Zoning

Zoning Committee June 23, 2026 West Entrance, First Floor Call Meeting to Order: Chair Karen Cummings called the meeting to order at 8:30 AM. Members Present: Karen Cummings, Diane Albrecht, Rollie Thums, Darrell Thompson Members Absent: Jim Gebauer Other Attendees: Kyle Noonan, Sue Noland Approve Agenda: Thums moved to approve the agenda with 7 items seconded by Thompson. Motion carried. Approve Minutes: Thums moved to approve the minutes of the May 28, 2026 committee meeting as printed seconded by Albrecht. Motion carried. Resolution for Wind, Solar and Battery Storage Projects: A resolution regarding large-scale Wind, Solar and Battery Storage projects was reviewed. The resolution indicates Taylor County understands the increasing presence and impact of these projects and the importance of siting, development, and regulation to ensure the processes, standards and regulation to protect the public health, safety, and welfare of local residents along with land use, infrastructure, natural resources, property values, tourism and overall character of Taylor County communities. Thompson moved to approve the resolution seconded by Albrecht. Motion carried. Other Business: Administrator reported he reached out to NWRP for estimate on Land Use Plan updating. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting will be at the call of the Chair. Adjournment: With no further business, Thompson moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:36 AM seconded by Thums. Motion carried. Secretary: Kyle Noonan Zoning Committee May 28, 2026 Sheriff Training Room, Ground Floor Call Meeting to Order: Chair Karen Cummings called the meeting to order at 9:00 AM. Members Present: Karen Cummings, Jim Gebauer, Diane Albrecht, Darrell Thompson, Rollie Thums Members Absent: None Other Attendees: Michelle Grimm, UWEX; Jessy Bradish & Diane Mayerfelt, UWEX (Zoom); Brent Tessmer, RESET group; Lori Floyd; Nicole Hager; Kyle Noonan; Sue Noland; Brian Wilson, Star News Approve Agenda: Albrecht moved to approve the agenda with 15 items seconded by Thums. Motion carried. Approve Minutes: Gebauer moved to approve the minutes of the February 25, 2026 committee meeting seconded by Thums. Motion carried. County Large Scale Solar and Wind Report: A Renewable Energy Siting & Engagement for Tomorrow (RESET) report was discussed. The report was prepared by UWEX after an advisory group met on several occasions to brainstorm ideas to prepare for large scale renewable energy and energy storage projects. There was no financial cost to Taylor County. Various concerns were brought forward about the county having regulations for less than 100 -megawatt projects. If project is over 100 megawatts, then it is regulated by PSC. County Zoning, potential issues, conditional use permitting, licensing ordinance/permit, and development agreements were among some of the areas discussed. It was decided the coun ty may want to create a License Ordinance. The Counties Association, Towns Association and UWEX can be resource options. Thompson moved to forward the RESET report to the County Board for their June meeting to accept the report as completed seconded by Cummings. Motion carried. In addition, a resolution will be prepared indicating the county is working toward Regulatory Authority for solar and wind projects. Bills Paid: The bills paid listing since the February meeting was reviewed. Albrecht moved to approve the bills paid listing seconded by Thums. Motion carried. Building Statistics: Building statistics through May 27 are as follows: YEAR SANITARY ZONING CSM PRIVY RECONNECT New/Replacement 2026 15/7 (22) 12 18 6 0 2025 14/10 (24) 11 16 3 0 2024 18/14 (32) 9 12 1 2 2023 11/9 (20) 11 22 2 3 2022 18/14(32) 11 20 4 2 2021 22/16(38) 16 33 5 0 2020 20/14(34) 15 16 4 3 2019 7/13(20) 8 10 1 3 2018 9/12(21) 9 7 2 3 2017 14/17(31) 11 12 3 8 2016 10/16(26) 16 10 2 2 2015 6/24(30) 10 7 1 6 2014 6/9 (15) 9 6 3 1 2013 6/4(10) 8 11 3 2 2012 9/11(20) 17 9 2 4 2011 5/11(16) 10 7 3 4 2010 10/9(19) 11 13 3 1 2009 19/3(22) 8 14 2 6 2008 11/7(18) 7 7 1 - 2007 20/13(33) 20 17 4 - Sanitary permit issuance is close to last year with Zoning, CSMs, and privy permits up slightly. These statistics are for informational purposes only. Appliance & Electronic collection: Collection was held on May 2 in Medford and Gilman. There were 44,064 lbs. of electronics collected and 660 screens collected between the two sites. A total of 470 vehicles came through electronic disposal. A total of 390 appliances were collected at the two sites with 230 vehicles participating. This year was one of the busi est in a while. There was discussion of having two collections a year but money is usually a factor. Clean Sweep: The Household Hazardous Waste collection will be held on June 10 in Medford from 10-2. Accepted will be pesticides, paint, cleaners, bulbs, medications, etc. Some items with fees are ballasts, bulbs, batteries, etc. Comprehensive Plan: Taylor County’s Comprehensive Plan was created in 2007 and was updated in 2017. NWRP & UWEX assisted with original plan in 2007 and the 2017 update was completed in-house. Administrator had checked with NWRP to see if there were any monies available to assist with update, but there is not. An estimate 3 months ago was around $70,000 to assist with the detailed work required, surveys, charts, maps, etc. to prepare an update. The department is uncertain as to availability of carryover dollars for this typ e of project and where funding would come from. Nicole indicated a request could be made to the Finance Dept if dollars would be