Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting

of November 15, 2005

 

Chairman Collyard called the meeting to order at 6:30PM. The pledge of Allegiance was said.  Roll call/Quorum call, verification of Public Notice and Approval of November agenda was established.

Present were Chairman Collyard, Dixie Chermack, Donna Porter, Jack Meinke, and Chris Webb.

The agenda posted and provided for the audience was as follows:

                        NOTICE

                                                                                          TOWN OF BARNES

    REGULAR BOARD MEETING

The next regular board meeting will be held on

Tuesday November 15th at 6:30pm at the Town Hall

  Agenda

                    Call the meeting to order

                    Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

                    Roll Call/Quorum Call/Verification of Public Notice and Approve the November                                        Agenda

                    Approve the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting-Motion to dispense with                                                 the reading of minutes        

                     Minutes of Special Town Board Meeting before the CLUP meeting 11-9-05 and                                        comments by Chairman Collyard regarding posting of meeting. 

                    Treasurer’s Report     

                    Voucher’s Approval           

                    Clerk / Correspondence                   

                    Department Head Reports:

                                    Highway – tentative road plan for 2006

                                    Cemetary

                                    Fire Department –

                                    Ambulance

                                    Constable

                                   Letter to all department heads from the Board                                              

                    Committee Reports: ( will be read if needed)

                                   Land Use Committee Updates

                       Introduction of new Assessor-Charlotte Johnson

                      Approval of Proposal by Northwest Regional Planning Commission for evaluation                    of road system

                      Chequamegon Telephone – Easement request

                       Fireworks Control Ordinance- approval and adoption

                       Animal Control Ordinance – approval and adoption

                       Discussion on Road Damage Ordinance

                       Discussion on Driveway Ordinance

                       Zoning – 1)  Correction of application and board recommendation Lechner                                       property

                                       2)   Board of Adjustment application –Vanwaeyeberghe property, Larry                                             Lange, agent

                                       3)   Special Use Permit – Francis Tyson property, construct a cabin in a                                            F-1 Zoning District

                      Approval of Letterhead Design submitted by Harry Watts 

                       Public Comment Session – 5 minute limit for those not on the Agenda

                       Issues Timeline-Update                                          

                    All Department Heads are required to be at the Regular Board Meetings

                               All Department Heads and Committee Heads must submit a signed written report                                      to the clerk  by Friday evening of the week before the meeting.                           

                                   Closed Session: The Town Board of the Town of Barnes will then go into closed                                       session pursuant to Statutes 19.85(b) and (c) for the purposes of discipline,                 considering employment, promotion,  compensation or performance data of any                             employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises                                     responsibility.  The board will then reconvene to the regular session.  The Town                                   Board reserves the right to solicit information from Department heads only, without                               opening the floor to discussion. Any persons requiring special needs for handicap                                           services please contact the clerk.

Elaine J. Brustad                 Barnes Town Clerk/Treasurer

Dated this 11th Day of November, 2005

                                                                                                                                  

Motion (Meinke/Porter) to approve the minutes of the last regular Board Meeting and dispense with the reading of the minutes. Motion carried.

 

Minutes of the Special Town Board Meeting before the Comprehensive Land Use Meeting 11-9-05 and comments by Chairman Collyard regarding posting of meeting. Collyard explained he had called for a special meeting before the Comprehensive Land Use Meeting last week and between the two meetings the Special Town Board Meeting did not get noticed as required. He said the meeting was with Tim Kane of UW Extension, Patrick Bielfuss of Cedarcorp, Dave Pease, CLUP Committee Chairman, Lee Wiesner, CLUP Committee Vice-Chairman, Donna Porter, Supervisor, Town of Barnes, and Dixie Chermack, Supervisor, Town of Barnes, along with himself.  There were no decisions or motions made during the meeting, He asked the clerk to read the minutes:

MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL TOWN BOARD MEETING OF NOVEMBER 9, 2005

 

