Rock County approves $50,000 to hire consultant for comprehensive and farmland-preservation plan updates

Rock County supervisors approved a $50,000 allocation from access sales tax funds on March 13 to hire a consultant for public engagement and outreach as part of the county comprehensive plan update and the farmland preservation plan element.

Andrew Baker, director of Planning and Development, told the board that the county's comprehensive plan has not been fully updated since 2009 and that statutory and program deadlines, plus limited in-house staffing, make targeted consultant assistance necessary. "We could do it ourselves," Baker said, "but it would take much longer and would draw staff away from other responsibilities."

Baker said the requested $50,000 would primarily fund community engagement work and survey efforts and help coordinate with the county's 20 townships as they adopt updated farmland-preservation zoning ordinances. He noted the county must update the farmland preservation plan component by the end of 2026 to allow landowners to retain certain tax credits tied to farmland-preservation zoning.

Supervisor concerns focused on procurement and vendor selection. Baker said the planning agency has worked with a firm familiar with Rock County and that, for professional services, the county procurement rules permit direct selection where appropriate; the county will still complete the contract review process. The firm referenced in discussion was the Capital Area Regional Planning Commission, chosen in part due to recent local work. The planning director said the comp-plan project will be a rolling, modernized process so updates will not necessarily require a full repetition of the 10-year effort in the same format.

Supervisors approved the budget amendment and consultant allocation by voice vote.