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April 16, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Mercer Town Board of Supervisors – April 16th 2009 – Minutes
Chairman Jim Kichak called the meeting of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors to order on Thursday the 16th of April 2009 at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building.
Roll Call: Jim Kichak, Jim Lambert, Jeff Stenberg, Bonnie Banaszak, Toni Sendra, Opal Roberts, and Christan Manners/Brandt. Absent: Atty Schellgell.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Sendra, to approve the minutes from the April 2nd 2009 board meeting. Carried.
Open comment: Dianne Keefe asked if more lighting could be provided for the Library-Community Center parking lot. There is no lighting on the street side of the trees. She also reported that the FEMA grant money has not been received even though it has been more than three weeks since she sent in the request for payment.
Kathy Tutt reiterated the request she had made at the Annual Town meeting to send a letter to the State Elections Board about the unfairness of business owners of property in the Sanitary District not being able to vote for the Sanitary District Commissioner in the recent election. The Deputy Clerk has drafted a letter and it only needs the signature of Chairman Kichak.
Vic Ouimette asked if the board had any schedule in mind for the drafting of the Room Tax Ordinance, discussed at the Annual Town Meeting, and the required Public Hearing. Could it be done by one of the meetings in May? Lambert, speaking for himself, said he would not like to see this ordinance go into effect before the first of next year. Chuck Zradicka stated these meetings should not be scheduled when the resorts are too busy to attend. Shari Younger and Wayne Riebe said it should be done as soon as possible.
New Business: a) Conditional Use permit for a Tourist Rooming House at 6544W Flambeau Dam Rd owned by Craig Trenkamp.
Mr Trenkamp was present and answered questions from the board. He has addressed the concerns the town board had stated when they denied his application last year. The town had received a copy of a letter the County Sanitarian had sent to Trenkamp last August about the use of the loft for sleeping as it does not comply with state building codes. Several letters of concern from adjoining property owners were read at the meeting. Lambert stated that if there are more than two documented complaints about this property, then the Rooming house permit could be withdrawn.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Banaszak, to approve the Conditional Use permit for a Tourist Rooming House at 6544W Flambeau Dam Rd owned by Craig Trenkamp contingent on the owner building a fence on the sides of the lot to clearly designate the property boundaries. Lambert abstained. Carried.
b) Discuss/approve Resolution 2009-02 Declaration of the “Snow Capitol of Wisconsin” in Iron County.
Governor Jim Doyle had sent a letter to the Hurley Chamber of Commerce naming Hurley as the top winter destination in Wisconsin and called Iron County the “Snow Capitol of Wisconsin”. This resolution is to ask the state to treat Iron County differently because of the amount of snow this area receives.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Banaszak, to adopt Resolution 2009-02 designating Iron County as the “Snow Capitol of Wisconsin”. Carried. (see attached)
c) Appoint Planning Commission members.
The terms of two positions on the Planning Commission have expired and appointments or reappointments need to be made.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Banaszak, to appoint Tom Thompson (of Tom’s Café) and reappoint Kathy Tutt to the Planning Commission board. Carried.
d) Appoint Hadley Brush Pit attendant.
No job applications had been received as of 3:00 pm today but several people stated they were interested in the job. The Clerk will re-advertise for the position.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to postpone this item until the next regular board meeting. Carried.
e) Discuss/Approve refinancing of Sno-Goers loan.
Darrell Fohr, treasurer for the Sno-goers Snowmobile Club, asked the board to approve the refinancing of the Sno-Goers loan for $50,000 for five years.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Sendra, to approve the refinancing of the Sno-Goers loan for $50,000 for five years. Carried.
f) Discuss replacing library lights.
The library board has not had the opportunity to make their selection on the ceiling lights for the library.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Sendra, to postpone this item until the Library Board makes a decision on the type of lighting they would like for the library. Carried.
Old Business: a) Discuss/Approve amendment to Sign Ordinance.
Atty Schellgell was not present and had not sent any documents for the amendment.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Sendra, to postpone this item until the next regular board meeting. Carried.
b) Discuss salt shed construction/location.
Stenberg had researched the cost of a pre-cast concrete base for the salt shed. The price quoted by Cover-All in their original quote was by far the least expensive. Kichak had talked with Atty Schellgell about rescinding the contract with Lupino for the construction of the base and was told it could be expensive. Kichak will ask Lupino for a quote on pre-cast concrete for the project.
The garage was discussed and Kichak stated that there is some asbestos in the ceiling. Banaszak said the town may be able to get assistance for the removal of the asbestos or for the demolition of the garage if the board decides to rebuild. She was given permission to do the preliminary application.
Legal: none.
Officer Reports: Clerk’s Report - Roberts presented the receipts list, vouchers and the budget report.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Sendra, to approve the vouchers and issue the checks. Carried.
Communications: Mercer Sanitary District sent a document stating why they are charging the town a fee of $40 for each time the Fire Dept or the Town connects to a hydrant. ADT, the security system for the library, sent a notice of a $3.98 per month rate increase starting in June. Alta Planning & Design asked to be notified for any engineering services the town may need for the Hike/Bike project. Associated Appraisal Consultants had sent a quote for Assessor services in the event the board decides to ask for bids for the next tax season. Ayres provided a copy of the TRM grant application.
Treasurer’s Report – Manners/Brandt presented the Treasurer’s report. The General Account has a balance of $375,660.99. Total of all funds is $1,511,709.64.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Sendra, to approve the Treasurer’s report. Carried.
