May 4, 2023 at 1:42 p.m.
White appointed Newbold town supervisor
No action taken following Pelican River Forest presentation
White appointed Newbold town supervisor
By Trevor Greene-
Town chairman Dan Hess, during his first board meeting in that capacity on April 27, said there were two routes to go in appointing a supervisor to fill the seat he vacated when he decided to run for the chairman's seat.
Besides Hess taking over for longtime town chairman Dave Kroll, Scott Ridderbusch and Petra Pietrzak were elected to fill the supervisor seats of Mike Sueflohn and Jim Staskiewicz.
Sueflohn indicated he wouldn't seek another term leading up to the April 4 election and attended his last board meeting on April 13.
Staskiewicz resigned from the board in early February after being charged with election fraud related to his re-election campaign.
Before appointing White, Hess said he believes the board has two options with regard to filling the vacant supervisor position.
The first option, he explained, would be to ask members of the public to apply by submitting a letter of interest and speak before the board as to why they should be a town supervisor. The board would then make a decision and appoint who they feel was the best applicant.
Or, Hess said, the other option is to go off of the April 4 election results and appoint the third highest vote-getter.
"I will leave it open for discussion to the board and possible action," he said. "I believe that when the electors speak we should look at listening to what they have to say. And that's my position on this, but I'll open it up to discussion by the board."
Town supervisor Mike McKenzie indicated he felt White has proved how dedicated he is to the town over the last two election cycles.
"I personally think that given the fact that Mr. White has run twice, to me, shows that he has interest in becoming a member of the board," he said. "And I personally would be fine with giving him the opportunity to fill your seat if that's what the rest of the board (thinks too)."
Pietrzak said she agreed with McKenzie.
The board unanimously approved White's appointment on a 4-0 vote and White was then sworn in by town clerk Kim Gauthier.
"I wasn't expecting that tonight," White said.
Plan commission appointments
Sueflohn also served as the town's plan commission chairman.
Gauthier said, according to town ordinance, Hess could assume that role, which he did.
When he resigned from the town board, Staskiewicz vacated his seat on the plan commission.
Hess said he received interest from both Pietrzak and Ridderbusch. He proposed to appoint Ridderbusch to serve Staskiewicz's three-year term.
Pietrzak asked if Ridderbusch working as a land use specialist for Oneida County's planning and zoning department was a conflict of interest.
"I have spoken with my supervisor," Ridderbusch said. "He had no argument with me being the plan commission ... but he did have conflict with being appointed plan commission chair."
The board agreed to appoint Ridderbusch and, also, reappoint Jeff Pennucci and Dan Chronister to the plan commission for three-year terms.
Pelican River Forest presentation
Later in the meeting, the board also heard a presentation from seven people in favor of the Pelican River Forest easement purchase.
They wanted the board to adopt a resolution in support of the purchase.
At the suggestion of chairman Hess, the board ultimately agreed to not take any action at this time.
"I believe in local control, and I've hunted out there numerous times," Hess said. "However, I believe that the eight affected townships and the county should have a vote on this. I believe the town of Newbold should stay out of this at this point."
The nearly 70,000 acres of private forest land owned by The Conservation Fund sits primarily in Oneida County, but Hess noted Forest and Langlade counties are "affected" by it too.
There are eight townships east of Newbold the Pelican River Forest is a part of, he said, "and I think those are the townships that should be dealing with this."
Clint Miller, Central Midwest Regional Director of The Conservation Fund, told the board there is still a way funding for the easement purchase can be approved, even though the state Legislature's joint committee on finance (JFC) objected to funding it in April.
In November, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) board approved $4 million from the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund to be used for the acquisition.
Though the vote by the JFC was anonymous, committee member Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) publicly said she was against the easement purchase because it would take land off of town tax rolls.
During the presentation, Miller said The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization, works to protect forest lands, farm lands and "gateways to recreational communities throughout the United States."
He said he's learned "adding more public forest land here in the Northwoods is a pretty unpopular thing."
The idea behind the easement purchase, Miller explained, is to put easements on the lands to restrict "certain activities, but allow other activities and then sell the underlying fees."
"So you got the benefits, or some of the benefits, of public land ownership without the burden of public land ownership," he said. "The way we work is we buy these properties, we sell the easements and then we sell a restricted property later on."
Miller said the land would stay in private ownership and on the tax rolls, with the easements secured to protect the forest.
The Pelican River Forest involves two phases, Miller said.
The roughly 12,000-acre phase-one - which is south of Highway 8 and west of Highway 45 - was completed in 2022. It was funded by the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund and approved by the JFC.
He said phase two is about 56,000 acres.
The easement purchase would cost about $15 million, with $11 million coming from a federal forest land program, according to Miller.
The other $4 million, the funding blocked by the JFC, would come from the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Fund.
The denial by the JFC, he said, leaves the project with a "gaping hole" and keeps the 56,000-acre property unprotected.
Additional board input
Ridderbusch said he was "kind of torn" on what to do.
Ridderbusch, a land use specialist with Oneida County's planning and zoning department, said he wants to see forested land used for recreational use, but added he understands where other towns are coming from.
"I agree," supervisor Mike McKenzie said. "Not that it's not a worthwhile project, or not that I don't believe in it myself, however I think I agree with Dan that I would like to see the people most affected by it locally have the most input in whichever way it ends up going."
New supervisor Brad White said he agreed with Ridderbusch and McKenzie.
"I feel that this should be looked at with some vision," Pietrzak said. "We heard children, grandchildren mentioned, and for those of you who travel, if you travel a lot and you come back home, this is a very, very special environment."
Pietrzak noted her support for protecting the land and leaving it intact for wildlife habitat.
"I'm concerned about giving that up for what seems like money, for some tax revenue," she said. "And when I talk to people about this, I wonder what kind of development these towns are looking for. It just sounds like it's not worth compromising our natural environment up here."
Making sure the vote to not take any action was "at this time," Pietrzak agreed with the rest of the board.
County board supervisors speak
Both county board supervisors who represent Newbold attended the meeting, and during their reports, they offered their views on the easement purchase.
County supervisor Jim Winkler said from talking to different people, he learned "easements scare people because easements are forever."
He also said he applauded the town board for not taking action on the easement purchase at this time.
"Because you guys really don't have any skin in the game in the sense of land that is affected," Winkler said.
Winkler said he's been told if the lands were to be held under easements, it would affect its value. If that is the case, he said he could see where other town's objecting to the purchase are coming from.
County supervisor Mike Roach said most of his constituents are for the easement purchase.
"And then I talk to them a little while and it takes about 10 minutes for them to realize what they're saying," he said.
One person told the board the JFC could reverse its decision or Gov. Tony Evers could help find a different way to fund the purchase.
Roach said he thinks the JFC would never reverse its decision.
"That's probably never going to happen," he said. "So, it's perpetual."
Roach said if the land will remain open for development, it will bring more tax revenue to the communities and county in the long run, and "allow people to prosper and be happy."
Trevor Greene may be reached via email at [email protected].
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