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May 6, 2010 Meeting Minutes
Mercer Town Board of Supervisors – May 6th 2010 – Minutes
Chairman Kichak called the meeting of the Town of Mercer Board of Supervisors to order Thursday May 6th at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building (Town Hall).
Roll Call: Jim Kichak, Jim Lambert, Jeff Stenberg, Bonnie Banaszak, Charles Schroepfer, Opal Roberts, and Christan Brandt. Absent: Atty Schellgell.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the minutes from the April 15th 2010 Town Board meeting and the April 26th 2010 joint Town of Mercer/Town of Sherman meeting. Banaszak abstained. Carried.
Open comment: none.
New Business: a) Discuss/approve opening town roads to the ATV route system.
The Clerk had received a petition delivered by Wayne Reibe with a large number of signatures of property owners who requested the opening of mainly Popko Circle and the roads intersecting Popko Circle. Several emails and faxes had been received in the office endorsing the opening of town roads to the system. No communications had been received in opposition to this.
Schroepfer stated that even though he was the person who suggested the board include all town roads in the ATV system, he has since attended a town official’s seminar, and upon doing a lot of research, had obtained information that this might be an unsafe thing to do. Also, the cost of the signs to post all the roads would be expensive. Lambert said that there are some roads the property owners do not want open.
Tom Thompson, of the county Forestry committee, said his department would help with establishing an ATV trail that could be accessed by the town’s ATV routes. Kichak suggested that a satellite ATV club be established in Mercer to work with the county ATV club.
Reibe stated that some people would still be a long way from a trail. He suggested a temporary opening of the town roads to see if problems do occur. The property owners will probably be willing to help with the cost of the ATV signs. Vic Ouimette said he recognizes the importance of having the ATV routes and trails. ATV registrations outnumber snowmobile registrations in the state of Wisconsin by a significant amount and the number is growing.
Lambert asked what the ATVs would do when they reached County FF. Reibe replied that this is something that could be worked on later. The important thing is to do the first step of opening Popko Cricle to at least allow access to the businesses on Popko and to the camp ground. Weinkauf said it would be easier to get members to join the ATV club if they had somewhere for them to ride.
Lambert said that there are really two questions here. The first is opening all town roads. The second is to open Popko Circle and the intersecting roads. He is opposed to the first but would not be opposed to the second. If the board votes to not open all the town roads then the opening of Popko Circle cannot be voted on because it would have to be an agenda item. There was more discussion on the pros and cons of opening Popko Circle.
Motion made by Schroepfer, seconded by Lambert, not to open all town roads to the ATV system. Carried.
b) Conditional Use permit for 24x30 addition to accessory building at 1599W Count Road J owned by Karl & Linda Anderson.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the Conditional Use for a 24x30 addition to an accessory building at 1599W County Road J owned by Karl & Linda Anderson. Carried.
c) Conditional Use permit to operate a Tourist Rooming House at 3409N Popko Circle W owned by Andrew Wolf.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the Conditional Use permit to operate a Tourist Rooming House at 3409N Popko Circle W owned by Andrew and Candace Wolf. Lambert abstained. Carried.
d) Conditional Use permit to operate a Tourist Rooming House at 3419N Siegerts Blvd owned by William Riske.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Banaszak, to approve the Conditional Use permit to operate a Tourist Rooming House at 3419N Siegerts Blvd owned by William Riske. Lambert abstained. Carried.
e) Discuss/approve a 24 month camper permit for Donald Huizinga.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the 24 month camper permit for Donald Huizinga at 6859N Cramer Lake Road. Carried.
f) Discuss/approve tourist Rooming House permit for Gary Aschenbrener.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Schroepfer, to approve the Tourist Rooming House permit for 6300W O’Mearas Road owned by Gary Aschenbrener. Lambert abstained. Carried.
g) Discuss/Approve a Tourist Rooming House permit for Christopher Dodge.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Banaszak, to approve the Tourist Rooming House permit for 5307N Goettsche Road owned by Christopher Dodge. Lambert abstained. Carried.
h) Discuss/Approve Tourist Rooming House permit for property located at 6510W Flambeau Dam Rd owned by Robert Spoerl.
