MINUTES OF THE REGULAR TOWN
BOARD MEETING
Chairman
Gene Ratzel called the meeting to order at 6:30PM.
The
Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Ratzel
read the November Amended Agenda as follows:
Pledge
Allegiance to the Flag
Approve
the November Amended Agenda
Approve
the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting
Treasurer’s
Report
Voucher’s
Approval
Clerk
/ Correspondence
License
Application-2-year
Operator’s License Susan Pearson
West
Sweet Lake Road –Ordinance-Name Change for West Sweet Lake Road to Sweet Lake Road
Potawatomi
Land Issues-18
Parcel Transfer Update
Transfer
Site- Fees
and Hours of Operation
Health
Insurance Provider-Renew Contract for 2004 with Atrium with any Changes
Appointed
Clerk and Appointed Treasurer - Create Ordinance to Change These Positions
Employee
Handbook for Town of Barnes – Updates
Ordinances-Set Date for All-Board
Review of Ordinances
Sale
of Town Timber-Discussion and Possible Action
Public
Comment Session- 5-Minute Limit for Those not on Agenda
Cemetery
Committee-Bud
Pease
Comprehensive
Land Use Planning Committee-Updates
BADC-Updates
Department
Head Reports
Motion (Webb / Chermack) to approve the November Agenda. Motion
carried.
Motion (Chermack / Scharlau) to approve the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting as presented. Motion carried.
Treasurer’s
Report-
Treasurer Debbie Sesko gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:
Checking balance from Last
Meeting $ 259,816.99
Receipts # 15918-# 15941 $
30,950.13
Checks # 17199 to #17297 $ (49,339.05)
October Interest $
108.49
October Service Charge $
(20.60)
Transfer from Ski Trail Fund (Partial Payment
of New Groomer) $ 2,635.00
Checking Balance $ 244,150.96
Ambulance Department Investment Fund $
1,808.75
Highway Department Sinking Fund $
70,163.19
BES Sinking Fund $
5,434.42
Park Savings $
7,943.05
Ski Trail Savings $
114.31
Parade-Event Calendar Fund $
1,849.32
Balance All Accounts $ 331,464.00
Motion (Meinke / Chermack) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as given. Motion carried.
Voucher’s
Approval -Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to approve the Vouchers as presented.
Motion carried.
Clerk
/ Correspondence- Notice from the Bayfield County Board of Supervisors of their meeting
of November 12, 2003; Notices from Bayfield County Zoning of the approval of
the zoning change for Robert Stack (Robinson Lake) and the disapproval of the
zoning change for North Limited LLP (Kelly Lake); Notice from the State of our
final State Shared Revenue Payment of $17,310.51. The Shared Revenues have also
paid an additional $2,320.00 to Medical Care Transportation Services-a total of
$23,109.56 in State Shared Revenues in 2003; The Drum Beat Newsletter from the
Potawatomi Property Owners Association; Notice from the County of the Spring
Elections to be held in 2004. This will be the Presidential Primary in February
and local races if needed and the Regular Spring Election in April. This will
include the County Supervisors Race and Local races. The County gave notice
that the first day to file nomination papers is December 1, 2003; The Tax Levy
for the Town of Barnes has been set. It will be $11.595804 per thousand dollars
of assessed valuation. The State is up $7,000.00, the County is up $130,000.00,
the Drummond School District is up $112,000.00 and the Vocational School is up
$28,000.00. The Town of Barnes is down $967.00. The total net levy for the town
is $2,830,349.04.
License
Application-2-Year
Operator’s License for Susan Pearson. Ms. Pearson has completed her Responsible
Beverage Server Class and has been checked out. Motion (Webb / Meinke)
to approve the 2-Year Operator’s License for Susan Pearson. Motion carried.
Use
of Town Garage-Barnstormers- Russ Carter spoke for Earl Orner on behalf of the
Barnstormers Snowmobile Club. The club wants to continue to use the Town Garage
to do the snowmobile maintenance work in, as it has in past years. He said the
cost of the groomer was between $110,000.00 and $120,000.00. and that it is
owned by the Bayfield County Snowmobile Alliance. We need to keep the machine
here to be used locally so that our trails are kept in good condition. The
snowmobiles bring in a lot of revenue to the local businesses. Supervisor Webb
asked how old the groomer was. Carter said it was the oldest one in the system.
