•Issue of residence rental has polarizing effects.
SIREN—In the end, the issue of renting private residences for recreational purposes was referred back to the county's land use committee.
Language in the county ordinances already allows the application for a conditional use permit by a private residence owner to rent his or her property on a recreation basis.
The committee brought forward an amendment, striking that language which would basically eliminate the application procedure.
"We wanted to align the ordinance with reality — with how things are really going," committee member Chuck Awe pointed out. "Most people are in favor of the idea of rentals, just 'not in my backyard' is what most people tell us."
So much so, Awe said only one permit has been passed by the committee in the past four years.
In the words of zoning administrator Jim Flanigan, it's all about compatible use.
"We got tired of taking their $250 application fee and then telling them 'No,'" Awe added.
"I think we need to look at how we can assist rather than always denying the requests," county board chairman Don Taylor stated.
Others were more to the point.
"We shouldn't be taking away the right to apply," supervisor Larry Main observed. "All you'd be doing is creating the opportunity to lie — for people to find a way to get around the rules."
Supervisor Gene Olson agreed.
"We shouldn't become more restrictive," he said.
"There's a procedure in place which protects the land," Michael O'Neil, a Burnett County property owner argued during the public comment portion of the meeting. "There's no need for this amendment."
He said his family would occasionally like to rent their cabin, but the amendment would eliminate the ability to apply for a conditional use permit to do just that.
"I believe we could address concerns within the existing conditional use permit application process," O'Neil said. "Plus, I think the amended ordinance would have a negative impact if we ever thought of selling our property."
The arguments were enough to send the issue back tom committee for resolution.
In other business:
•In a move meant to lead to savings and efficiencies, the income maintenance program in Burnett County has joined the Great Rivers Income Maintenance consortium.
"The Governor wanted to centralize all IM services," Katherine Peterson, health and human services director, explained. "But that wasn't possible because of the federal dollars involved so Wisconsin Counties decided to create 10 consortiums."
The income maintenance program deals with all economic support services, including foodshare — also known as the food stamp program, BadgerCare, long-term care and family planning.
"Most consumers will not have an assigned case manager like they did before we joined the consortium," Katherine Peterson, health and human services director, cautioned.
Each consortium in the state will have a call center (Great Rivers-1-888-283-0012) to free up case workers in each county to better handle their case loads.
•$15 million.
It was the bombshell number highway commissioner Bob Morehouse dropped on the board Thursday.
"That's the amount we'd need just to get our roads back to where they should be," he told the supervisors. "That's why today's budget is more geared toward maintenance than new construction."
Morehouse was presenting his department's 2010 annual report to the board.
The commissioner didn't have any firm numbers, but he also threw out the idea of the county building a new highway shop, something which has been on the back-burner the last several years.
I don't know how, but we need to get it started," Morehouse said. "We can't keep putting it off."
•The board recognized Aging Service Coordinator Lois Taylor for her 15-plus years of service to Burnett County with a plaque recognizing her years. "Those 15 years have gone by in a blink of an eye," Taylor said. "I'm now at the age I can take advantage of my own services."
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