Snowmobile Council

Taylor County Snowmobile Council Meeting December 7th, 2023 HOSTED BY: Westboro Sno-Dusters at Mondeaux Lodge Called to order: 7:01 PM Secretary’s Report : Motion made and 2 nd to accept November minutes as presented by Walcisak. 1st Dan Roiger, 2nd Scott Zondlo, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Report presented by Bob Meyer for December, see attached for details. Motion made and 2n d to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1 st Rickie Schmitz, 2nd Nick Meyer, motion carried. AWSC Report: Bob Meyer • Nothing at this time. Old Business: • Tomahawk Timberlands: This large industrial landowner in Lincoln and Oneida counties has provided a draft agreement for review. This agreement is for a one -year term and would allow the use of their lands on existing snowmobile trails this season. The agreement will be signed and returned by Lincoln County after it is reviewed at their Forestry Committee on Monday December 11th. Updates have been identified for future agreements and will be worked on in the off season. • Interwald Wanderer’s hosted a snowmobile safety class on December 2 nd and 3rd at the Ice Age Pavilion in Rib Lake. The class was full with about 26 students and went very well. • Black River Rock Dodgers have an upcoming safety class. The roster is full with 20 students. New Business: • The USFS has indicated the Lake 11 timber sale is likely to be active this season. They have not provided a response for the timber sale off of Mauer Drive. • The Taylor County Forest will have one known timber sale active this snowmobile season. North Loop Road will be plowed and have logging traffic from its intersection with Cut Off Road (snowmobile intersection #55) to ¼ mile north. However, no logging will occur along this segment. Trucking only. • Chippewa Campground (east side of Miller Dam) USFS boat landing is currently closed and does not provide adequate access for fisherman and potentially snowmobiles. • Please enter maintenance activities into SNARS no more than 30 days from when they occur. • Walcisak has submitted a final reimbursement request to DNR for 2022 -2023 trail maintenance. This was done in early November and are currently waiting on the audit results to disperse the last payment for last season. Approximate final payments are as follows: Grooming Assoc $11,588; Black River Rock Dodgers $3,936; Jump River Runners $5,691. • There is a washout in trail 102, west of Little Rib Road. County Forestry will address this issue. • A hole is developing in the Pine Line just south of Center Ave. County Forestry will check and report back to the Grooming Association if their help is needed. • Discussion and an update occurred regarding the past youth rep project. Please contact Nick Meyer for any questions. Next Meeting: January 4th, 2024, Hosted by Stump Jumpers at BS Bar, W3539 State Highway 64, Medford. Adjourn: Motion made and 2 nd to adjourn. 1st by Leon Long , 2 nd by Janice Meyer , motion carried. Adjourned 7:47 pm Respectfully submitted by: Jake Walcisak Taylor County Forestry Dept. TAYLOR COUNTY SNOWMOBILE COUNCIL MEETING November 3rd, 2023 Hosted by Black River Rock Dodgers at Groomer Shed on Howard Road Secretary’s Report: Motion made and 2nd to accept Secretary’s Report as mailed/emailed. 1st Delvin Smith 2nd Bob Meyer Treasurer’s Report: Report given by Elaine Emmer ich; see attached for details. Motion made and 2nd to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1st Rick Schmidt 2nd Roger Bube Old Business • Insurance-- County approved to continue providing insurance for the clubs. • AWSC – 1) Bob Meyer reported on several topics from the Directors meeting. 1) Promote Commercial Sponsors. AWSC has a PowerPoint available to help clubs with selling the sponsorship. 2) Any club with online Rosters need to check the AWSC website. Be sure the updated Officers and Membership Chair are listed. 3) Some of the GPS Units are not working correctly. If yours is not working, could be no cell tower near or poor voltage source or a bad unit. SNARS reports a 24 -hour day from midnight to midnight. 4) 819 Commercial Sponsors and 19,435 total members in the AWSC. 5) AWSC had leftover raffle tickets. Looking to restructure the raffle. 6) Next Directors meeting is in January in Trego. • Snowmobile Saf ety Classes – Rib Lake will hold one December 2 nd & 3 rd and Rock Dodgers will hold one December 26th & 27th. Athens Sno-Pak is also holding a class. • Calendar of Events – Updates include 1) AWSC Convention is March 22 -24 at El khart Lake. 2) Add Northwoods 40th Anniversary Party at Zond lo’s on January 27 th. 3) Hope Hospice the last weekend in April. • Income & Expenses – Elaine compiled the Income and Expenses report for 2022 -2023 Season. See attached report. • Tickets -- Elaine dis tributed to the cl ubs that were at the meeting. Any clubs not present, contact Elaine, she will get you your tickets. Sell! Sell! Sell! • Rail Trail -- Someone fell a tree across the Rail Trail. If anyone has heard anything, contact Jake. • Next Meeting – DECEMBER 7th at Mondeaux Dam Lodge, hosted by the Westboro Sno- Dusters. • Adjourn – 1st Dan Roiger 2nd Steve Thums Respectfully submitted by: Elaine Emmerich Temporary Secretary Taylor County Snowmobile Council Meeting October 5th, 2023 HOSTED BY: SWAT at Zondlo’s Bar Called to order: 7:00 PM Secretary’s Report: Motion made and 2nd to accept April minutes as presented by Walcisak. 