Five northern Oconto County towns have decided to discontinue funding for the county’s Northern Satellite Office, turning instead to the county to pay for the building’s lease or move to another facility.
Since 2000, the satellite building has brought county services—law enforcement, zoning and veterans assistance, among others—to Northwoods residents, saving them the 60-mile trek from the Townsend area to the Oconto County Courthouse.
“The idea was to bring services, the more the better,” said Ann Hogan, Riverview town chairman.
On July 16, representatives of the town boards of Doty, Lakewood, Mountain, Riverview and Townsend voted unanimously to end funding for the office and encourage Oconto County to pick up the tab. The group had decided in 2013 to no longer lease the building at 17340 State Highway 32 from Donald and Colleen DeCoster. Their three-year lease will expire on June 30, 2015.
The town representatives considered three options for a satellite office: purchasing an existing building along the Highway 32 corridor, buying property and building from scratch, or dropping their financial support of a northern office altogether. They chose the last option.
“Our thinking is the county should be doing that,” said Dick Kendall, Doty town chairman.
Hogan said the five towns have “shown good faith for 15 years by absorbing this expense.”
Monthly lease payments are $1,300, split among the five towns based on equalized value. Oconto County contributes about $3,000 annually for utilities.
“Still it’s not enough,” Hogan said of the county’s share. “We’re one long county, and we deserve services, too.”
“Our hope is the county will say, ‘This is a good thing,’” Kendall said.
Kendall acknowledged it’s a gamble on the part of the five towns to drop their financial backing of the office.
“We just think maybe it’s time to take a slightly different approach,” he said.
He said the towns considered purchasing a building or constructing one because they had nothing to show for their lease payments; they built up no equity in the building over the 14 years of leasing.
At recent town meetings in Doty, Lakewood, Mountain, Riverview and Townsend, voters of four of the five towns approved $40,000 to purchase a building or property for a satellite office. In the fifth town, no action was taken.
Town leaders developed a list of potential buildings to purchase before deciding to discontinue funding the office.
Hogan said residents in northern Oconto County are “double taxed,” paying for services at the county seat of Oconto and in Townsend.
According to Kendall, maintaining a northern office contributes to the economic vibrancy of the area.
Contractors often refer seasonal and full-time residents to the zoning office for permits. Summer hours at the zoning office are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 7:30-11:30 a.m. Saturday. Winter hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.
“They’re not going to be very happy if they don’t have the zoning services, for sure,” Hogan said.
Sheriff Mike Jansen said his department uses the satellite office for interviews, meetings and the initial storage of recovered property and evidence. The garage is used to house department vehicles.
The sheriff’s department has never staffed the facility full time; it doesn’t have the personnel or the budget to cover that, Jansen said.
“It’s still a plus for us,” he said.
It’s also a plus for Veteran Service Officer Holly Hoppe. She meets with veterans on the fourth Tuesday of the month at the satellite station. She said people are lined up at the door when she arrives at 9 a.m., and she meets with 6 to 12 individuals each visit.
“I find it very valuable because we give a service to the older veterans, especially in the bad weather,” she said. “It saves them a long drive.”
Hoppe also holds monthly office hours in Gillett and Mountain. Veterans forms are complex, according to Hoppe, and she wants veterans to receive the benefits they are due.
“We try to give the best customer service to people in the county, and this is one way we can do it,” she said.
“The services that we have up here are very, very important to the people,” Hogan said.
The county’s Law Enforcement Committee is scheduled to discuss the issue on Aug. 6.
Oconto County Administrative Coordinator Kevin Hamann said the County Board will have the final say on whether to fund a northern satellite office.
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