MINUTES OF THE
REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING
Chairman
Gene Ratzel called the meeting to order at 6:30PM.
The
Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Chairman
Ratzel read the April Amended Agenda as follows:
Pledge of Allegiance to the
Flag
Approve the April Amended
Agenda
Treasurer’s Report
Vouchers Approval
Clerk / Correspondence
Anyone not on the agenda-5
minutes
Welcome to the new
board-Election Results
Chairman-Motion for Chairman
to continue to be responsible for the operations of the Garage and
of the Highway Personnel-Gene Ratzel to speak to the
people
Property Insurance
Resolution-Insurance
Policy
Zoning-Patti Boelk-Household
Occupation-52710
Robinson Lake Road. Permit to operate a greenhouse,
grow plants and then sell
on the premises. (Held over from last meeting) Robert Stack-
Rezone property to R-1 to build a new residence
Fire and Ambulance
ordinances-Board
to vote on a resolution to dissolve the BES and to vote on ordinances to create
the Town of Barnes Fire Department and Ambulance Department. Review meeting
wages for the Ambulance Department. Attorney John Anderson will be here for
advice
Fire Department-Permission to dispose of
extra portable pumps and a generator that haven’t been used in years. How does
the board want to do this? Board needs to set a meeting date of May 1, 2003 (if
convenient) to go over bids for fire vehicle.
Bridge, Locks and Dam on
South Shore Road-Dixie Chermack-Updates
Cemetery Committee-Bud Pease
Comprehensive Land Use
Planning Committee-Updates-Board approval for firm that will do the Comprehensive Plan for
town and ask approval for the committee to negotiate a contract with that
firm.-Lee Wiesner presenter
Department Head Reports
Board Member Reports
Motion
(Chermack / Webb) to approve the Amended April Agenda as read. Motion carried.
Clerk Peet wanted to add the following change to the March Minutes before approval. The Fire Chief said that the section under the fire department-purchase of new vehicle-should read, “With the addition of the new vehicle we would be able to protect 2-3 structure” instead of “The new vehicle would be able to protect 2-3 structures”. Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to approve the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting, with the corrections. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s
Report-Debbie Sesko gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:
Checking Balance from last meeting $ 134,316.60
Receipts # 15739-# 15743 $
1,582.05
Checks # 16531- #16543 $ (21,252.14)
Checking Balance $ 114,646.51
Ambulance Department Investment Fund $
1,800.89
Highway Department Sinking Fund $ 69,858.04
Highway Department Operational Fund $
1,008.45
EMS Sinking Fund $ 48,851.58
EMS Operational Fund $
1,006.94
Park Savings $
9,433.49
Ski Trail Savings $
1,585.16
Parade-Event Calendar Fund $
2,616.51
Balance all Accounts $ 250,807.57
Motion (Meinke / Chermack) to approve the
Treasurer’s Report as read. Motion carried.
Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to approve the vouchers as
presented. Motion carried.
Clerk /
Correspondence- There were three Intent to Cut permits-Irmgard Bergman, Deer Grove
Road, by Robert Campbell, Deer Grove Road and two for Plum Creek Lands by Plum
Creek Timberlands. Notices were received from Bayfield County Board on the
meeting held April 7, 2003. Clerk Peet noted the memo about Tornado Awareness
Week. The deadline for Hazardous Elimination Safety Program is extended to May
23, 2003- WISDOT. There was a notice from the County of the lands that will be
up for public auction in the town. The town has the first right to purchase
these for public use. The letter from the Property Owners Association,
commending Dick Smith for his years of public service, which was inadvertently
missed at the Annual Meeting, was read. The letter from the State Department of
Justice was read. This stated that Michael O’Keefe, Town Constable, was now a
qualified law enforcement officer in this state.
Clerk Peet made an announcement on behalf
Judi Scholz of the Centennial Celebration Committee, that there will not be a
meeting in April as previously planned. The meeting will hopefully be announced
for the early part of May.
