County administrator outlines strategic‑planning outreach, airport work and Veterans Tribute testing

Sawyer County’s administrator reported progress on several ongoing initiatives, including a proposed community‑wide strategic‑planning effort, scheduled airport runway grooving, and environmental testing for the planned Veterans Tribute memorial.

The administrator said he has met with a consultant to expand public input beyond previous efforts and plans a two‑phase approach: a prescripted open session followed by small‑group breakout work to distill priorities into two to three near‑term goals and a longer‑term list. He told the administrative committee he will return next month with a structure and timeline and aims to begin outreach in September.

On airport work, the administrator said the runway reconstruction is complete and “grooving” and painting will start Saturday and could take up to a week; grooving is planned at night. On the Veterans Tribute, he said he is working with SEH of Eau Claire to complete required environmental testing and is reviewing service contracts for 2026 funding with intent to include stronger contract terms.

The administrator also provided a brief update on a communications‑tower project (WOJB): he said a previous tribal governing board approved the project and he had spoken to a contact who did not expect the new governing board to rescind that approval; he said he would seek written confirmation. He said he has reached out to the vendor overseeing emergency communications expansion (Gencomm) for a status update on the tower project.

Committee members asked for more detail about outreach methods and emphasized the need to keep the process focused and manageable. The administrator said he would return with a specific plan for breaking public input into targeted stakeholder sessions and for consolidating priorities.