Richland County Board of Supervisors elects Randy Schoonover, other meeting details

Article Author: Jo Ann Krulatz

RICHLAND CENTER, Wis (WRCO / WRCE) – The Richland County Board of Supervisors filled the vacant seat for District 3 at last night’s (Tuesday) board meeting. Two residents of District 3 submitted a letter of interest. One was Randy Schoonover. The second was former supervisor Lee Van Landuyt. Many may also know Van Landuyt as a current school board member. He announced last night that he has turned in his resignation and has resigned from the school board so that he may once again seek a county board seat. The members of the county board then took a ballot vote with Randy Schoonover being elected in an 11 to 8 vote. The board then took a short recess and then Schoonover took the oath of office and was seated.

It was also noted at last night’s meeting that the seat representing District 11 is now vacant following the resignation of Michelle Harwick. Anyone, 18 or older, who resides in District 11, is invited to submit a letter of intent to Richland County Clerk, Derrick Kalish.

With the hiring of Tricia Clements as the County Administrator, it left a vacancy for the Health & Human Services Director. Clements reported that Stephanie Ronnfeldt has been promoted as the new director of HHS. Ronnfeldt is the current Business & Financial Services Manager.

The board also passed a resolution to approve the creation of a Deputy County Administrator. Richland County has had a County Administrator style of government since 2020, and each Administrator and Interim Administrator employed by Richland County since that time has reported the need for additional support for the Administrator. Administrator Clements has proposed adding 10 to 15 hours per week to the duties of another employee to be the Deputy County Administrator. The Deputy County Administrator would be the primary point of contact when the Administrator is unavailable and to be the lead on at least one county project at any given time. There is room in the Administrator’s budget to cover the remainder of the $20,000 yearly stipend for the 2025 year and will budget appropriately for future years.

Marty Brewer served Richland County for many years as a Supervisor and Chair. Most recently after the map configuration, he represented District 3 until his death. He supported many programs and causes for county residents, including the preservation of the wooded hilltop and trails for future public green-space access behind the campus. The Symons Natatorium Board recommended the renaming of the trails for Marty Brewer noting his support for the continued preservation of the trail area. Supervisor, Larry Engle, motioned to table the motion brought forward to first work up a format for naming public property after a person. That motion failed and the Richland County Board of Supervisors voted to approve naming the former UW-Richland wellness trails as the Marty Brewer Nature Trails.

In other action at last night’s Richland County Board of Supervisors meeting the board approved:

A Memorandum of Understanding with the Richland School District for the school district to use the campus gymnasium, weight room, and soccer field.

A contract with Ayres Associates, Inc for Geospatial Services. Richland County completed a Light Detection and Ranging project in 2021, and it was recommended by Ayres Associates, Inc at that time to complete enhancements to make the project more usable. Ayres Associates, Inc has been selected by Wisconsin Regional Orthoimagery Consortium to complete these projects. $33,613 will be paid from the 2024 Land Information grant, $38,710 from the 2025 Land Information grant, leaving the remaining $43,127 to be paid by county funds.

To pay financial aid for bridge or culvert projects in the Town of Bloom on Tar Hollow, in the Town of Ithaca on Hell Hollow and Dog Hollow, and in the Town of Marshall on Merry Hill. The total cost of the projects is $77,929 with the amount of county aid at $38,965.

The cancellation of stale county checks in the amount of $1,042. The checks have been outstanding against the County for more than one year.
Canceling Stale Tax Certificates For The Tax Year 2012 in the amount of $239.

A Sheriff’s Addendum to the Richland County Employee Handbook.

The inclusion of the needed renovations of the Tennis/Basketball Courts and the improvements to the nature trails in the Richland County Comprehensive Outdoor Plan adopted in 2023. This will satisfy the requirements of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and Recreational Trails Program (RTP) from the State of Wisconsin, making grant funding assistance available to assist the County in making these resources available to the public. By this inclusion, the Symons Recreation Complex Director, Mike Hardy, can apply and accept a 2025 LWCF grant for renovations of the tennis/basketball courts in the amount of $150,000; and to apply and accept a 2025 RTP grant for improvements of the trails of up to $40,000.

To accept the facilities assessment study proposal submitted by Venture Architects at a cost not to exceed $40,000 for additional county facility assessments and a wage differential for bilingual staff.

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