1st Matt Roiger, 2nd Dan Roiger, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Report presented by Elaine Emmerich for October, see attached for details. Motion made and 2n d to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1 st Rickie Schmitz , 2nd Lynn Jochimsen , motion carried. AWSC Report: Bob Meyer & Nick Meyer • Scholarship silent auction is looking for donations. • KAOS is also taking donations for kids in hospitals. • Blue Mounds State Park master plan was challenged and overturned due to an alleged process violation. • Please have all non -grooming entries and grooming validations in SNARS no later than 30 days from when they occurred. • SNARS training will be offered online October 23 rd at 9:00 am. The training will be recorded for later viewing. • Pursuing legislation where a club could intervene on behalf of a landowner for trespass issues. • Taylor County is still in need of a youth rep. • Next meeting (Fall Workshop) is October 20th – 22nd in LaCrosse, WI. Old Business: • Bob Meyer and Dan Roiger are working with local insurance companies to obtain equipment insurance estimates for Taylor County clubs. o Currently estimates range from $4,500 to $7,000 annually, which does not include liability. This amount is just for the Grooming Association. o Walcisak has been asked to attend a County Finance meeting on October 12 th to discuss the County no longer offering property insurance to the clubs. The County’s insurance broker has suggested the County no longer provide insurance for structures and equipment they do not own. Walcisak will speak on behalf of the clubs and County Snowmobile Council. ▪ UPDATE: On October 12 th the County Finance Committee voted unanimously to continue offering property insurance to Taylor County snowmobile clubs. • Tomahawk Timberlands: This large industrial landowner in Lincoln and Oneida counties has not yet provided permission to cross their lands. Late last fall they purchased this property from Spirit Falls Timber Company. This impacts Taylor, Lincoln and Oneida counties. Taylor County trails 21 and 86 into Lincoln County were closed all last season. Walcisak will draft a letter to Tomahawk Timberlands requesting permission. President Dave Roiger will review and sign. This letter will be sent certified mail. New Business: • 2022-2023 Season Funding Report. Utilized all $104,130 of snowmobile maintenance funding. Utilized all $35,010 of winter ATV maintenance funding. Utilized $52,147 of storm damage maintenance amendment. Total $191,287. o Final payments pending the DNR Audit: Grooming Association $11,588. Black River Rock Dodgers $16,668. Jump River Runners $5,691. Walcisak just issued $10,000 to Jump River Runners earlier this week. • 2023-2024 Season Funding Availability: o Snowmobile Maintenance $104,640 o Winter ATV Maintenance $34,910 o Storm Damage $8,512 o Big Rib River Bridge $29,958 ▪ Total $178,020 o Walcisak distributed annual maintenance contracts for snowmobile and winter ATV maintenance. Please sign, date, and return to his office no later than October 31st. • Possible future legislation to raise the gas -tax formula annual fuel rate from 25 gallons per registered snowmobile to something higher. • Trail Maps: Motion made and 2 nd to use up maps on -hand for this year. 1st Bob Meyer, 2nd Scott Zondlo, motion carried. • Raffle Tickets: The last two years there has been a lot of unused tickets. Elain will order next week. Discussion on the matter determined Elaine will order 5,000 tickets. This is 500 less than last year. • Stuart Varner presented the following. Interwald Wanderer’s will host a snowmobile safety class on December 2 nd and 3 rd at the Ice Age Pavilion in Rib Lake from 9:00 to 12:30 each day. 25 total students will be allowed to register. Students must have a DNR customer ID number to register. Interested students should sign up for the class at https://gowild.wi.gov/customers/safetyedclass Next Meeting: November 2nd, 2023, Hosted by Black River Rock Dodgers at their groomer shed on Howard Road. Adjourn: Motion made and 2 nd to adjourn. 1st by Bob Schilling, 2nd by Lynn Jochimsen, motion carried. Adjourned 8:04 pm Respectfully submitted by: Jake Walcisak Taylor County Forestry Dept. Taylor County Snowmobile Council Meeting April 6th, 2023 HOSTED BY: Westside Trailwinders at Lounge Around Called to order: 7:03 PM Secretary’s Report: Motion made and 2nd to accept March minutes as mailed. 