Health and Human Services committee forwards Marathon County membership in Central Wisconsin CDBG consortium to county board

MARATHON COUNTY, Wis. — The Marathon County Health and Human Services Committee voted to forward a resolution authorizing the county’s continued membership in the Central Wisconsin Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) consortium to the full county board for consideration.

Administrator Leonard told the committee the county is part of the Central Housing Region, a multi-county consortium that includes Adams, Green Lake, Juneau, Marathon, Marquette, Portage, Waupaca and Wood counties. “This is something you probably haven't seen before because I hadn't seen it before,” Leonard said, describing the region and its role in distributing federal CDBG dollars.

The committee heard that the consortium administers funds that residents can apply for — for example, homeowner repairs and landlord-applied rehabilitation funds that serve qualifying households — and that the consortium submits an application for continued funding periodically. Leonard said those administrative functions are handled out of Juneau County.

Committee members clarified that the resolution before them would authorize Marathon County to participate in the regional application and to appoint a board member to the consortium; it would not itself accept a grant. “It's not a grant that goes to the county. This is really a resolution to authorize the county to be part of a region,” Leonard said.

Committee members also asked how much of the consortium’s funds have been used in Marathon County. Leonard said he had requested utilization data and would provide it to the committee: “I actually reached out to the block grant people, probably 6 months ago ... I don't have data with me. I can ask them to provide that on how much of the funds are utilized in Marathon County as opposed to the other member counties.”

The committee noted that Marathon County previously participated in the regional arrangement and had not refreshed membership in several years; Leonard said the last time was in 2018. The committee also discussed board representation: Supervisor Unger had previously served on the regional board; Supervisor Endress has been appointed recently as the county’s representative.

A motion to forward the resolution to the county board was made and seconded; Supervisor Covelli seconded the motion. The committee approved the motion and the item will go to the county board for final action.

Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes (agenda item): Motion to approve the Health and Human Services Committee minutes for 09/03/2025 and joint minutes for 08/06/2025 was made and seconded; the committee voted in favor and the motion carried. (No roll-call vote provided in the transcript.) - Resolution to continue Marathon County membership in the Central Housing Region (CDBG consortium): Motion to forward to the county board for approval; motion seconded by Supervisor Covelli; the committee voted in favor and the motion carried. (No roll-call vote provided; one member, Supervisor Reynolds, was noted as absent elsewhere in the meeting.)

The committee did not adopt any grant or accept funding at the meeting; it forwarded an authorization for the county to participate in the consortium’s regional application process to the county board.