Jefferson County Board Meeting
Creating a Broadband Working Group
The Jefferson County Board meeting on Tuesday, March 12 voted to create a Broadband Working Group in order to expand broadband access in underserved areas of Jefferson County.
Gaining broadband access involves the use of high-speed Internet. Jefferson County is getting great Internet access in their cities, but not so much in their rural areas of town like farms.
Jim Schroeder, Chairman of the Jefferson County Board, states that the rural areas having access to broadband are a “big boost for economic development”. In order to make the access more economically feasible, it will take both the county and town governments to contribute to funding for the project to happen.
Amy Rinard, County Supervisor, states “once you get across the line into Jefferson County, it’s a whole different story, and there are pockets just like that all over Jefferson County that are, if not just underserved, actual dead zones”. Economically, this issue is important because more and more children are doing their homework on the Internet, and it will also help increase property values.
The Broadband Working Group will include five to seven members picked from County Board Chair, Jim Schroeder. Members include supervisors, Jeff Johns, Dick Jones, Russ Kutz, Jim Mode, and Amy Rinard.
Members of the Broadband Working Group will be paid each day for meeting attendance in agreement with County policy, and the group will dissolve at the end of the 2018-2020 County Board term.
Barbara Frank Retirement
Barbara Frank, Jefferson County Clerk, is retiring from her position and had her last board meeting Tuesday. To celebrate, the board members had cake to share with everyone.
Her family also attended to celebrate her accomplishments, and took a family picture. They could not be more proud of all she has done in her work with the County Board.
Frank stood up to give a speech to the County Board stating, she has “loved working with every one of you and could not have picked a better place to be”.
Accepting Bids on Construction Projects
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office received bids from different vendors to construct a post frame storage building at the County Sheriff’s Office Training Facility in Lake Mills.
The bids were as follows:
- Bos Design Builders- $70,495
- Badgerland- $109,610
The board accepted the bid price from Bos Design Builders for this project at a cost not to go over $71,000.
The Human Services Department received bids to replace two boilers at the Human Services Workforce Development Building.
The bids were as follows:
- Sun Mechanical, LLC- $50,500
- General Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.- $53,995
- 1901, Inc.- $58,250
- Richter Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.- $64,968
- Illingworth-Kilgust Mechanical- $65,483
The Building and Grounds Committee and the Human Services Board both recommended to forward the resolution to accept the bid from Sun Mechanical to the County Board. The bid from Sun Mechanical was accepted by the County Board at Tuesday’s meeting.
Proclamation of Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month
The Jefferson County Board proclaimed the month of April 2019 as Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Month on Tuesday.
Child abuse and neglect has been an ongoing problem not only in society, but it also affects children in Jefferson County. There are many organizations that help raise awareness for this problem.
One of the main reasons for this is to help children and to think of future generations. The proclamation includes that every child is entitled to be loved, cared for, nurtured, and feel secure.
The next County Board meeting will be Tuesday, April 19 at 5 p.m. due to the spring election.
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