TOWN OF BARNES

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

APRIL 22ND AT 6:30PM

AGENDA

Chairman Collyard called the Regular Board Meeting to order at 6:30PM. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was said. Collyard called for a Roll Call to establish a quorum/Verification of Public Notice and motion to approve the April Agenda. Porter-here, McGee-here, Meinke-here, Webb-here, Collyard-here, a quorum was established. Motion (Porter/Meinke) to approve the April agenda. Motion carried.

The agenda is as follows:

NOTICE

TOWN OF BARNES

REGULAR BOARD MEETING

APRIL 22ND AT 6:30PM

AGENDA

Call the Regular Board Meeting to order at 6:30PM

Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

Roll Call to establish a quorum/Verification of Public Notice/Motion to approve the April Agenda

Approve minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting and Motion to dispense with reading of the minutes.

Treasurer’s Report

Voucher’s Approval

Clerk Correspondence

Department Head Reports:

Highway

Cemetery

Fire and Ambulance Department

Resolution to borrow money for new fire truck

Approval to purchase stairs chair from Strykers through ACT 102 funds

Approval of new firefighter applications from Ronald Cairns and Mary Davidson

Approval of employee of the year nominations

Constable

Committee and Commission Reports:

Recreation Committee

New Town Community Center Committee

Put committee on hiatus until further notice

EWM Committee

Land Use Planning Commission

Commission re-appointments and reassignments

Zoning 1) Special Use Permit request for re-establishment of home-based real estate business at 52800 Robinson Lake Road by Annette Smith

2) Special Use Permit request to place a mobile home in a F-1 Zoning District on property owned by Denny Zingsheim on Wilber Smith Road

ATV Trail Amendments to Ordinance Request by ATV Club

Island Lake Road from Blue Lake Road to Webster Road

Discussion of No wake Ordinance on lakes

Discussion of records storage

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

Issues Timeline Update

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

All Department Heads and Committee Heads are to submit a written report to the clerk

by Friday evening prior to the Board Meeting.

The Town Board reserves the right to solicit information from

Department heads and Committee heads only, without opening the floor to discussion.

Any persons requiring special needs for handicap services please contact the Clerk-Treasurer

Elaine J. Brustad Barnes Town Clerk-Treasurer

Dated this 21^th Day of April, 2008

Motion (Porter/Meinke) to approve the minutes of the last regular board meeting and to dispense with the reading of those minutes. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report

Checking Balance from last meeting			$18,948.79
Receipts			$22,751.21
Check #'s 22506-22586			($37,905.20)
March Direct tax payment ck # 305			($3,662.92)
Transfer from Money Market Account			$50,000.00
Service Charge March			($13.41)
Interest Earned March			$18.16
	CHECKING BALANCE		$50,136.63
Money Market Gen'l Fund Balance from Last Meeting			$652,823.80
Interest earned March		YTD Interest $12,575.44	$2,241.40
Transfer to General Fund			($50,000.00)
Ck#' 1079			($651.11)
	Sub-Total Money Market Gen'l Funds		$604,414.09
Highway Dept. Sinking Fund			$31,072.92
BES Sinking Fund			$52,677.07
Park Savings			$13,021.85
Ski Trail Savings			$726.61
Parade-Event-Calender Fund			$1,842.60
Town Hall Complex Fund			$19,298.20
Act 102 Fund		Ck # 1080 $291.49	$5,611.05
	Sub-Total Money Market sub accounts		$124,250.28
Total all Money Market Funds			$728,664.37
	TOTAL ALL ACCOUNTS		$778,801.00

Motion (Porter/McGee) to approve the Treasurer’s report as read. Meinke wanted to comment on the interest earned each month which was a substantial amount added to the revenues. Collyard said yes and it was never done before Elaine came on board and with the change it has added quite a large sum of money each year. Motion carried.

Voucher’s Approval

Motion (Mcgee/Meinke) to approve the voucher’s. Motion carried.

Clerk Correspondence

Brustad said she received a check from the Barnstormers Snowmobile Club for $200.00 for a contribution towards the purchase of a Burning Torch.

She read an email from Paul Becker regarding access to his property from Rabbit Hutch Road. He stated he had been informed by law enforcement that ATV travel had been banned by the Town of Barnes on Rabbit Hutch Road. Certain times of the year Rabbit Hutch Road is not travelable. They usually use their ATV’s to get to their property. He was asking for either approval to use their ATV’s on the road to get to their property or else to maintain Rabbit Hutch Road all year long to make it able to be driven on by automobiles. Collyard commented that they have been in contact with the ATV club and will see what they can do to allow ATV traffic on that road for them.

