[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6080207,"mediaKeyId","2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8","parentId",2949968,"title","Dunn County committee advances draft revisions to board rules, including limits on public comment and updated remote-attendance language","audioSeconds",1596,"startMs",3528000,"endMs",5124000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8&start=3528&end=5124","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8/thumbnail_3528000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6080207/Dunn-County/Wisconsin/Dunn-County-committee-advances-draft-revisions-to-board-rules-including-limits-on-public-comment-and-updated-remote-attendance-language","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6080207-b4eb7f29c707b7102bb5f605cc0ba8be/orig.mp4?Expires=1771070848&Signature=Im2kkzC1Bo4cSVwK02ViJiqNb2YbN-3g1~3OY7wPMBuK8x2EdX6ynAxUQLr4zAWl1I-0NaD8jjPBWaXRGSBUFlr3N7Tja9FHcxVrGl6CdUjedED~u9DXSg7Uamzn4nB5rpA4ehTO9Mubkq78tzKFOS2Hthx1U8dUo1JMnbKSGXPwZkA94y694DKYBOYDhNf61zI0TJyNEZSbBFppWr7WGdNXO65X~5u10KMwNrZClQRCrzJ7jtJRGWpKV4zu-Cr-M9MHsreRAkHOCTf32pawxFt371J1Dq37phq2CCQmujSLZjiMQKTzCMw5BH5kzY5EAfiOagjmJbl~XtdY4g7Yew__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Dunn County, WI","date","2025-04-10T19:08:15.21Z","article","A county rules subcommittee presented draft changes to Dunn County Board rules 1–4 at the April 9 meeting, outlining several revisions that will return to committees for further review.

The presenter said the redlined package consolidates several existing provisions from the current county ordinance and the model rules, clarifies the county chair’s duties and delegation authority, and aligns the county’s remote-attendance rules with a 2023 policy the board previously adopted. The package also adds a two-thirds privileged motion to end debate and a set of decorum rules for the public and board members.

One of the more consequential changes under discussion would limit public comment at full-board meetings on topics that have previously been the subject of a public hearing; the subcommittee emphasized that the legislative agenda committee could remain a venue for broader public comment where the chair permits it. Committee members debated whether the restriction should apply to committees as well; several supervisors asked that committee exceptions be explicit so standing committees would retain discretion to hear off-agenda public input at the will of the chair.

Other changes presented include clarifying incapacity and vice-chair succession language, verbatim insertion of current ordinance language in several sections to consolidate rules, and removal of some model-rule provisions that did not match Dunn County’s practice. The subcommittee also recommended retaining the county’s 2023 remote-attendance framework rather than adopting newer model-rule language; that framework requires camera use and includes detailed conditions for participation.

Supervisor feedback focused on two themes: safeguards against personal attacks and preserving chairs’ discretion to invite subject-matter participants into committee discussion. Supervisor Kinnear urged caution about wording that would bar “questioning motives,” saying that members need the ability to debate reasoning without implying bad faith. Several supervisors suggested clarifying language to separate questioning motives from substantive critique of reasoning.

Next steps: the subcommittee said it will continue revising the draft with input from supervisors and return to the board with a consolidated proposal and appendices. Several supervisors signaled they expect additional debate at future meetings before any final adoption.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Dunn County Executive Committee 04/09/2025","oneSentenceSummary","A rules subcommittee presented consolidated draft changes to Dunn County Board rules on April 9 that would clarify chair responsibilities, update remote‑attendance provisions to match 2023 practice, and add decorum and debate‑ending language.","taxTitle","Dunn County, Wisconsin","taxId",53943,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6080217,"Dunn County officials briefed on countywide fire and EMS study; recommendations expected within months",1191,1917000,3108000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8&start=1917&end=3108","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8/thumbnail_1917000.jpg","/articles/6080217/Dunn-County/Wisconsin/Dunn-County-officials-briefed-on-countywide-fire-and-EMS-study-recommendations-expected-within-months","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6080217-7d98f26204acd273b666871a35e59556/orig.mp4?Expires=1771070848&Signature=koeqvpXoYrY9id4DSlV0FEaEUlOd3pn3SCJddMRjBn90kXgk5H7FCx6R5fELWfyddDoBiyJmBCk3lx-HNpQCnW36ypkhOafNKhBNsujdJplYc-ilO57bH1Chzb6uk8DxP4nVOp3CZNHN32N0N4hmIHezLaqXs~6yAFTqGj9IXNNpoZMaXNarIaDD1Y-abEnvC73K2V5PB3VLbj4JeCKwjmShwKY2fMON9DSR-Q1nYFhUcv~xM8ZfG4Gus7IZK1p1QDBXjqlq4hHmfICa0mdHRbuP2deuJVyO0s5RpaewI9ykom49Bix9JRnI3MHASRSrcFFihRMgoaE5SS5DoDIV7w__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","County staff told supervisors on April 9 that a multi-jurisdiction study of fire and emergency medical services in Dunn County is underway and could produce recommendations this year that would change how ambulance and EMS services are funded and managed.