It has had a quite a bit of maintenance done to it in recent years. John
Peterson is in charge of the maintenance. Gene Magierus will be leaving the
area soon and will no longer be involved in the club. There was a question
asked on if the groomer had been readied for the new snow season? It has not as
yet, but there is no major work to be done.
A question was asked on how long the groomer needed to be in the garage.
It would go in late night and would have the ice melted off by the morning and
then maintained and repaired. This is usually done once a week during the snow
season-November to March (April possible)-16 to 18 days. It was asked if the
club had an alternative to this plan. Carter said he was not aware of another
place that could accommodate this work. Right now the groomer is still at
Skoglund’s. It will be moved over to Northwood’s Tap. Carter said they were
willing to go along with an alternative. Supervisor Meinke said that the whole
board realizes the importance of snowmobiles to the community. Supervisor Webb said that the board members
have had a chance to go the garage and look at the situation. There isn’t much
room since the new office was put in. The new heating units also seem to pose a
problem in that the heat coming off of them is very intense and the heating
contractor recommended keeping equipment at least 4 feet away from the units.
The board wants to work with the snowmobile club. It would work out the best if
the club could limit the time to one day per week. Carter said the club was
looking to find a new building. They are looking to get a grant or other
financing to build a new building. Carter has spoken to the County
Administrator Mark Abelis-Allison also. Ratzel said he had several questions on
this arrangement. One question was if it would
fit
in the garage with the new set up there. The groomer is usually driven in with
the drag attached. Another issue is the security. The town has just installed
new keyless locks and the combination would have to be given out. This would
require reprogramming the system after the season is over. Carter said the club
would be glad to work with the garage crew to work something out. Webb said the
question if enough room was a
valid
one. Carter said to let them know if there was an alternative place for them.
Supervisor Scharlau said that the Conservation Club building was a
possibility. Supervisor Chermack asked
that the board try to work out something for this season until the club has an
alternative. Carter said that their money is short. It was decided to have the
club get together with the garage crew and the chairman to see what can be
done. In six months this will be looked at again to see how the club is doing.
No other action was taken. The clerk will inform each board member of the outcome
of the issue.
West
Sweet Lake Road-The Ordinance to Change the Name of West Sweet Lake Road to Sweet Lake
Road was read. A copy of the ordinance is on file in the clerk’s office for
anyone to look at. It will also be posted in the three places in town that
normally are used for posting. Motion (Meinke / Scharlau) to approve
the Name Change by Ordinance of West Sweet Lake Road to Sweet Lake Road. Roll
call vote was taken as follows: Scharlau, yes; Chermack, yes; Meinke, yes;
Webb, yes and Ratzel, yes. Motion carried. The board members all
signed the ordinance and the clerk attested it.
Potawatomi
Land Issues-
Chairman Ratzel read the list of 18 land parcels to be transferred to the
Potawatomi Property Owners Association as follows:
No. Tax ID # Description Location Recorded in Plat
1. 004.1293.04 Lot 10 in the Plat of Osage Pine Chip Drive Vol.5, Page 51
2. 004.1336.07 Outlot 1 in the Plat of Sioux N of Golf Course Vol. 5, Page 57
3. 004.1254.07 Lot 45 in the Plat of Cheyenne Red Oak Drive Vol.
5, Page 41
4. 004.1254.05 Lot 43 in the Plat of Cheyenne Badger Trail Vol.
5, Page 41
5. 004.1253.06
Lot 34 in the Plat of Cheyenne Beaver Trail Vol.
5, Page 41
6. 004.1252.09 Lot 27 in the Plat of Cheyenne Beaver Trail Vol.
5, Page 41
7. 004.1252.08 Lot 26 in the Plat of Cheyenne Beaver Trail Vol.
5, Page 41
8. 004.1300.09 Lot 38 in the Plat of Pawnee Silverwolf Drive Vol. 5, Page 53
9. 004.1300.08 Lot 37 in the Plat of Pawnee Silverwolf Drive Vol. 5, Page 53
10. 004.1299.09 Lot 28 in the Plat of Pawnee Corner of Silverwolf Vol. 5, Page 53
Dr./
Broken Arrow Tr.
