You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa Kaye, bringing you news in our community.
During this interview, I'm talking with Wood County Board Chair Lance Plimo on Wednesday, June 24th.
Thank you for joining me, Lance, to bring the community an update from the County Board.
Good morning, Melissa.
Always a pleasure to be here.
Well, you just recently had an exciting event happening here in Wood County.
You hosted the Wisconsin County Forest Association.
Please explain what that is and what happened.
Sure.
It's exactly kind of what the letter stands for.
Wisconsin County Forest Association is a group of foresters and association of those counties that have county forest land.
And
there's 30 of those in the state of Wisconsin.
And they manage about
2.5 million acres, roughly.
So it's a lot
of
land.
And we are one of those counties that has county forest.
In fact, we have about 38,000 acres of county forest, which I always find frustrating when people tell me there's nowhere to go into the forest.
There's nowhere to hunt.
I go, yeah, there's 38,000 acres.
And if you walk more than, you know, 100 feet off the road, you're going to find you're going to be pretty much by yourself.
Those little, little signs.
Yeah.
State forest.
It just
amazes me.
They're going, there's nowhere to go.
I'm going, well, if you walk off the road, there is.
And those are managed.
you know, for sustainable forest.
We are certified in those respects across our county.
It was an honor to be able to host that.
It's something that does move around the state somewhat.
Not every county is capable of hosting that tour, you know, whether it be hotel space or other accommodations, but we were and our forester Fritz Schubert does a tremendous job with that.
And forestry is a huge revenue producer for our county.
Obviously weather dependent and some other things factor into it.
But we probably harvest on an annual basis anywhere on a low end from $250,000 to a high end of a half a million dollars of revenue that comes off there that helps run the other programs that we have in the county.
So they're tied pretty closely to the parks department.
It is parking forestry in ours.
And so as part of that forestry tour, they
looked at some of the forest products we have, industry that centers around that.
And they also had a pretty good opportunity to see some of our parks as well.
So a chance for us to get exposure around the state.
And again, extremely well received by the people who are there.
I had the opportunity to open the event.
And I was actually at the last event they had of the day.
So great event.
Probably won't get them back for another 20 years.
But if we have the opportunity, we'll bring them in sooner.
Okay.
And how many roughly representatives were there?
Where did it take place?
Well, it kicked off at the Hotel Mead.
From there, they go out into the field.
And they're basically on buses, touring the various facilities around the county.
Then a lunch stop, for instance, up at Powers Bluff, and then more tour of the county.
And next day, more of those tours of industry again in County Forest.
And then they wrapped up out at Lake Wasiche at Southwood County Park.
I'm not exactly sure how many are tenants.
I didn't count the tables, but in the big ballroom at the hotel mead, there were probably...
six chairs at every table, and it was generally full.
Okay, so pretty good size.
Yeah,
not only do you have those county forest representatives, you have county board supervisors.
I'm gonna tell you a real quick story.
This is a really good lesson, I think, for people out there.
People often wonder why a county board supervisor or a city alderman would go to a conference.
And a number of years ago, we're going back a lot of years, hotel rooms were a little cheaper back then, but we used to send our county
Park and Forestry Committee to this particular event.
And the cost to do that was in the neighborhood of $2,000, fairly expensive.
But we probably increased our timber revenues.
on an annual basis by between $250,000 and $350,000 a year by spending that $2,000 because we picked up on some better practices, ways to do things,
some ideas.
So it's an investment in the
future.
Yeah, and through that networking.
So my take has always been I will spend $2,000 to make
200,000, you know, any day of the week.
So there's opportunities to network there.
And then the DNR staff is on hand as well, because those guys work hand in glove on projects as we go forward.
So it's one of those things where we'll continue to manage the forest responsibly, providing those recreational opportunities, whether that be, you know, ATV traffic, snowmobile routes, we do have an ATV intensive use area out of town as well.
So yeah, great opportunity.
And we're lucky to have the people we have running the program.
Wonderful.
And as you said, those lands are available for recreational use, including hunting, right?
Yes.
And it's one of my favorite.
People say, why do you like Parkinson's forestry so much?
It's one of the few things actually we do in the county where any citizen gets to use those.
You don't even have to be a resident.
I mean, anybody can use them.
But it's not income-based.
It's not need-based.
It's not something where you're in trouble and you're dealing with the Sheriff's Department or a court say, it's something that every single person can enjoy.
And the cost of the taxpayer is really minimal for all that we provide, whether that be the Parks Department and the Forestry
Department.
Well, let's move on to talk a little bit about improvements at the Marshfield fairgrounds.
This was something that happened at your meeting here this week, or that it was approved.
I mean, it was obviously dealt with in committee before this.
