By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Adding economic development to a new Dunn County planning and zoning administrator’s duties would not replace the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation.
Tom Quinn, county board supervisor from Downing and chair of the Planning, Resources and Development Committee, said at the August 10 meeting he had been in discussion with county administrator about the new position at planning and zoning.
Bob Colson, former planning and zoning administrator for Dunn County, resigned in July.
As the county considers funding for the Dunn County Economic Development Corporation in the 2022 budget, and as the county goes through the process of hiring a planning and zoning administrator, one option would be to add an element of economic development to the position, Quinn said.
The idea came from the suggestion that the county should provide more leadership on economic development, said Paul Miller, county manager.
The possibility of adding economic development to planning and zoning is in the exploration stage, he said.
A planning and zoning administrator who also does economic development could coordinate with Dunn County Economic Development, the Greater Menomonie Development Corporation and the local Chamber of Commerce, Miller said.
The duties could include reaching out to major employers to improve relationships between the county and the employers and to find out more about their plans for expansion and retention, he said.
Miller said his own professional history is that he was a planning and zoning director for many years, and the economic development part of the job could be done one day per week and could be effective in providing county-based leadership in helping to enforce the county’s directional plan and to foster and encourage economic development, Miller said.
Over-worked
Diane Morehouse, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, said she was not opposed to the idea but that given the staffing situation in planning and zoning, “this seems like a huge stretch” for a position that is already over-worked.
There is a vacancy of a zoning inspector/planner in addition to the zoning administrator vacancy, and the county must give serious consideration to also filling the zoning inspector position, Miller said.
Hiring a zoning inspector will be dependent on multiple position requests in the overall county budget, he noted.
If economic development is a priority, if county leadership is a priority, then filling the zoning inspector position would free up time for the zoning administrator, Miller said.
A zoning inspector would do most of the day to day activities of issuing zoning permits, conducting site visits and following up on complaints, which would give more time to the zoning administrator for job duties that would not require more than one day per week, he said.
Mike Kneer, county board supervisor from Menomonie and a member of the PR&D committee, said he agreed with Morehouse and noted there are still two unfilled positions in the zoning administrator’s office.
If two positions are unfilled but “we are still expecting to get all the work done, that does not make sense to me,” he said.
Public health
Freeing up time for economic development duties also would involve moving the sanitary sewer applications out of the zoning office and into public health, Miller said.
Miller said he has discussed the idea with KT Gallagher, director of the Dunn County Health Department, and she thinks there is capacity in public health to take on the sanitary permits, with the realistic stance of seeing how it goes over a certain period of time.
Kneer said he still could not understand how cutting two or three positions and adding more job duties would lead to the expectation that all of the work could get done.
“You have to convince me first, and you have not yet,” he said.
There are two parts to the issue: whether the zoning administrator should also do economic development and shifting sanitary permit administration to the health department, Miller said.
Moving sanitary permits to the health department has budget implications, although Gallagher says there are one or more people in the health department who already have Private Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (POWTS) training or who could easily acquire it, he said.
Moving sanitary permits to the health department would require an increase in staff for inspections and administrative services, Miller said.
Miller suggested putting the economic development duties for the zoning administrator on the next agenda and said he would ask Gallagher to put something in writing that the PR&D committee could reference as part of the discussion.
Rural character
Gary Bjork, county board supervisor from Colfax and a member of the PR&D committee, wondered why a company would want to locate in Dunn County, or expand, “if every place you go by has a sign out looking for employees.”
Another problem is that the surveys for the comprehensive land use plans said people in Dunn County want to “keep the rural characteristics,” Bjork said.
“There is a fine line between economic development and not becoming western St. Croix County,” he said.
Any economic development is driven by the values of local people. Some places do not want growth, and other places look for as much growth as they can get, Miller said.
In rural areas, some want to cover the ground with houses and businesses, and in other areas, they want it to remain rural, he said.
As for finding employees, that is a problem all across the United States, Miller said.
In partnership with other organizations, economic development in Dunn County would have to focus on areas that residents in Dunn County say they want to see developed, he said.
At a recent Community Resources and Tourism committee meeting, it was noted that Dunn County has one of the highest poverty rates in Wisconsin, Quinn said.
There are many jobs available in Dunn County that are not living wage jobs. There are many people in poverty who are working full time, he said.
Dunn County must be aware of attracting better jobs that are family-supporting jobs, Quinn said.
As a county, one way to shape bringing in better family-supporting jobs is by participation in DCEDC and having county staff who can also help with economic development, he said.
The discussion of adding economic development duties to the zoning administrator’s position will be continued at another meeting, Quinn said.
