West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission

I attended the May 13th meeting of the West Central Wisconsin Regional
Planning Commission and here are the highlights.

Levy:
5 options were presented -- amount changes were: -2.12% (same mill
rate as 2010), 0% (same amount as 2010), -2.5%, -5%, and 2.3%
(inflation).
Jay Tappen (new director) mentioned that the levy can't be reduced too
much because there are minimum matches that have to be made -- the
total of those minimum matches is about $84,000 so the most the levy
amount could be decreased is 62%.
The -2.12% option was moved. Much discussion about economic condition
and need for cuts. The only discussion in favor of another options
was in favor of the -5% option. The levy hasn't been increased since
2006. -2.12% option was passed overwhelmingly (maybe unanimously).
That options means a -5.5% decrease for St. Croix County because our
real estate valuation went down the most.

Current officers were reappointed.

Regional Comprehensive Plan public hearing July 6th.
http://www.wcwrpc.org/RPCCompPlan/

Updates from the representative from the governors office:
SAGE program limits class size to 18.
BadgerCare covers every child under 18
BadgerCore will cover low-income, childless adults
Basic: for people who didn't make it into the Core program
98% are now offered medical coverage

The USDA has funds for libraries, rural development, etc.

A few of the members expressed grave concern about national debt and
the nation we are leaving to our grandchildren and ask Ron Kind
representative to bring those complains back to him.

Evening County Board Meetings

At least the next two county board meetings are scheduled for the evening:

• May 18th at 7 PM
• June 15th at 7 PM

Community Development: May 4th

The first Community Development Committee meeting was on May 4th at 9 am. Both the Chair and Vice-Chair positions had 2 people nominated -- Steve Hermsen was elected as the Chair and Sharon Norton-Bauman was elected as the vice-Chair. I was the only nominee for Secretary. A department secretary takes the actual notes, which is good because I am bad about taking detailed notes.

There was a lot of discussion about the meeting schedule. Some of the issues involved include:

• Half of the departments that report to this committee are stationed in Baldwin and the rest are stationed in Hudson.
• One of the committee members has has reduced vision and has more difficultly driving a distance at night (Hudson is ok but Baldwin is far).
• Evening meetings are better for working committee members and, more importantly, most residents.
• Alternating meeting locations could be more confusing (both for committee members and the public)
• Meetings in Baldwin are more convenient for some residents
• There are sometimes public hearings that are generally held at the location (Hudson or Baldwin) that is closest to land in question.
• The county board bylaws dictate that the payment to the committee members (per diam) is more if the meeting starts before 6pm and ends after 6pm.

We couldn't find a perfect way to address all of those issues so we decided that the best way was to have meetings starting at 6:05 PM and alternate between Baldwin and Hudson on the 4th Wednesday of the month. Any public hearing would be scheduled right at the beginning of the meeting for the convenience of those involved. If the next scheduled meeting location isn't the closest for the public meeting, the people involved can decide to wait to have it closer or to have it sooner and farther. I hope the per-diam rule can be changed to we can have the meetings starting a little earlier without paying the committee members more. The next meeting will be in Baldwin on May 26th.

As a new member, I received 5 different books. I hope in the future an online reference can be provided instead of using all of that paper.

Public Protection Committee: May 3rd

The first Public Protection Committee meeting was on May 3rd at 4 pm. It was scheduled in the afternoon partially for the convenience of the committee members who work but also to make it more accessible to residents (which is more important to me). The meeting time for the next meeting was discussed and some members were very opposed to the afternoon time so the next meeting is scheduled for 7 AM on June 9th. I hope it can be moved to a time that is better for the public. Nothing from the reports seemed like it should be noted on this blog.

County Board April 20, 2010

Here are some notes on the county board meeting on April 20th.

• The video is at http://blip.tv/file/3533095
• I was elected to the Public Protection and Committee Development Committees.
• An update was given on the condition of the Health and Human Services (HHS) building in New Richmond. This subject will probably have a big impact on on taxes so its progress should be watched closely.
• Given the current economic situation, there was an attempt to limit the pay increase for the Clerk of Court. That was partially successful but the Sheriff's salary was increased above the committee recommendation.