County Board 2026 01 20

[music] >> Call the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors meeting for Tuesday the 20th of January, 2026 to order. Happy New Year, everyone. Um are we in compliance with the open meeting law? >> Yes, we are. The agenda was posted on the 16th of January at 3:00 p.m. >> Thank you very much. Please join me for the Pledge of Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Roll call, please, Mr. Clerk. >> Online, is it possible we have Supervisor Gruber? We have 24 supervisors present. >> Thank you. Approval of the December 16th, 2025 journal? >> I'm all right. Okay, there we go. >> Supervisor Kosh. Thank you. Supervisor Wagner. Thank you. Motion's been made and seconded for approval of the December 16th journal. Any comments? Corrections? Please vote. >> Journal's been approved unanimously. Thank you. Consideration of appointments by the Executive Committee, Finance. Finance Committee, Jerry Jorgenson of Sheboygan. Property Committee, Kurt Johnson of Sheboygan. Thank you. Uh Supervisor Gearing. Thank you, Supervisor Kutch. Put that motion. Motion's been made and seconded for consideration of the appointments. Any discussion? Questions? Hearing none, please vote. The appointments are approved unanimously. Thank you. Tonight, are there any presentations? There are none. Are there any public addresses? We have none. Okay, thank you. Any letters, communications, announcements? We have none. All right. Administrator Kros, the County Administrator's report tonight. >> Good evening, everyone. >> Good evening. >> Uh tonight, I am pleased to share with the board our state of the county address. Um I'll be going over some of our achievements from the past year. None of these would be possible, of course, without the support of the board guiding us in our policy and then also our staff uh who then carry out all those programs and services in partnership with other units of government and of course other various community partners. Um as you might imagine, there's countless incredible things happening every single day at the county. Um and so tonight, I'll be sharing just a a sampling of some of the things that occurred over the prior year. These are accomplishments that we can all take a tremendous amount of pride in. And you'll see this year, it's a mixture of a number of different things, both enhancements to our technology, our buildings and infrastructure, also a focus on operational efficiency, and how can we work to serve our residents better using our taxpayer dollars wisely. So, I'm going to go through a list of things. These are in no particular order. So, first, we refreshed our mission, vision, and values last year. Our previous statements were over 20 years old. And not to say that they weren't valid or meaningful, but we wanted to make sure that they resonated with our current workforce. So, we worked with Barry Dunn, who is the consultant who helped us with this initiative. And I'm incredibly proud of how engaged our employees were throughout this process. We had participation from employees across nearly every single department, and they participated in surveys, workshops, focus groups, all sorts of different opportunities to weigh in. And so, I'm very proud of the statements, and we're looking forward in 2026 to integrating them into our work. We built a new multi-purpose household hazardous waste building. For those of you who've been on the board for a while, and specifically if you've ever been in the pre-committee, you've heard Aaron Balt talk about our household hazardous waste events, which are very popular in the community. In the past, we would have maybe three or four events a year, and those events would each bring between three and 600 vehicles. And as you might imagine, that resulted in backups, and it was a safety concern. So, we wanted to better serve our residents with a safer and more efficient, more convenient service. So, this building was part of our capital plan, and it was approximately $950,000 that we bonded for. So, the purpose of this building going forward, not only will be to hold those household hazardous waste events that we will have more frequently between the months of May and October, but this building will also be home to our annual tree sale, which happens in April, which is also very popular in the community. And then in the meantime, we'll also serve as storage for both the planning and conservation department as well as the sheriff's department. As you can see here in these photos, there's a couple photos both during construction and after it was complete. The photo in the bottom left is a aerial photo to give you a little bit of perspective if you're not familiar with the location. It's right behind the ADRC building in Sheboygan Falls off of Forest Avenue. In addition by having this dedicated facility and by being able to have more hazardous waste collection events throughout the year, in addition to the uh increase in safety and efficiency, we will also help budgetarily. Previously, when we would have a few large events, we would have to deploy a lot of equipment and a lot of people and it was very costly to hold those events. And now that we don't have to scale up and mobilize so much, it will be more cost-effective to have more events throughout the year. So, if you are