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Board approves $50,000 to update county comprehensive and farmland preservation plans
Summary
Rock County approved a $50,000 allocation from access sales tax funds to hire a consultant to carry out community engagement and help update the county comprehensive plan and the farmland preservation element; planning staff said the work is required for grant eligibility and to enable towns to adopt local farmland-preservation zoning.
The Rock County Board on March 13 approved a $50,000 appropriation from access sales tax funds to support updates to the county comprehensive plan and the farmland preservation plan element.
Andrew Baker, director of Planning and Development, told the board that comprehensive plans must be updated every 10 years. The county’s last comprehensive plan update concluded in 2009, and planning staff said the update timeline and the farmland-preservation work require outside assistance for community engagement and to coordinate with 20 townships.
“To qualify for DNR and other grants, we have to have a plan in place,” Baker said, explaining the timetable and the workload. He said the county currently employs two full-time planners and the director, and that staffing reductions and hiring lapses since 2014 left the office without capacity to lead a full community-engagement process internally.
The board authorized the county to use the funds to contract for public engagement and related services, and staff identified the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission (listed in staff materials as Capital Area Planning Commission) as a preferred vendor because it has recent county planning experience and proposed a ready schedule and deliverables.
Baker said the funding will be used primarily for outreach, surveys and facilitation; the county will retain planning staff responsibility for policy decisions and drafting. He added that updating the farmland preservation plan is needed so towns can adopt farmland-preservation zoning and keep eligibility for farmland-preservation tax credits.
Board members discussed procurement practices for professional services; Corp. Counsel said that professional services may be selected without a formal sealed-bid process and that staff had followed customary procedures for hiring consultants.
The measure passed on a voice vote; no recorded opposition was noted.
Key details: $50,000 requested for consultant-led public engagement; consultant to assist with comprehensive-plan update and farmland-preservation plan update; vendor identified as Capital Area Planning Commission; planning office reported two full-time planners and staffing constraints that prompted the request.
