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2011 Town Board Meeting Minutes
> Regular Town Board Meeting February 15, 2011
Regular Town Board Meeting February 15, 2011
MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 15, 2011 REGULAR BOARD MEETING Chairperson Lu Peet called the Regular Board Meeting to order at 6:30PM. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was recited. A Roll Call was taken to establish a quorum and verification of public notice was asked of Clerk-Treasurer Brustad by Peet A motion to approve the February Agenda, approve the minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting and Motion to dispense with reading of the minutes was asked for by Peet. Motion ( Webb/Meinke ) to approve the agenda, the minutes of the last Regular Town Board meeting and to dispense with the reading of those minutes. Motion carried. The agenda is as follows: NOTICE TOWN OF BARNES REGULAR BOARD MEETING February 15, 2011 at 6:30PM AGENDA Call the Regular Board Meeting to order Pledge Allegiance to the Flag Roll Call to establish a quorum/Verification of Public Notice Motion to approve the February 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 Public Comment Session – 3 Minute limit for those not on the agenda Department Head Reports: Highway Highway Order for Discontinuance of Grassley and Deer Grove Roads Discussion and possible action on change to days the Transfer Site are open Discussion and possible action on correcting surface problems in the transfer site building Discussion and possible action on maintenance of Ski Trail Cemetery Approve new Cemetery Secretary, Linda Clark Fire and Ambulance Department Discussion and possible approval of new applicants for the Ambulance Dept Discussion and approval of policy change for reimbursement for training of new applicants Discussion and possible approval of proposal to replace the boiler at the Ambulance Hall by Arch Heating Discussion and possible action to continue with Community Wildfire Protection Plan Constable Committee Reports Create and appoint a cell-tower communication committee Land Use Planning Commission Citizens Request for Action: Request to plow Webster, Eight Mile Lake, Moore and Church road twice yearly for hunting purposes by Gary Sprague Resolution to not allow businesses and local organizations to use the facilities at the Transfer Site. 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 the 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 11th day of February, 2011 Webb wanted the voucher approval motion to be placed above the Treasurer’s report approval from now on as they are considered part of the amounts spent and should be approved first Brustad will do that for next month. Voucher’s Approval Motion (Porter/McGee) to approve the voucher’s as presented. Motion carried. Treasurer’s Report
Motion (Meinke/Webb) to approve the Treasurer’s report as read. Clerk Correspondence Brustad reported receiving 5 Notices to Cut, Section 1 of Township 43 and Section 36 of Township 44, owned by Plum Creek; Section 6 of Township 44, and Section 22 of Township 45, owned by Wausau Paper Mills; and in section 19 of Township 46 owned by Dennis Kontny. Brustad also reported receiving $47, 546.74 from Bayfield County Forestry for timber sales. Public Comment Session – 3 Minute limit for those not on the agenda There were a number of people wanting to speak about the issue of creating a cell-tower communication committee. Chair Lu Peet said she would be opening the floor once that agenda item comes up if anyone wanted to wait until then to speak. Mike Tremblay spoke on the issue, saying it was important to know that with the cell phone companies you have no negotiation leverage, confrontation never works with them and he feels an ordinance would be a line in the sand to them. He supports the board’s decision to appoint a committee to study the issue. He wanted to point out that the cell companies have options also, and one of them is to ignore Barnes completely and move on. He felt that option would not be in the best interest of the majority of the Barnes property owners. Lee Weisner said his group does want good coverage for Barnes residents and feels it can be done while preserving the view. Department Head Reports: Highway We received the new auger sander that was approved last month and installed it on the 2005 Tandem (Dave’s truck). Jerry is continuing to work out some of the programming issues on the sander on the new truck but it is working extremely well and the underbody scraper is getting quite a workout and saving a lot of hours on the grader. Although it doesn’t seem like it today, we have received a considerable amount of snow during the last four weeks including two full plows which occurred on Saturdays. We have been winging back snow banks in problem areas and pushing back intersections with the loader with extensive work in Potawatomi. We have also put down a considerable amount of sand during this time and we anticipate a lot more considering the weather forecast. I’ve been putting some time in the office organizing and getting an education on the problems the Barnes highway department has faced in recent years. Dave has been working with me on putting together a 911 road name sign list. Once completed, I will be approaching the Board for prioritizing input. Also, I