Motion made by Schroepfer, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the Tourist Rooming House permit for 6510W Flambeau Dam Road owned by Robert Spoerl. Lambert abstained. Carried.
i) Open/Award cemetery grounds keeper bids.
Lambert left the room. His son had submitted one of the bids. Seven bids had been received: Northern Tree Service of Hurley for $3,150; Mike Lambert of Mercer for $5,157; Frank’s Service of Mercer for $5,850; Harma’s Lawn Service of Hurley for $5,500; Pfieffer’s Lawn Service of Mercer for $5,000; M.A.C. & Laura Inc of Hurley for $6,995; and Northwoods Lawn & Home of Mercer for $6,000. There was discussion about awarding the contract to a local bidder and the work done by Northwoods Lawn & Home during last year’s contract.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Stenberg, to award the contract to Northwoods Lawn & Home for $6,000. Kichak abstained. Lambert not present. Carried.
j) Discuss/approve purchase of dump truck.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the purchase of the 2004 Peterbilt Dump Truck for $51,000. Schroepfer voted “no”. Carried.
k) Open/Award Library sidewalk bids.
Three bids were received: K&M Concrete $1,529; Northern Tree Service $2,184; Scott Tomek $950. Tomek’s bid did not include removal and disposal of the old sidewalk, nor the sealant.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to award the Library sidewalk bid to K&M Concrete for $1,529. Carried.
l) Discuss Oma/Sherman ambulance agreements.
Lambert had found out that the Town of Oma has been sending the annual fee to the Ambulance Barn while the Town of Sherman pays the town. A letter will be sent to the Town of Oma about remitting the payment to the town.
m) Appoint Planning commission members.
The terms of Jeff Stenberg and Dave Gentile will expire.
Motion made by Schroepfer, seconded by Banaszak, to reappoint Jeff Stenberg and Dave Gentile to the planning Commission for three years. Carried. Kichak reappointed Stenberg as Chairman of the Planning Commission.
n) Discuss/Consider stimulus program for community promotions.
Schroepfer had brought this before the board during the last meeting. In the past some organizations had started several projects to try to increase tourism. Maybe the town can organize or suggest a new event to promote the area. The Highway 51 project will probably hinder business along US 51 in 2011 and 2012. Lambert stated the town gives the Chamber $15,000 a year and they will receive 75% of the Accommodations tax monies collected and now Schroepfer wants the town to give them more money? Banaszak said she understands their need for more money and that they have been working very hard to work with the Flowage Association, but with the bill we may be receiving for the storm sewer project, she does not see how the town can contribute any monies to stimulate business. Ouimette said the Chamber has not received any Accommodations Tax monies and, for the first year, there will not be that much money from the tax. The tax money has to be used to advertise any events that will create overnight stays. If you take away the $15,000 then you are diluting the advantage of having the Accommodations Tax. Banaszak said members of the town board, the chamber, and the school need to get together to do some real brain storming on this matter. Lambert asked if you had to be a member of the Chamber to put brochures in the Chamber office if you are paying room tax money. Ouimette answered “yes”, because it is a membership organization and in order to promote a specific business you need to be a member.
o) Set date for road inspection.
Kichak will set the date at the next meeting. Schroepfer said it should be done as soon as possible.
p) Set date for Code of Ordinance meeting.
After discussion the date was set for Wednesday May 19th at 6:00 pm.
Old Business: a) Discuss/Approve amendment to Citation Enforcement Ordinance.
Banaszak requested this because of the number of new Tourist Rooming House applications being processed and this has to be added in order to be able to enforce the TRH ordinance.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Schroepfer, to approve adding the Tourist Rooming House enforcement to the Citation Enforcement Ordinance with enforcement by the town chairman or designee. Stenberg voted “no”. Carried.
b) Conditional Use for 32x48 accessory building at 5866N Branch Road owned by D Bormann & J Matcheft.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Schroepfer, to approve the Conditional Use application for an accessory building for Dan Bormann & Jeanne Matchefts. Carried.