Anyone not on
Agenda-5 minutes-Dawn Pittman read a letter prepared by the Potowatami Property Owners Association. This letter stated that the
Association had looked into the issue of the land in question in Potowatami and
is formally requesting that the 18 parcels designated by the developer as
public parks in Potowatami be re-designated as Potowatami common property. In
the early 1970’s the developer deeded the property to Potowatami. They
erroneously designated them as public parks. At that time Potowatami was a
gated community. According to State Statutes, once public parks are designated
on the plat, they become property of the public and under the control and
maintenance responsibility of the local government, if the properties have been
accepted by the local governing body. After careful research by Potowatami
Property Owners Association, some of the town board members and Mike Hoffman,
our assessor, it was learned that the property was never deeded to the Town of
Barnes, nor has the Town of Barnes accepted ownership and responsibilities of
the property as required by law. PPOA has paid the taxes and maintained the
property for more than 30 years. The parcels for the most part are un-build
able wetlands. Their primary value is in the wildlife repository and sound
buffer. They have little monetary value. Therefore, the Potowatami Property
Owners Association would be requesting the Barnes Town Board take the necessary
steps to fully transfer the control and responsibilities of the parcels to the
Potowatami Property Owners Association. Potowatami has no desire to sell or
profit from the transfer and agrees to continue paying the taxes and maintain
the said properties. The clerk received a copy of the letter. This issue will
be put on the May agenda. Dave Thorson
of the Property Owners Association spoke on organization and on the upcoming
meeting of the 2003 Northwest Lake
Leadership Seminar in Minong to be held on June 27, 2003. He said that the
POA would like to pay for two board members to go to the conference, but
Supervisor Webb reminded everyone that the board members couldn’t accept gifts
from special interest groups. Thorson noted the newsletter that the
organization puts out. John Kudlas
spoke on
the ATV
survey that was done recently. He has the data and would like to put this
issue on the May agenda. Kudlas also mentioned the fire safety issues important
to all of the town that they have put on the web site.
Welcome to the
new board-Election results-Clerk Peet presented the new board members, Chairman Gene Ratzel and
Supervisor David Scharlau, to the audience. The election results are as
follows:
Dick Collyard 179
Larry Peterson Write-in 7
Gene F. Ratzel is the new
chairman.
Walter (Bud) Pease 155
Viola S. Friermood 90
Christine M. Webb,
incumbent, and David Scharlau will be the two board members for this term.
Bonnie
Buck Write-in 11
Henry
Norton Write-in 1
Mike
O’Keefe will retain the Constable position.
Chairman-Motion for Chairman
to continue to be responsible for the Garage and of the Highway Department
Personnel-Chairman
Gene Ratzel asked for the motion for the chairman to continue to be responsible
for the garage and highway personnel. Motion (Meinke / Chermack) to have the
chairman continue to be responsible for the operations of the garage and
highway personnel. Motion carried. Ratzel
said that he questions the documentation that supports this decision in the
past and we haven’t been able to pin point it down and that’s why we are reaffirming
that decision tonight. Chermack wanted to know how this worked out with the
committees already established for the board. How will the new board integrate
with the old board committees? Will they be redefined? She felt that all of the
other committees should be discussed before accepting that motion. Ratzel said
this was only for the highway department. Chermack then questioned the presence
of Jack Meinke at the meeting Raztel had with garage people the other day.
Ratzel said Meinke was only there to discuss the upcoming road issues. The
attorney and Webb thought that the statutes pretty well set the
responsibilities and that the chairman has the responsibility of overseeing all
of the town operations. Ratzel said he would like to see that the responsibility
would step down in the future as things get under control. Meinke said he was
only working on the road situations and not on the day-to-day operations of the
garage. Chermack asked if the other committee designations would be gone over.