cleaning out your garages this spring, watch for more information from the planning and conservation department on when you can bring in any materials that might qualify for this program. Next up, I'm going to talk about a number of different trail expansions that happened in the last year. We had two different segments of trails in Plymouth. One is connecting the Old Plank Road Trail into the city of Plymouth in front of the Generations building. And this will allow people to get from the city to the trail safely and conveniently. In addition, County Highway E was also resurfaced by the transportation department and that's what you can see pictured on the right there. The second segment in Plymouth is going to be finishing the downtown river trail along the Mullet River and it will include a bridge over the river to connect downtown Plymouth to Meyer Park. Both of these projects were federally funded and they were over $2 million and that is going to be completing the large non-motorized grant that we'd received a number of years ago. So, more trail expansions. Um, these are at Rocky Knoll. Um, for those of you who are familiar with the property, Rocky Knoll sits on just over 60 acres, most of which is wooded. And so, several years ago we added mountain bike trails, and this past year we expanded those trails. Um, this was over $100,000 in total, and it was all funded through either grants or donations. And these are professionally built flow trails. And this additional, um, trails will offer year-round cycling, hiking, and fat winter winter fat biking? Is that the way to say it? Fat tire biking? Yes. Yes. You guys know what I mean. Either way, you won't see me doing any of those activities. Um, er, uh, an interesting fact on this, experienced riders are reaching over 10 ft on one of the new jumps. So, uh, you won't catch me out there anytime soon doing that, or I'll end up in the emergency room, I imagine, after. Um, but all of the trails are marked by either beginner, intermediate, or advanced. So, if you are interested in getting out there, uh, rest assured you can start on the beginner trail and and work your way up. Uh, this was a really great partnership between, um, not only Rocky Knoll, the planning and conservation department, but also the Sheboygan Cycling Club. And it helps bring additional people to Rocky Knoll and, uh, greater reach to a community who may not have been to our facility before. And the picture on the bottom left shows, um, the kickoff ride. We have over 35 cyclists join us for the inaugural ride, so that's pretty incredible. We have been undergoing a massive project across the county to digitize a bunch of records, not only to preserve, um, important documents, but also to improve our operational efficiency and make more effective use of space. Um, one project is with the county clerk, and they are partnering with the historical research center to digitize a lot of historical files. That includes everything from marriage records to county board proceedings to election results and even cemetery records. The two photos that are on the right are pictures of documents in a book from 1868. Just to give you a flavor of how old some of these documents are that we have on file. So that's a a really important project. In addition to that, our Health and Human Services Department is also undergoing a significant project to digitize and scan a lot of records. So the photo on the left is three of our retirees that we've hired back as limited term employees to help with the scanning. And so far they have scanned 3.65 million documents. So to put that into perspective, that is charts and charts and filing cabinets and rooms of paper that have been scanned and now we will be able to more efficiently find records and clear out the space that they were previously occupying. We had a number of facility enhancements in 2025. As you're likely aware, we've been in the midst of a multi-year capital project to upgrade various aspects of our detention center and law enforcement center. Every year we try to tackle a couple different projects not only to spread them out financially, but also to try and be as least disruptive as operations as possible. So this past year we had new epoxy floors put in the men's and women's locker rooms for the staff, new epoxy showers for the inmates, and new dayroom tabletops which are more durable and hold up better to damage. And that's what's pictured in the middle. In addition on the top right, we had six new cooling units to better regulate our temperature and be more energy efficient. The previous units were from when the building was originally constructed in 1998. So they were overdue for replacement. And then last but not least, um, what's pictured in the bottom uh, left is in relation to our door access control project. We replaced our old system, uh, which was losing support, and this was paid for through American Rescue Plan Act dollars. And so county-wide we are getting new fob readers and then also new badges as you're very well aware of it which you picked up this evening. So again, this stuff isn't necessarily the most exciting, but very important for operational efficiency to make sure that we can continue uh, to serve those who rely on us. The courthouse, I've talked a fair amount about this. Um, so I'll