Town of Bayview Regular Board Meeting

October 13, 2026

Meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m. by Chair Don Jenicek.

Roll Call:  Chair Don Jenicek, present; Supervisor Mike Garnich, present; Supervisor Bill Bodin, present; Clerk Kim Suske, present; Treasurer Kelly Warren, present.

Others in attendance:  Mike Yonan, Kimberly Bouchard.

Approval of Town Board Meeting Minutes from September 8, 2026:  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve as submitted; seconded by Bill Bodin.  All in favor, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report by Kelly Warren:  Checking $76,390.41; Equipment $5195.38; Room Tax $18,481.61; Contingency Fund $ 34,744.44; and Tax Levy Savings $25,531.50.

Discussion was also held about Resolution 26-01 Full Transparency for Taxpayers that was passed earlier this year in which the Town agreed to put wording on Town tax bills showing taxpayers how much of their tax dollars are going to private schools instead of public schools.  WI DOR is asking us to work with them on the wording, but we expected the County to work on this when the resolution was passed.  This was not supposed to make extra work for the Town.  Don Jenicek is working with John Carlson on the legality of not including this wording when a resolution has already been passed; Treasurer Kelly Warren will check with County Treasurer Jenna Galligan.

Citizen’s Concerns and Comments:   Kimberly Bouchard thanked the Board for their service.

Update on Bayfield Area Trails Group October 9 and 10 work days:  Nine volunteers including Don Jenicek worked at Houghton Falls Nature Preserve on Friday and Saturday mornings.  The Town brought gravel to the parking area and to the railroad grade; still some left to use at the parking area.  Gravel was spread on trails, trees overhanging trail were taken down, tripping-hazard roots were cut back, and fencing was improved where the trail goes down to the cove.

Houghton Falls Nature Preserve trail changes and signage—Discussion and possible action: 

Trail changes—Don Jenicek is waiting to hear from Landmark as far as removing steps; Landmark is talking to Coastal Management.  Want to leave a lookout but prohibit people from going onto the rock and diving and swimming as this is becoming hazardous and there is too much wear and tear on the rocks plus some cracking.  Don is working with the trails group and Don Benson to find someone to build stairs to the cove as we will need someone that is skilled.  Maybe Nelson from the island?  Discussion was held as to whether to start on new steps now while we wait to get approval to remove old ones; let’s give it one more month and hope Landmark is able to get a decision from Coastal Management by then (they won’t say no but might want reimbursement for steps they funded).

Signage—we have signs figured out; Landmark can’t help with signs.  Mike Yonan will work on finding a place to get them made, perhaps Heart Graphics.  Kim Bouchard mentioned that someone pulled out a sign near them and threw it in the woods and that e-bikes are going through.

Fire contract negotiations with City of Washburn—Discussion and possible action:  Don Jenicek met with Jim Williams from the City of Washburn.  The City found errors in the previous calculations for the fire contract.  Equipment/capital purchases should be based half on equalized value and half on population; the previous administrator calculated them based only on equalized value.  This brings our cost down as we have significantly less population.  City also needed to add TID figures into calculations but they would not add PILT money.  We’ll get a 5-year fire contract by the end of the month.

 

 

Review Ordinance 13-02 Revised 06/10/2013 Notice of Records Access—Discussion and possible action:  John Carlson not here and has not responded to Clerk’s emails on this topic.  Tabled.

Continue discussion regarding creating a Records Retention policy:  Clerk is having a hard time finding time to work on this and now there is an election for her to handle.  Tabled.

Town Hall painting—Discussion and possible action:  We have a proposal from Adam Vlasaty of Lake Superior Construction and Contracting LLC to paint for $2500 plus the cost of paint; paint has already been purchased.  Motion made by Bill Boding to approve the proposal by Adam Vlasaty to paint the town hall; seconded by Mike Garnich.  All in favor; motion carried.