Clerk Peet said it was not an agenda item tonight and would have to put on the
agenda for future discussion. The attorney gave the opinion that unless there
was another resolution or ordinance to the contrary in effect, the statutes say
what need to happen. Motion (Meinke / Chermack) to withdraw
the above motion and the second by Chermack. Motion carried. Ratzel will oversee the
operations as stated by statutes. Ratzel then spoke on the WTA magazine article
that had been printed out for the people regarding proper meeting conduct and
order. There are statutes that govern the meetings. If items are not on the
agenda, we cannot discuss them. That is what the 5 minutes of public comment
are for. There are issues that he will be working on. A lot of things have not gotten
attended to. Ratzel asked Meinke to discuss the
road
issues at this time, but it was noted that this was not an agenda item. Meinke
could reference this when he gives his board member report however. Meinke said
he would do this. Ratzel said he had a lot to learn and that there was a lot of
work to be done in the town. He will have to set priorities.
The Town of Barnes, that
from the first day of April 2003, the public buildings and other property
belonging to the Town of Barnes be insured with the Local Government Property
Insurance Fund under Chapter 605 Wisconsin Statutes and amendments thereto,
including buildings, personal property, property in the open and contractor’s
equipment, excluded motor vehicles.
The Clerk of the Town of
Barnes is hereby directed to carry out the provisions of this resolution dated
this 15th day of April 2003.
Signed and adopted this 15th
day of April by the Chairman and the Clerk.
Fire and Ambulance
Ordinances-Resolution to dissolve BES. There was discussion with the attorney that the BES
should not be dissolved until the new ordinances for the two separate
departments were in place.
Ordinances to Create the
Fire and Ambulance Departments-A copy of the proposed ordinances was given to each
board member previous to the meeting. Chermack asked about several issues in
the ordinances. One concern was in the area of discipline for the Ambulance
Department, like the Fire Department had in its ordinance. It was said that
this could be in the policy part of the plan, not just in the ordinance. [The
attorney indicated that it was legal to discuss the ordinances, but not make a
final decision.] Meinke said that the Ambulance Department was under the
direction of a medical director. Chermack also had a question with #4-
Elections and Officers. She felt that the Ambulance Ordinance was worded less
clearly than the Fire Department Ordinance on this issue. The next issue
Chermack had was with #8-New members and is there a minimum age requirement?
Webb indicated that it was 18 years of age according to Health and Family
Services. Another question Chermack had was on #13-This was in the old
ordinance, but not in the new version. This had a provision for fines to be
imposed for interference with the service. Meinke said it was not included
because this was handled by law enforcement officials and not enforceable
according to the attorney. Webb will get the latest version of the Ambulance
Ordinance to the clerk. Webb said that there still was work to be done on the
Fire Department Ordinance, but that the Ambulance Department Ordinance was
pretty well set. There were items that the Fire Department may want to look at
their next meeting. Gene Miller has
gotten a copy of the newest version by e-mail to most
of
the members and the others have been mailed copies of the latest version of the
Fire Department Ordinance. Chermack had a question on #4-the disciplinary
action. The attorney noted that this issue was of some concern to the board and
needed to be clarified. Something needs to be in there to handle something
should it come up in the future. Meinke said the organizations should be
responsible for the documentation of the incidents and if someone isn’t doing
their job, the department heads can make some of those disciplinary decisions.
If it becomes necessary for the board to become involved, there would be
documentation, if needed, for a hearing. The attorney stated that the Town Board
has the ultimate authority over the actions of the departments. There needs to
be some fine-tuning of the ordinance. There was a question on #7 of the Fire
Department Ordinance. Webb said that according to statutes, the fire chief has
the authority to handle the disciplinary action. The attorney said there has to
be some policies put down for them to follow. Webb asked that if it would be
all right with the rest of the board, the ordinance would go back to the
department for final approval. Motion (Webb / Chermack) to postpone the
issue until the next board meeting. Motion carried.