11. 004.1298.05 Lot 14 in the Plat of Pawnee Silverwolf Drive Vol. 5, Page 53
12. 004.1298.04 Lot 13 in the Plat of Pawnee Silverwolf Drive Vol. 5, Page 53
13. 004.1298.07 Outlot 1 in the Plat of Mohawk W of George Lake Vol. 5, Page 48
Public
Access
14. 004.1284.05 Lot
1 in the Plat of Mohawk SW of
Campground Vol. 5, Page 48
15. 004.1328.02 Lot 17 in the Plat of Shawnee Wilderness Court W. Vol. 5, Page 55
16. 004.1262.08 Outlot 1 in the Plat of Cree Wampum Road Vol. 5, Page 45
17. 004.1262.07 Lot 31 in the Plat of Cree George Lake Road Vol. 5, Page 45
18. 004.1332.05 Outlot 1 in the Plat of Shawnee Buckhorn Road Vol.
5, Page 55
Motion (Ratzel / Chermack) to authorize the
Town of Barnes, through its attorney, to initiate and complete the procedure,
provide notice and apply to the Circuit Court of Bayfield County to vacate the
above named parcels, as said parcels have been designated and dedicated “to the public” by virtue
of the approval of the respective plats by the Town of Barnes Town Board on
November 8, 1973 and November 20, 1973 and said parcels have never been
developed or used by the Town of Barnes as a public park or playground. Roll
call vote taken as follows: Scharlau, yes; Chermack, yes; Meinke, yes; Webb,
yes and Ratzel, yes. Motion carried. This issue will be given to the attorney to
proceed to start the process of re-designating these parcels to the PPOA Common
Properties. This could take several months to accomplish.
Transfer Site- Fees and Hours of Operation were discussed.
The new proposed hours were to change the Sunday hours from 10:00AM to 4:00PM
to Noon to 4:00PM. There were proposed Friday hours from Noon to 4:00PM. It was
noted that Sunday mornings seemed busier than Sunday afternoons. Len Schiller
said he did not see any reason to have Friday hours. He said he didn’t think it
was fair to the attendant to have to work every day of every weekend. He could
see having the hours set earlier in the day so that in the hot
weather the attendant would not have to be subjected
to the smells as much and also the heat. Motion (Meinke / Ratzel) to
open the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Jim Prickett, former
transfer site attendant, indicated that there were several requests for Friday
hours. Webb asked if there was a need to change the existing hours. There was
discussion on the hours. The board decided not to change the hours as presented
above. The only changes would be the Saturday and Sunday hours. Those hours
would be from 8:00AM to 2:00PM on both days. This would be a reduction in Transfer
Site hours by 2 hours total each week. Motion (Ratzel / Scharlau) to
close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Motion (Meinke / Scharlau)
to have the following hours at the Transfer Site: Monday 8:00AM to Noon,
Wednesday 8:00AM to Noon, Saturday 8:00AM to 2:00PM and Sunday 8:00AM to
2:00PM. Motion carried. This change will take effect January 1,
2004.
There was discussion on the proposed increase of
$.25 per bag [$1.50 for the smaller bags and $2.25 for the large bags]. There
was also discussion on the proposed increase of fees for disposal of
refrigerators and freezers from $10.00 to $12.00 and assessing a fee for large
scrap metal items such as BBQ grills and mattress frames, etc. The board
decided that it should be up to the attendant to charge a fee for the scrap
item in question and that a set price would not work well. Scharlau said that
he had contacted Bob Walter of Grandview about costs of taking our scrap metal.
There would be a charge of $400.00 a year. The town would have to purchase the
containers and then there would be a fee of $100.00 to $150.00 for each
container to be hauled away. Walter recommended that the town should go to a
40-yard container. This issue will be looked into further. Motion
(Scharlau / Meinke) to charge $1.50 for the smaller bags and $2.25 for the
large bags and let the fees for the large scrap metal items be up to the
discretion of the Transfer Site attendant. There was discussion on these issues at this
time. Motion (Meinke / Scharlau) to open the floor to discussion)
Motion carried. Jim Prickett said that it would tie the hands of
the attendant if there were to be a set fee. He felt it should be left up to
the attendant to assess the item and then set the fee. Some items as large as a
pontoon boat have been brought in. Motion (Scharlau / Chermack) to
close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. The clerk reread the
original motion. Roll call vote taken as follows: Scharlau, yes;
Chermack, yes; Meinke, yes; Webb, yes and Ratzel, yes. Motion carried.