Legal: Schroepfer asked if he could bring up the subject of the Lake Tahoe Drive/Jack English problem. He has been told the problem has not been resolved. Atty Schellgell will be consulted about this matter.
Officer Reports: Clerk’s Report - Roberts presented the receipts list, and vouchers.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the vouchers and issue the checks. Carried.
Communications: Copy of letter from WI Dept of Commerce to the Iron County Zoning Administrator explaining why the Town of Mercer will be under the County’s UDC enforcement. Letter to a Mercer resident from the Iron County Health Department about the smoke from their outdoor wood burner. Letter from Cover-All stating that the Salt Shed cover may not meet the present combined wind and snow load capacity requirements of applicable building codes. Letter from Public Service Commission of WI about the Biomass facility to be built in Rothschild WI. Managed Forest Law withdrawal order for Pitlik & Wick to remove 57 acres from MFL. Forest Crop Law order for the transfer from Potlatch Forest Holdings to The Conservation Fund of 2,616.7 acres of land. Copy of a letter from Carolee Russell, of WISCAP, to The Dept of Commerce with a request to conduct a DOC Income Survey within the Sanitary District boundaries.
Treasurer’s Report – Brandt presented the Treasurer’s report. The General Account has a balance of $56,980.77. Total of all funds is $1,597,936.99. The amount of Accommodations Tax payments received to date is $7,290.36.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Lambert, to approve the Treasurer’s report. Carried.
Board Reports: Chair/Garage reports: The WI-DOT sufficiency rating on the Cramer Lake Road bridge is 62.2. In order to qualify for funding the rating has to be below 50. There will be another bridge inspection this fall. If the town can obtain a state grant for this bridge then 80% will be funded by the state, 10% by the county and 10% by the town. The cost of replacing this bridge will be over $350,000. The road signs have to be converted over by 2016 so in the 2011 budget an amount will need to be included for replacing the signs starting with the roads along US Highway 51. Culverts were purchased but the cost went over our culvert budget. All the culverts will be replaced on Murray’s Landing Road. Schuster and Country Lane work is finished. The starter on the grader was replaced. Schroepfer will take over the responsibilities formerly held by Toni Sendra. This includes the street lights, liaison to the library and liaison to the Sanitary District. Jeff Wilson checked out the culvert obstructions on County J and five beaver were trapped on Fisher Lake Road. Kichak and Brunell will pick up the dump truck sometime next week. Some of the roads projects will be double chip sealed. Some towns are reverting to gravel roads to save on paving costs. Schroepfer explained that paving Kimmear Road might be more cost effective than chip sealing. The panels on the garage doors are saturated with moisture and two of them have been replaced. The other panels need to be replaced.
Supervisors: Stenberg – he is working on an idea for the Business Park and hopes to have it ready by the next meeting.
Lambert – he called Brunell out most of the time when trees were reported down after garage hours last week and he wanted to compliment him on a job well done. The Ambulance Service and the First Responders will combine as one organization. The town should look at putting funds in the budget to help pay the First Responders.
Banaszak – reminded the board of the meeting on Monday at 10:00 am with Stephanie Anderson (EMCS) and Blake Theisen (Schriebner Anderson) about the project scheduling on Hwy 51. Zoning Consistency meeting has to be in conjunction with the Planning Commission. Working on two fire department grants that are due at the end of May. Request for permission to send a letter of appreciation to Congressman Dave Obey on his retirement and commending him for the work he has done on Mercer’s behalf.