Meeting Wages for the
Ambulance Department-Webb said that there should be a review of the wages paid for the
meetings. Last fall when the LOSA plan was discussed, the Ambulance Department
said it did not want to go with that plan. To make it more equal between the
two departments, the board agreed to give the members $10.00 for each in-house
meeting that they attended to try to encourage attendance and have that money
put in a separate savings account for the members. This would be paid out to
the person when he/ she retired, quit, resigned, etc. Now the Ambulance
Department wants to have this paid to their people right away as part of their
wages. We had $1,800.00 set aside for the Ambulance Department for last year
into the savings account. If the board would prefer to pay it out in wages each
month, they should make a decision on what they want to do. The clerk indicated
that she had spoken with Carol Doran of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue on
this issue. Ms. Doran said the board was in the position to offer what ever
they wanted. It was not up to the departments to decide what kind of plan they
would have. Webb asked the board to think about this. The money is there if the
board wants to go with LOSA in the future. Chermack said she didn't feel there
was any incentive for staying with the department-they want their money and
they want it now. No action needed to be taken at this time, as there was a
motion at a previous meeting to go with the original plan. Perhaps when the
minutes go out there will be more input from the members.
Set a Meeting Date to go
over bids for Fire Truck-Motion (Webb
/ Meinke) to open the floor for discussion on when to hold the meeting to look
over the bids for the new fire truck. Motion carried. Chief Renz was asked what
would be a convenient time to hold the meeting. It was decided that the board
would meet on Thursday May 1, 2003 at 6:30PM to open and go over the bids for
the new fire truck. There won't be a decision made, just discussion on the
bids. Chermack said she would not be able to be in attendance on that date, if
it was all right with the board. Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to close the
floor to discussion. Motion carried. The clerk will post the
appropriate notice.
Fire Department-Permission
to dispose of extra portable pump and a generator. The Fire Chief Tom Renz
asked the board for permission to dispose of a couple of extra pumps and a
generator that have not been used in years. Motion (Webb /Scharlau) to put the discussion on
the disposal of these items down to Department Head Reports, Fire Chief's
Report. Motion carried.
Bridge, Locks and Dam-Chermack reported that she
had contacted Mark Abeles Allison about the dam and locks because she had heard
that we were the only town that paid half of the costs of repairing these
structures. How did this happen? She did not know. Because the ice is not out
yet, the inspector has not been able to go down and look at the structures. The
bridge is not that bad, so we are not eligible for any grant money to repair it
at this time.
Economic Development
Corporation-Gene
Ratzel reported that Wally Schlafke and Art Smith were unable to attend the
meeting tonight to report. There has not been a list of the funds spent to date
as requested by Webb.
Comprehensive Land Use
Planning Committee-Updates on the committee’s activities were reported by Vice Chairman
Lee Wiesner in the absence of Chairman Dave Pease. Wiesner said that there have
been five regular meetings so far since they formed back on September 7, 2002.