And now there will be a certain amount of money paid to help upkeep the fairgrounds there.
Sure.
So, you know, this was an interesting one too.
As far back as I can remember, and that's a long way, the county contributes about $25,000 a year to the fairgrounds, basically for upkeep and maintenance of those facilities, of which we own part of.
The annual contribution has been 25,000 although there are times where we have made a lump sum contribution and then that 25,000 is credited against that amount in fact until those dollars run out if there's a bigger project.
The reason for that resolution coming forth was there was a point in time where the city and the county share in that expense and there was a year or two where the city didn't budget.
Forgot to budget.
I'm
exactly sure about the
city of Marshfield Yeah, and those funds, you know, we're not forthcoming and it's since been rectified and taken care But the point of the resolution was to make sure and give certainty Although it's that hasn't changed in well over 30 years that you know that money for that next five years will be forthcoming from both parties.
It's Dependent on that and that they can have some certainty in what they're doing whether they're Siding buildings or fix and plumbing or whatever it is.
So it was no more
expenditure, it was just kind of codifying, solidifying the fact that that money is going to be forthcoming on an annual basis.
So go to the
fair.
It's a great event.
It's one of those things.
I guess I can expand on that.
We have a great county fair,
the Central
Wisconsin State Fair.
Attendance is huge.
50, 60,000 people.
I certainly recommend you get up there.
And I always tell people, I don't remember necessarily what I ate for lunch yesterday.
I really mean that.
I don't.
But I do remember back a long, long time ago, going with my grandparents.
And I remember those sights and sounds and excitement of the fair.
So take advantage of it, because we have a great one up in
Marshfield.
And then, I don't know if they haven't put out the next, what the lineup is this summer yet, have they?
It's sat.
I'm not
sure if they've published it although I think the you know, they almost had you because I know they've had some
pre-sales on
some of the
concert events already.
So look on their website.
That should be available because I know the contracts were signed in the last few weeks.
Okay.
But there's always evening entertainment.
There's the carnival.
There's all the exhibits.
There's the animals.
There's so many and the duck and pig races are one of my favorites.
There's something for everybody.
That's one of my favorites too.
I sit there all the time.
I lose every bet on that, but
you know,
not that I'm betting money, but you know, betting on who's going to win.
But yeah, there's something for everybody, you know,
It runs a number of days and I would say take the opportunity to get up there and see what's going on.
And then one other let's touch briefly on the ARPA funds from the finance department.
There are some funds left and the funds must be expended by the end of 2026.
That
is true.
We've allocated all those dollars.
This sounds funny when I'm talking to the general public out there, but we got to make sure we spend them by then.
Or they get clawed back by the federal government.
So there's still some dollars out there that are going to be used by the parks department to finish some of those improvements.
And then we have the federally qualified health center that's going to be built somewhere over in the neighborhood of the Boys and Girls Club over there.
And that ground has to be broken on that.
And that money has to be spent by the end of the year.
Some of that stuff we can, in fact, prepay.
I mean, there's always things.
Again, don't hold me to this because I'm not sure they need one of those.
But for instance, we ordered the generators for the jail right as the jail started and had to pay for those, although they weren't actually installed probably for a year and a half.
So I'm not concerned about that, but it is something that we have to be cognizant of.
To make sure those funds get spent so we don't lose them.
Yeah,
there's a lot of money.
you know, that you got to do things that we spent all of it on capital improvement.
I remember last time you asked me what's CIP capital improvement projects.
We know we used it all there and there were places that use these funds on operational expenses, which is really short-sighted because those
are
continued
expenses and
what do you do the next year.
So we wanted to make sure
The thought process was we want people to look back 25, 30 years from now and say, this is what you did.
And that's the way we geared our thoughts.
And we've proceeded down that path.
All of those are going to come to fruition by the end of the year.
All right.
And that's 2.99 million that has been allocated and will be spent.
Yes.
Of a total of about 11 points some odd million.
So
yeah, it was a lot of dollars.
All right.
Well, let's take a brief pause here to hear from our sponsors.
I'm Melissa Kay talking with Wood County Board Chair Lance Plymouth.
And you're listening to Perspective on 13 20 a.m.
97 5 FM WFHR.
Welcome.
You're listening to Perspective on WFHR 1320 AM, 97.5 FM.
I'm Melissa Kaye bringing you news in our community.
I'm speaking with Wood County Board Chair Lance Plimal and where we left off we were talking about some of the ARPA funds that still needed to be utilized before the end of 2026.
Now let's talk about another project that's been in the works for quite some time.
Powers Bluff.
You're nearing the completion of...
of this project having had to wait on some doors to be delivered.
How is that going Lance?
It's going great.
I can actually say that today because yesterday they were in the process of installing those doors and you know they were a special size so special order.
