The Sawyer County Board on Jan. 14 approved a series of routine land-use and administrative items, including three zoning map amendments, the county’s 2025 forestry work plan and a county-level endorsement for a BEAD broadband applicant.

County supervisors unanimously approved minutes, zoning changes and committee documents during the meeting. Most votes were taken by voice vote; the transcript records motions, movers and the result (“motion carries”), but does not include roll-call tallies for the items below.

Votes and key details

- Approval of previous meeting minutes — Motion to approve by Supervisor Thomas Duffy; second by Supervisor Stacy Hessel. Outcome: approved (voice vote).

- Rezone 24-014 (Mary Slizchucka) — The board approved a zone map amendment to rezone approximately 24.32 acres south of the Couderay River from Residential Recreational 2 to Agricultural 1 to allow existing agricultural buildings to remain and to align zoning with an existing agricultural use. The county zoning committee recommended approval (5–0). Motion to approve on the floor by Supervisor Tweed Schuman; outcome: approved.

- Rezone 24-015 (James Mead et al.) — The board approved rezoning a combined 9.66 acres from Forestry 1 to Residential Recreational 2 in the Town of Couderay to allow the property owner to subdivide and create a second buildable lot. Motion to approve by Supervisor Jay Buckles; second by Supervisor Savinski. Outcome: approved.

- Rezone 24-016 (William and Timothy Kehoe) — The board approved rezoning roughly 54.39 acres from Residential Recreational 1 to Agricultural 1 in the Town of Radisson to reflect existing agricultural activity and allow expansion of farming operations. Motion to approve by Supervisor Tweed Schuman; outcome: approved.

- Sawyer County 2025 annual forestry work plan — Motion by Supervisor Evan Evans, second by Supervisor Tweed Schuman. The board approved the county forestry department’s work plan, which covers about 115,000 county forest acres (approximately 95,000 productive acres) and anticipates timber harvest and road/trail maintenance and projects. Outcome: approved.

- Sawyer County partnership meeting minutes (DNR partnership minutes) — Motion by Supervisor Randy Newman; second by Supervisor Jay Buckles. Outcome: approved.

- BEAD endorsement for broadband applicant (Novato/Arvato as recorded) — The board endorsed the county-level support letter for a BEAD applicant identified in committee as Novato (the motion later referenced "Arvato"). The endorsement covers proposed service areas in several towns and an estimated >3,000 premises (BSLs) targeted by the applicant’s project. Motion to endorse by Supervisor Kip Carrihan; second by Supervisor Randy Newman. Outcome: approved.

How votes were recorded

Most motions were moved, seconded and passed by voice vote with the chair asking “all in favor?” followed by “Aye” and then “Opposed? Motion carries.” Where committee votes were reported (for example the zoning committee’s 5–0 recommendations), those committee tallies are noted in the staff reports read into the record. The county did not record roll-call vote counts for the floor motions in the public transcript.

What this means

The zoning approvals change parcel-level land-use designations and allow the applicants to proceed with the specific uses described in staff reports (agricultural use recognition, a new buildable lot, and alignment of farming operations). The forestry work plan approval authorizes planned timber harvest levels, trail and road maintenance, and continued collaboration with state and federal partners on stewardship across county forest lands.

Board members asked routine procedural questions about next steps and implementation but did not substantially alter any proposals on the floor. Where additional follow-up was required — for example, tracking BEAD project permits in county rights-of-way — staff committed to provide details and to continue permitting oversight according to county practice.