uh, go through this one relatively quickly, but as you recall the courthouse restoration was a two-phase project. So last year was phase, well, 2 years ago technically, 2024 was phase one and that's when we did the exterior cleaning, tuckpointing, um, and we replaced some of the damaged limestone. Now this past year in 2025 was phase two and that was the window replacement. And as you recall the windows were original from 1933. So all of those were replaced and these pictures are kind of a before and after to show the transformation of this building. It's really been pretty remarkable. Um, and we've been receiving a lot of positive comments from the community members, especially those who maybe live or work downtown who were able to see the progress over the last couple of years. So, um, we are uh, glad that this project is done. The staff who work in this building had to deal with a lot of noise and dust and commotion over the last 2 years, but they're appreciative that everything's been completed and these projects will not only maintain the historical aesthetics of the building, but also increase our energy efficiency. In addition, the other part of phase two was uh, roof replacements. So we uh, took care of that on both the the main roof on the sixth floor and then also on the third floor roof. Um, so these are just a couple pictures of them um, completing those roof projects. And in total, uh, this project was over $6 million. so uh, long overdue, uh, and quite disruptive, but very pleased with the the outcome and now we'll have to set the clock and see if these windows will last us another 90 years. Probably not, but here's to hoping. Last year we underwent a comprehensive compensation study. Our last study was 10 years ago, so we were overdue by quite a bit. We worked with McGrath, who was the consultant that we hired for this, along with countless hours by staff who completed a comprehensive analysis of our policies, our position descriptions, our wages and our benefits. So following all of that information and work, we had a lot of decisions to make and with that we had to weigh not only the feasibility, but also the financial implications of those changes. As you can imagine, any increase to our compensation or benefits has a significant financial impact, so we need to be mindful of that. Our new compensation program will allow us to be more nimble and react to market changes and with more regular reviews and analysis we'll be able to better maintain our compensation system and try to avoid another 10-year gap before our next study. This is important work to maintain that we are a competitive employer, especially in a community that is blessed with so many wonderful companies and very low unemployment. Our Southside Highway shed is starting to look different. This project started in 2025 and is continuing into 2026. And so this is the highway shed that's located just off of I-43. And this is a expansion and a renovation project that only took expand our vehicle storage, but also renovate the offices, replace the roof, add fencing and replace the fueling system. This is another capital project. We are realizing some cost savings because our own highway staff are able to perform some of the work. So, in the picture on the top left, those are county employees who are doing some excavating and then also on the bottom left, that is also a county employer employee working. So, that's fantastic that we're able to use our own skilled employees to help with this project and they also appreciate being a part of it. So, as I mentioned this will continue into 2026 and the picture on the top right is the rendering of what it will look like when it's completed. We had a lot of IT updates in 2025. The employees have been through a lot of change and they are getting through it like champions. So, several major upgrades all in an attempt to make sure our systems are secure, efficient and up-to-date. So, the first one was upgrading all of our computers to Microsoft 11 Microsoft Windows 11 operating system. Windows 10 ended support back in October, so we had to update all of those computers over 600 of them, which took over a year to do so. We also migrated to Google Workspace and replaced Microsoft Office 2019, which was also ending support. And so, by migrating to Google, we mitigated the risk posed by Microsoft's elimination of their security updates. This project also helped reduce our server storage and backup needs. And fun fact, as a part of this project, the IT department migrated 6 terabytes worth of files. So, if any of you are into technology or computers and know how much that is, it's a whole heck of a lot of files. More so than I think we even scanned. >> [laughter] >> And this will also help with file sharing and collaboration will be much easier with employees. And then last but not least, for the last couple of years, we've been slowly working on implementing a new ERP system and in 2025 that project was um uh in earnest a lot of effort put forth to replace our former system known as JD Edwards which was no longer supported. Um so last year was a full on implementation to transition to Tyler Munis which is a comprehensive enterprise system and it combines our financial software and also HR software which will help streamline processes and improve our