Pierce County Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Rohl administered the oath of office to the new Pierce County Board, which convened Tuesday, April 16.

Those elected are as follows (incumbents are marked with an asterisk*):

District 1 – Kris Sampson*

District 2 – Jim Ashbach*

District 3 – Jon Aubart*

District 4 – Ruth Wood

District 5 – Claire McCarty

District 6 – Michael Kahlow*

District 7 – Scott Bjork*

District 8 – Dean Bergseng*

District 9 – Angela Mathison*

District 10 – Anne Claflin

District 11 – Neil Gulbranson*

District 12 – Dale Auckland*

District 13 – Dan Puhrmann*

District 14 – Nick Maxwell

District 15 – Jerry Kosin*

District 16 – Barry John Barringer

District 17 – Mel Pittman*

Maxwell came to the meeting about five minutes late, so Rohl administered the oath to him separately.

The April meeting after an election is always a busy one, acquainting new members with procedures and assigning them to committees.

The board re-elected Aubart as chair, followed by first vice-chair Kahlow and second vice-chair Kosin.

During a discussion on adopting county board rules in Chapter 4 of the Pierce County Code, the board voted to increase the Industrial Development Committee, of which Sampson is chair, from three people to five.

“Going from a three-person to a five-person committee will give us a better breadth of experience on that board,” Kahlow said.

The board also voted to amend the requirements for the Land Conservation Committee. Aubart explained currently those elected to the Agriculture & Extension Committee are automatically on the Land Conservation Committee. After the vote, that is no longer the case.

“That was done at I don’t know what point,” Aubart said. “It’s always been that way. Ag Extension, both actually have evolved and gone different directions. There isn’t the link between the two that there may have been 30 years ago. There’s more opportunity for people to sit on one or the other and they don’t have to sit on both.”

Corporation Counsel Brad Lawrence said a state law change is the impetus to this amendment as well.

“It is a problem for the county when you have five on both that are the same, and creates open meetings laws issues,” he said.

Pittman, who is on both committees, said 20-30 years ago agriculture was a more prevalent part of Extension in Pierce County. Now, two ag-related Extension agents (crops/soils and dairy) live in St. Croix County and serve four counties.

“So the activity level is considerably less involvement,” Pittman said. “Probably the shining star of Extension has been our 4-H program here in Pierce County. It’s the fourth or fifth largest in the state.”

Elected committees

The board then took nominations and cast ballots for the county’s elected committees. They include:

Agriculture & Extension Education –  Pittman, Barringer, Bergseng, Kosin, Maxwell

Finance & Personnel – Chair Aubart (by statute), Vice Chair Kahlow (by statute), Sampson, Ashbach, Bjork, Auckland, Kosin

Highway – Ashbach, Gulbranson, Bergseng, Kosin, Auckland

Human Services Board – Kahlow, Gulbranson, McCarty, Claflin; citizen members Stepanie Stark, Bonnie Jones-Witthuhn, Ruth Wood (completing term), Paula Lugar. Kahlow and Gulbranson serve until 2026, McCarty and Claflin until 2027.

Land Management – Aubart, Gulbranson, Puhrmann; citizen members Chair Joe Fetzer, Eric Sanden

Law Enforcement – Aubart, Pittman, Auckland, Bjork, Wood

A list of appointed committees can be found at www.co.pierce.wi.us under Government > County Directory > Appointed Committees.

ATV/UTV routes

The board heard a first reading of an ordinance amendment that would allow all county highways to be designated as ATV/UTV routes, with a couple exceptions:

• County Road M from County Road F to River Falls city limits
• County Road F from Highway 29 to St. Croix County line

Language added to the ordinance would not allow a person to operate an ATV/UTV on county highways unless they have liability insurance on the ATV/UTV and proof of that insurance with them.

Dave Deiss from the Pierce County ATV/UTV Association said the ordinance makes things easier for operators, municipalities, and law enforcement. It will also allow the sheriff and/or highway commissioner to temporarily close any route for safety, maintenance or other appropriate reasons. Closures will be reviewed by the Highway Committee.

“We had 17 different townships with different ordinances all over the map with hours of operation, etc.” said Deiss.

Operators must be 16 years old to be on county roads, 12 years old on township roads. The board will vote on the ordinance amendment at the May meeting.

Land purchase

The board convened into closed session to discuss the Dean A. & Mary L. Holden Trust property adjacent to the Pierce County Fairgrounds. In open session, the board voted to purchase the 1.7-acre vacant property to add to the fairgrounds.

The total cost of the property (with closing costs) is $102,467, which will come from the General Fund/Property Acquisition/Development account.