1st Dan Roiger, 2nd Kirby Jensen, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Report presented by Elaine Emmerich for April, see attached for details. Motion made and 2nd to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1st Rickie Schmitz, 2nd Lynn Jochimsen, motion carried. AWSC Report: Bob Meyer & Nick Meyer • 44 applications for 13 scholarships in 11 counties. Total award was $10,000. • New Vice President is Greg Roscizewski. • Youth Committee silent auction raised $9,760. • Looking into legislation where a club could intervene on behalf of a landowner for trespass issues. • Taylor County is still in need of a youth rep. • Next Director’s meeting is October 20th – 22nd in LaCrosse, WI. Old Business: • Bob Meyer and Dan Roiger are working with local insurance companies to obtain equipment insurance estimates for Taylor County clubs. o Currently estimates range from $6,500 to $10,000 annually, which includes liability, for just the Grooming Association. New Business: • Trail Reports. This season Taylor County was open for 71 days. The 10-year average season length is 55 days. 2022-2023 season opener was January 13th with a one-week closure in February. The season closure was March 31st. This is only the second time in 30 years Taylor County stayed open until March 31st. 10-year average season opener is January 15th and the 10-year average season closure is March 23rd. • Funding Report. Full funding was received for storm damage applications, $75,675. This funding is eligible until June 30th, 2023. All trail maintenance funding to-date equals $214,815. This includes snowmobile, winter ATV, storm damage snowmobile and storm damage winter ATV funds. As of today, there has been $160,849 entered into SNARS. This leaves $53,966 in the maintenance accounts to be spent by June 30th, 2023. o Please have all grooming and non-grooming entries into SNARS no later than May 15th this year. This will provide extra time to calculate how much funds remain and what work can be prioritized before the end of June. Please contact Jake with any questions. Election of AWSC Director and Rep: • County Snowmobile Council President, Dave Roiger, called for nominations. o Cal Drost made a motion to re-elect Bob Meyer for Director, seconded by Cole Rudolph. No other nominations. Motion carried. o Elaine Emmerich made a motion to re-elect Nick Meyer for Rep, seconded by Delvin Smith. No other nominations. Motion carried. Election of Snowmobile Council Officers: • Nick Meyer made a motion to re-elect Jake Walcisak as secretary. Motion seconded by Lynn Jochimsen. Motion carried. • Penny Olson made a motion to re-elect Elaine Emmerich as treasurer. Motion seconded by Galen Raasch. Motion carried. • Wendy Thums made a motion to e lect Dan Roig er as vice president. Motion seconded by Penny Olson. Motion carried. • Dan Roiger made a motion to re-elect Dave Roiger as president. Motion seconded by Nick Meyer. Motion carried. Next Meeting: October 5th, 2023, Hosted by SWAT, location TBD. Adjourn: Motion made and 2nd to adjourn. 1st by Bob Meyer, 2nd by L ynn Jochimsen, motion carried. Adjourned 7:38 pm Respectfully submitted by: Jake Walcisak Taylor County Forestry Dept. TAYLOR COUNTY SNOWMOBILE COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 2nd, 2023 Hosted by WHITTLESEY at Chelsea Town Hall Secretary’s Report: Motion made and 2 nd to accept Secretary’s Report as mailed /emailed. 1st Dan Roiger 2nd Lynn Jochimsen Treasurer’s Report: Report given by Elaine Emmerich; see attached for details. Motion made and 2nd to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1st Rick Schmidt 2nd Scott Zondlo Old Business • Fun Day – Was a good day for all. The club donations were hande d out. This year 60% of club sales was returned to the club. Raffle winners and report are attached. • AWSC 1) Bob Meyer reported on legislation in regards to advertising on State owned property. This will affect State owned, not County or Federal. This wo uld pertain to the Pershing Wildlife area. – 2) Still do not have a Youth Rep for Taylor County. • Storm Damage 1) Jake applied to DNR for $75, 552.96 of storm damage. An increase of $1,410.45 since last month’s storm damage summary. Thank you to all the c lubs and SNARS users who got their entries in on time. (This includes: a) $73,539.59 of club expenses & $2,013.37 of county expenses. b) $217.58/mile for storm damage only. Does not include other non -grooming expenses. c) These funds are separated from re gular maintenanc e & will not affect your $250/mile non-grooming cap.) • Regular non-grooming entries in SNARS 1) Please consider entering all expenses for non -grooming into SNARS no later than March 3rd. 2) This will greatly enhance the Governor’s Snowmo bile Council’s ab ility to analyze the statewide funding status of the program. The