Lake Holcombe Town Board - Short-term rental ordinance draws closer to reality

After inspecting the new steps that were installed on the north side of the Lake Holcombe Town Hall July 11, the consensus was that, left to right, supervisors Doug Olson and David Staudacher, town roadman Ben Jordan and chairman Brian Guthman, are happy with the outcome. The front steps were also redone, to make the entrance more user friendly, with the railings still to be completed, as well as landscaping. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

When someone mentions going on vacation in the northwoods, it’s almost inevitable that they’re staying at either a campground or a short-term rental, known as an AirBnB or Vrbo. That’s fine, as long as the one who is licensed is held accountable for what goes on there.

The Town of Holcombe is seeing more disturbances from some of the short-term renters and safety concerns, such as having too many cars parked along the roads. Therefore, the town board is continuing to look into drafting a short-term rental vacation ordinance, which was discussed at a meeting July 11.

Because Holcombe is an un-zoned township, enforcement is difficult for law enforcement, as the county does not regulate the rentals, without an ordinance to back it up.

“It becomes murky,” said board supervisor Doug Olson.

As for Vrbo, there’s no responsibility to collect room tax, as the company is not located in Wisconsin, so that falls on the town to manage that collection. With an ordinance in place, the town could charge a room tax, much like a building permit, that would be renewed annually.

According to state statute, 30 percent of the fee can be used for enforcement, but the remaining 70 percent must be used for tourist improvements within the municipality. It was suggested those funds could be used to improve roads and/or boat landings, or maintenance of the park.

“It would be worth investigating,” said Olson.

Members also discussed the public nuisance that is ongoing on 259th Avenue, with a suspected illegal landfill. When DNR enforcement failed, the town took action and agreed a letter would be sent to the property owner, that they had 30 days to comply with clean-up.

Before the letter could be delivered from a sheriff’s deputy, the property owner received word he would be served and retrieved the letter from the sheriff’s office.

“He does have it,” said town chairman Brian Guthman.

If the owner does not comply within the 30 days, the town will go onto the property, clean it up, remove the refuse and bill the owner for it.

The board is also looking at a possible contract with a garbage/recycling company, as there are two different haulers picking up at various times of the week, causing wear and tear on the roads. If the town went with one specific hauler, rates could be lower and more services may be offered.

“I think it’d be worthwhile to put it on bids and see what we get,” said Guthman.

Members did approve going ahead with a bid to replace the catch basin on the side of the school parking lot, after calling for bids. To complete the project, Bauman submitted a bid of $9,800, while Laird offered $5,775 to do the job and Laird was chosen as the low bidder.

Guthman also reported that at a recent Ambulance Board meeting, it was agreed to set a number of minimum hours EMTs or EMRs have to work each month, as there are 27 people on the books.

“But only 10 people are really doing the work,” said Guthman.

It is now required, in order to remain on the active roster, to have 40 hours on-call each month; if someone happens to be a fire and ambulance responder, the requirement will only be 20 hours/per month.

“A couple hours is not doing you a lot of good, when you have all these hours to fill,” said Guthman. “You’re putting all the weight on 10 people.”