have working on the communication radio compliance issues facing us in the beginning of 2013. I would like to discuss the possibility of ending our agreement with the Town of Drummond in regards to their end of Wilderness Lake Road. The money we are receiving barely covers the snowplowing costs and I anticipate the road needing extensive work in the near future. I don’t believe the Town of Barnes taxpayers should be subsidizing this road. If Drummond would like us to continue to plow it, I’m sure we can work something out to help them. I would like to do a short road patrol before the snow melts significantly so the Board can see first- hand some of the problems we are facing. We will also need to do a more extensive one in the spring. The new town hall entrance door arrived today and may be installed as soon as Friday. The slippery condition of the floor at the transfer site will be addressed with a good quality floor paint mixed with fine silica sand. I anticipate this will be applied in the spring. I have researched the ceiling issue in the town hall. A commercial grade fire resistant suspended system can be used to replace the existing ceiling. We can solicit bids if the town board approves. Highway Order for Discontinuance of Grassley and Deer Grove Roads Motion (Webb/McGee) to initiate the Highway Order to discontinue Deer Grove Road. Roll call vote taken: all responded yes. Motion carried. Motion (Meinke/McGee) to initiate the Highway Order to discontinue Grassley Road. Roll call vote taken: all responded yes. Motion carried. Discussion and possible action on change to days the Transfer Site are open Peet heard from a number of people last weekend that many residents would like the Transfer Site to be open on Saturday instead of Sunday in the wintertime. She thought maybe a survey could be done during the election to see what the numbers would be in favor of that. After discussion it was felt it should be addressed later on in the year once a full year has gone by. Discussion and possible action on correcting surface problems in the transfer site building It has been noted the floor surface gets very slippery when wet. Bob Lang suggested the town crew paint it with an additive of silica sand in the spring once it warms up. That should take care of the problem. Discussion and possible action on maintenance of Ski Trail After discussion it was felt the way it has been maintained should suffice. There has been only a delay of a day or so when the crew is plowing and it should be fine for someone to ski on the few inches of snow if the crew is busy. Cemetery Dave said he had nothing to report Approve new Cemetery Secretary, Linda Clark Linda has been on for awhile but was not formally approved by the board. Motion (Webb/Meinke) to approve the appointment of Linda Clark as Cemetery Secretary. Motion carried. Fire and Ambulance Department Since the last Town Board meeting we have had 6 Ambulance calls. 3 – Transported to Hayward 1 – Transported to St. Luke’s 1 – no transport 1 – had Great Divide respond to call as our ambulance was already out on other call Donna, Vi and I went to the Town Board meeting in Highland last week. Their Assistant Fire Chief took the totals I provided and made comments to discredit my totals and referred to call we were unable to respond to this year already because our ambulance was already on transport to hospital with patient. I explained to them we only had one ambulance and could not be in two places at the same time as their Town Board would not correct mis-information, the Town board chair also indicated that the Town of Highland has only had the contract with the Town of Barnes for two years and that the Town of Barnes wanted over $10,000 for the service so I had to correct them there also as when we negotiated the past contract I started at $7200.00. I provided them with the new contract and explained to them what the Town Board decided. I also explained to them that if a helicopter is requested or Gold Cross transport the patient there is no bill from the Town of Barnes as per our agreement with those services we bill them and they then bill the patient. The only time there will be a bill from the Town of Barnes when Gold cross is involved is when the paramedics ride in our van until then gold cross bills us and we bill the patient. The Town board then tabled the decision until the 17th. There are also two applications to be decided on I also provided the Barnes Blog with a want ad for more EMTS to be placed in the upcoming Blog I recommend approval of Michael Bott as First responder with condition that he complete First responder training and 1 year probation period after completion of Class. I leave the second Gregg Friermood to the Town Board with no recommendation one way or the other from me. The Fire Department has had two calls since the last meeting. 