What to do with the old pickup truck—Discussion and possible action:  We can get $512 if we scrap it; $1500 – $3000 for parts if we sell it; $3000 – $4000 for parts if we strip it ourselves and sell the parts.  Drivetrain alone is worth $1000 – $1800.  Motion made by Don Jenicek to put the old pickup truck on Facebook marketplace for $3000 OBO; seconded by Bill Bodin.  All in favor; motion carried.  Now the clerk needs to find the title.

Roads report:  Mike and Jamie have been grading and mowing.  New mower seized up after running for about a block and Swiderski came right up from Mosinee to fix it—great customer service.  Working well now.  John Deere tractor repaired—a/c, extender arm, and fuel leaks fixed.

Board comments: 

Town hall was not cleaned by the last renters.  In the past, this group has rented the hall and done just fine cleaning up.  They will not be getting their security deposit back and if they rent the hall in the future the security deposit will be doubled as cleaning costs the Town more than the deposit.  If they leave a muddy mess again they will not be allowed to rent the hall in the future.  Clerk will send them a letter.

Clerk heard from Kimberly Burger who is interested in a license for the sale of beer and wine.  Town has no limit on beer and wine licenses and we could approve one if she submits an application showing an address for a legitimate business and is not delinquent on taxes.  Clerk to communicate information to Kim.

EMS—Mike Garnich talked about how the County wants to disseminate EMS money—first half $30 per resident based on 2020 census; second half based on call volume for service.  Working with City of Washburn EMS—we will be penalized for City’s poor performance.  Town will be a pass through for funding—it is the Town’s job to hire someone who provides good service.  Have to submit completed forms by December 31.  City needs to get numbers to Clerk who will need to work with EMS provider to put in proper numbers in new online application portal.

Land use map—County changed the zoning districts and created a new zoning district called municipal. We have a window of opportunity to put Town property under the new Municipal district.  Mike Garnich read the entire document and sent in about 20 changes.  We need to look at our land use, for example Parks.  We are under County zoning.  Mike Garnich will take care of this.  If we wait the County will charge a fee for this.  County is looking for our recommendations and our recommendations are already in place and they are known as our land use plan.

County says that they are going to have a 10% reduction in taxes.

Black top maintenance:  Clerk needs to look back and find a bill from the County and get it in the correct budget account.  Upcoming $16,000 Northwoods Paving bill will go under Road Rebuild.

Viking Motors needs to make us a new bill for work on Little Sioux so that we can get reimbursed $5000 from the County.

Need to ask Mike Yonan to have porta potties at HFNP removed November 1.

Correspondence: 

Clerk shared Bayfield County Resolution 2026-92 Supporting Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Applications Through the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA).  Town of Bayview does not plan to build low-income housing.  No further action.

Clerk shared additional correspondence from Bayfield County:

Ordinance 2026-09 An Ordinance Creating Title 5, Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances, Bayfield County, Wisconsin Relating to Public Safety Cost Recovery for Extraordinary Public Safety Services.

Amendatory Ordinance 2026-11 An Ordinance Amending Title 2, Chapter 3, Section 5 and Title 2, Chapter 4, Section 11 of the Code of Ordinances, Bayfield County, Wisconsin – Executive Committee and Ethics Board.

Amendatory Ordinance 2026-12 Ordinance Establishing a Temporary Moratorium on Certain Zoning Approvals for Large-Scale Data Centers.

Clerk shared two Bayfield County Planning and Zoning Department land use permit applications—Michael Fitzgibbon / Leonarda Boughton Tax ID 6690 for alteration to an existing structure / nonconforming house and Richard Allan Tax ID 6626 for greenhouse.

We get class action lawsuit correspondence about DISH network—these can be disregarded.

Continue 2027 budget discussion:  Board continued discussion. 

 

Payment of Bills:  Motion made by Mike Garnich to approve payment of Town bills from August 13, 2026, to September 8, 2026, in the amount of $88,184.61; seconded by Bill Bodin.  All in favor; motion carried. 

Next Town of Bayview Regular Board meeting is set for Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 6 p.m.

Moton to adjourn was made by Mike Garnich and seconded by Bill Bodin.  Meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m.

 

 

 

Submitted by                                                                                                     Approved  11/10/2026

Kim Suske, Clerk

Vol. 17 page 32