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Sawyer County administrator reports tax‑deed changes, airport closure, carbon‑credit timeline and opioid fund updates
Summary
County Administrator Andy Avarano briefed the committee on proposed code changes to implement state tax‑deed law amendments, a planned airport construction closure, carbon‑credit work, CJCC opioid funding requests and other administrative items.
County Administrator Andy Avarano briefed the Sawyer County Administrative Committee on several administrative and policy matters, including proposed changes to the county code to align with recent state law changes on tax deeds, a scheduled airport construction closure, status of a carbon‑credit project and upcoming requests for opioid funds handled by the Criminal Justice Coordinating Committee (CJCC).
Avarano said the administration will bring an amendment to the county code to implement changes required by state laws referenced as Act 207 and Act 216; the change will shorten the county’s tax‑certificate/tax‑deed timeline (from a five‑year process to most likely three years) and revise timelines and procedures for advertising and distributing proceeds when tax‑deeded property sells. Avarano said the changes respond to state statute updates and to a chain of litigation that originated in a Minnesota court case.
Avarano also reported the airport construction project is scheduled to start May 5 and will require at least a month‑long shutdown of the facility; the schedule depends on road‑ban timing and contractor readiness. He said a preconstruction meeting is complete and that the county expects road bans to be lifted within two weeks, allowing the contractor to begin work.
The county’s carbon‑credit project, managed by the land‑and‑water group and Anew, is at an external review stage (party reviewer) and is expected to be submitted to the American Carbon Registry over the summer; Avarano said the county does not have a verified number of credits yet and that sales revenue is unlikely to materialize in 2026, so no budget was proposed for anticipated receipts.
On CJCC and opioid funds, the administrator said the committee will present opioid funding requests at the next board meeting, alongside a report on how opioid funds have been used to date. He said HHS staff have moved from awareness campaigns toward recovery and treatment programs and have used other state grant funds in addition to opioid funds.
Other items Avarano covered included: an open records response to a petition on Callahan Mud Lake District permitting and dam construction records; implementation of Act 235 (judge‑shielding law) effective April 1, which allows judges to request address shielding on public records; tentative approval to use the WJB tower for the county public‑safety radio system (details and cost‑sharing agreements remain to be worked out); and ongoing ambulance service issues and discussions about regionalization across county lines.
Avarano also noted a township near the county border (identified in the meeting as Town of Barnes) contacted him to inquire about joining Sawyer County; he said the request was preliminary and that annexation/secession would be a complex legal and political process beyond his authority to grant.
The administrator urged departments to assemble turnover binders and background materials to ease the transition to a new administrator and said IT is assembling planning documents and demographic analytics that will be presented to the committee in coming meetings.
No formal committee action was recorded on the items Avarano presented; several matters will appear on upcoming agendas for committee or full‑board consideration.
