Plan Commission & Task Force Minutes

Town of Washburn

Town Hall

Tuesday, January 28, 2025

Commission members present: Cyndi Belanger (secretary), Kim Bro (chair), Jim Park (town board representative), Tim Schwenzfeier (vice chair), Caroline Twombly (online videoconference).

Commission members absent: none.

Planning Task Force members present: Terri Bahe, Tom Cogger, Dennis Weibel.

Planning Task Force members absent: Phil Kraus, Ryan Padrutt, Alex Prediger, Charmaine Swan.

Others present: Northwest Regional Planning Commission consultant Emily Nelson attended online.

1. Chairman Bro called the meeting of the commission to order at 7:06 P.M. and verified its legal notification (posted on town website and at town hall and Tetzner Dairy on Jaanuary 23).

2. The minutes of the January 7, 2025 meeting were approved (Tim moves, Cyndi seconds).

3. The group summarized the recommended revisions of online maps:
   ● Map1_RecreationalResources-print.pdf: Terri will marked numbers for historic/cultural sites and sent
   them to Clem.
   ● Map3_PASER-print.pdf: Caroline said that she does not think the state PASER road condition map
   is useful in the plan because so easily becomes out of date. Because there is not an online version of
   the map that the public can view, it is not possible to put a link in the plan. Noting the town’s online
   road maintenance plan may be more useful, and it would be helpful to have community members who
   could assist the town’s Road Superintendent with updating the PASER database more often.
   ● Map7_ExistingLandUse-print.pdf: Kim and Terri recommend that forested parcels greater than 5 acres
   with a residence be “Forest” rather than “Residential.” Also, Potters Farm, a nonprofit retreat center
   should be “Institutional,” not “Residential.”
   ● Map8_FutureLandUse-print.pdf: Kim and Terri recommend that land currently used as “Agriculture”
   remain as “Agriculture.” They recommend against converting forest to agricultural use. They
   recommend that areas that con be converted from “Forest” to “Rural Residential” be in areas next to
   paved roads on the far east side of the town including areas near Engoe, Nevers, and Wannebo roads
   east of Bjork Road, areas on the south side of County Hwy C east of Arenson Road, and an area south
   of Gasperini Road and west of Big Rock Road. They also recommend that the industrial forest land in
   the town be identified as “Conservation” because we recommend that the headwaters of the town’s
   Class 1 trout streams should remain as forest and not be developed. They recommend that the area
   identified as “Steep Slopes and Floodplains” or as “Sensitive Areas” be treated as a “Conservation”
   overlay where lands should not be further subdivided or developed. These slopes can be dangerously
   disturbed by development that would cause severe sedimentation of the trout streams.
   ● Map9_FutureLandUseOverlay-print.pdf: See notes for Map8.
   ● Map10_Zoning-print.pdf: The large area of land in an “Agriculture” district on the zoning map
   indicates how many former farms in the town have reverted to forest when farming stopped.
   ● “Groundwater Table” map: Clem produced a map of the groundwater table elevation to replace the
   “Depth to Groundwater” map in the “Natural Resources” section text..

4. The chapter subgroups summarized their progress in revising and updating the plan chapters:
   ● Cyndi has added information to the “Community Resources” section regarding services for the elderly.
   The group discussed whether the town should have any plan objectives related to monitoring elderly
   shut-ins. The population of residents older than 74 years old is projected to increase by 6% from 97 in
   2020 to approximately 130 in 2050. Cyndi said that monitoring the elderly is a county function.

   ● We discussed the challenges of revising what were “policies” in the 2007 plan to definable action steps
   in the “Implementation” chapter. Members will work on this process, which requires their thinking
   about how to word things. Jim mentioned that the Town Board currently has a largely full plate of
   things to do at its monthly meetings. We need to be judicious about how many actions are assigned to
   the Town Board. Here are definitions of the terms in the “Implementation” chapter tables :
   Goals: Broad, value-based statements describing a condition that we hope to see in the town in the
   long term (20 years or more). Goals specifically address key issues, opportunities, and
   problems described in the chapter narrative.
   Objectives: Statements of the specific changes that will occur in the town toward achieving a
   goal. Objectives should be measurable, achievable within the timeframe, and relate directly
   to the objective.
   Actions: A stepwise set of activities that lead toward achieving an objective. Because each action
   needs to occur in a specific timeframe, it should have a date of completion and not be
   “ongoing,” and those responsible for taking the step should be identified in the
   “Implementation” table
   ● Emily gave the members a few more days to revise the chapters in GoogleDocs. They need to be
   completed by Sunday night February 2^nd so that Emily compile the Public Comment Draft starting the
   following Monday morning can bring a hard copy for the Washburn Public Library and a PDF copy
   for the town website on February 4^th.

5. Kim said the Ashland Daily Press notice of the March 6^th a public hearing should appear in this week’s newspaper.
6. The next meeting will be Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at 7:00 P.M. at the town hall. To review the draft plan and to plan our presentation.

7. The meeting adjourned at 9:05 P.M. (Cyndi moves, Tim seconds).

Draft submitted by: Kenneth Bro, Chair, Town of Washburn Plan Commission (February 4, 2025).

Approved February 4, 2025.

Plan Commission Report

There are no Town Board actions required at this time.

Plan Commission & Task Force Minutes

Town of Washburn

Town Hall

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

Commission members present: Cyndi Belanger (secretary), Kim Bro (chair), Jim Park (town board representative), Tim Schwenzfeier (vice chair), Caroline Twombly.

Commission members absent: none.

Planning Task Force members present: Terri Bahe, Tom Cogger, Phil Kraus, Dennis Weibel.

