May 2026 Minutes
Town of Bayview Regular Board Meeting
May 12, 2026
Meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chair Don Jenicek.
Roll Call: Chair Don Jenicek, present; Supervisor Bill Bodin, present; Supervisor Mike Garnich, present; Clerk Kim Suske, present; Treasurer Kelly Warren, present.
Others in attendance: Mike Yonan, Tina Sopiwnik, Lucas Stewart
Approval of Town Board Meeting Minutes from April 21, 2026: Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve as submitted; seconded by Don Jenicek. Motion carried.
Approval of Road Tour Minutes from May 12, 2026: Tabled.
Treasurer’s Report by Kelly Warren: Checking $69,324.70; Equipment $8,793.22; Room Tax $15,003.12; Contingency Fund $ 34,686.24; and Tax Levy Savings $125,363.92.
Citizen’s Concerns and Comments: None.
Resolution 26-01: Resolution in Support of Full Transparency for Taxpayers—Discussion and possible action: Tina Sopiwnik is here advocating for a statement to be added to future Town of Bayview tax bills that shows how much of taxpayer property tax money is going to private schools in the form of vouchers. This past year $166,546 went to private schools instead of Washburn School District. Questions were asked about how much of this is from Town of Bayview, what portion of the money that goes to Washburn School District is then forwarded on to private schools, whether this would add a page to the tax bill, how fluid is this number, are there other ways to get this information to taxpayers, and what do other Towns in the area do. Wisconsin Towns Association (WTA) recommends supporting full transparency to citizens through Towns. Bill Bodin made a motion to be in support of the resolution as worded with the understanding that final wording on tax bills would be decided by Bayfield County. Motion seconded by Mike Garnich, 2 in favor, 1 opposed. Motion carried. Clerk will post Resolution on website, at Town Hall, and at Bayview Park and take care of signed affidavit of posting.
Review Ordinance 13-02 Revised 06/10/2013 Notice of Records Access—Discussion and possible action: John Carlson has been working on this but is not here tonight so this is tabled. Clerk cleaned out the records storage room in the Hall basement and asks that people not shove stuff in there anymore. There were 8000 dead flies in there too. Clerk got rid of a bunch of old cabinets and junk. A couple of old flags need to be disposed of properly. Clerk has been getting requests for records going back to 2011 due to Charly Ray’s running for State Senate. She has been working hard with Roger Peck of Superior Lighthouse, our website design and hosting person, to get as many electronic records onto our website as possible. Nearly all of the Town’s meeting minutes going back to that time are available in electronic format and are in the process of being painstakingly uploaded to our website one by one. Roger has been extremely helpful. Not only do we need a revised Records Access Policy but we also need a Records Retention Policy. Clerk will check with WTA on the potential of combining the two policies.
Room Tax Commission Member Report—Bill Bodin: Bill gave an overview of where our room tax money goes. The Town keeps 30% of room tax money that is generated in our Township and the remaining 70% goes to the Washburn Chamber of Commerce. Of that, greater than 51% must be spent on direct tourism expenses. They gave us a breakdown of how the money is spent and they are spending 72% on direct tourism expenses. There is a new director at the Chamber as of January and the director’s job will now be a shared job. Bill feels the Chamber is going in the right direction and they are working and coordinating with the Bayfield Chamber of Commerce so it is functioning more like a “Chequamegon Bay area Chamber of Commerce.”
Clerk shared an updated room tax spreadsheet showing that there are a few short-term rental properties in Town of Bayview that have permits from Bayfield County but not from Town of Bayview. Bill will write a letter to send to those property owners.
Hiring a new road employee—Discussion and possible action: Don Jenicek and Mike Yonan will work on a job description to be looked over at the June Board meeting and then posted. In the interim, Mike Yonan can hire extra help if needed. Pay range for the new hire will be dependent on skills and experience and be in the $18.00 – $28.00 range. They will need to have their CDL. It will be a full-time opening with medical and state retirement. Medical will be capped at $600 per month for health insurance for the person to use as they deem necessary.