Brustad announced the town has been awarded a grant in the amount of $6,499.89 for their recycling grant this year. This is considerably larger than they have received in the past.

Brustad also announced she had been awarded the designation of Wisconsin Certified Municipal Clerk. She is planning on attending the Institute again this year for the Treasurer’s completion course and hopes to become a certified Municipal Treasurer as well.

She received 6 Notices to Cut in Sections 3, 10, 26 and 32 of 43, Range 9 and 6, 7, and 18 of Township 44, Range 9. Jerry Witt wanted to know if it noted which roads would be used during the cutting. It would be helpful to get a head’s up on which roads he would have to be grading when they are cutting. Brustad said there is the Ordinance for the road permit, but they don’t seem to notifiy her. Webb thought we should send out a form letter to the companies when we receive a Notice. Collyard said the problem with that is they usually are already cutting when we get the notice.

Department Head Reports:

Highway

Since the last board meeting we have cleared approximately 250 trees off the right of way on the Roy Dick Rd. We are trying to retire the snow removal equipment for the season. Corrosion from the salt is catching up with the 97 dump truck and sander. I am completely rebuilding the sander from the ground up to make it last another three to four years. Bids have been posted for the blacktopping of Island Lake Rd. Bid opening has been scheduled for the May 20^th Town Board meeting. Temporary repairs are being made to the Upper Lake boat landing. It will be usable by ice out. Also, the piling braces in the channels on Middle and Upper will be removed when there is no chance the shifting ice can cause damage to them.

Cemetery

Bud Pease reported there had been no activity since the last meeting.

Fire and Ambulance Department

Resolution to borrow $103,000.00 for fire truck

Clerk-Treasurer Brustad said the loan was tentatively approved from the Commissioner of Public Lands. A Resolution needed to be signed by the Board for the loan.

Motion (Porter/McGee) to borrow $103,000.00 from the Commissioner of Public Lands and sign the resolution for the loan. Roll call vote taken: Porter-yes, McGee-yes, Webb-yes, Meinke-yes, Collyard-yes. Motion carried.

Ambulance

Since the last Town board meeting the ambulance has had five ambulance calls.

1 – transport to Hayward

1 - transport to Helicopter pad and transferred to St. Lukes helicopter

1 – no transport

2 – respond with Fire Department

The ambulance department has purchased a new stairs chair from Strykers to replace the old one that came over on the Mayflower. The cost was $2524.86. This was purchased out of the ACT 102 funds. Because the amount is over $1500.00 I do not know if this purchase needs to be approved by the Town Board as it is coming out of the ACT 102 funds and not the Town Budget, so if it needs to be approved by the Town Board it will give me direction this time and next time from the Town Board. Brustad said the current Act 102 funds are set up with the Town’s money market account so these items from Act 102 funds need to be put into the budget unless we set up a separate account for the ACT 102 funds. Webb thought the account should be separate and Renz agreed. Brustad will set up a separate account for the funds. If this is done then the Board would not have to approve the purchases. Renz said he will still report on what he is spending through the account.

There is sky warn spotter training in Iron River on May 7^th, at 7:00 pm. This is done by the National Weather Service and is open to all members of the public and is free. The training is two hours long. The new radio for the ambulance has arrived. It will be paid for by a grant paying most of it. Our actual cost will be around $800.00, for a $4,300.00 radio.

Fire

Since the last meeting we have had three Fire runs.

1 – set up landing zone

1 – unattended brush fire on Lake road which was extinguished by Fire Personnel

1 – wild land fire on Robinson Lake road.

I am presently working with the US forest Service which has requested a mutual aid agreement between our Department and them. I have included the draft with my report for the Town Board to look over as this would need to meet with the Town Boards approval. It is my opinion that if we enter this type of agreement with them that there is a method established to pay the Town for the Equipment and personnel as we do not have any Us Forest Service land with in our jurisdiction. Some what similar with the way we have it set up with the DNR.

We have also had to do furnace repairs at the Fire Hall. We came in one night to find the furnace leaking water all over the floor. Two valves had plugged up with sediment cause by either not having any water treatment in the system or having poor quality of treatment in the water. Arch came down and took care of it and replaced the valves. They also put a high quality water treatment into the system.

I also have an application for 2 new firefighters: Ronald Cairns and Mary Davidson. Ron is from Highland and already trained as a firefighter. Mary lives on Wallman road and has experience as a firefighter since 1970.

