Judnic named new county veterans service officer

Dan Judnic of Rib Lake is the new Taylor County Veterans Service Officer (CVSO).

Judnic fills the position left vacant since previous CVSO Shellie Shaw resigned on August 19. Judnic is set to begin working full time in the veterans service office beginning Oct. 31.

Judnic had a 33-year military career in the U.S. Air Force where he achieved the rank of Master Sergeant. During his military career he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, National Service Medal with one service star, the Southwest Asia Service medal with three service stars, and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal with one service star.

“I will do my best to advocate for veterans and educate the public on our needs,” Judnic said introducing himself to county board members and to the large contingent of veterans in the audience at the county board session Wednesday morning.

“I know what is at stake,” Judnic said of the importance of the veterans service office function. “I hope I can do half as well as the last service officer,” he said, noting there are many people in Taylor County who are in need of the services the office provides.

Judnic was questioned by an audience member about his time in the service and duties and if he had been deployed to any combat areas. Judnic said he had served as a flight engineer and had a mixture of both active and reserve duty as well as serving overseas.

When asked about his knowledge of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Judnic noted that while combat-induced PTSD is most widely known and is a primary area of concern, he said PTSD can occur from many different kinds of service.

“We want to take care of the combat veterans most of all,” he said. However, he noted that it can happen to people from a lot of different areas.

“Some of the culture in the military is guys will forget who the real enemy is,” Judnic said.

Judnic’s appointment drew applause from the audience members, some of whom were displaying signs calling for the removal of county board member Lester Lewis.

In other veteran-related action, board members approved a resolution in support of Operation Green Light for Veterans naming Taylor County as a Green Light for Veterans County and designating October through Veterans Day as a time to “salute and honor the sacrifices of our men and women in uniform transitioning from active service.”

In action related to the veterans service office, the county board went into closed session to receive information regarding an investigation conducted by a lawyer hired by the county’s insurance company into allegations regarding the treatment of Shaw. No formal action came out of the meeting.

Job posting authority

The process of filling vacant county positions will speed up under a resolution approved by members of the county board.

Under the change, the department head, human resources manager and oversight committee chairperson are authorized to begin the process to post open positions in those departments. Previously, beginning the process to fill a vacant position required having the full committee vote on this. Supervisor Lynette Rosemeyer who introduced the resolution said this process resulted in a waste of time and resources for the county.

She noted that in human services this meant bringing seven committee members together paying them for meeting time and mileage for what ended up being five-minute, one agenda item meetings.

Rosemeyer explained that this would just be for already existing, open positions and not be for any new positions or where there would be changes in the job description. She said the committee could stop the hiring process at any time and the intent of this measure was to get jobs posted right away to reduce the time a position was open.

Initially she had proposed just having the department head and human resources manager make the decision on if to post a position. However supervisor Rollie Thums objected saying he felt the committee chairperson should be involved in the process. Supervisor Chuck Zenner agreed, noting the committee chairperson would have a good idea of how the committee would vote in either filling or not filling an open position.

The resolution was amended to make that change and passed as amended on a vote of 15-1 with supervisor Rod Adams opposed and Greg Knight absent.

Bridge aid

County bridge aid is up significantly this year as local municipalities look at infrastructure needs.

The county board approved $289,356 in bridge aid requests. This amount goes as a special levy to communities that participate in the county’s bridge aid program. Under bridge aids, the county splits the cost of culvert replacement with the local municipalities. For bridges that qualify under federal definitions, the federal government pays 80% of the cost with the county and municipalities each paying 10%.

Bub noted the steep jump in total between what was initially presented to the budget committee and the updated list at the county board session. Bub questioned if people had missed deadlines that there were so many late additions.

“Today is the deadline,” Lewis said, noting that there are often others that come in after the county begins the budget process in August. “We always know there will be some coming up,” he said, also noting the importance of staying on top of bridge maintenance. “They are not something we want to be messing with waiting on,” he said.

According to finance director Larry Brandl, last year’s total was around $160,000 with it averaging between that and $180,000 with some years higher than others due to the needs that are found.

In other highway department action, supervisors approved the 2023 highway department equipment schedule with total expenditures set for $822,000. The purchases are offset with $550,000 in machinery earnings from 2022 and equipment fund carryover of $348,000. In addition, Ben Stanfley was reelected to serve at the county highway commissioner through December 31, 2026.

In other business, board members:

  Approved a resolution recognizing John Easterly for his 29 years of employment with Taylor County. Easterly was hired as a survey assistant in 1993 and progressed to become a land information specialist and ran and maintained the county’s geographic information system. Easterly retired on September 1.

  Approved an ordinance change increasing the dog licensing fee in the county raising from $5 to $10 for spayed/ neutered dogs and from $10 to $15 for dogs that have not been spayed/neutered. In addition, the kennel fee was set at $40 for a kennel of 12 or fewer dogs with an additional fee of $3 per dog in excess of that.

  Approved housekeeping changes to the county ordinance regarding the work hours of county departments to reflect the change made by the finance and personnel committee to have the treasurer’s department move from 35 hours per week to 40 hours per week for all employees in the department. Adams noted there were still a number of positions at 35 hours per week and asked if this has impacted filling any vacant positions. Hager said that since she started last spring she has had a few people decline the position because of it being at 35 hours rather than 40.

  Approved a resolution to increase fees in the sheriff’s department. Inmates in the jail will be charged $18 per day, up from $12. Those released on electronic monitoring will be charged $20 per day, up from $15. The hourly stand-by fee for scheduled moves related to civil process is $70, up from $40 and USB flash drives were added to the fee schedule.

  Approved an ordinance to repeal and recreate Chapter 2 of the county code. This spells out the duties of each of the committees. The new language reflects changes implemented as part of the county reorganization of committees that occurred last April.

  Approved an ordinance to amend the county’s floodplain zoning ordinance to add the Meyer Dam No. 6 hydraulic shadow map.

  Approved renewing the contracts for Taylor County Medical Examiner Scott Perrin and for the county’s corporation counsel Graff and Koch Law Firm.

  Approved the county forest annual work plan. This details the work to be done by the forestry department in the coming year. There will be minimal changes from the prior year.