geared toward something specific. Thompson moved to get a written proposal from NWRP to update the Land Use Plan and forward to Finance Department seconded by Gebauer. Motion carried. Budget line items: Administrator reported we have a number of line items within our budgets that are showing deficits. This is not due to mis planning, but the unavailability of carryover dollars. Each year the department notes carryover dollars will be utilized when budge ts are prepared. Employee Evaluation: The Zoning Committee went into closed session to discuss Zoning Administrator’s annual performance evaluation. Roll call vote: Albrecht-aye; Thums-aye; Gebauer- aye; Thompson -aye; and Cummings -aye. Motion carried. The meeting reconvened from discussion of employee evaluation and report will be forwarded to Human Resource Director. Other Business: Committee further discussed presentation of a resolution at the June County Board session in support of developing a regulatory authority for wind and solar in the county. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting will be at the call of the Chair. Adjournment: With no further business, Albrecht moved to adjourn the meeting seconded by Thums. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:55 AM. Secretary: Kyle Noonan Zoning Committee February 25, 2026 Third Floor Meeting Room #3308 Call Meeting to Order: Chairman Jim Gebauer called the meeting to order at 9:25 AM. Members Present: Jim Gebauer, Diane Albrecht, Karen Cummings, Darrell Thompson Members Absent: Rollie Thums, excused Other Attendees: Jim Metz, Dan Hoffman, Mary Thums, Nicole Hager, Kyle Noonan, and Sue Noland Approve Minutes: Cummings moved to approve the minutes of the August 21, 2025 committee meeting; Seconded by Albrecht. Motion carried. Approve Agenda: Thompson moved to approve the agenda with 10 items; Seconded by Cummings. Motion carried. Bills Paid: The bills paid listings since the August 2025 meeting and 2026 to-date were reviewed. Cummings moved to approve the bills paid listings; Seconded by Albrecht. Motion carried. Building Statistics: Building statistics through Year-End 2025 are as follows: YEAR SANITARY ZONING CSM PRIVY RECONNECT New/Replacement 2025 51/50 (101) 28 40 9 6 2024 50/43 (93) 29 38 5 8 2023 55/46(101) 38 46 6 12 2022 49/59(108) 30 55 9 5 2021 71/68(139) 42 73 12 8 2020 51/59(110) 42 48 13 8 2019 32/75(107) 22 35 7 11 2018 42/48(90) 33 36 10 16 2017 37/57(94) 32 38 9 16 2016 41/61(102) 31 41 10 9 2015 43/99142) 42 42 11 18 2014 24/88 (112) 30 29 6 9 2013 30/27(57) 29 31 9 9 2012 32/39(71) 49 29 12 14 2011 30/44(74) 43 39 6 7 2010 42/39(81) 44 31 7 7 2009 49/23(72) 40 39 9 13 2008 43/30(73) 32 28 7 - 2007 68/44(112) 41 46 9 - 2006 76/46(122) 49 43 11 - It was a typical year for 2025. These statistics are for informational purposes only. Fee Comparisons: A chart comparing 2026 permit fees with other counties was reviewed. Taylor County is at the low end for fees. There will be no changes at this time, but we will revisit later this year for possibly increasing for 2027 permit issuance. Gravel Pit Licensing: Our office received a request for expanding the Foster pit from Haas Sons. The public notice for Right to Comment is being published. A request to license a new pit was received from Slobodnik. We are still gathering data before the public notice is pub lished. This proposed pit will mostly be rock quarry mining down 100’. It is close to Trappers Creek and will likely become a Chapter 30 DNR permit in the future. A few changes were made with existing pits for reclamation and Chapter 30 situations along with a couple operator transfers. This year we licensed 48 gravel pits. The DNR annual report has been prepared and annual fees of $4365 will be paid to the DNR. Maintenance/Citations: There were 765 septic tank maintenance notices sent to Taylor County properties in 2025. After reminder notices were sent in August, there were a total of 5 citations issued in December which is .75% non-compliance. Other Business: a) DSPS conducted their annual sanitary audit. The report indicated Taylor County is in substantial compliance with State code. b) Zoom meetings with software companies for permitting programs have occurred. Our current Access program is still working but it is outdated with little support. c) Two POWTS loans have been paid off. Currently there is one active loan. d) Administrator explained the Renewable Energy Siting & Engagement for Tomorrow (RESET) program. There are informational meetings being held. The goal is to create a guidebook for landowners to understand the dos and don’ts with solar and wind companies if approached for land lease, etc. e) The Comprehensive Land Use Plan is due for its 10-year update by 2027. Administrator talked with Sheldon at NWRP and to do a full review and update would cost approximately $75,000. This would encase attending meetings, doing surveys, prepare maps, etc. Taylor County would not qualify for a CDBG grant due to median household income. The plan update will be discussed at future meetings. f) The Uniform County Address System book is being updated. Last print was through 2021. We are looking at having 50 books printed. g) A job performance evaluation will be conducted at the next meeting for the Zoning Administrator. Next Committee Meeting: The next meeting will be held once the RESET Advisory Committee has a recommendation prepared. Adjournment: With no further business, Albrecht moved to adjourn the meeting; Seconded by Thompson. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 AM. Secretary: Kyle Noonan