STATE OF WISCONSIN
Town of Washburn
Bayfield County
Special Meeting Minutes – June 4, 2026

This is a follow up meeting with the Town Boards of Barksdale and Bayview, and the City of Washburn, to discuss the establishing a new 5-Year Fire/EMS Contract with the City of Washburn.

Call to order and roll call: the meeting was called to order at 3:00 pm

In Attendance: Scottie Sandstrom, Seth Vasser, Vicki Thoen
Town of Bayview – Don Jenicek, Mike Garnich. Town of Barksdale – John Nyara
City of Washburn – Mayor Mary Motiff, Tony Janisch
Several representatives of Fire and EMS departments.

Verification of proper public notice: Washburn Town Hall and Tetzner’s Dairy, Town website.

Public Comment: none

Discussion and possible action on a new 5-year Fire/EMS Contract with the City of Washburn: EMS calls are up do to aging population. 30% of the calls in May went unanswered by Washburn EMS due to lack of coverage. It takes 10 full time equivalent (FTE) staff to cover all the hours. We have 3 FTEs, 14 paid on call staff (POC). We need 28 POC to cover all the hours that the FTEs can’t. Year to date Washburn Area Ambulance Service has seen a 26% increase in calls compared to the same time last year. There isn’t enough money in the budget to hire more FTEs. There was a request for more budget information to be provided at the next meeting. The fire department shared their 15-year long range plan that shows when equipment will need to be replaced.

The next meeting is scheduled for July 9 at 3:00 pm at Washburn City Hall.
The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 pm.
Respectfully Submitted by

Vicki Thoen, Clerk