PSAP board votes to keep current membership after debate over expansion

Board Chair Ron Sztyndor opened the Ashland–Bayfield Consolidated PSAP Board meeting June 18 and the board debated a proposal to expand its membership before voting to keep the current composition.

Sheriff Brian Zupke moved to retain the existing board makeup and Tony Williams seconded; the motion passed by verbal vote. The motion followed discussion that the expansion had been suggested at a prior meeting as a way to avoid a “walking quorum,” a point attributed in the record to the meeting’s presenter, Quaderer.

Bayfield County Supervisor Larry Fickbohm said he was concerned about adding fire and emergency medical services members because, he said, those entities are not accountable to the public in the same way elected officials are. Bayfield County Administrator Mark Abeles-Allison asked whether fire and EMS already have a formal role; Quaderer said both participate in the Field Services Advisory Committee, which provides input but does not create policy.

The vote left the board’s membership unchanged. The record shows the motion was carried by verbal vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the minutes.

The board continued to other agenda items, including budget and IT topics, before adjourning following a closed session.