Chairman Collyard called the Special Town Board Meeting to order at 6:00PM

Present were Board Members Dixie Chermack, Dick Collyard, Donna Porter and Chris Webb.   Also present was Patrick Bielfuss, Cedarcorp, Tim Kane, UW Extension Agency, Dave Pease and Lee Wiesner. The agenda was as follows:

1)             Discuss concerns of the land use mapping progress

Chairman Collyard gave an overview of what the Comprehensive Land Use Committee

had been doing the last few months. They seemed to be stuck and could not make any progress

on the land use portion of the plan. Collyard pointed out that there were three areas of land that

needed to be focused on: Residential, Forestry and Commercial, and forget trying to micro-

manage the land use.  He talked about the Plan Commission and the Town Board Chairman

will be the person who will appoint the persons on the Commission.  They would be the first

step in the zoning process for the town, giving their recommendations to the Town Board on

zoning issues. Collyard also asked Patrick Bielfuss to take more of a leadership roll in the

committee.  Patrick needed to remind the committee not to get so hung-up on the smaller

parcels and focus on the larger areas.  Lee Wiesner said he had a suggestion he would present

to the committee at its meeting. 

The meeting was adjourned at 6:20PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Elaine J. Brustad,

Barnes Town Clerk-Treasurer

Dated this 11th day of November, 2005

 

Treasurer’s Report

 

November 15, 2005 Town Board Meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Treasurers Report

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checking Balance from last meeting

 

 

$80,245.46

Receipts 16511-16521

 

 

 

$6,508.21

Check #'s 19743-19833

 

 

 

($127,681.23)

October Tax Payment & other direct payments

 

($3,272.06)

Service Charge October

 

 

 

($8.70)

Interest Earned October

 

 

 

$44.51

Voided check

 

 

 

$49.91

Transfer from Money Market Savings Account

 

$50,000.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHECKING BALANCE

 

 

$5,886.10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Highway Dept. Sinking Fund

 

 

$1,064.91

BES Sinking Fund

 

 

 

$16,130.40

Park Savings

 

 

 

$11,448.29

Ski Trail Savings

 

 

 

$502.07

Parade-Event-Calender Fund

 

 

$1,832.31

Skate Park Savings

 

 

 

$450.75

Tax Checking and Savings Account

 

Interest $.15

$357.42

Money Market Savings opened 9-2-05

 

 

$393,276.14

 

Transfer to Genl fund  

 

($50,000.00)

 

 

Interest Earned

 

$1,275.67

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOTAL ALL ACCOUNTS

 

$430,948.39

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

Motion (Chermack/Meinke) to approve the Treasurer’s report as read. Motion carried.

Motion (Porter/Webb) to approve the vouchers. Motion carried.

 

Clerk Correspondence: The Clerk read a Notice to Cut from Bayfield County on Property owned by Plum Creek Timberlands in Sections 14 and 23 of Township 44N, Range 9West.

She read the levy amounts submitted to her so far: State - $56,105.6, up 7.4% from last year, County -$1,066412.58, up 4.84%, Town - $469,179.00, up 2%, Drummond School - $1,403,530.00, up 2.44%, and VTAE (WITC) $308,577.72, up 8.53%. 

A letter from Susan and Franco Pagnucci was read, giving thanks to the Board and especially to Jerry Witt for a job well done on the Schiess Road. 

She read a letter from the Bayfield County Fire Association about a Fire Assistance Grant covering 50% of costs associated with placing dry hydrants or water points throughout the county.  A copy of the letter was given to the Fire Chief and he was looking into that.

She also said the Town had received the Notice of Renewal rates from Atrium health insurance, which was a decrease of 2%.

