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Administrator announces resignation; county administrative report covers tax-deed ordinance changes, airport and radio projects
Summary
County administrator announced a planned April departure; the administrative report updated the board on proposed changes to the county’s tax-deed ordinance under new state law, a class-action liability concern, runway reconstruction scheduling, airport snow-equipment procurement and public-safety radio tower negotiations.
Sawyer County Administrator (name recorded as Mr. Alvarado) told the Administrative Committee he has submitted a written resignation and plans to leave in late April; the committee received a multi-topic administrative report covering tax-deed ordinance revisions, pending litigation, airport projects and public-safety radio network work.
Alvarado said he formally submitted a resignation and that Chippewa County approved his appointment; his planned last day in Sawyer County is April 24 and his first day in Chippewa County is planned as April 28. He said staff will work to wrap up projects and prepare turnover materials.
The administrator told the committee the county is reintroducing a revised tax-deed lands ordinance in response to state statute changes (act numbers referenced in the meeting as “207” and “216”) and recent case law. The revised ordinance would align the local timeline with state statute for taking tax-deed property (three years) rather than the county’s prior five-year practice. He cited the U.S. Supreme Court case Tyler v. Hennepin as having changed how counties must treat surplus proceeds from tax-sales, saying the county’s ordinance now must include attempts to return surplus proceeds to prior owners and follow state statutory timelines.
Alvarado also warned the county is among the 71 counties and the state named in a class-action suit seeking recovery of previously retained surplus proceeds; county attorneys and insurance carriers are reviewing the matter.
On airport matters, the administrator reported that construction contracts for runway reconstruction have been signed and that work will start “as soon as road bans come off,” with a roughly 30-working-day schedule expected for completion. He also said the county received approval through the BOA for a near-$500,000 acquisition of snow-removal equipment (loader, snowblower, plow) with the county match estimated at $9,000–$12,000.
On public-safety communications, the administrator said negotiations over the WOJB tower remain unresolved and that GenComm is reviewing existing towers as higher priority; the county is awaiting a response from tribal legal counsel on a proposed agreement. He said building a new tower remains a last-resort option.
The report included updates on broadband beta applications, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (CJCC) activities including treatment court and pretrial work, and that common-credit sales are progressing, though final proceeds are pending. Facilities work has progressed on office consolidations and modest remodeling; one clerk-of-court remodeling project was shelved after the clerk determined it was not needed.
Committee members asked questions about timelines for the tax-deed ordinance changes and how to phase any change from five years to the statutory three-year timeline to avoid surprising property owners. The administrator said the treasurer will need to phase the change with notification to property owners.
No votes were taken on ordinance language at the committee level; the covened Land, Water and Forestry Committee had asked for revisions and the administration intends to bring a revised ordinance back to the board next month.
