Health & Human Services and Veterans Services Minutes 08-06-2026

Buffalo County Minutes Committee/Board: Health and Human Serv ices and Veterans Service Committee Date of Meeting: Thursday, August 6th, 2026 @ 6:30 PM Location: 3rd Floor County Board Room Department of Health and Human Services Buffalo County Courthouse 407 2nd Street, Alma, Wisconsin Call to order: Steve Nelson called the meeting to order at 6:38 pm Roll Call: Members present were Steven Nelson, Dwight Ruff, Gary Stanton, and William Green Absent: Carol McDonough, Liz Hoffmaster, Wendy Kleinschmidt, and Dan Schultz Others present for all/part of the meeting: Carri Renchin, Jamie Weaver, Misty Rustad, and Felicia Decker Verification by open meetings law was done by Carri Renchin. Public comments regarding posted agenda items: None Previous meeting minutes:  April 2nd, 2026: Jenny Ehlenfeldt, Clerk from Buffalo City, emailed Lisa Schmitt about the 04/08/26 meeting minutes, specifically about the line that states “Buffalo City is working on an ordinance in place to halt any new Air B&B’s”. She stated that they have not or do not plan to regulate any Airbnb’s and would like that comment removed.  A motion was made by Dwight Ruff and seconded by Gary Stanton to amend the April 2 nd, 2026, corrected minutes as presented. Motion approved.  June 4th, 2026: A motion was made by Dwight Ruff and seconded by Gary Stanton to approve the June 4th 2026, draft minutes as presented. Motion approved. Veterans Services Monthly Report: Ms. Decker shared the following updates for June and July 2026  Held “Coffee and Donuts” each month to allow Veterans a place to congregate.  Ms. Decker will be starting to also work as a CVSO/TVSO Trainer.  Attended the Honor Flight Golf Fundraiser that raised $10,000 for Honor Flight.  Attended the ADRC Resource Fair in Mondovi Veterans Services Monthly Vouchers: Ms. Decker presented the vouchers for approval.  A motion was made by Dwight Ruff and seconded by Gary Stanton to approve the vouchers as presented. Motion approved. Public Health Report: Ms. Weaver shared the monthly numbers and updates for May and June 2026:  Ms. Weaver presented the numbers for HHH, animal bites, lead investigations, and communicable disease. She did mention that the number of WIC clients are down.  Ms. Weaver presented numbers for water samples and Public Health Facility inspections.  Facility permits expired for the licensing year on June 30th. DATCP reimbursement rate for this year was 13% for an overall cost of 13% to be submitted to DATCP. The State will increase the rate by 1% each year until it hits 20%. Will possibly need to increase fees in the future.  The Community Health Assessment survey is going live. Please encourage Buffalo County residents to participate and share their perspectives.  Public Health was awarded the Environmental Health Tracking Grant from DHS. This grant will support our CHIP Plan objective, which focuses on Lyme Disease prevention and education. Dyllan Smith along with our PH Intern, Easton Carlin, did over 45 tick drags within 6 locations and collected over 400 ticks. These will be sent to the State to see how many carried Lymes disease and try to determine hotspots in those 6 locations. Public Health was also able to purchase tick removal kits and Lego tick kits for education events at the Mondovi and Alma Libraries. DHHS Financial Update: Ms. Rustad presented the financial updates through June 2026 for review. DHHS Monthly Vouchers: Ms. Rustad presented the monthly vouchers for May and June 2026 for review.  A motion was made by Dwight Ruff and seconded by Gary Stanton to approve the vouchers as presented. Motion approved. Adding another WREA Position: Board shows support to adding a 4 th Economic Support position in DHHS. Dwight Ruff made a motion to support adding the position, 2nd by William Green to show support to adding the position, motion approved. Monthly Unit Reports: Reports were reviewed. No questions. Director’s Report: Ms. Renchin shared the following updates…  Ms. Renchin held a board orientation for new committee members on July 20th. William Green, Steve Nelson and Gary Stanton were all in attendance, along with Jamie Weaver and Misty Rustad.  DHHS was awarded $5,000 for a Mayo Grant that will cover part of the cash match for the 4 th term of the recovery coach. Will possibly use Opioid funds to cover the rest.  Vacancies: o Public Health Nurse – continuing to recruit and interview. o Economic Support Specialist – have conducted interviews and hoping to make an offer soon.  We received notice in July that the Lost Pirate, Buffalo City Meal Site, will be done in October. Matt Bertelson is seeking RFP’s for a replacement provider.  We were awarded 2 new grants… o MHBG Supplemental $14,000 – Planning on outfitting DHHS large conference room with telehealth equipment and 2 mobile telehealth devices to use in the field. o SUBG Supplemental $7,700 – Planning on using to pay for training for additional staff to teach Botvin in the schools. As well as support the National Night Out that was held on August 4th.  APS grant applied for $2,000 to fill safety cabinet.  Attended the Intoxicated Drivers Program meeting in Green Bay. Learned about the IDP program and requirements/policies. Will likely need to do some training to be incompliance as the IDP Coordinator. Committee Chair Report: Nothing to report County Administrator Report: No report Public Comments Unrelated To Agenda Items: None Future Agenda Items: None Next Meeting Date and Time: The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 1st, 2026 @ 06:30 PM. Joint meet tentatively scheduled with Pepin County on October 26 th at 4:00pm. Steve Nelson adjourned the meeting at 8:10 pm. Respectfully submitted, Misty Rustad