Town of Bayview Regular Board Meeting

June 9, 2026

Meeting was called to order at 6:07 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, Cary Bouchard, Sara Hudson.

Approval of Town Board Meeting Minutes from May 12, 2026:  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve as submitted; seconded by Bill Bodin.  All in favor, motion carried.

Approval of Road Tour Minutes from May 12, 2026:  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve as submitted; seconded by Don Jenicek.  All in favor, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report by Kelly Warren:  Checking $57,123.81; Equipment $8,793.22; Room Tax $15,085.24; Contingency Fund $ 34,698.02; and Tax Levy Savings $125,406.51.

Citizen’s Concerns and Comments:   Cary Bouchard gave kudos to the Board on Houghton Falls Nature Preserve (HFNP) as it looks better.  He and his wife cleaned the road.  Garbage can and porta potty are good improvements.  Had concerns about John Carlson’s summary about easements which was posted on the website as we are still waiting for Judge Stella’s position.  Don Jenicek doesn’t think anything will change much.  Mr. Bouchard read a line from p. 31 of the Court of Appeals decision, “accordingly we remand to circuit courts to…”  He states that the plaintiffs have re-engaged their attorney, and they are in contact with the judge and want full access.  Pointed out that the Board and citizens knew all those easements existed and that years ago he proposed Board act on those first and Board did not.  This is not over yet.  Mr. Bouchard and his wife are asking to meet with Don Jenicek and John Carlson and offered to pay for it himself.  Mr. Bouchard says the original management plan encourages people to stay on the trail; Don Jenicek pointed out that “encourages” is not enforceable.  Court’s opinion defined easements rights.  John Carlson’s opinion defined who can go where and he does not have the authority to do that.  Clerk asked by Board to remove John Carlson’s summary from website.  Mr. Bouchard suggested we consider talking to the Red Cliff Tribe about taking over park instead of talking to the County.  Don Jenicek stated that he wants to work with Erika Lang on signage, which the Town can put up as long as it does not obstruct access.  Mr. Bouchard mentioned a letter written by J. B. VanHallen and is wondering if the Clerk can find it—was written sometime between the “fencing and the lawsuit”.  He suggested we move sign on road to the left side as people miss the HFNP sign and go past it and then have to go to the end of the road to turn around.

Request to waive short-term rental (STR) permit fee for 2 weeks for Lowell and Patti Kaiser:  Discussion and possible action—Board wants to support business owners.  Clerk will email Kaiser’s and let them know that they can begin renting their STR as soon as it is ready and to just get their application and fee into the Town for a permit period beginning July 1, 2026.  Clerk asked to tell them to work with any third-party rental platforms to make sure room tax checks are sent to Town of Bayview and not City of Washburn.

Sara Hudson presentation on Bayfield County Forestry and Parks plan to apply for a DNR Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for rehabilitation of Big Rock County Park and Campground:  Bayfield County Forestry and Parks Department hired a landscaping firm out of Duluth, SAS and Associates, to come up with a concept plan for improving Big Rock County Park.  Plan is being used to apply for grants–$100,000 grant application from US Fish and Wildlife to improve angler access and day use area and $96,000 State Land and Water Conservation Grant to pay for rehabbing the campground, purchase new pit toilets, install about ¾ miles of hiking trails, add walk-in campsites, and add 2 new parking areas; Bayfield County would match the $96,000.  County also has offer to purchase a private property adjacent to the park and is working with the DNR as a sliver of land in the day use area belongs to the DNR.  Board asked about road—improvements to the road are not part of the plan.  Board asked that if money is being spent on a parking lot, then the Town would like to work with the County on the location as that road has always been a problem.  Sara will keep us updated as things progress.  She provided several maps showing concept plan.

Sara also mentioned that Kathleen Russell asked her to invite the Board to the Bayfield Peninsula Trails Plan Open House and Interactive Input Session to take place on June 25, 2026, from 5 – 7 p.m. at the county annex building as one of the trail concepts being proposed is to use the abandoned RR grade to access HFNP from the south.  Don Jenicek will email Kate Kitchell about this.

Update on hall siding progress:  Lucas Stewart will start work on June 22.  Materials will be dropped off right before that and Mike Yonan arranged for a dumpster to be dropped off that morning.  We still need to get a price from Lucas for painting railings and posts for wheelchair ramp.

New water filtration system for Town Hall—Discussion and possible action:  Board reviewed proposal from Big Lake Plumbing / Mike Wroblewski for a system to address water at the hall and garage.  Proposal includes all needed equipment and labor including a new hot water heater but excepting some digging that will need to be done by the Town road crew; proposal totals $13,989.00.  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve proposal by Big Lake Plumbing; seconded by Bill Bodin.  All in favor, motion carried.  Mike Yonan will contact Mr. Wroblewski and let him know when he can start.  Don Jenicek signed the proposal and Clerk will get this to him.

