Ad hoc building committee appointees approved

It took some time, but Shawano County Board Chairman Tom Kautza finally has a full slate for the county’s ad hoc building committee.

The 11-member panel was approved at the July 24 meeting of the County Board.

Previously, Kautza was having difficulty finding business representatives from the three sections of the county — east, central and west.

Now named to the committee are John Jacobs Jr. of Green Valley Dairy for the east, Sam Crawford of TimberPro for the central and Regan Mongold of Cirrinity for the west.

There had been concerns about Jacobs. Although the business is in Shawano County, Jacobs lives in Brown County.

Joining Kautza on the committee will be fellow Supervisors Matt Pleshek and Randy Mallmann.

County employees include Grant Bystol from the highway department, Ty Raddant from the sheriff’s department, Scott Frank from the land conservation department and Ethan Schmidt, clerk of courts.

Bonduel’s Greg Strayer is the citizen member.

Supervisor Mike Wizen expressed frustration over the selection of Raddant, the chief deputy, over Sheriff George Lenzner.

“I’m somewhat disappointed that we’re picking somebody that’s fair and will make level-headed decisions, yet you don’t take your sheriff but you take your chief deputy over him,” he said. “You got Ethan Schmidt on here, because you’re building a justice center, but you don’t put the sheriff on because you’re building a jail and sheriff’s department.”

Kautza said that wasn’t accurate.

“We’re not necessarily building a jail or a sheriff’s department,” he insisted. “We’re looking at a plan, a master plan, of what should be for the county.”

Supervisor Joe Miller said it is time to move on.

“Let’s give these people an opportunity to sit down, get going,” he said. “It’s a dubious task. It’s going to take some time.”

The ad hoc committee’s recommendation will not bind the board. Any recommendation will be forwarded to the public property committee.

kpasson@newmedia-wi.com