FLORENCE, Wis. — A budget amendment of $82,839 to allow the purchase of radios for the Florence County Sheriff”s Department was approved this week, despite some confusion over the order.

The board learned that former Sheriff Dan Miller ordered the radios through Motorola in March and, although the purchase was discussed, nothing had been budgeted. Miller reportedly planned to seek a budget amendment, but he stepped down as sheriff in July.

Sheriff Teresa Chrisman, appointed by Gov. Tony Evers last month, said the radios are needed, especially to hear the department’s Michigan counterparts.

“They are the guys that when we have a SWAT call — we don’t have enough staff for a SWAT team anymore — when I need somebody to come to the school because we have an incident, that is going to be our Michigan counterparts. We need to be able to talk to them,” Chrisman said.

Chrisman noted some money would be coming from the sale of old squad cars and payroll was probably lower, with the department down two officers. Chrisman also said that the county could look into grants in the future.

Vice Chair Rich Wolosyn said that even though he would support the budget amendment, he was disappointed how the purchase went down.

“If anything comes up as an emergency, please bring it to the chair so that we can reach out to the committee so that we aren’t caught like this,” Wolosyn said.

Board member Charles Kellstrom asked Chrisman if the radios will work if the county upgrades to an 800 megahertz system in a couple of years, or will the county again be faced with the expense of new radios.

Chrisman replied the radios would work with a new system.

The motion passed on a vote of 9-0 with board members Chad Hedmark, Edwin Kelley and Susan Theer absent.

During public comments, residents brought up a few concerns.

Jay Weber of Dunns Point Road on the Spread Eagle Chain of Lakes said a contractor doing shoreline restoration at North Lake parked equipment at the boat launch overnight and on weekends, against the terms of a conditional use permit. One weekend, the equipment blocked a handicapped parking spot, he said.

Weber stated that the sheriff’s department, while responsive, told him that as long as Forestry and Parks Department Administrator Patrick Smith knew about the situation, it was OK with the sheriff’s department.

Board Chair Jeanette Bomberg said that she had received multiple complaints about the equipment at the North Lake boat launch, as well as other complaints, and forwarded them to the Forestry and Parks Department.

Another resident, Stephen Hunt of Spread Eagle, stated that his neighbor clear-cut his property without approval and in the process removed a tree that was mostly on his property. Hunt claimed that when he put in his fence it had to be set back 75 feet from the shoreline, but his neighbor put in a fence only 35 feet from the shoreline with no consequences.

Board member Matt Brunette assured Weber and Hunt that the issues will be discussed at the next Forestry and Parks Committee meeting and that the zoning office should also be contacted.