Legal & Law Enforcement Committee - Regular Meeting — Minutes

Chippewa County Legal & Law Enforcement Committee Regular Meeting September 28, 2026 Chippewa County Courthouse, Room 302 4:00 PM 1. Call to Order The Chair called the meeting to order at 04:09 PM 2. Roll Call Members Present: Peter Gehring, Charles Bomar, Daniel Hardy Members Absent: Dennis Bachman, Chuck Hull Others Present: Travis Hakes, Jason Moses, Tamee Thom, Curt Dutton, James Maki, Shannon Householder, Ann Boehmer, Jessica McDonald, Andy Albarado, Chris from West Central Regional Planning, and Dave Staber. Recorder:Lisa Merrell. 3. Members of the Public Wishing to Be Heard (Comments will be limited to 5 minutes per speaker.) 4. Consent Agenda (Unless separation of an item is requested, all items will be adopted under one motion.) Motion: Approved Result: Passed (3 - 0) Mover: Charles Bomar Seconder: Daniel Hardy Ayes: Peter Gehring, Charles Bomar, Daniel Hardy Nayes: None Absent: Dennis Bachman, Chuck Hull 1. Approve the Agenda 2. Approve the Minutes - July 20th, 2026 4:00 PM 3. Schedule Next Meeting Date - November 16th, 2026 4:00 PM 5. Public Hearing Public Hearing - Chippewa County Natural Hazard Migration Plan 1. Open Public Meeting Chair Gehring opened the public hearing at 4:10 PM. 2. 2026-2031 Chippewa County Natural Hazard Migration Plan - Jason Moses Jason Moses and Chris from West Central Wisconsin Regional Planning presented the plan. 3. Public Comment There were no public comments 4. Close Public Hearing The public hearing was closed. 6. Business Items 1. Resolution to Approve an Update of the Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan for Chippewa County - Jason Moses This item was reviewed by the committee and will be forwarded to the County Board for review at the October 13, 2026 meeting. Motion: Forwarded to the County Board Result: Passed (3 - 0) Mover: Charles Bomar Seconder: Peter Gehring Ayes: Peter Gehring, Charles Bomar, Daniel Hardy Nayes: None Absent: Dennis Bachman, Chuck Hull Supervisor Bomar noted that on page 32 of the report where it talks about extreme weather events, he did not see the tornado in December of 2022 that went through Lafayette. Bomar also noted on page 74, factors affecting losses, a lot of what they are trying to do is preparatory, and he understands that they are working on county infrastructure and making sure the county is up and running in an emergency, but it would help make the county successful if they make sure everyone else is taken care of. Bomar gave examples of recent trends of insurance companies electing not to cover claims after events, and he wondered how that could be addressed. Chris said he would go back and make sure the December event is included in the report. Gehring asked if this is an annual grant. Chris stated this is a full update that they do every five years. The plan doesn't commit them to do the items in the plan, but it helps with grant opportunities. 7. Reports 1. Update on Town of Lafayette Contract - Curt Dutton Chief Deputy Dutton stated they are still a little short staffed, but they have two that are in LESB school and when they graduate they have 16 weeks of FTO, and then they will be fully staffed and can start fulfilling the contract with Lafayette. They have looked at Lafayette's ordinances and have agreed that they will be enforcing about 9 ordinances for them. Staber noted that Lafayette is approaching 7,000 people, so at some point they are going to have to fund more of this. Dutton stated if they don't have the staff, they don't want to make promises they can't keep. 2. Update and Explanation on 2025 Wisconsin Act 196 Regarding the Office of County Sheriff - Andy Albarado Albarado stated this bill was signed in April, and goes into effect on January 4, 2027. It was intended to clarify conflicts between Statutes and some court decisions. Albarado noted that a lot of counties did away with the office of Undersheriff and created Chief Deputy positions. Now the duties are all one and the same, and they serve at the appointment of the Sheriff, so that is one thing they have to change in their county ordinances. They will have to change some of their ordinances to comply with the new Statute. 3. Chippewa County Dispatch Update - Andy Albarado/Tamee Thom Thom included some facts in her report attached to the agenda. They have 13 full time positions, and right now 8 are filled, six are trained, and two are just starting training today There are two part time positions and 6 LTE positions.Thom stated six shifts a day need to be filled, and when you only have six staff, it creates a lot of forced overtime, which causes people to leave. 4. Sheriff's Department Retirements Update - Travis Hakes Hakes stated that Chief Deputy Dutton will be retiring on January 4, 2027, as well as Patrol Lieutenant Mark Bauman. Hakes sent an email to all office staff and they had some good applicants apply, and Andy Clark will be transitioning to the Chief Deputy role. They will start to see some of that transition and work on filling the Patrol Lieutenant's position as well. He has also been working with the Administrator and Human Resources on running an external recruitment to create an eligibility list. They need to fill Bauman's position and will get it posted this week. He is optimistic they will have an internal candidate, but then they will need to backfill that position. The committee discussed the Sheriff's Department sponsoring candidates through their schooling that would then come to work at Chippewa County. Many counties are doing this now, and if we don't, there may be no candidates to hire once they graduate because they are all sponsored by someone else. Bomar asked how many candidates they would want to go after? Hakes stated they could probably see three or four positions open, and he would like to try to sponsor a couple people. Gehring asked, if they do the sponsorship, do you have anything written on how long they have to stay here? Hakes stated they do, but they haven't enforced it in the past if someone didn't make it through the FTO program. 8. Agenda Items for Future Consideration 9. Adjourn The meeting adjourned at: 05:15 PM Result: Passed (3 - 0) Mover: Charles Bomar Seconder: Daniel Hardy Ayes: Peter Gehring, Charles Bomar, Daniel Hardy Absent: Dennis Bachman, Chuck Hull