 

Department Head Reports:

                Garage- Jerry Witt said the Quonset hut had been filled with salt and sand mixture for the winter. The bridge on Outlet Bay road had a “ten ton weight limit” sign placed to keep heavy traffic off the bridge.   He and Mike had closed the restrooms for the winter at the town park.  There have been problems with the heating system at the Ambulance and Fire Hall. It was out of water. It seems someone had disabled the automatic refill system.  Arch heating has come out to do a service check and fixed the problems.  Jerry will keep a watch on it for awhile as in the past it would quit on them often.  They have ground a stump at Wahlman Road and Lake Road. The Middle Eau Claire Channel will have poles put in for the winter to keep the channel apart.  They will be using the “jaws of life” hydraulic system from the fire department to pull it apart.  On November 1st he and Jack Meinke attended a Winter Road Maintenance Seminar which was very informative. Collyard thanked him from the Board for designing the system for opening up the Middle Channel.  Webb asked if they would be doing that on the Upper also.  Jerry thought he could do that in the spring, the two channels were different widths and lengths so the same poles could not be used.  He said next year he would have the homeowners from the middle channel put the poles in and they could store them there also.  Webb mentioned that the Middle channel was not town owned where the upper is actually owned by the town.   

 

                Cemetary – Bud Pease had sent in his report, there was a burial on Monday for Dick Smith, other than that no activity.

 

                Fire Department- Tom Renz was working this evening so would not attend the meeting. He had not turned in his report for the month.

               

                Ambulance – Del Jerome reported there had been 6 calls, 1 a controlled burn, 1 intercept, 2 went to St. Mary’s, 1 to Hayward, and one was a false alarm with the fire department. He also asked if the Chairman could contact the attorney for him and verify if it was proper to make decisions or motions on items that were not on the agenda.  He said occasionally they have something come up during a meeting or prior to one that is not on the agenda and needs to be addressed.  Chris Webb also said she wanted to make sure it was in the minutes that during the ambulance meeting she had told everyone that the Board encourages everyone to takes classes and additional training whenever they want, but the Board will only pay what is needed for the employee to keep current with their licensing.  She also said the Board will be revamping the pay structure in 2006.

 

                Constable- Mike O’Keefe was not yet at the meeting, so the clerk read his report: There were 5 alarms from the Sheriff, 1 call to assist the Sheriff (possible break-in), 6 ATV complaints, 2 assist motorist, 1 deer hit, 3 firearm/fireworks complaints (hunters), 2 assist stranded boaters (middle) for a total of 20 calls, total miles logged 560, fuel used 34 gallons.

 

                Letter to all department heads from the Board- Chairman Collyard had written a preliminary letter directed to the department heads asking for ways to maximize production while minimizing costs to the taxpayers. He wanted input from the Board regarding the draft he wrote. Motion (Porter/Chermack) to write a letter to all department heads, committees, and administrative personnel to report back to the Board by the end of January, 2006.  Motion carried. A copy of a rough draft is as follows:

“In an effort to streamline and maximize production vs. cost to the taxpayers of Barnes

I am asking each department head to take a good hard look at their department and try to maximize production and minimize the cost. These are four items the Board needs recommendations on;

1) Training , payment and mileage to employees

2)Road maintenance and improvements (Highway)

3) Equipment needs

4) Adequacy of need regarding personnel

5) Shop and building needs

              Please provide a projection and recommendations for the next two

              years 2006 and 2007.

             Thank you for your prompt response in this matter.”

The comments received were from Dixie Chermack, directed mainly to the administrative areas, and Board. She thought the board should review more thoroughly insurance proposals, wages, watch out for automatic increases, employee reviews should be done honestly and adjust wages accordingly. She thought the clerk should keep separate attendance records for seminars and workshops, and rotating attendance for the state convention. She thought all board members should attend at least one state convention during their term. She also felt there should be an Ad Hoc Committee appointed to study the possibility of a new town hall, its needs, what grants would be available and so on.  Dick said he would entertain those ideas but wanted to get the letter out as soon as possible so that it would give the department heads time to do some serious thinking.

