This month we started by honoring Brent Miller for his service as our County Administrator. Brent recently retired and our new administrator is Lisa Wilson.

The Workforce Development Board of Southwest Wisconsin recipients for the 2024 Champion in Action Awards were Flambeau, Inc., Kruger Family Industries, McFarlane Manufacturing, Madison College, Milwaukee Valve, Primex Plastics, Seats, Inc., and T&T Consulting. They were recognized by the board and then told us about their activities involving getting young people interested in manufacturing.

The public comment portion of the meeting fell into a heated and ugly exchange between both speakers (Tom Kriegl and Judy Brey) and Chair McCumber. The topics were the sale of the Sauk County Health Care Center and the lawsuit brought against the county regarding the sale. An early version of the agenda had an item listed as, ‘Possible Action On Resolution 101-2024 Affirming and Ratifying Previous Official Action of the Board of Supervisors Authorizing The Sale of the Sauk County Health Care Center and Matters Related Thereto’. It was announced at the beginning of the meeting that this item was withdrawn from the agenda.

The board discussed the Ethics Inquiry Board findings and any actions we may take. A motion was made to combine both complaints, which passed. And then there was a motion to dismiss the complaints. Several supervisors spoke on the issue. A number of supervisors made the slippery slope argument, which is to say we have to do something, or it will happen again and again. Others found flaws in the process. Others found it to be petty and vindictive. The Ethics Inquiry Board found that the violations were releasing closed session information about the name of the buyer of the Health Care Center and the price of the sale. Both of these were information that many supervisors and the public wanted to release while we were going through the process. The vote to dismiss was defeated by a vote of 13-15. Chair McCumber then proposed we vote to direct both supervisors to conform to the ethics code. That passed by a vote of 28-3.

The board voted 29-2 to disallow the claim of Sauk County Citizens for Senior Care. This does not end the lawsuit in any way shape or form. It effectively reduces the amount of time one has to file the lawsuit. It will not change the outcome of the lawsuit but will push it to end sooner rather than later.

The board voted 31-0 to authorize a contract with Ayres Associate Inc. for the acquisition of orthophotography and amend the 2025 budget. The total cost is $156,780. We amended the budget to include an additional $70,725 of fund balance from the Land Records Modernization fund to cover those costs not budgeted and paid for by grant funding. Sauk County has been awarded a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs to help offset a portion of the costs.

The board voted 31-0 to approve the Liability, Property, and Workers Compensation Coverage Insurance, Carrier, and Premiums for Sauk County. This is exciting stuff!

The board voted 31-0 to amend the 2025 budget and accept funding from the Medical College of Wisconsin Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment Community-Led Seed Grant to support the public health workforce by introducing artificial intelligence tools to help speed up document review and save time. Through the grant the project aims to revolutionize public health operations in Sauk County by expanding AI solutions across two critical areas: electronic care reporting and environmental health records management.

The board voted 31-0 to authorize the application and implementation of the healthy lakes and rivers program. These grants provide up to $1,000 to landowners within one thousand feet of lakes and three hundred feet of rivers to install practices on their property to improve habitat and water quality. The grant money is provided by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

The board voted 31-0 to authorize a cropland lease agreement at the Sauk County Health Care Center. Only one farm submitted a bid. They were awarded the lease of 11.4 acres at the cost of $1,700 per year.

Any opinions expressed here are my opinions and do not represent the Sauk County Board. This is not an official blog of Sauk County.

Happy Holidays