Dan (county staff), who presented the briefing at the committee meeting, said the Town of Elk Mound applied for and received an innovation planning grant to fund a study examining options such as shared services, county operation of ambulance services, or county-managed contracting. “We’re looking at what is a better way to do this because it’s a failing system,” Dan said during his presentation.

The study’s origin and scope: Town officials led the application for a planning grant intended to support a future innovation grant. UW Extension and a contracted third party are now collecting data from every provider in the county, including career and volunteer ambulance services and multiple volunteer fire departments, Dan said. The presenter described a complex provider map: two career ambulance departments and several volunteer services based in Menomonie, Colfax, Glenwood, Elmwood, Boyceville and Durand; the presenter also noted some providers that serve parts of Dunn County but are based outside it (for example, Dallas).

Drivers of the review: presenters and supervisors cited several pressures: staffing declines among volunteers and career crews, rising personnel and capital costs (including dramatic increases in the price of fire apparatus), and the fact that small towns may spend a large share of their levy on ambulance services. Dan showed local data from the Town of Elk Mound that illustrated the pressure on small municipalities: the town’s ambulance expense was presented as 28% of the levy in 2024 and estimated at 5% in a later year in the presenter’s chart (figures provided by the town for planning purposes).

Legal and fiscal implications: the county’s presenter cited Wisconsin law and budget provisions that make EMS an exception to the county levy limit: “The levy limit otherwise applicable … does not apply to the amount that a county levies in a year for countywide emergency medical system,” he read aloud. Because county levies can be exempted, Dan said, some options the study may recommend would involve shifting funding or management to the county level; that shift could reduce municipal levy pressures but raise county levy obligations.

Possible options under study include: county-owned and -operated ambulance service; county levy with county contracting to a single provider; or county levy with multiple contracted providers and county financial oversight. Dan said the process is in data-collection phase and that recommendations are likely in the next two to three months, though the timeline depends on cooperation from municipal and district providers.

Committee reaction: supervisors emphasized the potential for inequitable mutual-aid burdens across districts (Menomonie was described as frequently absorbing mutual-aid calls), the difficulty of recruiting volunteers, and the impact of large capital replacements on small-community budgets. Supervisor Steen and others urged considering countywide models used in other states and stressed the trade-offs between local control and sustainable service delivery.

Ending: County staff said they will return with study recommendations and that any proposal that changes funding or responsibilities would come before the county board for decision.

","County staff briefed the Dunn County board on an ongoing countywide study of fire and emergency medical services, saying volunteer shortages, rising costs and a levy-limit exception for county EMS make county involvement a likely outcome.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6080222,"Dunn County committee backs resolution asking state to fully fund county land and water conservation positions",589,235000,824000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8&start=235&end=824","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8/thumbnail_235000.jpg","/articles/6080222/Dunn-County/Wisconsin/Dunn-County-committee-backs-resolution-asking-state-to-fully-fund-county-land-and-water-conservation-positions","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6080222-d76fe3147a34809e1e006b7d4320a9b4/orig.mp4?Expires=1771070848&Signature=CwVgDyRARQIA1kUJzXou61eV7TACHczIU-1f22j-1Ap03qCYSJYcRVuBSY80mxm7xwxCi29h4zXHEEYSvcHt64wlFDP-b~FKyjuvL2TePhoEmQDhXW25lLSpEV9omT6OxBAUoUmsdUfgY15RT7ubfThF9Aa2RI7ZF-sTH44034SBWfUXQdIdOO2yL932M9Z0toC39JL8ts6UuldJeIxFG41Q5Rv5pFLyBeorJlVTCcfoHjpv6wBWeG9AOI3BPe0m5-5ShFkxJvATFAxKw704SdX5Y7lGpTxMUd9y67V4irFXG1IWt8yCzi0hrX-GoUB~WaKS5HhbE7~wy5u4kTQtLQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Dunn County Legislative Committee on Wednesday agreed to forward a resolution to the county board asking state lawmakers to provide full base funding for county land and water conservation staff, a move supporters said would stabilize local conservation programs that have operated under partial state support for decades.

The resolution, offered at the committee’s April 9 meeting at the Dunn County Government Center, was moved by Board Member Kinnear and seconded by Board Member Helen; committee members carried the motion by voice vote.

Committee members said the request echoes an ask from the Wisconsin Counties Association and the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association that would appear in the 2025–27 state budget. Chase, a land and water conservation staff member who briefed the committee, described the statutory funding formula and how county programs are affected. “Since the early 2000s … state statute chapter 92 has a statement in there that, the state of Wisconsin shall attempt to fund an average of 3 positions in every county,” Chase said. He explained that the statute’s funding formula is intended to pay 100% of a first position, 70% of a second position and 50% of a third position but that those levels “have never been fully funded.”

Why this matters: counties often deliver state-mandated conservation programs — such as agricultural performance standards and soil-and-water work — but county offices told the committee the state’s intermittent funding makes multi-year planning difficult. Chase told the committee the proposal being promoted by county associations asks for $20,200,000 in base funding in the state budget to bring the statutory formula up to the intended levels for counties statewide.