next Governor’s Council meets on Monday March 6 th at 2pm via zoom. This is a smaller ad hoc group who will be reviewing storm damage applications. The next full meeting of the Council will be on Friday March 10th at 8am via zoom. • Logging – Steve Dassow is nearly complete with his timber sale in County Forest. Please do not groom the first ½ mile of Emil Drive until those wood piles have been hauled. The rest of Steve’s access road can be groomed. • Insurance – Nothing new. • Trails – The swamps have water, but does not affect riding. Groomer is just panning in some sections. South of Hacienda creek has a snow bridge, good for sleds. • Safety Course – The AWSC Safety Committee are adamant that kids need in classroom learning. Still cannot have them run a course. • New Trail Shelter – Price County is looking into putting a warming shelter on the new trail. They are asking for financial or labor help. Also, maintaining help throug hout the winter. More information next meeting. Go back to your clubs and discuss it. Any questions or what your club decides, contact Bob or Elaine. • County Events 1) Interwald Pie Shoot March 4th 2) March 11th Motorschlitten’ hosted by Rock Dodgers 3) Northwoods Riders Fish Boil April 7th 4) Hope Hospice April 28th. • Next Meeting – April 6th hosted by Westside Trailwinders at Lounge Around, Main Street Medford. • Adjourn – 1st Leon Long 2nd Steve Thums Respectfully submitted by: Elaine Emmerich Temporary Secretary Taylor County Snowmobile Council Meeting February 2nd, 2023 HOSTED BY: Interwald Wanderers at The Run Down Called to order: 7:07 PM Secretary’s Report: Report presented by Jake Walcisak. Motion made and 2nd to accept January minutes as mailed. 1st Delvin Smith, 2nd Dan Roiger, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Report presented by Elaine Emmerich for February, see attached for details. Motion made and 2nd to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1 st Rickie Schmitz, 2nd Bob Schilling, motion carried. AWSC Report: Bob Meyer • American Income Life will continue to offer death and dismemberment policy to AWSC members. • This is also a discount for AWSC members through Liberty Mutual. • AWSC officer elections are coming up. Please vote . Delegate forms are available. Candidates were highlighted in last month’s magazine. • Taylor County is still in need of a youth rep. Old Business: • Fun Day is on Hosted by Jump River Runners on February 18 th at the Back 40 Bar. Access will be from Trail B in Bellinger, east a long State Highway 73. The trail will be signed and tracked. • Snowmobile Council Facebook Page. It has been recommended that each club should consider starting a Facebook page and also join the Medford Chambe r. Membership is $100/year. Each club would then be able to post F acebook content to the Chamber’s page. This will be the most effective means of reaching the public through social media. • Bob Meyer and Dan Roiger are working with local insurance companies to obtain liability insurance estimates for Taylor County clubs. New Business: • Trail Reports. All club’s reported trails are firm with recent cold temps a nd the base is in good condition. Adequate snow depth has allowed for more frequent grooming than we have seen the last couple years. A couple min or instances of off trail riding have bee n observed. • Storm Damage Report: Walcisak provided the following update for storm damage across Taylor County. o $74,112.51 on 347.1 miles of trail. This comes to $213.52 per mile. ▪ Snowmobile Grooming Association $47,738.06 or $209.19 per mile. ▪ Jump River Runners $13,100.30 or $230.23 per mile. ▪ Black River Rock Dodgers $13,274.15 or $214.10 per mile. • Governor’s Snowmobile Council meeting Thursday February 2 nd. Recomm endations of Council and direction from DNR. o Meeting handouts link. https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/Aid/grants/councils/snow/2023 _02_02_MeetingAttachments.pdf o Submit all non -grooming to-date, including storm damage, by March 1 st, 2023. New entries can be claimed up until this date if they can be entered before 11:59 pm Wednesday March 1 st, 2023. Continue entering work description as Storm Damage. ▪ Storm damage will not be accepted in this application period if entries are submitted after the deadline. ▪ Non-grooming work which occurs after March 1 st can be entered for a separate reimbursement. ▪ Walcisak will develop the storm damage applications for Taylor County. o Storm damage a pplications to DNR will be reviewed as they are submitted. The Governor’s Snowmobile Council formed a workgroup of 6 -7 members from their body who will “assist” DNR in the review of these applications. o All funds come out of the same pot of program revenue. This includes grooming, non-grooming, storm damage, etc. Sufficient funds are available to pay for regular maintenance and storm damage. Thi s assumes the storm damage assessment of approximately $1 million on February 2nd does not grow by multiples between now and March 1st. • Off Road Vehicle (ORV) Council meets on Wednesday February 8 th to discuss financial contributions for the cleanup of storm damaged trails which are also Summer ATV/UTV. This will only impact the Black River Rock Dodgers. • Snowmobile G rooming Association is asking clubs to allow designated members to review and submit entries in SNARS. Next Meeting: March 2nd, 2023, Hosted by We Whittlesey Whizzers at the Chelsea Town Hall. Adjourn: Motion made and 2 nd to adjourn. 