Everything for the last number of years with supply chain issues have been back ordered.
That's been a nightmare to some in many cases.
We should have that totally open and ready for reservations in a couple of weeks.
So I
would you know
I guess, implore you to look at our website for availability out there.
It's a fantastic site out there.
The building's incredible.
What's really amazing there, Melissa, and you touched on is this project started with planning more than two decades ago.
You know, we always thought if we have the funds or if they become available, there's going to be a way to get this done and we have to be ready when that occurs.
People
always ask,
why do you do planning?
So when these opportunities present themselves, you have the opportunity to move forward, get something done.
So this started a long, long time ago.
As do many of our projects.
You know, you put the plan in place and then you move forward.
So once we're done out there, you're going to have the original shelter.
You've been out to Plowers Bluff at the top of the hill near the tubing operation.
Kind of a historic site.
that will probably be less used.
And there's even been talk over time about using that to certainly honor and recognize some of the Native American features up there.
At the bottom of the hill, now you have this fantastic new structure that's basically at the trailhead for biking trails.
It's an incredible operation.
Make sure you get out there and at least see it.
I
mean,
drive in and take a look, even if you don't book it for, hey, make sure you book it for your...
Weddings, anniversaries,
whatever.
Birthday parties, graduation.
Yeah,
want to make sure we fill it
up and see it.
But again, long time in the planning, finally got done.
We're
waiting
on these doors forever, it seemed.
And for a while I thought we're just going to apply it up and operate from that standpoint.
But yeah, that's gone really well.
Good, good.
And if you want to book that, you can head over to woodcountywi.gov, which is the county website, and navigate from there to the parks department.
and go from there and it should you know like I said they're thinking about two weeks that should be up and running that'd be pretty close
we're
moving along on a lot of those projects you know you mentioned it early I'll segue for you uh if you get out Sarah Park yeah the sign is almost done if
it isn't
completely done I went by the other day it was
almost finished.
So I'm gonna drive by later today and and send you a picture.
I would appreciate that Lance and then we'll do an article.
But you know operational out there too that was an acquisition last year.
We've been working on that park kind of non-stop but had the opportunity to drive through a couple of times in the last two weeks or so.
It's looking fantastic.
Another one of those where take the opportunity to see
you know, our latest acquisition to
the Parks Department.
And if you're coming from Stevens Point, watch out for the red barn on the right.
That's your signal to start slowing down.
That sign is not up yet.
We need signs.
There's a big, you know, if you've seen our park signs, we reclaimed all the stone that was on the side of what used to be changing houses out at the old beaches, the old
beach
houses.
And we save that.
And we've used it to put those signs up at our various parks.
They're very
recognizable.
Yeah, they're very attractive.
The new one is generally identical.
I'm not sure the timbers are exactly as long
or the
signings.
The essence of it.
The essence is identical.
And that's at the entrance to the park.
However, in both directions, as Melissa alluded to, as you're coming to that sign, there's not a sign yet that says...
park ahead in one
mile or
something and even I have driven by no one where I'm going you know with the intent of turning in and I've either slammed on the brakes or driven past and turned around so I guess look for the red barn if you're coming for Steven's point
that's that's what I was thinking I'm like yeah but there it is and I missed it but but I turned around I got pictures so it's good it's good that that park's being utilized it's a beautiful setting I haven't gotten to drive in through the whole thing yet but they have a pool there they have
Yeah, the pool
is there, but it's not operational
and it will
not be in the future.
That's one of those things that's you know really
employee intensive.
You know, there's a lot of personnel it takes to run that.
It's going to be more, you know, natural in that respect.
But, you know, you've
got
the riverfront there, all the campsites.
And there's some other opportunities in there, you know, for recreation.
But that one and the rest of our parks and, you know, that leads into the fact we're going to fill them all up with the waterski tournament coming
up,
which is the largest tournament in the world, happening out at South Park.
And that's
going to bring
in thousands of people.
And there's some upgrades happening out there too.
Oh, really?
Like what?
Yeah, working on those.
Well, right now we're in the
planning stage of some additional shelter building and judges stands out there, constant improvements out there.
And if you haven't been out to see that safety shelter has been on out there for, we've been complete for about a year now.
Again, for campers out there when we have those emergency situations, which always seemed to happen during the waterski tournament.
There's always a storm.
We have a place where you can shelter in a.
I'll call it storm proof buildings where
you should be
safe.
All cement, concrete.
And we're talking about Red Sands Beach, right?
We're
talking at Red Sands Beach.
You
go to White Sands Beach, you're gonna have to come over to Red Sands to get sheltered.
Good to know, good to know.
Well, let's touch on a couple other things going on in the community.
More progress has been made on the Safe Haven Baby Box.