2025 State Equipment Rates—Discussion and possible action: Don Jenicek made a motion to approve the 2026 State Equipment Rates; seconded by Bill Bodin. All in favor, motion carried.
Siding for Town Hall—Open bids, discussion, and possible action: The Town received one bid. It was from Stewart LLC and Lucas Stewart is here tonight. The bid is for $16,000 and is good for 30 days. Lucas can do the work this summer. We’ll open an account at Washburn Building Products and get them a copy of our WI Sales and Use Tax Exemption information. Lucas will get us a materials list within 30 days and once materials are in, we request that he start the project within 30 days. Town will need to see a copy of his liability insurance and will need information for tax purposes. Mike Garnich made a motion to move forward with this bid plus any incidental costs up to $5000 with approval needed by Boad Chair only; any leftover materials will be retained by the Town. Motion seconded by Bill Bodin, all in favor, motion carried. Clerk brought samples of siding to look at for different textures and colors and a decision was made to use the color Sand Dunes with texture plus we want brown trim paint and paint for the wheelchair ramp railings and posts to match (but not the decking). We all think this will look very spiffy with our green roof and will match the Town Garage nicely also. We requested a separate estimate from Lucas for painting; Mike Yonan will arrange for a dumpster.
New water filtration system for Town Hall—Discussion and possible action: We have tannins in our water and apparently tannins are the hardest stuff to get out of water. Mike Wroblewski has show good follow through; we are looking at $8000 to $10,000 to fix this problem.
Roads Report: Western Star was repaired in Superior for a cost of $624. Some metal bits in the system was shorting out the computer/dash lights. Discussed black top—fuel prices are high but we could do prep work this year. Maybe do concrete on floor of middle bay of garage and do hall without a loan and still have money for roads or new pickup truck. Mike Yonan will ditch and gravel Burlager Road. Regarding replacement of pickup truck—maybe get a slightly used truck or piggyback on a state contract. We have a lot of roads that need gravel. Need to get County to do crack sealing. Need to get a price quote on Big Rock holes and put black top over it—talk to Dan Maki. That has been a very hard road to stabilize.
Board Comments:
There is always garbage in the Houghton Falls Nature Preserve (HFNP) donation box and other garbage scattered about. Discussed pros and cons of garbage cans/dumpster—people pull up and empty out their car garbage and next thing you know the garbage cans are overflowing and garbage scattered about is still a problem. Discussed the possibility of hiring an ambassador again but they can’t be there all day every day. Need a bathroom—Mike Yonan will call Number Two and see about a porta potty that is wheelchair accessible to be placed at HFNP from Memorial Day to Applefest each year.
We are in negotiations with the City of Washburn for Fire/EMS services.
Correspondence:
Clerk shared Bayfield County Amendatory Ordinance No. 2026-06 which outlines additional ATV routes in Bayfield County. One of these is in our Township and is a temporary route on CTH C from 8th Avenue to Big Rock Road (1.4 miles) to be open during the City of Washburn/Hwy 13 road construction project in 2027 but unfortunately this route has already been included in new maps that are being released this spring and so we can expect people to begin using this route early.
Clerk shared a Land Use Permit Application from Neal Erickson, 33050 Kjarvick Road, for an addition to a residence. Clerk shared a Sanitary Permit Application for Lance and Lisa Alm, 32810 Whiting Road, to reconnect a septic or holding tank. Clerk shared a Land Use Permit Application from Scott and Stephanie Dunn, 32585 Peacy Road, for construction of a new garage.
Payment of Bills: Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve payment of Town bills from April 23, 2026, to May 8, 2026, in the amount of $17,778.21; seconded by Don Jenicek. Motion carried.
Open Book will be on Monday, June 1, 2026, from 1 – 3 p.m. and Board of Review will be on Monday, June 8, 2026, from 5 – 7 p.m. (NOT from 6—8 p.m. as was mistakenly stated on the April agenda).
Next Town of Bayview Regular Board meeting is set for June 9, 2026, at 6 p.m.
Moton to adjourn was made by Mike Garnich and seconded by Bill Bodin. Meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
Submitted by Approved June 9, 2026
Kim Suske, Clerk
Vol. 17 page 25