1 – mutual aid to Iron River for a structure Fire 1 – respond for Snowmobile accident on Lake Road at East Robinson Lake Road. Arch heating came several weeks ago to do their annual maintenance. Arch has indicated that the furnace is in bad shape and is un-repairable. I had him provide me with the info and costs to replace. I do not know much about the furnaces but they are provided in the materials presented. Discussion and possible approval of new applicants for the Ambulance Dept Motion (Webb/McGee) to approve Mike Bott with the conditions as recommended by Tom. (Condition that he completes First responder training and will be on 1 year probation after completion of his classes.) Motion carried. Motion(Webb/Meinke) to not approve the application by Gregg Friermood. Motion carried with Porter abstaining. Discussion and approval of policy change for reimbursement for training of new applicants Tom Renz and Chris Webb were unable to meet to formulate the new policy. This will be put on the timeline in lieu of next month’s agenda. Discussion and possible approval of proposal to replace the boiler at the Ambulance Hall by Arch Heating Per Tom’s report two proposals were received from Arch heating, one for an 83.4% efficiency boiler for $4,650.00, and a 98% efficiency unit with a 5 year warranty vs. the one year warranty in the other model for $7,745.00. It was discussed that the higher efficiency boiler would be a savings in the long run with the additional warranty and fuel savings. Motion (Porter/Meinke) to approve the purchase of the 98% boiler for a cost of $$7,745.00, amend the budget for the same amount with the monies coming out of the Building Maintenance Fund. Mitch will contact Arch to negotiate further. Roll call vote taken: all responded yes. Motion carried. Discussion and possible action to continue with Community Wildfire Protection Plan Peet met with the Drummond Chair and Marty Kasinskas. The plan needs to be renewed. Jack spoke on the project as he has been involved with the project since its inception. Motion (Webb/Porter) to continue supporting the Community Wildfire Protection Plan and Jack will continue to be the liaison from the Board. Motion carried. Constable Peet read the Constable’s report: There were two alarms from the sheriff, 1 trespass complaint, 1 welfare check on an elderly resident and check homes (10) for people out of town. Committee Reports Create and appoint a cell-tower communication committee Motion (Meinke/Porter) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Jon Harkness gave background information on the study group, as well as Lee Weisner and Leslie Hall. This group felt a committee wasn’t needed as they had already asked for an amendment to be done to the Land Use Plan. If a committee was to be formed they felt they should be involved. They wanted good coverage for the town also, but would rather have two unlighted towers of 200 feet in height than one 400 foot lighted tower. Peet said they could still attend the committee meetings and give their input and expertise. Motion (Porter/Meinke) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Motion (Webb/Porter) to create a cell tower communications committee. This was a request by a concerned citizen to have the Town Board created committee continue with the study that the study group started. All board members generally felt they needed to be involved in this process since it was such an important topic. It was suggested that Suzette Tremblay, Melissa Driscoll and Diane Rupnow would be on the committee. Suzette wanted to let the board know she felt her husband, Mike would be better as he has more expertise in this matter. She would be glad to be the recording secretary. The members will be approved at the next Board meeting. Land Use Planning Commission There was no meeting in February Citizens Request for Action: Request to plow Webster, Eight Mile Lake, Moore and Church road twice yearly for hunting purposes by Gary Sprague Bob Lang said this is not an issue, no motion is needed as there is no change in policy. Land will contact Mr. Sprague. Resolution to not allow businesses and local organizations to use the facilities at the Transfer Site. Jack Meinke said he still had issues with this resolution, he felt the whole change in policy should have been looked at closer by the Board. Motion ( Porter/McGee) to pass Resolution # R-11-1 to not allow businesses and organizations ( all non-residential units) to use the transfer site for garbage disposal or recycling. Roll call vote taken and all responded yes except Jack Meinke. Motion carried. Motion (Meinke/Porter) to open the floor for discussion. Motion carried. There were a few questions from the floor on how the town was saving money by eliminating the garbage bag fees. The bags were costly, although we did earn more through the garbage bag sales than what was paid out. This is a trial period for a year so the board will look at it again at budget time this fall to see what they will do. Motion (Webb/McGee) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Issues Timeline Update Town owned land – Work in progress Town Hall Maintenance Plan – new door will be installed soon Boat landings – work in progress Town Roads – Highway order issued for Deer Grove and Grassley Roads Town Policy – adding policy change for ambulance personnel Zoning Timeline-letter sent by William Wolf requesting another extension Motion (Webb/Meinke) to extend William Wolf’s RV extension request for two years to 5.19.2013. Motion carried. Motion (Meinke/Porter) to adjourn the Regular Town Board meeting of February 15, 2011. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 9:16PM. Respectfully Submitted, Elaine J. Brustad, Clerk-Treasurer dated this 7th Day of March 7, 2011 |
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