Schroepfer – he met with Mike Lull from CenturyLink about moving the pedestal on Gade Road. He contacted the DNR about the Trude Lake dike and they can maybe meet with someone about that the week of June 14th. The shop lights at the garage need to be replaced because they are phasing out the ballasts. There are 19 fixtures in the shop area that need to be replaced at an approximate cost of $2,500. We would get a small rebate from Focus on Energy. Lambert suggested this be placed on the next agenda to give the board a chance to look at the lighting. Schroepfer contacted the Iron County Emergency Government because the town’s emergency management plan needs to be updated. The counter weights on the 928G need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $2,500. Kichak said that after the work with the gravel is done then that machine can be worked on.
For Consideration and Approval: none
Vouchers:
Payroll: #00012 Assoc. Bank $1,944.26; #27241 J Hammond $1,115.56; #27242 C Hertel $1,023.50; #27243 C Schroepfer $18.05; #27244 K Brunell $1,076.46; #27245 J Hahn $1,030.41; #27246 D Keefe $215.29; #27247 G Ylvisaker $108.65; 27248 J Huffmaster $81.16; #27249 S Huffmaster $216.90; #27250 G Lawrence $650.97; #00013 Assoc. Bank $1,887.13; #27253 O Roberts $1,791.55; #27254 C Brandt $606.53; #27255 J Kichak $231.59; #27256 J Lambert $288.13; #27257 J Stenberg $317.55; #27258 B Banaszak $340.16; #27259 T Sendra $156.07; #27260 C Schroepfer $54.10; #27261 A Kussard $474.85; #27262 J Roberts $498.02; #27263 T Schmidt $1,810.59; #00014 Assoc. Bank $2,429.24
Town: #00404 WI Retirement $3,491.41; #27251 Delta Dental $85.10; #27252 WPS Insurance $5,847.71; #27264 Altman Excavating $84.00; #27270 CWE Inc $3,791.00; #27271 DNR $1,640.67; #27272 DWD-UI $81.22; #27274 F Schellgell $430.00; #27277 Iron Co Dev Zone $750.00; #27279 J Hahn $2,742.20; #27281 Marshfield Clinic $72.03; #27284 Mercer Chamber $1,250.00; #27288 P Carlson $2,500.00; #27295 WI Towns Assoc. $80.00; #27297 Xcel Energy $17.75
Office: #27267 CenturyLink $320.32; #27268 Clermont Supply $39.55; #27276 Iron Co Miner $524.26
Garage: ##27265 Aramark Uniforms $57.16; #27266 AT&T Mobility $45.26; #27267 CenturyLink $117.91; #27269 County Materials $6,452.16; #27273 Fabco Equip. $1,179.38; #27275 HSBC Solutions $109.99; #27278 J Hammond $37.25; #27280 Lawson Products $340.48; #27282 NAPA $3,280.00; #27283 Mercer BP $767.01; #27286 Mid-State International $683.79; #27287 Monroe Truck $188.29; #27289 Ritchie Oil $1,417.68; #27290 Ritchie Propane $1,805.98; #27291 Snows Market $42.57; #27294 Warehouse $13.99; #27296 Waste Management $100.84; #27298 Zarnoth Brush Works $666.40
Fire Dept: #27267 CenturyLink $57.88; #27282 NAPA $419.33; #27283 Mercer BP $294.21; #27290 Ritchie Propane $13.99; #27291 Snows Market $17.96; #27292 SS Sport Store $51.35; #27296 Waste Management $98.05
Park: #27285 Mercer Lumber $599.32; #27293 T Thompson $3,500.00; #27294 Warehouse $35.04
Debt Service: #01005 Assoc. Bank $6,208.51
The next regular meeting of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors will be held on Thursday the 20th of May 2010 at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to go into Closed Session per WI Stats. 19.85 (1)(c) to discuss garage mechanic position and Hadley Pit attendant at 8:44 pm. All yes.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Schroepfer, to return to Open Session at 8:56 pm. All yes. Carried.
Action on closed Session: Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Schroepfer, to move Ken Brunell to the Shop Mechanic position at the garage with the rate of pay for that position. Carried.
Motion made by Stenberg, seconded by Banaszak, to hire Gunnar Ylvisaker to work the Haldey Brush Pit for this year. Carried.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to adjourn the board meeting at 9:00 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