned Dams Budget and the Parks Boat Landings resolutions and present them to County Board, 2nd by Svoma.
The Boat Landings resolution is to amend the budget as we received the Amacoy Lake and Island Lake Boat Landings grants from the state. Teska will use matching funds for each grant, making a total of $10,000 for each project.
Motion to pay the bills by Schneider, 2nd by Hauser, carried.
WCFA Summer Tour is June 26 & 27 in Marathon County, headquartering in Mosinee. DuSell will have Board of Directors Meeting on June 25. Motion by Platteter to allow DuSell, to attend June 25, 26, 27, Teska and Pat Zimmer to attend on June 25, 26, 27; Schneider, Svoma, Platteter will attend on June 25, 26. 2nd by Svoma, carried.
Motion to adjourn at 10:17 A.M. by Platter, 2nd by Hauser, carried.