112th Annual Meeting Minutes – April 15, 2025
Town of Bayview—112th Annual Meeting
April 15, 2025
Meeting was called to order at 7:03 p.m. by Don Jenicek, Chair.
Attendance: Don Jenicek, Chair, Kim Suske, Clerk
Others in attendance: Bill Bodin, Mike Garnich, Kelly Warren, Wanda Hyde, Woody Petersen, Linda Krehbiel, Linda Jorgenson, Paul Johnson, Paul Norris, Karen Crowell, Joe Russo, Mike Fitzgibbon, Melinda Olson.
Copies of the 111th Annual Meeting Minutes and 2024 Financial Statement were made available.
Approval of the 111th Annual Meeting Minutes: Motion made by Woody Peterson to approve the 111th Annual Meeting Minutes; seconded by Paul Johnson. 13 Yes, 0 No. Motion Carried.
Review of 2024 Financial Report: Discussion was held regarding the 2024 Financial Report. No money was put into Contingency Fund in 2024 because it was spent. Questions were asked about legal fees and these were explained as prior fees for Houghton Falls Nature Preserve lawsuit (including some bills from 2023 that were billed and paid in 2024) and a property tax assessment/Board of Review lawsuit. Most legal fees were paid by our insurance, Rural Mutual. Discussion was held regarding when our loans would be paid off and that this is a road maintenance year/no blacktopping and there will be no new loans taken out. Motion was made by Wanda Hyde to approve the 2024 Financial Report; seconded by Paul Norris. 13 Yes, 0 No. Motion carried.
New Business—
Questions were asked about Houghton Falls Nature Preserve. Don explained that some neighboring landowners took the Town to court over access and easement issues and that the Town lost the judgement and had to take down fences and gates. Our legal counsel—Rural Insurance and John Carlson—felt that it was an error and advised us to appeal. The case is with the appellate courts and has been for over a year with no decision yet. Our insurance has covered most of the costs. Right now, 4-wheelers are going down the railroad grade and into the park, which is supposed to be a nature preserve.
Town hall exterior was not painted last summer as expected. Plan is to have it painted this summer if we can find someone to do the work. The money for this is in the budget. Basement still needs plastering work and painting.
Questions were brought up about the proposed re-route of traffic down Washington Avenue and Maki Road during the summer of 2027 during road work in the City of Washburn. Don has worked with the state and the Town will make sure that any damage to the Town’s roads will be repaired. There will be no heavy truck traffic allowed. Also want to get the speed limit down to 25 mph or 35 mph. All of this will be in a written contract.
Question was asked about some new markers that are at the intersections of Komborski and Peacy Roads and Komborski and Maki Roads. This might be for new fiber optic cable that is being run by Norvado. People were asking about getting high-speed internet in the Town. We know that Norvado will be placing new fiberoptic cable for high-speed internet going down Washington Avenue to Maki Road, up State Hwy 13 and down Bodin and Singer Roads.
Question was asked as to whether the Board had discussed a resolution opposing Tom Tiffany’s proposal to convert the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore into Apostle Islands National Park. The Town has been urging people to reach out to their representatives on their own as there have not been
Annual Meeting—April 14, 2025
page 2
enough people at Town meetings for the Board to know what people want. Discussion was held about the increase in tourism that the area could see and how this could impact our township in a negative way. Town would not get any revenue from the National Park yet our roads, Town park/beach, and Houghton Falls Nature Preserve would all be impacted from increased use. A couple of people indicated that they had reached out to Tom Tiffany’s office with specific concerns but only received a form letter in response. Tom Tiffany was a no show at a Town meeting in Ashland a while back. Bayfield County is going to send a resolution opposing the change.
At the end of this discussion, out of 13 people at the Annual Town meeting, 12 indicated that they were opposed to changing the status of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore to a National Park, none were in favor of the change, and one person abstained from giving an opinion.
Question was asked about fire/ambulance services and costs and whether the Town has started negotiations on a new fire truck. The Town is already paying for the new fire truck and will be paying $18,114 per year for the next 20 years. We need to negotiate a new contract with the City of Washburn soon and we are hoping to find a way to alleviate some of the costs.
Question was asked about the Bayfield County Comprehensive Plan and changing land use categories—how will this affect the Town? It was explained that the Town told the County that we did not want to change our plan. The County said that their vision can be different from our vision but that it does not change zoning—Town would have to okay any changes.
Discussion was held regarding the safe. The hall was broken into a couple of years ago and the safe was damaged such that it could no longer be opened. Don arranged for it to be opened and repaired and it cost the Town less than $1000 and we now have a really cool working safe that is as old as the Town. No money is kept in the safe, only Town documents like land records and old meeting minutes.
Joe Russo and others thanked the Board and Roads Crew for their service.
The 113th Annual Meeting is set for April 21st, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.
Town picnic is scheduled for Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The town will provide brats, buns, and drinks. This will be a potluck event.
Spring Dumpster Day will be held on Saturday, May 17, 2025, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Motion to adjourn was made by Woody Peterson; motion seconded by Paul Norris.
Meeting adjourned at 7:59 p.m.
Submitted by
Kim Suske, Clerk
Vol. 17 page 5 Approved 04/21/2026