Dunn County committee directs staff to pursue subdivision and rezoning of parcel for potential childcare partnership

Dunn County’s Facilities Committee on Monday directed staff to prepare a purchase agreement and proceed with subdividing and rezoning a parcel adjacent to the Dunn County Government Center to enable a private childcare facility.

County planner Jenna (county staff) told the committee two lots near the Government Center were under consideration and that Option 1, because of a utility easement, offers about 1.08 acres of buildable space out of roughly 2 acres. She said assessed value for comparable county land is roughly $87,000 per acre, making the two-acre parcel roughly $174,000 at assessed value.

Jessica (Jess) Wayne, who identified herself as the prospective developer and a registered nurse, said her plan would be a play-based, nature-focused childcare center in Menomonie that could be built in phases as a roughly 5,000–7,500 sq ft facility serving an estimated 60–100 full-time children and employing about 27 full-time-equivalent staff when fully built out. She said the facility would include before- and after-school care and that her team expects to recruit staff from nearby UW–Stout and CVTC programs.

Deputy director of Human Services Becky Albright and Garrett Zastafil of UW–Extension presented local data showing access and affordability of childcare as the county’s top community health priority; Becky offered an example of a county social worker paying about $696 per week for four days of care for three young children. Economic development director Adam Acla framed the proposal as workforce infrastructure, saying county residents pay a larger share of household income for childcare than the state average and that the shortage forces some residents to commute or leave the local workforce.

Supervisors asked how a sale or partnership would protect county interests, what affordability would mean in practice, how long any negotiated benefits would last, and whether the county would require first-rights or other protections if the operator later sells. Staff said these are the issues a purchase agreement would address and that legal counsel would be engaged. The committee also discussed procurement options (direct negotiation vs. open marketing) and zoning implications: Option 1 would require a planned-unit-development or rezoning and subdivision; Option 2 is within a larger commercial parcel but would require subdivision.

After discussion, the committee expressed a preference for Parcel 1 and voted to proceed with subdividing Parcel 1 and requesting rezoning to commercial and to return with a draft purchase agreement containing protections such as duration, first-right-of-refusal provisions, and placement priority for county employees. The motion passed by voice vote with no oppositions.

Next steps: staff will work with legal counsel and the county surveyor to prepare a certified survey map, draft purchase-agreement language for committee review, and begin the city rezoning process; the committee scheduled follow-up work for the January Facilities meeting.