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November 19, 2009 Meeting Minutes
Mercer Town Board of Supervisors – November 19th 2009 – Minutes
Chairman Jim Kichak called the meeting of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors to order on Thursday the 19th of November 2009 at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building.
Roll Call: Jim Kichak, Jim Lambert, Jeff Stenberg, Bonnie Banaszak, Toni Sendra, Christan Brandt, Opal Roberts and Atty Schellgell.
Motion made by Sendra, seconded by Banaszak, to approve the minutes from the November 5th 2009 town board meeting. Carried.
Open comment: none
New Business: a) Discuss coordinating Dwelling Ordinance Camper Permit requirement with County camper requirements.
Sendra read a lengthy statement on her views about the Dwelling Ordinance sections on camper permits and the inconsistency of past permits and questions on enforcement. The town does not have an “Annual” camper permit as the county does. She stated it is time to coordinate with the county and update our dwelling ordinance to make it enforceable. Bergman will be working on the county ordinances this winter and would welcome input from the towns.
Lambert said the only person who can enforce our ordinances is the chairman. Kichak agreed that the board needs to work with Bergman this winter to address our camper permit problems.
b) Discuss/Approve placing road weight limit on Portage Avenue.
Kichak had talked to Midwest Timber about the logging trucks running on portage Avenue and reported that the person he talked to was rather upset with our complaint. Midwest has placed a trailer across the end of Portage Avenue to prevent access to their property by that route. Kichak said we should place a “Dead End” and a weight limit sign on Portage.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to approve the placement of “Dead End” and 8 ton weight limit signs on Portage Avenue. Carried.
Chuck Schroepfer explained that years ago the town agreed to let Midwest Timber have year round access to their yard by using Harper Street and then Margaret Street.
Old Business: a) Discuss procedure for reclaiming Business Park lot.
Sendra said from what she understood the original ordinance states that the facility construction must begin within two years after the board’s approval of the building plans. An amendment adopted in 2008 changed that to read that the construction must begin within two years after the sale of the lot. McNutt purchased his lot in 2006. He presented his building plans to the board in 2008 and therefore, would have until October 2010. Atty Schellgell explained that even though the covenants at that time stated he had two years from the time he presented his plans, he had represented to the board that he would be building within two years from the purchase of the lot and this is what induced the board to sell him the lot. Sendra asked if this would also apply to the Sleight’s biofuel plant which is not built on the lots they purchased in 2007. Schellgell asked McNutt what his plans are for building on his lot. McNutt said he had lost his job with Verizon and due to the economy has delayed his plans for building in Mercer. He has hired an architect who is working on submitting plans to the state. Stenberg asked McNutt if he plans to have employees at that building every working day. He replied that he hopes so. Stenberg said that the business park was created to produce jobs other than management. If we do not do this the right way then the EDA can make the town refund the Federal monies. McNutt said his full intention is to have employees working at this building. Banaszak asked Schellgell for his recommendation. He stated that the conservative approach would be to wait until October 2010 and if the building is not open then there would not be much discussion and the board could reclaim the property. Kichak said not only does he have to have the building completed but he also has to have employees working at this site. Banaszak said the town needs a document stating benchmark dates for the completion of each stage of the building process. Atty Schellgell stated that McNutt has to have the plans for the building to the board by the 1st of February 2010. He also needs to give the board a timeline for the completion of the project. Lambert said this cannot be just a storage building. McNutt said it will not be a storage building, it will be his shop. The board will need this rough construction schedule by the second meeting next month.
Legal: The upcoming meeting with the DOT on the 30th will start at 1:00 pm but the board would like a Closed Session meeting before that time. The closed session was set for 10:00 am prior to the meeting with the DOT.
Schellgell had received a communication from Flambeau Vista Retreat with a copy of a sample contract for his approval. Schellgell stated that this was a matter for the Tourism Commission to decide and he was passing the information on to them.
Officer Reports: Clerk’s Report - Roberts presented the receipts list, vouchers and budget report.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Sendra, to approve the vouchers and issue the checks. Carried.
Communications: The Clerk and the custodian, Jerry Huffmaster, discussed the difficulty of placing the table and chair carts in the storage room at the Community Center. The door to the one storage room is too narrow. The Clerk asked about the possibility of creating a new doorway in the hall to this room. Banaszak said people might object to making an opening in the hallway through those old logs.
She asked Schellgell what notices she would need to post and publish for the abandonment of Moricoli Road.
The Hurley Masonic Lodge would like to start foundation work before approval by the Planning Commission and Board. Schellgell said that unless they have state approved plans they cannot start on the foundation. The board told the clerk to contact them and tell them they can start foundation work if the building plans have been approved by the state.
