fbusch@nujournal.com
BROWN COUNTY By a 4-1 vote Tuesday, Brown County commissioners approved certification for a tract of land the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service recently secured to purchase in Section 34, Sigel Township.
Commissioner Dean Simonsen cast the dissenting vote regarding about 100 acres of land owned by Greg Mikkelson. Approval came on Commissioner Dave Borchert’s motion, seconded by Commissioner Scott Windschitl.
The property would be open to the public and managed as a Waterfowl Production Area as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System.
Commissioners tabled the item Feb. 2 with a stipulation to notify abutting property owners, getting a list of other properties, talking to landowners, and getting a reference from another county regarding noxious weed control.
fbusch@nujournal.com
BROWN COUNTY Brown County commissioners will receive a 2020 probation department statistics report at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19.
“This was a year of uncertainty. COVID-19 flipped many procedures and policies upside down,” Brown County Probation Director Les Schultz wrote in his report. “Staff truly outdid themselves this past year, working with many constant changes that COVID-19 pushed us towards. We were locked down for most of the year and had to supervise our clients differently.”
Schultz said his department had to learn Zoom, Web-ex, Team, VPN, and Splashtop, all of which were unheard of last January but became proficient at them in just a few months.