Room Tax Commission member appointment—Discussion and possible action:  Don Jenicek made a motion to appoint Bill Bodin as Room Tax Commission member for the Town and to appoint Jay Pringle as Room Tax Commission community member; seconded by Mike Garnich.  Bill Bodin abstained from voting; motion carried.

Picnic postcard discussion:  Board reviewed the draft postcard as submitted by Clerk and gave it a thumbs up.  Considered asking for the new fire truck to be brought to the picnic but don’t want to put that on the postcard in case they can’t make it.  Don Jenicek would like an orange postcard.  Clerk will work with Heart Graphics on this.

Review Ordinance 13-02 Revised 06/10/2013 Notice of Records Access—Discussion and possible action:  Tabled until July.

Begin discussion regarding creating a Records Retention policy:  Board looked over information brought by Clerk from WTA and the state; discussion held.   This is a fairly complex and multi-step process.  All agreed that a policy similar to a business (keep records for 7 years unless required to keep longer) would be simpler than adopting the General Records Schedule put out by the WI Public Records Board.  We also need to work with the WI Historical Society.  Clerk will keep working on this.

Liquor license for 3T Enterprises dba Good Thyme Restaurant and Catering—Discussion and possible action:  Clerk published this in the newspaper.  Board reviewed application.  Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve the Class B Retail License for Good Thyme Restaurant; seconded by Mike Garnich.  All in favor, motion carried.

Liquor license for Valhalla Pub and Grub—Discussion and possible action:  Clerk published this in the newspaper.  Board reviewed application.  Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve the Class B Retail License for Pub and Grub; seconded by Mike Garnich.  All in favor; motion carried.

Approve job description for hiring a new road works employee—Discussion and possible action:  Board reviewed the draft job description brought in by Don Jenicek.  Motion made by Bill Bodin to approve the Equipment Operator/Laborer job description as drafted; seconded by Mike Garnich.  All in favor, motion carried.  Clerk will run this in the Northwoods Shopper twice and post it on our website; Mike Yonan will get it on Facebook and Indeed.

Roads Report:  Got gravel on Gary Road and Friendly Valley Road.

Started doing calcium chloride (CaCl).  First, a heavy bag of CaCl fell on the sidebar mower and bent it.  Then the old dump truck started making unhealthy-sounding noises on the way back from spreading CaCl on Whiting Road and the back of the truck froze and had to be pushed back to the garage from Johnson Leino Road.  We will have to see what repairs will cost to replace the back end.  The pickup truck also needed repairs and at this point a cylinder is going so it will need to be replaced before winter.  Mike Garnich will spec out a Ford truck with Mike Yonan and work with the Ford dealership on options—only place we can get government pricing is through Ford.  Likely looking at a F-250 heavy duty 4×4 diesel with towing package, able to take a snowplow; red would be nice.

Mike needs to find someone to help with calcium chloride.

Board Comments:  

Comment made that WTA recommends that towns have a policy in place in the event that a retail alcohol establishment closes but keeps their license to sell alcohol.

Internet and camera are not yet set up at HFNP.  Want to set up remote gate opening.

Treasurer checked with Old National Bank, and they do not offer in-house loans like Bremer Bank did.

Correspondence:  

Bayfield County will fund Town of Bayview in the amount of $5000 for Town Road Improvement Aids.

Migizi Landings short-term rental permit holders sent a nice note to the Town saying they will be discontinuing their rental business by the end of the year, “It was a good run,” but all of the permitting and inspections are too hard to manage from a distance.

Clerk shared Bayfield County Planning and Zoning Department approved Land Use Permit Application for Eric Holman, 78755 STH 13, for a metal pole building.

Flier—there will be a Bayfield County Bike and Pedestrian Plan/Bayfield Peninsula Trials Plan “open house and interactive input session” on June 25, 2026, from 5 – 7 p.m. at the Bayfield County annex building.

State of WI Department of Natural Resources letter sent regarding an appraisal summary for Charlene Santala Gearing property—Clerk will share with our assessor Steve Nordquist.

WI DOT letter received regarding Town’s salt storage facility compliance deficiencies.

Payment of Bills:  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve payment of Town bills from May 9, 2026, to June 9, 2026, in the amount of $ 25,015.90; seconded by Don Jenicek.  Motion carried.

Next Town of Bayview Regular Board meeting is set for July 14, 2026, at 6 p.m.

Moton to adjourn was made by Mike Garnich and seconded by Bill Bodin.  Meeting adjourned at 8:02 p.m.

 

 

 

Submitted by                                                                                                     Approved 07-14-2026

Kim Suske, Clerk

Vol. 17 page 27