The new rates and times will take effect on January 1, 2004. The Notice of
Transfer Site Hours and Charges will be sent along to all taxpayers with the
tax bills.
Part Time Employment- Opening for Transfer Site,
Recreation, etc. There was discussion on getting the part time position of
Transfer Site Attendant filled. Jim Prickett has given his notice. It was
decided not to fill the part time position until next spring. Tom Pieters will
work the Transfer Site until then and fill in will be done by the garage crew if
it is during the week. Gene Ratzel said he would help out if necessary for
short term. If the site has to be closed, it will have to be. When the
recreation work starts up in spring the board will take a look at hiring
another part time person.
Health Insurance Provider- Renew the contract with
Atrium for 2004. The board agreed to renew with Atrium for the 2004 year. The
clerk will notify the company to remove Henry Norton from the list of covered
employees as of the end of December, as he is no longer employed by the Town of
Barnes due to disability. The clerk reviewed the proposed increases with the
board. The increases would be approximately 12% this next year depending on the
individual. Webb said that the board will look into the health insurance issue
starting in the summer of 2004 and get some quotes. Chermack had a question on
the increases. She said it was only 7% this last year. Webb reminded the board
that it had changed some of the policy requirements and that it would have been
an increase of 19% had the board not made the changes. Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to
approve Atrium as the health care provider for 2004. Roll call vote taken:
Scharlau,
yes; Chermack, yes; Meinke, yes; Webb, yes and Ratzel, yes. Motion
carried. The clerk will sign the agreement and send it back to Atrium.
Appointed Clerk and
Appointed Treasurer Positions- Ordinance to make the change to these two
positions. Supervisor Chermack spoke on why this issue was being presented. She
then read an article from the Eau Claire
Leader-Telegram that addressed this issue. Chermack said that with the increase in responsibilities and the
amount of money being handled by the town and the legal issues that are
involved,
the people should consider appointing (hiring) a
person(s) to fill the positions instead of leaving it up to the voters to
decide. This would be a set term of not
more than three years. The board would set the job descriptions and
qualifications necessary for the position. There would be an ad placed for this
position. The board would review the applicants and hire the most qualified
person. This would be a full time position compared to the 30 hours allowed now
for elected clerks. The job now requires more than 30 hours a week. An
appointed position would allow the board to appoint (hire) someone who would be
competent and capable to do the work. The person would not have to be a
resident of the town as elected officials have to be. The Wisconsin Towns
Association’s attorney, Carol Nawrocki said that it may be easier to get
someone for the job if they “didn’t have to run for it”. The clerk discussed
some of the reasons why the people should consider changing to the appointed
position. The person elected may or may not be capable of doing the job, even
though they may have won the election for the position. Many towns are going to
this system. The town would then most likely combine the two positions of clerk
and treasurer to create one position with a viable wage that would attract a
qualified person. Most of the time the treasurer’s job is not too bad. There
would most likely be a deputy clerk who would assist at the very busy times
such as tax time. The board has to create an ordinance for the separate positions
of appointed clerk and appointed treasurer. Then the ordinance is posted 45
days before the Regular Election in April .A referendum vote by the electors
would decide whether or not to have the position as an appointed one rather
than an elected one. Clerk Peet said that she highly recommended this move from
personal experience and would be for the change. The treasurer is also for this
change. Chermack said that this would give more permanence to the position, as
elected officials come and go. The heart of any government or business is
usually the secretary who is there day in and day out. It is important to have
stability in this position. The clerk would be under the control of the board
and would be more of a secretary to the town. Ratzel said that the ordinance was
just the first step in doing this. Webb said that the ordinance as presented by
the attorney does need some clarification before the board goes ahead with
this. This issue will be postponed until the board has a chance to review this
ordinance with the attorney and will be held off until the next regular board
meeting in December.
Employee Handbook for the
Town of Barnes-Updates.
