Letters to the Editor published in the Aug. 23, 2023 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.
Residents of Lincoln County will ultimately pay the price
Last week, Lincoln County’s board rejected voter choice regarding Pine Crest’s future. Credit goes to the nine members who listened to the 100 plus present in support of keeping Pine Crest, along with the hundreds of signatures, a multitude of phone calls and contacts, and voted for the referendum.
The referendum offered a brief overview of projected costs. One testimony calculated that the annual tax impact of $85.14 per $100,000 of equalized value works out to less than $8.00/month on a property of that equalized value.
Supervisor Calvin Callahan felt compelled to personally point out that he is not a “Pine Crest Killer”, but supports the nursing home. One can understand the confusion over his statement when Supervisor Callahan has consistently voted to sell Pine Crest and against a voter referendum.
The claim that supplemental state subsidies all went to Madison nursing homes and not to us because of Governor Evers is false. Lincoln County simply did not qualify for those funds because of an earlier county decision regarding projected deficits.
Certain supervisors tried to muddy the issue by claiming that the annual cost should be $4.5 million rather than the proposed $3 million. When pressed about the source of that higher figure it was determined that the higher figure was based on older, outdated COVID projections.
One supervisor apparently felt that since three accountants were involved, (credentials not offered), we should just accept that higher projection. No disrespect intended, but too many bookkeepers become bean counters who do not excel at solutions but can only see the sky falling.
As one supervisor pointed out, that much higher figure was thrown in to put off voter support. And indeed, fear was used. At one point the claim was made that if the referendum was voted down by the electorate, the county would be forced to close Pine Crest. No, if a referendum to keep Pine Crest failed, the board could return to the option to sell.
The question of placing more taxes on the taxpayers was brought up. But not the fact that all taxpayers, and some donors, have consistently contributed to Pine Crest over the decades and have a vested interest in continuing ownership.
Unfortunately, throughout the entire process, neither the board nor its ad hoc committee spent much time on solutions to keep Pine Crest. It became painfully evident that the intent to sell was present from the very beginning with little to no effort on keeping it a county service.
If Pine Crest is sold, what will happen to the Social Services/Health Department building and their services?
And that is the crux of this issue – county services. Since this board was seated in 2022, their obvious agenda was to eliminate as many county-supported services as possible. The old saying of “penny wise, but pound foolish” applies to many of this board’s decisions.
Unfortunately, we, the residents of Lincoln County, will ultimately pay the price.
Diana C. Smith
Tomahawk
Town of Cassian Adolescent Recovery & Wellness Center
Proposed location for the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council (GLITC] Adolescent Recovery & Wellness Center, for substance abuse and mental health issues:
As a resident of Cassian, that lives about one mile from the proposed site on North Pine Square, many residents and I share multiple concerns regarding this Adolescent Recovery & Wellness Center.
Bryan Bainbridge, CEO of GLITC says he wants to be a good neighbor/partner and have transparency. That has not occurred up to this point. Bryan did not have any answers at the July 24 township meeting, however stated that the plan was to break ground Oct. 2023.
Items of concern are:
- Overall Security – would there be guards or fencing or both?
- Infrastructure – Impact on roads (Swamp Lake and the two gravel roads of East and North Pine Square) Concerns regarding construction trucks, semis for delivery of goods, additional traffic from employees/visitors. Who will maintain these roads? Or pave East and North Pine Square?
- Employees – the number of employees needed and where would they come from? Where would housing be? We have a housing deficiency in Oneida County along with an employee shortage already.
- Emergency Services – Police? Closest is Rhinelander or Tomahawk, roughly 20 minutes away. Fire Departments? Also 20 mins away.
- Taxes – How does this impact the homeowners close to facility, as well as Oneida County on a whole?
- Are there assurances from GLITC that this property will stay a for youth only facility?
- How does this facility benefit the residents of Oneida County? Priority will be (but not exclusive to) Urban Native American Youth.
- We can all agree there is a necessity for a facility of this nature; however, the disagreement is in the location and the effect it will have on the homeowners, many of whom are raising families or are elderly.
Though these are valid concerns from the residents of Cassian, GLITC does not seem to have the answers.
GLITC received at least $15 million dollars from the State of Wisconsin, via grants, plus monies for a feasibility study ($200K) architectural plans ($640K) and construction approval ($350K);
Thank you,
Chris Turnbull
Town of Cassian