Motion (Webb/Porter) to approve the two new firefighter applications from Ronald Cairns and Mary Davidson. Motion carried.

Renz also wanted to report that the US Forestry Service had asked for a cooperative Fire agreement between them and the Barnes Fire Department. Renz said although they don’t have land in the Town of Barnes, there may be a time when the Forestry Service would need their help. They do reimburse for equipment used and manpower but not all personnel.

Motion (Webb/Meinke) to allow the Fire Chief to sign the agreement between the Fire Department and the US Forestry Service for cooperative fire protection. Motion carried.

Approval of employee of the year nominations

Renz had one nomination, one that he had nominated himself. It was for Jim Prickett. He read his reason for the nomination: “Jim took over Fire Inspections without a whole lot of information. He is always willing to ask questions and find the right answer on his own if needed. Jim is very dependable and doesn’t need to be checked on to get the job done. “

Motion (Meinke/Porter) to approve Jim Prickett as the employee of the year for 2007. Motion carried.

Supervisor Webb wanted to let everyone know that any taxpayer can nominate someone for Employee of the Year also.

Constable Clerk-Treasurer Brustad read the Constable’s report: There were 2 alarms, 1 assist EMS for ATV accident, 1 suspicious person at the bank, 1 assist to the Sheriff for a roll-over accident on County Road Y during the storm last week, 1 suspicious vehicle, Lake road on private property, and 1 assist to a motorist on highway 27.

Committee and Commission Reports:

Recreation Committee Chris Webb said they didn’t meet this month because of the weather. They had planned on walking the park to see what needed to be done then the snow came. She was going to call the Lion’s Club to see if they would be willing to help with the installation of the fence at the ball park.

Donna Porter was checking on replacement trees and also trying to find a swim instructor for the swimming lessons. So far they had no luck.

New Town Community Center Committee

Brustad said she wanted to thank the members of the committee for all their hard work. Collyard said he planned on putting the committee on hiatus until further notice. If they wanted to continue meeting they could do so but wouldn’t be under the Board’s direction. Webb asked that thank you notes be sent out on behalf of the Board. She thought the committee’s name should be changed to “Town Community Center Committee” and drop off the “new”. If they wanted to continue meeting they should and if any new information came up they could present it to the Board. Meinke said the money in the fund should be kept separate and wanted to make a motion as such and to use the money for repair and maintenance of the town hall and offices only. Webb said this could be something the Committee might want to work on, but Collyard thought they already knew what needed to be done to the Hall for maintenance.

Motion( Meinke/Porter) to keep the funds in the Town Hall Complex Fund separate from the general funds and use it only for maintenance and repair of the Town hall and offices. Roll call vote taken: Meinke-yes, Porter-yes, Collyard-yes, Webb-yes, McGee-yes. Motion carried.

EWM Committee Collyard said last meeting they talked about a slow no-wake ordinance for Tomahawk Lake and it couldn’t get done in time so they decided on putting signs up that say “Slow no wake encouraged”. There will be two 2x3 signs and also we can make copies for people to post on their docks if they want. Ingemar Ekstrom reported they had hired the boat landing monitors for the summer. They rehired Jack Conklin as the coordinator. On May 2^nd there will be a luncheon for the volunteers and monitors with the food and everything supplied by a donor, so no monies will come out of the Town’s budget. They have two volunteers checking the lakes temperature and when it reaches 55 degrees the treatment can start. The experts are saying to place buoys in the lakes marking the area of research. They would be fully reimbursable through the grant. They would be placed on the east side of the lake and out from the landing. Buoys would be easier to see as they would stand out, rather than all the signs at the landing.

Land Use Planning Commission Chair Gene Ratzel gave his report to the Board members approving both zoning issues on the agenda for tonight.

Commission re-appointments and reassignments Chairman Collyard said he planned on putting Supervisor Mitch McGee on the Plan Commission in place of Donna Porter as she had served her one year. McGee would be on for a two year term. Gene Ratzel had a three year term but will be moved from the Chair position for the rest of his term. Dave Pease would become Chair for a two year term. Dick Webb would be appointed for another two year term. He thanked both Donna and Gene for their service and thought Gene had done a really good job in Chairing the Plan Commission.

Zoning 1) Special Use Permit request for re-establishment of home-based real estate business at 52800 Robinson Lake Road by Annette Smith

Motion( Webb/Meinke ) to approve the Special Use Permit request for a home-based business at 52800 Robinson Lake Road by Annette Smith as it meets county zoning requirements and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Motion carried.