Gene Ratzel said the handbook was almost completed. The board members have
received the latest draft from Ratzel. He has one more page that has the
benefits, etc. that needs to be done. Then it will be sent to the attorney for
review. Chermack said she had some questions on the August draft, but would
have to compare the current draft with that one before she could make further
comments. Ratzel said that all issues have to comply with state and federal
laws. This book should be completed by the first of the year so that it can be
discussed with all employees.
Ordinances-Set date for all-board
review of ordinances. Chermack said that she and Webb have gone over and
reviewed all of the ordinances to see which ones were good and which one needed
to be repealed or amended. A date was discussed. Because of the busy holiday
schedule during the next few weeks, it was decided to hold off with a meeting
until after the first of the year, sometime in January.
Sale of Town Timber-Supervisor Meinke spoke on
harvesting some of the mature timber that is on town owned lands. He and Webb
have been in contact with Bayfield County to see if they would help us in this
matter. Neither could not get a hold of the main person, but talked to another
person instead. It was not clear whether it was the same person or not, but two
different answers were given. When Meinke spoke with the person, it was
indicated that the county might work with us if the lands abutted the county
lands being cut-they could get a percentage. Webb’s conversation indicated that
the town should go with the DNR as they set
up the timber sales. Meinke said that in speaking
with Dick Smith, in the past the town just put it out for bids for what it
wanted cut. Ratzel said that he and Meinke have looked at the plat for all of
the land that the town owns that has timber on it. Chermack asked how many
acres this was and where were they located. Ratzel said the parcels were spread
out all over the town. Some were on Denver Road, some were on Lake Road-these
are scattered all over. Chermack asked how the town had acquired all of this land.
Ratzel said it came from several different sources such as gifts or tax defaults.
The town is looking at ways to raise revenues as the revenues continue to go
down. The mature trees should be harvested. Some of the lands look like they
have been cut in the past. Meinke and Ratzel will continue to work on this
issue.
Public Comment Session- 5- Minute limit for those
not on the agenda. Rosanne LeVoir questioned why all of the department heads
were not in attendance when it states on the agenda that they are to be in
attendance. According to past minutes, the board required the heads to be at
the meetings. Ratzel said the board will be working on this. Marcia Wellnitz
asked if the town allowed residents to use the heat blanket that the town has
for grave openings in winter, to thaw out frozen pipes, etc. It is something
that the town would not do. Len Schiller said that the town does not even like
to loan it out to other communities as it sometimes doesn’t come back when it
should. There are liability and cost issues involved as well.
Cemetery Committee Report-Bud Pease. Sexton Pease was
not in attendance and had left no report with the board or the clerk.
Comprehensive Land Use
Planning Committee-Updates. Dave Pease reported that the committee will meet on Wednesday
November 20 to do the final review on the survey that will be sent to the
residents. The meeting was postponed from last week until this week Wednesday,
due to the absence [health reasons] of the planning firm’s representative.
Chermack said the committee would be formulating a cover letter that will go
along with that survey. She said that there was a resolution that had been
brought to the town board for its signature to adopt the state’s comprehensive
land use planning law. She said that our planning committee will look at it
first and give the board its recommendations on whether to approve it or not.
Centennial Committee –Updates. There was no one
in attendance from the committee. The clerk said that the committee has been
meeting and is getting a lot accomplished. Anyone interested in attending these
meeting is welcomed to come. They are held at Downtown Barnes on the third
Thursday morning of the month. Contact Judi Scholz for more information at
715-795-3209.
BADC-Updates. Chairman Ratzel
said that Cooper Engineering has been contacted to look at writing a grant for
the park. Webb asked that the Development Corporation give the board a detailed
accounting of the expenses and how much they have left in the account, for the
January meeting.
Department Head Reports-
Ambulance Director- In the absence of
Ambulance Director, Vi Friermood, the clerk read the report as follows:
There were six calls since last meeting- One
intercept with Gold Cross, two to Hayward, two to Duluth and one no transport.
Three EMTs finished their refresher course in Mason.
Two EMTs finished their refresher course in Iron River. EMTs and First
Responders took their CPR / AED (Advanced Defib) course at the Ambulance / Fire
Hall.