employee experience. Um in addition the new HR functionality will allow for position control, benefit administration, evaluation tracking, expense reimbursement and more. This was a significant undertaking for us. We've had JD Edwards for the last about 25 years. So this is a huge project and work is still going on that. We did go live on January 5th um and continue to work through implementation and additional modules. So work will continue on that in 2026. Last year we had some construction at the airport and this is taxiway B which is the main taxiway that serves runway 1331. Previously it was not a full length taxiway and there was a section that was missing in the middle which you can kind of see from the picture on the right. So now traffic can go straight through from one end to the other often times avoiding the terminal ramp which gets very busy. So this will increase safety and efficiency. This was a pretty significant project. I know looking at it you might think well how much could that have really cost but it was a hefty price tag but thankfully we have excellent cost sharing. So the project in total was 1.5 million. Um but 86% of that was paid for by the federal government 7% was covered by the state and the county paid 7%, so in total our cost was $100,000, and that was also a part of the capital plan. In addition, um just a anecdote on the airport, they had another very busy season and summer specifically. Um two of our busiest weekends over the year were the IndyCar races and IMSA weekends from uh Road America. During those two events alone, we had over 700 flight operations and sold 70,000 gallons of fuel just in those two events alone. So, um pretty incredible how much traffic uh Road America brings into our community and specifically the airport. Uh you heard a fair amount about this um when they were at our uh recent board meeting presenting the award, um but just to touch again once again on the international recognition that our sheriff's department received. Um as a reminder, there are only 360 in the world with this designation, and only three in Wisconsin. So, we're incredibly proud of this recognition and achievement for the uh global standard for emergency dispatch services. Our dispatch center handles over 30,000 911 calls every single year, and they provide dispatch services for 22 fire departments, four ambulance services, and seven law enforcement agencies. So, our staff are working hard every day um not only to make sure that those calls are answered professionally, and that they are at the highest um level of industry standards, and making sure that our residents receive fast, reliable, and life-saving assistance. And that includes walking people through delivering babies and life-saving CPR over the phone. So, incredible work that they're doing. We launched the Sheboygan County Connect program, and 2025 was the first full year of operation. This is also funded through American Rescue Plan Act dollars and it operates out of our ADRC building in Sheboygan Falls. This program provides on-demand rides for seniors, veterans, and disabled residents targeted in rural areas and allows them to get to grocery stores, drug stores um, affordably. It helps individuals maintain independence where transportation might be a barrier and fills a service gap in our community. In the first year of operations, there were over 650 rides given, which is tremendous. So, if you know of anyone who could benefit from the service, please have them contact the ADRC. The county continues to experience financial stability. Our total budget for 2026 is 216 million, which is an increase of 8 million over last year. And our total levy is 54.7 million, which is an increase of 1 million dollars over last year. The tax levy is only about a quarter of our overall budget, so we have a heavy reliance on a diversified revenue streams. Um, pictured on the left are the is the chart related to the tax rate. And for 2026, that's $3.25, which is a 9.3% decrease over last year. And it's the 10th consecutive year that the tax rate has gone down. The chart on the right is the tax levy over the last 10 years. And for 2026, it was an increase of 1.72% or about $923,000. Over the last 10 years, the average annual levy increase has been just 1.24%. Some of that increase goes to our debt, library aid, bridge aid, etc. So, our revenues aren't necessarily going up um, equally. Um, and in fact, our allowable levy increase for operations for 2026 went up by only $642,000 for the entire organization. And to put that into perspective compared to our entire budget of 216 million, that's an increase of a quarter of 1%. So, these limitations on our ability to raise our revenue make it challenging and we have to make tough decisions on where we're going to spend our limited resources, but happy to report we are still in excellent financial health as an organization. Our co-responder program is something that we had launched in 2024 as a pilot with the city of Sheboygan and all throughout 2025 we were evaluating how that program was operating. Were we meeting the benchmarks, the expected outcomes, etc. And we started having conversations about if this is successful, how could we potentially expand this? And so, I'm happy to report that we will be expanding this for countywide service. And