Committee members pressed staff on how additional state dollars might affect local levies and staffing. Chase said the final effect would depend on legislative language. In past budget actions, he said, the Legislature has included maintenance-of-effort language that could require counties to preserve current levy levels; in other instances one-time funds were later not renewed. “When this topic has come before the state budget in the past, the legislature has … come through with some additional funding, but it's been one-time funding in each year of the biennium,” Chase said. He and other committee members discussed three possible outcomes depending on the final wording: the county could be allowed to offset levy dollars with state funds, be required to maintain levy contributions, or be required to maintain staffing levels (a personnel-based maintenance-of-effort).

The committee did not attach any local dollar allocations to the resolution. Members said the measure will allow Dunn County to join other counties in asking the state to make base funding permanent and predictable rather than episodic.

Votes: The committee approved forwarding the resolution by voice vote after a motion from Board Member Kinnear and a second from Board Member Helen. No roll-call tally was recorded in the meeting minutes.

What’s next: The committee will forward the resolution to the county board for consideration. Committee members were also reminded of the Wisconsin Counties Association annual conference and the April 23 deadline for submitting resolutions for WCA consideration.

Ending: Supporters said the resolution is intended to improve county capacity to administer state conservation requirements and to stabilize staffing so local offices can plan multi-year programs.

","At its April 9 meeting the Dunn County Legislative Committee voted to forward a resolution to the county board asking the state to fully fund base positions for county land and water conservation work, citing a long-standing shortfall under Wisconsin statute ch. 92 and a $20.2 million statewide funding request in the 2025–27 budget package.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6080212,"Dunn County executive committee schedules CIP workshop, approves 2025 budget amendments",3959,1226000,5185000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8&start=1226&end=5185","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2949968-58b3044ba337e35163d292b4460428a8/thumbnail_1226000.jpg","/articles/6080212/Dunn-County/Wisconsin/Dunn-County-executive-committee-schedules-CIP-workshop-approves-2025-budget-amendments","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6080212-7f916a7a799423f9b552bba7bb4eaa5c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771070848&Signature=dmq8X~aKRUx-UZ-xs9XZSand-~a~V5FXmEdfqvsn30gbPCOyuil347zCNzm8XnDz4VEMHF1~ZpiWvXGQLUfxNaw8fG9E-d1lIB6Ce3kdRPrXC6S2WyKhuZl1YFllKiCIkEqFRDRongbbICG2~6EaAvPY-CUaegwPtbjIG6Z3JQxRjykrzUk~kHMF8X6Ms81X~HZma6Kq8agVeArhpFlTeSozkiq3s5nxRWNZlM6zVr3Gc7~jaBIc6aVZgqKdv8dwBMF7Y8kE0z-eSzx7Fa-l2b9QMnyNpg~ke5ZdBS1IPKs8FKHbOu64GBFKynd2hePmu4iL07PHVUdDrA699W5mRA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Dunn County Executive Committee on April 9 set a public capital improvement workshop for April 16 and approved budget amendments for 2025 after a committee vote.

County Manager and staff told committee members the county’s capital improvement requests total roughly $1.5 million for the coming cycle, with $760,000 of that identified as engineering costs tied to a potential highway storage building. Committee members said that the engineering expense will be a central part of the CIP discussion because the county should not finance $760,000 in engineering if it does not intend to build the structure.

The committee also approved the 2025 budget amendments that had been circulated at the meeting. Supervisor Steen moved and Supervisor Morehouse seconded the motion; members approved the resolution by voice vote.

Finance staff presented a draft capital-improvement policy intended to clarify which purchases qualify as CIP items and to align departmental requests with county practice. Beata, finance staff, told the committee the policy sets a $100,000 threshold for large capital projects (building, renovation, construction) while defining criteria for smaller capital requests such as squad cars and other one-time purchases that departments otherwise could not absorb in operating budgets.

Logistics and next steps: the CIP workshop will begin with an engineering-review session at 4:00 p.m., followed by a 5:30 p.m. CIP workshop and a 7:00 p.m. regular county board meeting that same evening; county staff said pizza would be available for board members volunteering for the long meeting. Committee members were advised the board will consider the CIP items and the budget amendments in forthcoming board actions.

Votes: The committee approved the budget amendments by voice vote on a motion from Supervisor Steen with a second from Supervisor Morehouse. The meeting record shows the motion carried; no roll-call tally was recorded.

Ending: Staff said the April 16 workshop will focus on whether to proceed with design and engineering for the highway storage project and on finalizing CIP prioritization.

","Executives set a capital improvement workshop for April 16 and approved budget amendments for 2025. County staff told the committee that the current CIP requests total about $1.5 million, including $760,000 in engineering costs tied to a proposed highway storage building.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Dunn County committee advances draft revisions to board rules, including limits on public comment and updated remote-attendance language

Dunn County officials briefed on countywide fire and EMS study; recommendations expected within months

Dunn County committee backs resolution asking state to fully fund county land and water conservation positions

Dunn County executive committee schedules CIP workshop, approves 2025 budget amendments