Regional planning commission outlines hazard-mitigation, housing and grant supports for Sawyer County

Sheldon Johnson, executive director of the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, told the Sawyer County Board that the commission provides planning, GIS, community development and water-resource services across a 10-county region and has roughly a $3,100,000 annual budget funded in part by member county levies. "You're the the 1st to get this spiel," Johnson said as he introduced the commission's work and a slate of services for local units of government.

The presentation noted the commission's planning work includes comprehensive plans, hazard mitigation plans and farmland preservation plans and that the agency administers several revolving loan and housing programs. Johnson said the commission receives about $211,830 in member-levy funding from the counties and uses that base to leverage state and federal grants. "Almost all of our projects that we work on are state, federal, and local grant programs," he said.

Why it matters: the commission’s planning and grant programs can affect whether towns and lake groups qualify for mitigation or housing funds. Public commenter Linda Zilmer, an Edgewater property owner, told the board she feared towns around Edgewater had not been notified about Sawyer County’s hazard mitigation plan and asked the board to reopen committee review so towns would not be excluded from funding opportunities. "It's not in just having a plan, but it's working the plan," Zilmer said.

The RPC staff also highlighted current housing and loan programs available to county residents: a regional housing fund, deferred-payment home repair loans and a Hickory down-payment assistance fund that averages $40,000–$50,000 per two-year cycle for down-payment awards. Johnson said the 10-county regional program has $3,000,000 available in the current two-year cycle for projects that meet income and program rules.

On environmental work, Megan Sorensen, the planning commission's water-quality resource specialist, said the RPC has secured more than $215,000 through Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources grants to support aquatic plant management and related planning for five lake groups in Sawyer County, covering roughly 15 lakes. Sorensen said those plans set lake groups up for five years of aquatic plant management planning with the DNR.

Board members pressed staff on how to get program information into the hands of residents and business owners. Johnson asked board members to refer interested people to the commission’s business development specialists, noting the Small Business Administration microloan program pairs technical assistance with loans from $5,000 to $50,000. He also said RPC staff will make handouts available and can meet with county staff or drop materials off for wider distribution.

Johnson and staff closed by reminding the board of a household hazardous-waste event scheduled for September 23 at the Sawyer County Fairgrounds, which the RPC administers grant funding to support locally.

The board took no formal action on RPC recommendations during this meeting; the presentation closed with direction for board members to help distribute program information and for staff to follow up on specific town-notification concerns raised in public comment.