Planning Task Force members absent: Ryan Padrutt, Alex Prediger, Charmaine Swan.

Others present: Northwest Regional Planning Commission consultants Clem Larson (mapping), Emily Nelson (planning) attended online.

1. Chairman Bro called the meeting of the commission to order at 7:00 P.M. and verified its legal notification (posted on town website and at town hall and Tetzner Dairy on Jaanuary 4).

2. The minutes of the December 3, 2024 meeting were approved (Tim moves, Cyndi seconds).

3. Clem has posted links at NWRPC to maps he has produced:
   ● Map1_RecreationalResources-print.pdf: Terri will mark numbers for historic/cultural sites. Kim will
   scan Terri’s mark-up and send it to Clem.
   ● Map2_TransportationSystem-print.pdf:: This looks good.
   ● Map3_PASER-print.pdf: Caroline said that she thinks the state PASER road condition map may not be
   up to date. For example, the condition of Church Corner Road pavement seems worse than the
   PASER system indicates. We need to check whether the system can be updated before the final
   map is included in the plan.
   ● Map4_PrimeFarmland-print.pdf: This looks good.
   ● Map5_Topography-print.pdf: This looks good.
   ● Map6_Soils-print.pdf: This is a map of general categories, as with the previous plan.
   ● Map7_ExistingLandUse-print.pdf: We need to double check based on the land use categories that the
   county wants all towns to use.
   ● Map8_FutureLandUse-print.pdf: We need to double check based on the land use categories that the
   county wants all towns to use. Kim will send the definitions that the county wants towns to use.
   ● Map9_FutureLandUseOverlay-print.pdf: See notes for Map8.
   ● Map10_Zoning-print.pdf: This looks good.

   We also asked Clem to produce a “Natural Resources” map, a “Bicycle Routes” map showing the Washburn–Ondossagon Road Loop and the Moquah Barrens–Washburn Loop from the “Bicycle Map for Ashland and Bayfield Counties,” and the Town of Washburn portion of the “Groundwater Table” map on the Bayfield County Land Records website.

4. The chapter subgroups summarized their progress in revising and updating the plan chapters:
   ● Kim asked the subgroups to list goals and objectives in the chapters using the definitions he previously
   distributed. The 2007 often listed action steps as objectives or subobjectives. The only place to show
   action steps is in the tables in the “Implementation” chapter, which shows timing and those responsible
   for taking action. An action step could be to recruit an ad hoc committee to lead implementation. The
   Plan Commission and the Town Board likely cannot implement every action step in the plan. Preparers
   of plans often confuse the differences between goals, objectives and actions. Here are the terms:
   Goals: Broad, value-based statements describing a condition that we hope to see in the town in the
   long term (20 years or more). Goals specifically address key issues, opportunities, and
   problems described in the chapter narrative.

Objectives: Statements of the specific changes that will occur in the town toward achieving a
goal. Objectives should be measurable, achievable within the timeframe, and relate directly
to the objective.
Actions: A stepwise set of activities that lead toward achieving an objective. Because each action
needs to occur in a specific timeframe, it should have a date of completion and not be
“ongoing,” and those responsible for taking the step should be identified in the
“Implementation” table
● Issues and Opportunities: Kim describer four key issues that the plan should address:
1. Preserving rural character by reducing fragmentation of forests and farmlands.
2. Serving an increasingly older population and smaller household size.
3. Providing affordable housing and childcare as working families are recruited to replace retirees.
4. Increasing demand for opportunities to be close to nature.
The State of Wisconsin has prepared updated population projections. Emily will update the projections
in the chapter and add side-by-side age/sex projections for Bayfield County to show the increasing
proportion of elderly people expected in the future.
● Housing: Many of the actions in the 2007 plan can be trimmed. The focus will be on providing sites
for new houses that do not greatly increase fragmentation of larger parcels.
● Utilities and Community Facilities: This chapter has been updated, but there needs to be some
further editing to differentiate between existing, ongoing functions and planned changes. Action steps
need to be moved to the “Implementation” chapter.
● Transportation: This chapter has been updated, but action steps need to be moved to the
“Implementation” chapter. The PASER data is not up to date. Create an action timetable rather than
“ongoing” action steps.
● Economic Development: Many of the actions in the 2007 plan can be trimmed. Focus on development
specific to the town.
● Agricultural & Natural Resources: This section has been updated, but action steps need to be moved
to the “Implementation” chapter. Create an action timetable rather than “ongoing” action steps. Add an
objective for preventing future fragmentation of industrial forestlands.
● Cultural Resources: This section has been updated, but action steps need to be moved to the
“Implementation” chapter.
● Land Use: This chapter and map still needs revision. Some areas west of the Ondossagon Road north-
south line have become de facto rural residential areas. We need to propose a way to define them in the
“Future Land Use” map.

The draft plan needs to be completed no later than the January 28^th meeting so that Emily can bring a hard copy for the Washburn Public Library and a PDF copy for the town website on February 4^th.

5. Kim shared a draft notice for the Ashland Daily Press of the March 6^th a public hearing. It needs to be published at least thirty days prior to the hearing. The group approved publishing the notice.
6. The next meeting will be Tuesday, January 28, 2025 at 7:00 P.M. at the town hall..

7. The meeting adjourned at 9:07 P.M. (Cyndi moves, Caroline seconds).

Draft submitted by: Kenneth Bro, Chair, Town of Washburn Plan Commission (January 16, 2025).

Approved January 28, 2025

Plan Commission Report

The commission recommends that the town board attend the March 6^th public hearing on the draft plan.