They have made some major decisions. 1. Should they be a Land Use Committee or
a Comprehensive Land Use Committee? It was decided that they would be a
Comprehensive Land Use Committee. This is a much more detailed approach he
explained. Local decisions are made from the Comprehensive Plan. 2. The
committee looked at the nine elements of a Comprehensive Plan that include housing;
population; transportation; utilities and community facilities; agricultural,
natural and cultural resources; economic development; intergovernmental
cooperation; land use; and implementation. 3. Twenty-seven issues that will
affect the Town of Barnes in the next twenty years were put forth. Wiesner did
not go into those issues at this meeting. 4. The committee asked for proposals
for the Comprehensive Land Use Plan from eight firms. Five firms came back to
the committee with proposals. The committee sat down and looked at each one and
finally decided on MSA Planning as the firm that will do the Town of Barnes
Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The cost will be about $35,000.00. They were
chosen for several reasons. One reason was their public participation plan that
suited our town better. They would have five focus groups. Another reason was
that they seemed to have the best understanding of the topics of the Town of
Barnes. They had the most detail on the scope of their work and had extensive
experience in the planning field. Wiesner asked the Town Board to make a
decision on MSA. Webb had several questions on MSA. 1. Did they have good
recommendations? Wiesner said he had spoken with the Town of Hayward, who had
MSA do their plan, and they had very good comments on MSA. 2. Did the committee
look at other land plans that have already been done, such as the Town of
Drummond, Town of Cable, Town of Grand View to see how they were done? Wiesner
said the committee did get some examples from Tim Kane of the UW-Extension
Services. 3. Does MSA do all of the mapping, etc.? Wiesner said that yes they
do. Chermack indicated that the copy of the proposal was available for
inspection. Webb asked what we had put in the budget this year for planning. It
is $6,000.00. Webb asked if there was a "payment plan". There could
also be grants available to the town. Motion (Webb / Chermack) to make take the
recommendation of the land use committee and hire MSA as our planning
consultant. Motion carried. The attorney indicated at this time
that it is not normally the committee that negotiates the contract, but the
board. He would look it over for us. Wiesner asked the board to meet jointly
with them at the meeting on May 7, 2003 at 7:00PM at the town hall to do the
contract, providing that a representative from MSA can be there also.
Department Head Reports
The
Constable had copies of his report
given to all board members. He had ten calls that he had responded to since the
last meeting. He will be attending a meeting in Bayfield on Wednesday with
other law enforcement officials. He said that there have been several break-ins
recently and that people should be aware of this. Ratzel asked about the
mailbox incident on Lake Road this past weekend. O'Keefe had no further
information on this incident. People should contact either the sheriff's
department or the constable if they have problems. The Sheriff's Department
non-emergency number is 715-373-6120. The Constable's number is 715-795-3111.
Tom Renz speaking as a deputy said O’Keefe should report the incidents he
handles to the sheriff’s department so that the incidents can be tracked.
Ambulance Department Report-Tom Renz gave the report as
written by Ambulance Director Viola Friermood, who was not in attendance, as
follows:
We
had five calls since the last board meeting.
Two
no transport, one transport to Hayward, and two fire assists.
All
EMT’s and First Responders had their Mantoux Tests (TB)
All
EMT’s and First Responders have had their HIPAA training (Health Insurers
Privacy Act)
Viola
S. Friermood, Ambulance Director
Garage Report-Len Schiller reported that
he had attended a road seminar in March with Jack Meinke. He described the
session as good. The garage workers are in the process of dismantling the plows
and repairing them. They will grade the road when the conditions permit it.
There is welding being done. Schiller said he would be meeting with Jan
Victorson on the issues about the discontinued section of Circle Road, as they
are not in agreement with one another on this. He will meet with her in person
to go to the road area. The road name may have to change again. The sign was
replaced on River Road and Lake Road.
Jack Meinke reported that the board has
been trying to develop a plan for working up a road report on what work will be
done. There is a five-year plan for the town roads that Meinke has proposed.
Every year will bring updates and changes as road conditions change. The roads,
when discussing the budget, had $290,000.00 budgeted for roadwork. Out of this
amount, $42,500.00 of this has already been spent for gravel for this year and
next year, etc. $100,000.00 of the rest is for blacktop and the $140,000.00 or
so left will be for graveling, ditching, widening, etc. There will be less
blacktopping done because we are so far behind on our other roads that need to
be repaired and maintained. The Paser program has its downfalls. The town can’t
neglect its major roads and some of them need major work to get back in good
shape. We need to get the drainage problems under control, at least for the
first year of the five-year plan. We don't need every road in town black
topped. That's not why we live here. We cannot neglect the major roads in our
town and it will take a lot of work to get some of them back in shape. Many of
the roads in the Potowatami area need work as they are still sand and dirt
roads and there are a lot of hills, etc. that are full of sand at the bottom.