Vi attended the Bayfield / Ashland County EMS
Council meeting. There was discussion on using plain text on the radios.
Viola S. Friermood, Ambulance Director.
Fire Department- In the absence of Fire
Chief Tom Renz, the clerk reported that the chief said there had been no
activity in the department since the last meeting. The chief had met with Elite
to discuss some changes to the new fire truck. These changes will not affect
the final cost.
Constable- Constable Mike O’Keefe
gave the Constable Report as follows: He had 14 calls since the last meeting. Four
to five were sheriff referrals for motion sensors, etc. Two of these were to
assist motorists, 2 deer hits, 1 welfare check and four or five were ATV
related stops. He said it had been
pretty quite. O’Keefe said he would like to meet with the chairman and the
attorney on the Citation Ordinance.
Garage- Len Schiller. Schiller
said that work had been done on the equipment. The plows are ready to go. The
crew worked on the Blue Lake Road and Island Lake Road intersection. This
intersection was unsafe.
This was done with the OK from the Bayfield County
Forestry Department as it is their land that was involved. The crew did the
work on Eight Mile Lake Road. This was the work OK’d by the board for $500.00.
There was some gravel put down in the low spots. There will be more work done
on the road next year. Work was also done on Wilderness Road. This is the road
that the Town of Barnes keeps up for the Town of Drummond. They pay us the
amount they would get from the state for highway aids on it. Schiller said that
serious damage was to the Kelsey Road by contractors working in there. The
contractors have repaired the damage. The new supply of gas and diesel was
delivered. This should last until spring. The new supply of salt and sand has
been delivered. Residents are reminded that they are allowed to get small
containers of salt / sand from the green shed to put on icy walks, etc. No
large loads are to be taken however. The shed is unlocked.
Board Member Reports:
Jack Meinke- He had nothing more to
report. [See Ratzel’s report]
Chris Webb-Webb suggested that the
clerk send out a letter to all department heads reminding them of their
obligation to be present at the meetings or have a person there to represent
the department. There are assistants who could be here if the head is not able
to come. If this letter doesn’t bring the desired results, then the board will
look at some alternatives. The clerk will send out the letter with a copy of
the past minutes where the action was noted. This should be part of the job
description.
Dixie Chermack- Chermack said that the
town should send a letter of thanks to Jim Prickett for his work at the
Transfer Site. Webb said that a letter should be sent out to Henry Norton as
well for his many years of service. The clerk will send out a letter of thanks
to both men for their past service to the town.
Dave Scharlau-Scharlau said the town has
not heard from the state yet on the waterways.
Gene Ratzel-Ratzel said that he and
Meinke had attended a session in Rice Lake on Monday dealing with town issues.
He said that the board members will be going to various training seminars to
help them make the best decisions for the town. Meinke said that at the session he heard of some of the measures
that town’s can take to reduce costs. He said that Barnes was already doing
many of the things suggested.
Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned
at 8:15PM.
Members of the board in
attendance:
Chairman Gene Ratzel, Supervisors Dave Scharlau, Dixie Chermack, Chris Webb and
Jack Meinke. Also present were the Treasurer Debbie Sesko and Clerk Lu Peet.
Members of the community
present:
Russ Carter, LeRoy Kuehling, Alice Kuehling, John Peterson, Ronald Vergin,
Marlys Vergin, Barb Vergin, Denny Vergin, Rosanne Ratzel-LeVoir, Pat LeVoir,
Carole DeWitt, Carol Horstman, Fred Horstman, Norb Kearns, Caroline Kearns,
Marcia L. Wellnitz, Peg Harsvick, Marv Harsvick, Donna Porter, Dick Collyard,
George Martin, Leigh Jordahl, Dave Skinner, Gale Chermack, Butch Kofal, Linda
Kofal, Janine Watts, David Pease, Don Larson, Janet Messer, Jim Prickett, Dawn
Pittman, Lori McCaske, Kevin Murphy, Jim Freeze, Scott Fredricks, Ted Hubert,
Ingemar Eckstrom, Mike O’Keefe and Len Schiller. There may have others not
noted or signed in.
Respectfully submitted,
Lucille J. Peet
Barnes Town Clerk
Dated this 24th day of November 2003