CHAD HEDMARK

FLORENCE, Wis. — Chad Hedmark of Aurora will serve as the new chairman of the Florence County Board, which still has two vacancies to fill.

Hedmark was elected unanimously Tuesday during the board’s reorganizational meeting. He succeeds Jeanette Bomberg of Florence, who was defeated in the April 2 election by Tom Brandt.

Other new members seated Tuesday were Chase Erickson, Dewaine Drewa and Henry Sullivan, who was elected with three write-in votes in District 4 in Commonwealth.

In addition to District 4, there were no candidates on the spring ballot in Districts 3 and 8.

Brandt inquired about how the two vacant board seats would be filled, stating there were people in attendance who were interested in possibly filling the vacancies. Clerk Donna Trudell said she would start by calling those who had received write-in votes. If they are not interested, ads would be taken out asking applicants to submit letters.

Brandt noted that by law, those selected need to live in the district they would be serving. Hedmark said while every effort will be made to find people to serve who live in Districts 3 and 8, there have been times in the past that no one could be found in a vacant district and someone else was appointed to serve.

District 3 includes parts of Aurora and Commonwealth, while District 8 is in Florence.

During the reorganization, Supervisor Sherry Johnson was elected vice chair and Fran Modschiedler was selected as second vice chair.

Brunette, Sullivan, Modschiedler and Joe Mills were named to the highway committee.

In other business, the board:

— Authorized the sale of $3.9 million in general obligation promissory notes. During the March meeting the board approved borrowing money for upcoming road projects and upgrades to the courthouse boiler system.

— Approved a comprehensive zoning revision. The changes are designed to encourage and prepare for residential and business growth, Zoning Administrator Kelly Sleeter said. They include creating home business and home occupation opportunities within agricultural and forest districts. New regulations address new demands such as temporary rooming houses like Airbnb and Vrbo, shipping containers and wireless communication towers.

In addition, Sleeter said the new zoning map will match districts in the revised ordinance and will be clear and readily available to the public. Zoning district definitions were simplified by removing repetitive or redundant districts and clauses, and made district uses size-related. Sleeter also said the existing ordinances created confusion and non-compliance with residents.