 

Committee Reports Jack Meinke gave a report on the Rustic Roads Committee.  He and Sharon Moen had attended the Drummond Board Meeting last week to give their presentation and request a Resolution from them for Tars Pond.  They hope to hear a positive response from them this coming week.  13 property owners on Mulligan Creek Road had responded out of 19 letters sent. The negative responses mentioned maintenance of the road, littering, and increased traffic.  Both are ATV routes. It must be assured that Rustic Road status would not affect this.  Residents on Tars Pond are for the Rustic Road status but not at the expense of ATV travel.

Recreational Committee Report – Donna said the committee had voted to increase fees for swimming lessons to $30.00 per child and $75.00 for a family of three or more. Park additions suggested included a horseshoe pit and sand box.  Gene Miller will be in charge of the ice rink he will coordinate and check on the warming house. The Lean-to on the ski trail is in need of repair.

 

Introduction of New Assessor-Charlotte Johnson. The new Assessor, Charlotte Johnson was introduced to the Board members and the audience.  For all those needing to contact her, the address for Ms. Johnson is:  Charlotte Johnson, Charlotte Johnson and Company, P.O. Box 38, Unity, Wisconsin 54488. Her phone number is: 715-223-1606, and email address is: [email protected]

 This information is also available on the website, which is www.barnes-wi.com

 

Approval of Proposal by Northwest Regional Planning Commission for evaluation of road system.

The town had received a proposal from Mike Kinnick of NWRPC to perform a field evaluation of the town’s road system using the PASER rating system. This is a requirement of the state to do this every two years. They will prepare the necessary report to WisDOT.  The amount of $1,203.00 will be billed after the project is completed.  Motion (Meinke/Webb) to approve this agreement with Northwest Regional Planning Commission to do the evaluation of the roads. Roll call vote taken: Chermack-yes, Porter-yes, Meinke-yes, Webb-yes, Collyard-yes. Motion carried.

 

Chequamegon Telephone – Easement Request . This request is for an easement along the south edge of Town Property on Ellison Lake Road for supplying power to the electronics cabinet just installed at the corner of Moore Road and Ellison Lake Road. Motion (Porter/Chermack) to grant the easement to Chequamegon Telephone.  The easement legal description is as follows: “A strip of land 1 rod (16.5 feet) wide across the south edge of a parcel and lying adjacent and parallel to the north right-of-way of a town road known as Ellison Lake Road.  With said parcel being more particularly described as the SE ¼, NE ¼, Section 29, T45N, R09W.   Motion carried . 

Motion (Meinke/Chermack) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried.  Fritz Barnes had a question if the town knew if this was on the town’s property. He was assured it was on town owned property. Motion (Meinke/Chermack) to close the floor to discussion. Morion carried.

 

Fireworks Control Ordinance-approval and adoption. – The ordinance for Fireworks had been prepared by the Fireworks Committee and had been copied to the board members.  Motion (Chermack/Porter) to adopt the Fireworks Control Ordinance as proposed. Motion carried.  The ordinance will be posted and published as required by state statutes.

 

Animal Control Ordinance-approval and adoption- This ordinance had been prepared by the Town’s Attorney and was basically adopting the County’s ordinance.  Motion (Chermack/Porter) to open the floor to allow the Constable, Mike O’Keefe to speak. Motion carried.  Mike wanted to be assured that anyone applying for a fireworks permit would get a copy of the new ordinance so they were aware of all the rules and regulations. Mike Furtak wanted to know if the town would be requiring additional licensing with the animal control ordinance. Collyard said no, it is the same as the county’s ordinance, but this way the constable can site someone if needed or the county sheriff can.

Motion (Webb/Porter) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.  Motion (Porter/Webb) to adopt the Animal Control Ordinance as proposed with a suggestion to give a copy of the ordinance to all who apply for dog licenses in the town. Motion carried.  It was also suggested to note the new ordinances adopted this year in the sheets we give out with the tax bills.