for those of you who are unaware of this program, pairs mental health clinicians with law enforcement officers for immediate on-site assessment and de-escalation. And this has been a collaborative effort between our Sheriff's Department, Health and Human Services, Elevate, which is the local service provider, and then also now our local police departments. The key impacts of this program are that it reduces unnecessary arrests and jail time by treating health crises health crisis as medical rather than criminal and uses warm hand-offs to social services to connect individuals with long-term care and prevent repeat emergencies. To date, some of the metrics they have completed 487 assessments and they are on track to reduce emergency detentions, which are also known as Chapter 51s, by over 50%, which is phenomenal. So, this is another example of us optimizing our resources and lowering long-term community costs. So, in conclusion, we have a lot of collective accomplishments and achievements to celebrate. None of these would be possible without our employees and our county board. So, thank you for your support and we look forward to the challenges and opportunities of 2026. >> Thank you, Administrator Kross. Before we move into the consideration of the committee reports, I just want to welcome our guests uh in the back there. They got in a little just before the meeting, so I wasn't sure what you why you're here, but uh but welcome and Good. Well, thank you. Hope you enjoy this and maybe be some future county board supervisors back there. Okay. Moving on to the com- committee reports from Executive Resolution number 16 regarding approving the 2026 through 2035 Sheboygan County Land and Water Resource Management Plan update. Recommendation to adopt. Supervisor Clark. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman Krog. >> Supervisor Gearing. Okay. Motion's been made and seconded to approve Resolution number 16, 26 to 35 County Land and Water Resource Management Plan update. Are there any questions, comments? >> Mr. Chair. >> Yes, Supervisor Clark. >> I just want to say that we both the chair of Gray Town. Um I'm very proud of this work that our town and conservation staff did. This is a 10-year plan. I also want to thank all the citizens that participated in this listening group together. Uh to help advise the county conservation staff on this. I I wanted it in the packet tonight. But I think you will be getting an email about this so that you can all look at it and I think it's really good information for folks to read about geological information, land use information and they had a really good review at the state for this. So, that's all. >> Okay. Thank you, Supervisor Clark. Any other comments? Any other questions? Anything at all? Seeing none, please vote. Resolution 16 is passed unanimously. Thank you. Resolution number 18, approving revisions to farmland preservation plan, recommendation to adopt. Supervisor Gearing? Supervisor Addie? Motion's been made and seconded in support of the resolution number 18 approving the revisions to the farmland preservation plan. Any questions or comments? Discussion? Hearing none, please vote. There you go. That's approved unanimously. Thank you. We go on to consideration of committee reports from the finance committee number 17 resolution regarding authorizing application for Department of Natural Resources Service Water Grant, recommendation to adopt. Supervisor Gearing? Thank you. Supervisor Clark? >> Thank you. I'll second that. >> Thank you. Motion's been made and seconded on resolution 17 authorizing application for the Department of Natural Resources Surface Water Grant. Are there any comments, questions on the motion for approval? Hearing none, please vote. Please vote. Mhm. >> Supervisor Nonoff, how do you vote with up here? >> Yes. Yes, not going through? How do you How do you vote on >> I. >> Thank you. >> Oh, there it was. It approved unanimously. >> Okay. Thank you. I will pass the gavel over to Supervisor Brower. For resolutions introduced. >> Thank you, Mr. Chair. >> [laughter] >> Uh resolutions introduced, resolution number 19. >> From Executive Committee authorizing purchase of 1.014 acres from St. Clement's congregation. >> Uh that will be referred to finance. Resolution number 20. >> From Executive Committee authorizing the engage of outside counsel on a contingency fee basis to initiate lawsuits against companies that designed, manufactured, marketed, distributed, and or sold fluorosurfactant products that contaminated the soil, ground water, and surface water of flowing County with highly toxic compounds. >> That will be referred to finance. Resolution number 21. >> From the Finance Committee regarding carryover of unexpended 2025 appropriations to 2026. >> That will be referred to Executive Committee. Ordinance is introduced, ordinance number 14. >> From Planning Resources, Agriculture, and Extension Committee amending Shoreland ordinance in section 17, Town of Holland. >> That will be referred to Executive Committee. Next item on the agenda is adjournment. Supervisor Gearing, would you please help us with that? Uh Thank you and supervisor Wagner. Thank you. Everybody please vote. >> Supervisor Randhawa. >> Jay. >> Supervisor Randhawa. >> Okay. >> Thank you. We are adjourned. >> [music] [music]