Walworth County to publicly bid farm land-improvement project after TRIM grant limits reimbursements

Walworth County’s Land Conservation Committee was told on Feb. 17 that a planned land-improvement project at the county farm will be publicly bid rather than completed by county crews because the TRIM grant that funds the work will not reimburse county staff or equipment costs.

The committee learned the project, added to the county’s 2024 Capital Improvement Program, is intended to reduce soil runoff and phosphorus entering the Delavan Lake watershed. Committee members were told the county had originally planned to partner with Public Works to have county staff perform the work as a learning opportunity, but Public Works cannot free staff in a timely way and the grant’s reimbursement rules complicate paying county labor and equipment.

A staff member said, “the grant requirements would not allow the county to seek reimbursement on any staff or equipment,” and that because of those constraints the department intends to advertise the work as a Public Works bid and recommend award through the Public Works Committee.

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