Board Reports: Chair/Garage reports: Dave Minisan had asked Kichak if the Lions could install an outside electrical outlet to be used during the summer by the Lions for the Flea Market. The board agreed to this since the Lions will pay the cost for this outside outlet. All town roads have been patched. The streets have been swept several times. We are badly in need of rain to help clean things up. The crew is still clearing trees. Warden Fitzgerald commented to Kichak about some dead trees the crew had cut that were outside the road right-of-way. The new truck has been taken down to Wausau for repair for a probable electronic problem. At a cost of $40 for each hydrant tap, the town will buy a pump for filling the street sweeper. The garage has purchased a heavy duty jack for working on the equipment. Xcel Energy wants to get on Goettsche Road as soon as possible to move the power poles. An ad for contracting out the mowing for the town buildings will be placed in the Miner.
Supervisors: Sendra – the library board held the election of officers. Marge Pemle (President), Sue Benzel (Vice President) and Opal Roberts (Treasurer) were reappointed. Valarie Anderson was appointed Secretary. There will be a meeting of the library building committee next Wednesday, April 22nd at 7:00 pm. The Spring clean-up will be on May 9th. Could the garage crew have the benches in place before then? Northwest Wisconsin Regional Economic Development Fund is offering a Façade Loan Program for business in downtown Mercer. Local merchants, if they qualify, can borrow up to $20,000 for 10 years at 2% to renovate the exterior of their buildings.
Banaszak – Will Andresen suggested the board members send in their comments on the Iron County Outdoor Recreation Survey as a town board. That way we wouldn’t have to do a recreation plan for grants we may apply for in the future. Manitowish Waters bike path committee met with Blake Theisen, who is helping to coordinate the project. Gogebic County in (MI) and Iron County would like to coordinate their bike path plans so that a regional plan for the networking of these paths can be made and incorporated into future plans
Lambert – none.
Stenberg – Senator Jauch had said there was money available for the Manitowish Waters trail plan. Is this money still available? . Banaszak will contact Senator Jauch’s office to check on the availability of funds for trails.
For Consideration and Approval: a) Temporary Beer Permit. - none. b) Cemetery Deeds - none.
Vouchers:
Payroll: #00012 Assoc. Bank $2,230.39; #25824 J Hammond $1,094.73; #25825 C Hertel $997.83; #25826 C Schroepfer $1,099.26; #25827 C Schroepfer $131.64; #25828 K Brunell $1,075.64; #25829 J Hahn $970.85; #25830 D Keefe $245.44; #25831 J Huffmaster $206.12; #25832 S Huffmaster $122.39; #25833 G Lawrence $631.32; #25875 WI-DOR $1,052.95
Town: #25838 Ayres Assoc. $3,253.54; #25846 DWD-UI $171.45; #25853 Lakes Distributing $106.39; #25856 NAPA $143.90; #25859 San. Dist. $98.10; #25865 Operating Engineers $178.68; #25867 Price Electric $87.05; #25871 Time Ins. $739.74; #25872 Vision Plan $89.25; #25876 WTA $600.00; #25877 Xcel Energy $1,762.13
Office: #25849 Iron Co Miner $289.00; #25859 San. Dist. $86.20; #25864 Office Ent. $32.96; #25874 WE Energies $144.05; #25877 Xcel Energy $94.31
Election: #25836 A Guild $102.00; #25837 A Springer $109.00; #25841 C Kowaleski $102.00; #15842 Clermont Supply $164.99; #25844 D Gibbs $125.00; #25845 D Sullivan $102.00; J Slivinski $109.00; #25851 J Georgi $102.00; #25852 J Ivey $102.00; #25854 M Klopatek $102.00; #25855 M Vaughn $133.00; #25869 R Baxter $102.00; #25870 S Thomas $102.00
Garage: #25835 AmeriPride $81.35; #25840 CarQuest $382.24; #25843 Control Concepts $163.95; #25848 Iron Co Hwy Dept $212.14; #25856 NAPA $431.22; #25859 San. Dist. $176.50; #25860 Midland Services $443.07; #25861 Montage Ent. $347.15; #25862 Northern Welding $45.50; #25868 Ritchie Oil $1,449.10; #25877 Xcel Energy $348.68
Fire Dept: #25847 Eagle Engraving $22.20; #25856 NAPA $61.19; #25857 Mercer Lumber $34.92; #25859 San. Dist. $147.00; #25863 Northway Comm. $270.00; #25866 Pomasl Equip. $62.29; #25873 Warehouse $67.08; #25874 WE Energies $813.61; #25877 Xcel Energy $179.18
Rescue Barn: #25874 WE Energies $23.57; #25877 Xcel Energy $298.07
Library: #25834 Amazon.com $197.89; #25839 Baker & Taylor $227.32; #25858 Mercer Library $92.30; #25859 San. Dist. $63.32; #25874 WE Energies $536.27; #25877 Xcel Energy $391.18
Park: #25859 San. Dist. $78.78; #25877 Xcel Energy $20.12
The next regular meeting of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors will be held on Thursday the 7th of May 2009 at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Sendra, to go into Closed Session at 7:31 pm per WI Stats. 19.84(c) to discuss the Labor Union contract. Carried. All present.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to return to Open Session at 7:35 pm. Carried. All present.
Action taken on Closed Session: The Union representative had asked that the 90-day probation period for job classifications II and III be changed from 90 days to 30 days. The board agreed to change the probationary period to 60 days and a letter to that effect will be sent to Dan Westlund.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to adjourn at 7:38 pm. Carried.
Archive:
August 19, 2010 Meeting Minutes
August 5, 2010 Meeting Minutes
July 15, 2010 Meeting Minutes
July 1, 2010 Meeting Minutes
June 17, 2010 Meeting Minutes
June 3, 2010 Meeting Minutes
May 20, 2010 Meeting Minutes
May 6, 2010 Meeting Minutes
April 15, 2010 Meeting Minutes
April 13, 2010 Annual Town Meeting Minutes