Public Safety Committee — Minutes

Minutes of the April 2, 2026 meeting of the Sawyer County Public Safety Committee of the Sawyer County Board of Supervisors Board Room; Sawyer County Voting Committee Members Present: Others Present: Chair: Ron Buckholtz Mike Markgren John Froemel- Virtual Vice Chair: Marc Helwig- Excused Liz Klein Chaz Ann Olson Jeff Hoehne- Virtual Bryan Deyo Gary Pelletier Marshal Savitski Sheriff Mrotek Jim Evans- Virtual Nicole Ripczinski Mike Woller Call to Order – Chair Ron Buckholtz called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Roll Call taken. Quorum was met. Certification of Compliance with the open meeting law was met. Meeting Agenda- Set Public Comment – None Minutes from the previous meeting dated: March 5, 2026 Motion to approve made by: Mr. Savitski Second by: Mr. Hoehne Motion carried without negative vote. Clerk of Courts/Register in Probate Reports - A written report was provided showing the calendar for upcoming jury trials and new cases filed in the past month. The Recovery Court program received positive feedback from a recent assessment and two participants have graduated successfully. Sheriff’s Department Report – Patrol Report – Chief Deyo reviewed the written report: there were 730 calls in March, 45 traffic citations issued and 58 crashes to date- 25 with injury, zero deaths. Deputy Robinson has been promoted to full time Patrol. Jail Report – Lt. Woller reviewed a written jail report for March with arrest data by race and gender. There was an average of 56 inmates incarcerated with a 71% unemployment rate at the time of booking, 0 on electronic monitoring. Dispatch and Emergency Management – Dispatch- Ms. Ripczinski summarized the written reports. April 12-18 is National Telecommunicators Week where the work of dispatchers is recognized. The Text to 911 program is running now. Emergency Management- A written report was provided detailing teamwork during the recent winter storm. Dir. Ripczinski attended the Court Safety and Security Conference last week. Code Enforcement- Ms. Olson reviewed her written report for the committee. Child Support Department Report – A written report was provided showing case and collections data. Emergency Services— Mr. Froemel reviewed his written report: 452 calls were received between January 1-March 25. The breakdown per town is inaccurate due to the zipcodes shared by multiple locations and he is working to fine tune the new reporting system for more accurate data. Towers- Mr. Pelletier from GenComm updated the committee on the ongoing radio tower project: GenComm meets biweekly with the Sheriff’s Department and has met with the Tribal Governing Board to assess the engineering for the WOJB tower, which needs bracing for the additional load if the county equipment is installed. There is a possibility of waiting for T-Mobile to pay for the upgraded engineering because they are also considering leasing a spot and their equipment will also require increased support. The estimated cost of the additional bracing is $35,000. The Pipestone Tower is overloaded so a temporary alternative is to place a dish on the Winter tower, which is in the works. The Winter tower does not resolve the gap in indoor coverage in a large area of southeast Sawyer County so a better tower location is still needed. The Meadowbrook Bug Tussel tower has not started construction and GenComm is looking at an alternate site in Meadowbrook on town property off Hwy 27. If built, the cost estimate is a additional $250,000 but the county would own the tower and could lease space to cellular companies in a desirable coverage location. Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Update – Mr. Markgren reported that CJCC met and it was observed that the unemployment statistic had dropped below 70% for the first time. Board Appointed Committee Updates—None Correspondence, Reports from Conferences and Meetings— None Future Agenda Items – Towers Meeting Date/Time – The next meeting of the Public Safety Committee will be May 7 , at 9:00 am in the Board Room. Meeting adjourned at 9: 25 am Minutes recorded by Liz Klein, Sawyer County Clerk