The mail routes and the bus routes will be priorities. This year we are
planning on doing some blacktop or blacktop /overlay, and we are going to have
consultants come in and look at the situations, as we are not experts on this
issue. We're going to try it this year and see how it goes and as soon as we
see how much we need to spend, our wish list may go one way or the other. We
may work on other roads. There is some work that the town crew will do on our
roads as they always do, which is a big job in itself. They are trying to fix
the drainage problems out there. At least we have a goal of where we need to
be.
Webb asked if Lower Lake Road was on the list. Yes, said Meinke. Most other
roads are in Potowatami. Ratzel said that this was true. He had been with John
Kudlas on the roads out there and they are bad. Clearwater Court is on the list
and also James Road. Webb also said that she had a list of roads that have been
promised in the past. Would there be anything done with them? Would other roads
be considered? Yes, if time permits and there is enough money.
Chris Webb-Nothing at this time.
Dixie Chermack-Chermack encouraged all
board members to attend the WTA Conference to be held on May 14, 2003 at
Lakewoods in Cable. Len Schiller asked if she had heard from 4 Star
Construction? Chermack said she wasn't really the bridge person. We need to
revisit 4 Star. They need DNR approval. Gravel has been put in on the River
Road, but it keeps washing away.
Webb did have a concern at this
time. At the WTA meeting last week, it was noted that there are Mitigation
Grants available. Money is available to take care of problems before they
happen. Jan Victorson in charge of town needs. This could help avert a tragedy
such as wildfires. We need to have something in place.
Dave Scharlau-Scharlau wanted to thank
all of those who turned out and voted for him.
Gene Ratzel-Ratzel said that he has had
a hard time determining what the town easements are. The attorney said that the
town has to determine if these are town right-of-ways or town easements. Town
roads should be 4-rod roads. Schiller said some are 34’ and some are 33’. It
could cost $125.00 per search for a title search to determine what is the
actual right-of-way according to Attorney Anderson. Existing ditches, etc. are
not usually a problem, but if you are creating new ditches, you better make
sure of where the right-of-way is. The other issue is that the center of the
road is not always the point of measurement. Schiller thought there would not
be a big problem on the issue of ditches on most of the road. We would not be
imposing too much on either side of the road, just pushing some of the banks
back a little. Ratzel said that because of the expense in doing the searches,
it would be better if we took our chances and do what we have to do. Schiller
said we might not even have to ditch some roads if we crown them right.
Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to adjourn the meeting. Motion
carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50PM.
Members
of the board in attendance-Chairman Gene F. Ratzel and Supervisors Jack Meinke,
Dixie Chermack, Chris Webb and Dave Scharlau. Also present were Clerk Lu Peet
and Treasurer Debbie Sesko.
Members
of the public present-John Kudlas, Robert Stack, Mary Jo Scharlau, Sharon Moen,
Ron Moen, Bob Campbell, Marlys Vergin, Ronnie Vergin, Al Halvorsen, Kitty
Smith, Dick Smith, Joan Brierly, Carol Horstman, Fred Horstman, Ed Erickson,
Brett Harper, Dave Thorson, Roseanne Ratzel-LeVois, Pat LeVoir, Patrick Foat,
Dawn Pittman, Greta Pittman, Lee Wiesner, Norb Kearns, Wayne Boelk, Denny
Vergin, Barb Vergin, Bill Cirhan, Eleanore Desrosiers, Janine Watts, Beverly
Kehoss, Tom Renz, Donna Porter, George Martin, Judy Neider, Lanny Neider, Marie
Hughes, Gene Miller, Paul Mueller, Dorothy Mueller, Mike Alston, Marianne
Mueller, Mary Kay Peterson, Grover E. Peterson, Jon Harkness, Buzzy Harkness,
Carol Tierney, Patti Boelk, Gladys Aukee, Henry Aukee, Leslie Hall, Len
Schiller, Bud Pease and Attorney John Anderson. There may have been others in
attendance that were note signed in or noted.
Respectfully
submitted,
Lucille
J. Peet
Barnes
Town Clerk
Dated
this 21st day of April 2003