ELLSWORTH – The Pierce County Board heard a first reading of a resolution May 26 authorizing the sale of county-owned property in the town of Oak Grove that at one point had been marked for a possible park.

According to a county board memo and the March 23 Parks Committee meeting minutes, the county acquired two parcels totaling 7.956 acres in 2003 in conjunction with the Diamond Bluff Estates planned housing development.

The county’s parcel was to be parkland with hiking trails connecting with other public parcels in another development to the north.

“The thought was to do an overlook or walking trail,” said Land Management Director Andy Pichotta. “But the real estate market crashed and the land bordering the county’s parcel is now land locked.”

The development that had been planned fell through after the housing market crash of the late 2000s and the land surrounding the county’s parcel was sold at auction. As a result, a public road was not built and the county’s land cannot be legally accessed by anyone other than the two adjacent landowners, Christopher Brekken and William Holst.

Brekken has expressed interest in purchasing the property, Pichotta said. In fact, Brekken brought the request before the Parks and Finance & Personnel committees in 2017, but it was met with opposition at the county board level. Apparently at the time, other area landowners said they had access to the county parcel from the north. However, Brekken has since purchased that property as well.

Parks Superintendent Travis Campbell, at the March 23 Parks meeting, said keeping the land wouldn’t be beneficial to the county since it’s inaccessible to the public. It’s also mostly steep hillside. The Mississippi River is viewable from the site, but no one believed the land to be the site of any protected species or burial grounds. The property is located in SW-SE, Section 33.

Pichotta said that the parks staff requested that if the parcel is sold, the money go into the park development fund to be used for park improvements or other park purchases.

Corporation Counsel Brad Lawrence said when the county is contemplating selling real estate, it usually happens in two phases: Declaring a property to be surplus and seeing if there’s interest, then the Finance & Personnel Committee considers any offers.

“If approved, then next month according to county code, the matter will then be delegated back to F&P who will handle the intricacies and specifics of the sale of the property,” Lawrence said. “If there is an offer being specifically recommended to the board, it would come forward in a resolution again to sell it to that party. This is only the first phase.”

If the property has a value of over $5,000, then F&P is required to have it appraised, Lawrence added.

“Ultimately this board will vote on whether it wants to sell for the recommended amount, meaning it could go back to F&P for more negotiations or discussion,” Lawrence said.

Pichotta said the site is currently zoned an outlot, which according to the subdivision code is not buildable. However, someone could pursue it if they wanted to, he said.

“There’s probably enough flat ground with good soils that would lend itself to development as a building site,” Pichotta said.

The matter will come before the board again at the June meeting.

Public comment

The following citizens spoke during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting:

• Pierce County Treatment Court Coordinator Mary Kelly reminded the board that May is National Treatment Court Month and thanked them for “supporting a program you don’t have to and know that it does make a difference. It’s really made a difference in some people’s lives.”
• Plum City Library Director Jenna Beyer, director announced the library received a $10,000 American Library Association Libraries Transforming Communities grant, which will focus on improving accessibility within the children’s space and programming room for children with mobility issues. Prescott and Elmwood public libraries also received the same grant.
• Tom Webb from Derrick Van Orden’s office spoke of the House Committees that Van Orden serves on and touted recent Community Project Funding successes, including a $1.6 million water and sewer infrastructure replacement in Cuba City, a $431,000 grant for River Falls Police and Fire departments to upgrade their radio communications, and others.
• Resident Kay Kashian, representing GROWW, thanked the county for looking at the data center issue and taking its time with moving forward with any legislation. “Where they like to put data centers is in farm fields and they like to put them where there’s water,” she said.

Other business

• The board heard a first reading of a resolution to amend the Pierce County Purchasing Policy to align with changes made by the state legislature. All public work exceeding $50,000 (increased from $25,000) “shall be let by contract to the lowest responsible bidder.” All public work where the estimated cost is $10,000-$50,000 (increased from $2,500-$25,000) will require competitive quotes from three or more providers, which includes vendors on state approved vendor lists who have already satisfied legal bidding requirements for state contracts. If the estimated cost of any public work is between $10,000 and $50,000, the county will be required to put one notice in a newspaper before it contracts for the work or it can contract with a person qualified as a bidder under state statutes. All public work where the estimated cost of such work is less than $10,000 (increased from $2,500) may be directly purchased without competitive quotes or bidding.
• Donna Swenson has been appointed to take David Voelker’s place on the Veterans Service Commission. The term expires Dec. 31, 2028.
• The next county board meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 23. Items expected on the agenda include the two resolutions from May’s meeting, plus one coming from Land Management regarding subdivisions.