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   is useful in the plan because so easily becomes out of date.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.