2) Special Use Permit request to place a mobile home in a F-1 Zoning District on property owned by Denny Zingsheim on Wilber Smith Road

Motion (McGee/Meinke) to place a mobile home in a F-1 Zoning District on property owned by Denny Zingsheim on Wilber Smith Road as it meets all zoning requirements and the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. Motion carried.

ATV Trail Amendments to Ordinance Request by ATV Club

Island Lake Road from Blue Lake Road to Webster Road Dave Pederson of the ATV club said this was left off of the last amendment and is needed to make the line continuous from Blue Lake Road to Webster Road.

Motion (Webb/Meinke) to approve the Ordinance amendment adding Island Lake Road from Blue Lake Road to Webster Road. Motion carried.

Discussion of No wake Ordinance on lakes Collyard said this was just a discussion only. He spoke with Jill Shartner, the local DNR agent and she suggested he call another agent, Chris, who would be more informed on the topic. He said the DNR does have a rule for slow no-wake on lakes under 50 acres, but on small lakes or connecting waterways they don’t because it only confuses people coming off the bigger lake. The town can adopt a stricter ordinance, but then the town is the only one who can enforce the ordinance. Collyard said he is not sure the town wants to get involved in something we can’t enforce. Webb thought it best to educate the people that there is a law out there for lakes 50 acres or less, and encourage people to do the same on the connecting waterways. Motion (Webb/McGee) to open the floor for discussion. Motion carried. Ron Clark thought a sign posted saying “slow, loons nesting” might be better as he felt more people would respond to that. Meinke thought the DNR might have signs available for posting. Tom Renz thought the Town should be careful on posting any signs in the lakes because of liability reasons. Ingemar Ekstrom said there were many signs posted at boat landings referring to nesting loons. McGee said there is already a state ordinance that addresses going too fast near a shoreline which would apply to the waterways on Shunenberg, Smith and Sweet lakes. Renz said if anyone sees that happening they can call the Sheriff’s office to report it or Jill Shartner. If they are in the area they would be able to respond quickly enough to maybe catch the offender. The numbers to call would be the Sheriff’s dispatch number at 715-373-6120 or the DNR statewide number to report any violations in progress: 1-800-847-9367. Jill’s office number is 739-6734 in Drummond. The Bayfield County dispatch number can also contact Jill or another DNR agent if needed. Collyard said to put this on the Timeline also for monthly review.

Discussion of records storage Collyard said the Board had been talking about putting the records in the storage area on disk so there would be more room. There are firms we can hire but would be very expensive to do that. Meinke thought we could put it out for bid and get someone local to do it. Brustad said the State recommends we have an ordinance for record retention, and currently we don’t have that. There are some records such as minutes, ordinances and such that need to be retained permanently. Tax rolls and Assessment rolls they recommend 15 years then to notify the State Historical Society first before destroying the records. Other records such as accounts payable and receivable records normally are 7 years. Some of the records in the room could possible be destroyed. We would need to go through each box to mark a destroy date on them. Collyard said we needed to have a procedure. Webb said she has done some of that for Chequamegon Telephone and could get the prices. She remembers it was quite costly. Collyard said we needed to put this on the timeline. Webb said it will have to be put into the budget so we can study this now and be ready to do something next year.

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

Janine Watts first wanted to commend Elaine Brustad for getting the certification as she knew that was part of the recommendation for her hire. She suggested putting the town buildings on the Timeline for their maintenance issues since there was already one for the roads, town forested lands and emergency equipment.

Ingemar Ekstrom said the Board should definitely do something about the parking in the front of the building. It is a dangerous situation as the committee pointed out. Porter thought it should be maybe roped off . There is more parking on the sides now. Meinke said we could get the area on the side blacktopped, but Collyard said Jerry had mentioned there is some reason, a swell or ditch problem there that it couldn’t be.

Issues Timeline Update

Town Owned Land –Diseased trees from here will be taken out this spring

Fire Department SOG’s and Fire Billing –Webb and Renz meeting tomorrow evening, the Fire Billing item can be taken off.

Constable – Can be taken off

Health Insurance – Work in progress, Collyard will call Matusek to meet in closed session with the Board

Re-appointments – done for this year

Zoning Issues – Barnes Lube is closed permanently, check with Furtak on if permit is revoked. Next two items for June, Liesch and O’Neil for July will check with Furtak also if something has been constructed yet.

Motion (Webb/Meinke) to adjourn the meeting of April 22, 2008. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:55PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Elaine J. Brustad

Clerk-Treasurer

Dated this 2^nd Day of May, 2008