 

Discussion on Road Damage Ordinance- The attorney had drafted this ordinance for discussion. Jerry Witt had asked for something to back him up when dealing with contractors or loggers who had done damage to a town road. The board felt they needed clarification under the General Provisions section mentioning a permit issued.  There was also concern about the forfeitures and penalties section not addressing billing for time and material used to repair a road that was damaged.  Motion (Porter/Meinke) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried.  O’Keefe said a judge would add the amounts for cost of repair along with the fine.  Mike Furtak said at the county they write a summons, and they reserve the right to file the summons and complaint if the repair is not made or paid.  That way there is a record in case they do want to pursue it further.  Collyard said he would check with the attorney tomorrow and get clarification.  Motion (Porter/Chermack) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.

 

Discussion on Driveway Ordinance- The Board had originally decided to wait for the County to adopt an Ordinance for Driveways, but one had not been adopted yet.  Motion (Webb/Porter) to open the floor for discussion to allow Mike Furtak from Bayfield County Zoning to speak. Motion carried. Furtak said the County had it on their “to do” list but had so many other things going. He said they were now advising towns to devise their own Driveway Ordinance. Motion Chermack/Meinke) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. It was felt best to form a committee to come up with a driveway ordinance for Barnes. Jerry Witt and Jack Meinke would be on the committee. 

 

Zoning – 1) Correction of application and Board recommendation on Lechner property.  Motion (Meinke/Porter) to open the floor for all three zoning requests. Motion carried.  Mike Furtak explained the error was his in preparing the Town Board Recommendation Sheet for the Lechner property.  On it he had mistakenly written:  Rezone property from F-1 to F-2 to allow construction of a hunting cabin.  It correctly stated should be: Rezone property from F-2 to F-1 to allow construction of a hunting cabin.  Motion (Webb/Porter) to clarify the Town Board Recommendation form to read they approve the rezone request from F-2 to F-1 on the Lechner property to allow the construction of a hunting cabin. Motion carried.

 

                  2) Board of Adjustment application Vanwaeyenberghe property, Larry Lange, agent.  Furtak spoke on the application, he stated the request was going to the Board of Adjustment because no addition is allowed to structures less than 600 feet and the request is for placing the addition less than 15 feet to the road right of way. Collyard said the addition is no closer than cabin # 1, he felt the cabin would not be too close to the road for snowplowing.  Chermack said she opposed the varience because she felt it was too close to the road. She wondered what would happen if the Town needed to widen the road there. Also she said she could only see the roof there when driving up the road.  Furtak said the road is very steep there.  If the town was considering widening the road they would most likely widen on the other side anyway as the slope on the other side was not as steep.  He also mentioned there would be no traffic entering the road at that point, they would be using the easement road to the north where the road was not on a steep grade. Meinke also mentioned the two property owners close by did not object to the addition.  Motion (Webb/Porter) to approve the request for varience for the parcel owned by the Vanwaeyenberghe’s. All in favor except Chermack,  who opposed. Motion carried.

 

                  3) Special Use Permit Francis Tyson property, construct a cabin in an F-1 zoning district.  Motion (Chermack/Porter) to approve the Special Use Permit application to construct a cabin in an F-1 Zoning district. Motion carried.

Motion (Chermack/Porter) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.

 

Approval of Letterhead Design by Harry Watts. The Clerk-Treasurer presented the designs submitted for the letterhead design contest. There were two from Harry Watts, one with a picture that was very detailed. They talked with Harry to get a different picture that would not be so detailed. He submitted another design with a colorful drawn scene. The Clerk and deputy felt this one was still not quite what they wanted, so they talked with Harry and he sent a disk with the design on it. In the circle we could put any picture we wanted. The Clerk would see what she could find for a decent picture.  They thanked Harry for his design as it will be very nice when the right picture is inserted.

