Administration Committee — Minutes

Minutes of the Meeting of the August 13, 2026 Sawyer County Administration Committee of the Sawyer County Board of Supervisors Board Room; Sawyer County Voting Committee Members (X) Present: Others Present: Chair: Ron Kinsley Mike Markgren John Pinnow Brian Lehner- Virtual Vice Chair: Ron Buckholtz Liz Klein Marshal Savitski- Virtual Gary Elliot Randy Neumann John Righeimer Rose Lillyroot Atty. Roeker Stacey Hessel Mike Coleson Call to Order –Chair Kinsley called the meeting to order at 10:00 am. Certification of Compliance with the open meeting law was met. Roll Call taken; quorum was met. Meeting Agenda – Set Public Comments – Linda Zillmer Minutes from the previous meeting dated: July 9, 2026 Motion to approve by: Mr. Righeimer Second by: Ms. Hessel Motion carried without negative vote. Review District 15 Supervisor Position: Discussion about District 15 Supervisor not attending County Board and committee meetings and his public resignation in the Sawyer County Record. Atty. Roeker recommended serving or sending a certified letter stating the circumstances and intent to proceed with removal and enclosing a letter of resignation that could be easily signed and returned. Supervisor Buckholtz offered to help if needed. Motion to either serve or send a certified letter to John Minto stating circumstances and intent to remove and include a letter of resignation for him to sign and return by: Ms. Hessel Second by: Mr. Righeimer Motion carried without negative vote. Atty. Roeker will draft a letter with the required elements. Appointments: The Chair has the authority to remove or appoint members to committees with confirmation by the County Board. A motion was made by Mr. Buckholtz, second John Righeimer to remove Supervisor Hessel from the Econ/UW Extension committee and appoint to Zoning Committee. Atty. Roeker advised removing a member from the Zoning Committee first due to statutory requirements specifying the number of members on that committee. Mr. Buckholtz amended his motion to: Remove Supervisor Minto from Zoning Committee, remove Supervisor Hessel from Econ/UW Extension Committee and Appoint her to Zoning Committee. Second by: Mr. Righeimer Motion carried without negative vote. Appoint Reone Gheen as Sawyer County Medical Examiner— Mr. Markgren recommended Reone Gheen for the open position of County Medical Examiner. Motion to appoint Reone Gheen as Medical Examiner by: Ms. Hessel Second by: Mr. Buckholtz Motion carried without negative vote. Appointments and removals will go to full County Board for confirmation on August 20. Public Comment Policy— Mr. Kinsley stated that some board members have requested changes to the Public Comment policy. Atty. Roeker advised the committee that outside of public hearings, allowing public comment at board and committee meetings is not required and some counties do not allow any, while others have residency requirements and other limitations. Due process and other constitutional rights were reviewed, and there is no legal issue with requiring residency to participate in public meetings. Atty. Roeker reviewed the Board Policy & Procedure Manual and drafted revisions that would restrict public comment to residents only, and also added an accidentally deleted rule back to the document. The draft will be shared with all board members following this discussion, for consideration at the August 20 County Board meeting. A motion was made by Mr. Righeimer to amend the Board Policy Manual to add the requirement of residency to the public comment section. Second by: Ms. Hessel After discussion and clarification Mr. Righeimer amended the motion to: Amend the Board Policy Manual to add the requirement of residency to the public comment section and include Rule #10. Second by: Ms. Hessel Motion carried without negative vote. This will go to full County Board for consideration on August 20. County Clerk Report- Ms. Klein provided a written department report on July activity: 21 late dog licenses and 12 marriage licenses were issued. The towns did a great job with the August 11 election. Preliminary 2027 Budget request—Election revenue will be decreased due to the municipal clerks doing their own elections. Otherwise, just normal increases for postage and publications. Veterans Service Office Report - Mr. Elliot updated his reporting format and presented a written report on July department activity: 524 phone calls, 1,163 letters/emails/faxes sent and 204 office visits. 129 disability claims have been filed to date with $601,153.23 awarded in Veterans’ favor. The department is co-hosting counseling sessions at La Crosse Vet Center and Coffee & Conversation; the social media report was provided. Mr. Elliot received a Quilt of Valor at Honor the Earth Powwow, a high honor for his work helping Native Veterans. There will be a Sawyer County-LCO Veterans Fair at SevenWinds Casino on October 22. A citizen letter of gratitude was shared with the committee. Preliminary 2027 Budget request—Normal increases. Veteran’s Tribute Update- Three bids were received for concrete flatwork: Mr. Markgren recommended Creative Concrete Concepts, who came in lowest at $58,000 with the added items of concrete benches and a base for the fountain included. Motion to approve the bid of $58,000 by Creative Concrete Concepts by: Mr. Buckholtz Second by: Mr. Righeimer Motion carried without negative vote. Information Technology Department Report - Mr. Coleson provided a written IT report on ongoing IT projects. Preliminary 2027 Budget request— Operations estimate is $6,000 lower than 2026. CIP requests for $230,000 include Cyber Security measures, replacing the phone system, and permit automation software. Human Resources Report - A written report was provided on staffing and recruiting for open positions within the county. Recruiting for the County Administrator position was discussed. A motion to recruit internally instead of using an outside firm was made by: Ms. Hessel Second by: Mr. Righeimer A proposal to recruit prospective County Administrator candidates from within Wisconsin and Minnesota was presented to the committee. The motion was amended to approve hiring internally and limiting the search for candidates to Wisconsin and Minnesota applicants by: Mr. Righeimer Second by: Mr. Buckholtz Motion carried without negative vote. Preliminary 2027 Budget request— 2027 budget is the same County Administrator’s Report— Mr. Markgren reported on working with Brian Priester to apply for the Opportunity Zone designation, a report showing increased net new construction, Finance work on the 2027 Budget, a CIP request to fund 20% of a highway project that will allow the department to do the work internally and move toward breaking away from the state Actual Cost model which will increase Highway revenue in the long term, attending the Johnson Bank groundbreaking ceremony, and a five department move between the Courthouse and the Oasis building that will improve efficiency. Board Appointed Committee Updates – None Correspondence, reports from conferences and meetings– None Future Agenda Items- Veterans Tribute Update Adjournment – 11:08 am Next Meeting: September 10 2026 Time: 10:00 am Location: Board Room Minutes recorded by Liz Klein, County Clerk