This month’s meeting began with the announcement of Supervisor Kevin Schell’s passing due to post-surgery complications. Prior to his death, he had resigned from the board after relocating outside his district. The chair promptly appointed Richard Cross as the new representative for District 15, who was approved by the board. Mr. Cross resigned from the Ethics Board before accepting the new position.

A claim was filed on behalf of OptumRx relating to Sauk County’s alleged ongoing efforts to sue OptumRx in the opioid litigation. OptumRx is a pharmacy benefits manager, not a manufacturer. The board authorized by a vote of 17-9 (with 1 abstention) the law firms in this litigation to add certain parties as defendants in the litigation against the ‘Opiod Defendants’. The original resolution did not contain pharmacy benefits managers, but the trend has been to add them due to their role. The pharmacy benefits managers would negotiate prices and determine which drugs are included in health plans. Several supervisors commented on how going after pharmacy benefit managers, but not pharmacist or countries like China or Mexico was simply out of line. Make what you will of that.

The board unanimously voted to purchase two new ADRC vehicles using D.O.T. trust funds, with no tax levy dollars involved. The trust fund account, capped at $80,000 by the state, currently holds $119,649.78. We will spend $103,730 on these vehicles. ADRC rides increased from 1,554 in 2020 to 2,909 in 2024. With more baby boomers retiring, demand for this service is expected to grow.

The board voted 24-3 to purchase new voting equipment at the cost of $491,208. This will be budgeted and paid for in 2026. We will purchase Election Systems and Software (ES&S) for an election management system and related voting equipment for 37 municipalities. A board member who voted against did in part because they believe hackers have hacked the very machines that Sauk County is using, which are ES&S machines.

The board voted unanimously on 2 resolutions assigning funds to be in compliance with state law.

The board voted 23-2 on resolution to use county opioid settlement funds up to $100,000 to support a grant match requirement for the Vital Strategies Request for application.

The board voted unanimously to donate the Sauk County information sign to the Village of Sauk City. It has been in storage since the rebuild of the Highway 12 bridge.

The board voted 24-2 to approve rezoning of land in the Town of Baraboo from an agriculture to a recreational commercial district. The request came from Live Love Dwell LLC with the intention of operating a campground.

The board voted 25-1 to approve a contract with Strang Inc. to revisit the2019 space needs study and evaluate the Quartz building (In Sauk City) for county functions. The board is considering purchasing the building to increase the office area used by different departments. It was noted by the Chair a few months ago that the price for the building decreased and he suggested that we look into purchasing it.

As always, any opinions expressed here are my opinions and do not represent the Sauk County Board.