1st by Steve Thum s, 2 nd by Roger Bube , motion carried. Adjourned 7:43 pm Respectfully submitted by: Jake Walcisak Taylor County Forestry Dept. Taylor County Snowmobile Council Meeting January 5th, 2023 HOSTED BY: Moonlight Snokats at Kountry Korner Bar Called to order: 7:03 PM Secretary’s Report: Report presented by Jake Walcisak. Motion made and 2 nd to accept December minutes as amended. 1st Delvin Smith, 2nd Steve Thums, motion carried. Treasurer’s Report: Report presented by Elaine Emmerich for January, see attached for details. Motion made and 2n d to accept Treasurer’s Report. 1 st Dave Roiger, 2nd Matt Roiger, motion carried. Trails Update: • We Whittlesey Whizzers – Brushing and signing complete • Black River Rock Dodgers - Brushing and signing complete • Jump River R unners – Approximately 9 miles to brush and sign between Chippewa County line and intersection 86 north of Hannibal. • Westboro Sno-Dusters – Approximately 4 miles to brush and sign near Mondeaux. • Pine Creek Riders – Only shortcut trail needs to be brushed and signed. • SWAT – Brushing and signing complete • Interwald Wanderers - Brushing and signing complete • Moonlight Snokats - Brushing and signing complete • Stump Jumpers – Several miles to brush and sign. Will be done this weekend. • Westside Trail Winders – Brushing and signing complete • Northwoods Riders – Trail 86 bet ween North Loop Road and Wildwood Avenue in Lincoln County is brushed a nd signed but will not open yet. Rickie Schmitz is working with the new landowner to secure an agreement and provide proof of club insurance. Discussion was had regarding potential partial opening of trails this weekend, including the Pine Line. A hand v ote was called. The majority of those present vot ed to not open any trails at this time. It was further disc ussed to likely op en on Friday the 13 th, pending weather. Colder temperatures are needed to freeze down wetlands and water crossings. Grooming will be ongoing this coming week. AWSC Report: Bob Meyer • Raffle calendars are available from Bob Meyer. • Director’s meeting is this weekend in Siren, WI. Old Business: • Actively looking for a County Snowmobile Council youth rep. Please discuss at your club meetings. • Snowmobile Council revenue report will be tabled until a future meeting. New Business: • Taylor County Human Resources Department has received a recommendation from their counsel to no longer provide access to equipment insurance to snowmobile clubs. The County has no control over these pieces of equipment and the County’s counsel see this as a liabi lity. In the past the County has secured the policy and invoiced each club for their premium, (approximately $350-$400 for each groomer and drag com bination). This policy has a $2,500 deductible which the clubs are responsible for when a claim is filed. The County is intere sted in providing somet hing of in -kind value if access to this insurance plan is removed. Walcisak will work with Dave Roiger and Bob Meyer to secure quotes to compare private insurance premiums to the County at a future meeting. • Please enter storm damage cleanup into SNARS no later than January 31 st, 2023. Earlier would be greatly appreciated. When entering data into SNARS please a dd the words “Storm Damage” in the box labeled additional comments. February 2 nd the Governor’s Snowmobile Council will meet t o consider the extent o f damage and the cost to the snowmobile program. Current SNARS data will help the Council determine the nee d to release and/or request additional funding. Contact Walcisak with any questions. • Discussion was had r egarding the Snowmobile Council forming a Facebook page. While there was broad support for this effort the Council lacks a volunteer ready to take on this responsibility. Currently, clubs can share photos and share stories to the Taylor County Chamber of C ommerce Facebook pag e and with the County o n their website. Please consider supporting this effort by volunteering to form and maintain a Facebook pag e for the Snowmobile Council. Next Meeting: February 2nd, 2023, Hosted by the Interwald Wanderers at Rundown Bar. Adjourn: Motion made and 2 nd to adjourn. 1st by Delvin Smith, 2 nd by Cole Rudolph, motion carried. Adjourned 7:38 pm Respectfully submitted by: Jake Walcisak Taylor County Forestry Dept.