It's arrived.
It's just waiting for installation.
Can you give us an update on that?
I can't give you a lot.
I know that, you know, we participated from the health department standpoint in driving that discussion.
I know you're going to have the mayor on
at some
point coming up and, you know, Mayor Zachar certainly would have all the information on that because that's going to be housed at the fire department.
But it was driven by a city alderman who actually sits.
on the county board.
I know Jeff Penskover was instrumental in this.
And then our health department, and actually Linda Casper, who now sits on our county board.
Again, one of those people who drove that discussion.
But I think it's another nice addition to the, you know, to the city of Wisconsin Rapids, and certainly benefits all the residents.
Not only Wood County, but the immediate area.
Well, and also, this is the furthest, to my understanding, this is the one that is the furthest north in the state.
Yeah, I'm the
closest one.
I've heard this and I don't know for sure and I should know because I go down there almost every weekend We have a home down in that area, but the close one I think is reedsburg
Yeah,
you know and that's a little bit of a job drive.
That's
70 plus miles
right
down
there And then there isn't another one until you get way north I want to say like the cities are Duluth superior maybe up in that area
So hopefully it will you know save a life help somebody with some very difficult decisions going forward
It was all paid for out of donations, so a great opportunity.
Yeah.
And then let's touch on Norwood briefly.
There have been some staffing challenges there.
How much of that are you aware of and can you speak to the staffing challenges?
Yeah, I
certainly can.
There's always staffing challenges when we're dealing with health care, especially in those 24-7 facilities.
We have whether that be Edgewater or up at Norwood or the Northwood County.
Health Annex.
I forget what we call it this year, last year, but everybody knows it is Norwood.
When you're dealing with RNs, mental health professionals, and other people that care for those patients, that staffing is difficult.
And I saw statistic the other day, statewide, the staffing for those types of units statewide in health care, whether that be long-term care facilities, nursing homes,
you know, mental health facilities, we've actually lost 8.3% of that workforce nationwide.
Now, or in the state of Wisconsin, we've lost that much.
Some of the adjoining states, Minnesota, some others have seen an increase in staffing.
So that's one of those things where we have to stem that tide and turn that around.
And, you know, some of that, those problems happened during COVID.
And those people who work in those fields, whether it's childcare, whether it's as a CNA or at those homes that deal with some of those people that are either challenged or elderly, they really have to love what they do.
It takes a
toll.
Yeah, it does.
And during COVID, a lot of these big box stores and other people to attract employees raised wages significantly.
And if you work at a facility,
and you really have a passion for that and you make a dollar an hour less or two, you probably still stay where you are.
But at some point in time when some of these other facilities are often five, six, seven dollars an hour more, it's hard to compete.
And even though you have a passion as an employee, you might go elsewhere.
And then we're also locked in by the amount of money that we can charge.
And a lot of those facilities are Medicaid dependent.
And as a county, we only get paid a small percentage of the cost to house
you know individuals that not only that compassion tells but we're required to house right so you know every year it becomes more expensive with and less people you know from which to employ
so
it's a it's a difficult challenge every year
hmm do you see any are there programs that the county could implement to try to attract there are and we haven't you know
and I think one of the best partners through this whole thing has been mid-state our tech school is
extremely cognizant of the needs of not only business, but the government agencies in the area, they have tailored programs around that.
You know, one of those things, you know, a lot of the people that come in, for instance, is CNAs come in because they're looking to go into nursing
or
some other medical field.
We're trying to enhance that.
There's been some
Efforts at the statewide from a licensing standpoint to make entry a little bit easier And we'll see where that goes because it is a crisis We have an aging population.
We have a housing shortage We have a childcare issue and if there's anybody out there that has any suggestions or magic bullets Please give me a call because we think we explore all those issues But there's you know, 75,000 of you out there.
I hope all 75,000 of you are listening today However, those ideas often, you know
come from, they percolate up from, you know, the general citizenry.
They don't always come from those people that are elected.
So please feel free to reach out if you have some ideas.
And how can they get in touch with you, Lance?
Well, all of my information is on the website.
You know, my phone number, my cell phone number, my email address, don't reach out on Facebook, because Lance does not have an account.
And I get yelled at all the time.
They go, I
tried to catch you on Facebook.
Well, good luck.
That's not going to happen.
But all the traditional ways, you know, email, text, phone, you name it, or stop in and see me.
Sure.
I'm available.
You can find that information at woodcountywi.gov.
I'm Melissa Kay speaking with Wood County Board Chair Lance Plymouth.
Thank you for talking with me today,
Lance.
It is always a pleasure, Melissa.
Thank
you.
And thank you to listeners joining us for news in our community on Perspective 1320 a.m.
975 FM WFHR.
