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.

Committee members raised the loss of an in-house training opportunity as a downside of switching to a bid. “Bidding it out kind of changed the scope of the intention of this committee a little bit,” one supervisor said during discussion.

The staff presentation said the department discussed the change with Land and Resource Management (LRM), county finance and Public Works and that the project will still use the TRIM grant funds to install practices intended to reduce runoff and phosphorus to benefit Delavan Lake. When the bid is ready, award recommendations will return to the Public Works Committee.

The committee did not take a formal vote to change the project authorization at the Feb. 17 meeting; members were notified of the intended change and invited to raise concerns. The Public Works Committee will consider any bid award when the project is ready for procurement.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of meeting agenda: motion by Rick Stacy; second recorded in transcript as Reif. Voice vote: unanimous (all present voted aye). Outcome: approved.

- Approval of Jan. 20 meeting minutes: motion by Rick Stacy; second recorded in transcript as Conkie. Voice vote: unanimous (all present voted aye). Outcome: approved.

- Adjournment: motion by Reif; second by Rick Stacy. Voice vote: unanimous (all present voted aye). Outcome: adjourned.

Other items discussed

- Conservation poster contest: A staff member announced winners of the county-level conservation poster contest and said first-place winners in each age group were submitted to the Southeast area contest. Named winners reported in the packet included Raz Kalergis (fourth–sixth grade, Reek Elementary), Grace Pierce (seventh–ninth grade, Reek), and Zaffia Nieves (tenth–twelfth, Elkhorn High School). The staff member said Raz Kalergis advanced from the Southeast area to the state competition, which staff expected to take place in March at the Wisconsin Land & Water conference.

- Lakeshore Landscaping Workshop: Staff announced a lakeshore landscaping workshop scheduled for April 3, 8 a.m.–noon, aimed at landscapers and shoreland projects. Presenters expected include a UW Extension horticulture speaker and a representative from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; staff said more details and a social media publicity package will be circulated before the event.

- Land Conservation Committee “coffee and conversation”: Staff noted a Wisconsin Land & Water virtual event on Feb. 20 focused on funding sources for land and water conservation divisions. Walworth County staff and Supervisor Bridal Holt were asked to participate and share how the county uses DNR surface-water grants and local lake-group funding.

Why it matters

The county farm project uses grant funding targeted at runoff reduction; changing from in-house work to a public contract affects county staff training opportunities and how grant dollars are allocated and tracked. The committee’s notice and ensuing Public Works procurement will determine whether the project proceeds on the same timeline and scope described in the county’s 2024 CIP.