 

Public Comment Session –

Ron Pearson presented a “Slow-No wake Ordinance” proposal for Schunenberg and Smith Lakes. He explained there were many jet skis and other watercraft that go very fast through the two lakes to get to and from the Upper Eau Claire Lake.  It has become dangerous for the residents there, especially so because the lakes are so small.  The Ordinance will be looked into and put on the “timeline” for possible adoption at a later date. Collyard wanted to comment that these are only two lakes in the area mentioned, would there be others that should be considered with this ordinance too?  He wanted to speak with the attorney about it also to see how we can enforce this.

 

Judi Scholz wanted to thank Jerry Witt for his ingenuity.  She also wanted to thank the many,many people who have supported the Bony Lake appeal with their knowledge, advice and money.  The Board of Adjustment meets on December 1st to hear the appeal.  She also mentioned the cities of Ashland and Washburn are involved in a pilot program called Alliance for Sustainability, promoting sustained economical development in the Chequamegon region of Northwest Wisconsin.  The country of Sweden has a plan already in place and the information on that plan can be obtained from the website. It is: allianceforsustainability.org

 

Elaine Brustad – asked for donations and help to decorate the Town Hall for Christmas. She thought it was a shame that it is not decorated for every holiday and especially for the Christmas Holiday.  She said Ted DesRosiers volunteered to give $50.00 for purchase of decorations if needed.  The big thing is getting someone to help putting up and especially taking down the decorations each  time.

 

Issues Timeline –

General Ordinances

                a) Abandon Roads – work in process

                b) Rustic Roads – Barnes-Drummond 100% agree on Tars Pond,  not all agree on Mulligan Creek Rd.

                c) Fireworks Ordinance – adopted 11-15-05

                d) Contractor Road Damage – work in process

                e) Driveway Ordinance – work in process

                f) Slow-No Wake Ordinance- new- committee will be formed.

New Transfer Site Building – work in process

Town owned land- continue forestry program. Wisconsin Wildfire Protection plan being formed with Drummond. Work being done by Northwest Regional Planning Committee

New Town Letterhead – work in process

Assessor – Charlotte Johnson at meeting tonight, is starting maintenance work.

Website updates- Pearson working on module for forms. Gene Miller working on module for pictures. Committee looking at free program for downloading forms etc off the website.

Jim Miller Subdivision- no update

UEC and MEC Bridge Pilings- posts are in on the Middle Eau Claire

Recreation – Skate park – no notice of grant winners yet.

Ambulance Department- will review pay scale and charges in December

Fire Department – SOG’s work in process

 

Closed Session: The Town Board of the town of Barnes will then go into closed session pursuant to Statutes 19.85(b) and (c) for the purposes of discipline, considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance data of any employee over which the governmental body had jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.  The board will then reconvene to the regular session.

Motion (Porter/Chermack)adjourn the regular session and go into closed session per the above statutes. Roll call vote taken: Chermack-yes, Porter-yes, Meinke-yes, Webb-yes, Collyard-yes.  The Regular Session was adjourned at 8:50PM.

Minutes of the Closed Session

Chairman Collyard called the Closed Session to order at 9:00 PM. Those present were the Board members, Clerk-Treasurer Elaine Brustad, Ambulance Director Del Jerome, and Fritz Barnes.  Mr. Barnes objected to Del Jerome being in attendance, he wanted to meet with only the Board Members. Mr. Jerome then left.  There were no motions or decisions made in closed session. The only matters discussed were pursuant to State Statute 19.85(b) and (c).  Motion (Webb/Chermack) to adjourn the closed session and return to the regular open session. Motion carried.

The closed session was adjourned at 9:45PM.

 

Minutes of the reconvened Regular Open Session

The regular open session was reconvened at 9:46PM.  It was discussed that the items Mr. Barnes had requested from the Board members would be researched and made available in writing to him as soon as possible.  It was also discussed that a survey could possibly be sent out to all the ambulance personnel to determine what could be done to make the department run smoother.

Motion (Porter/Meinke) to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.  The meeting was adjourned at 10:00PM.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Elaine J. Brustad,

Clerk-Treasurer

Dated this 22nd day of November, 2005