The Iron County tax levy is $3,997,480 for 2010. Mercer Township’s share of that will be $1,949,560. This means that Mercer taxpayers will be paying .4877 or 49% of the County levy. The Mercer School will levy $2,078,576 in taxes. In the good news department, the Local Government Property Insurance Fund will be declaring a dividend to the town for $3,117.
Treasurer’s Report –Brandt presented the Treasurer’s report. The General Account has a balance of $46,969.34. A Money Market account was opened at Associated Bank with funds from the Tax account in the amount of $699,996.39. Total of all funds is $1,187,580.26.
Motion made by Banaszak, seconded by Sendra, to approve the Treasurer’s report. Carried.
Board Reports: Chair/Garage reports: He asked Schellgell about a lien the town had put on a house and the house is being sold so this information needs to be given to the realtor.
The work on Long Road is done. Several pieces of equipment need repair and the crew will be working on those. The back roads will be checked again before winter to make sure they are in good condition. Salt shed is full. Need to take a photo of it and send to Cover-all. The problem at the end of Lakeshore Drive will be worked on next week. Sendra had a question about the ATV trail by Beaver Road. Will the town be repairing that section. Kichak said that is the County’s responsibility. Residents on Kimmear Road would like to know when the town will be working on their road. He will try to get the crew out to do the removal of rocks and get it prepared for chip sealing next fall. At the County Economic Development meeting this morning they requested County J be opened to ATV traffic from Long Road to Cedar Lake Circle. The town will then need to designate Cedar Lake Circle as an ATV Route. He had talked to Joe Vairus and was told the loggers were out the next day removing debris from Fisher Lake Road East. At the Tuesday Forestry meeting he will tell them they have to repair the ditch line also.
Supervisors: Stenberg – he believes that by the second board meeting next month there will be someone in to buy business park lots. The town needs to place street lights at least at the street intersections in the business park. Winkler has phone service off of Old Pioneer Road, so phone service needs to be run into the remainder of the park.
Lambert – none
Banaszak – Jay Knoke is reviewing information on the storm sewer project and the board can discuss this during the Closed Session meeting on the 30th. She asked about the construction of the fence at South Side Auto. The Clerk said he applied for the permit for an addition and a fence. She and Sendra toured the Evergreen Energy plant and were very impressed. She called Senator Jauch’s office and was put in contact with the Wisconsin Entrepreneurs’ network. She gave this information to Ron Sleight.
Sendra – she reported six street lights out last week and so far three of them have been fixed. The Sanitary District has hired an engineering firm to apply for the Section 154 Environmental grant. The money would be used to paint the water tower, replace the Well #1 motor, and complete modifications to the reconstruction of US Highway 51. She and Banaszak attended the Governor’s Summit and picked up a lot of good networking information that can be used when writing for the grants for the bike/pedestrian trails and the library expansion. She and Banaszak will be attending the Wisconsin Town’s Association seminar in Stevens Point on December 4th. The public meeting for the Manitowish Waters Bike Trail committee is scheduled for December 7th at 6:30 pm at the MW Community Center. And the salt shed is beautiful.
Lambert said that three applications in Iron County for the 154 grant monies, so he asked Tom Thompson to send a letter to County Board Chairman DeRosso about the pollution in Mercer Lake and ask for his help in pushing the grants through. Banaszak said Knoke has been looking at additional funding sources for the sewer project and maybe the USDA can help us with matching funds for the project.
For Consideration and Approval: a) Temporary Beer Permit - none
Operator’s Licenses to approve: none
Cemetery Deeds: Revised Cemetery site location for Harry & Audrey Guild.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Banaszak, to approve the revised deed to change from Section 4, Block 24, Plot 4, Sites 1 & 4 to sites in Section 4, Block 24, Plot 1, Site 5 & 8. Carried.
Vouchers:
Payroll: #26626 J Hammond $1,096.52; #26627 C Hertel $999.62; #26628 C Schroepfer $1,101.05; #26629 C Schroepfer $131.64; #26630 K Brunell $1,077.44; #26631 J Hahn $972.64; #26632 D Keefe $340.78; #26633 J Huffmaster $126.68; #26634 S Huffmaster $51.53; #26635 G Lawrence $632.65; #00035 Assoc. Bank $2,222.12; #26674 WI-DOR $1,183.12
Town: #26644 CWE Inc $3,022.50; #26648 F Schellgell $2,286.00; #26650 J Lambert $63.35; #26653 San. Dist. $87.20; #26658 Operating Engineers $178.68; #26660 Price Electric $65.77; #26661 Quality Heating $520.75; #26666 Snow’s Market $24.91; #26669 Time Insurance $739.74; #26670 T Sendra $35.00; #26673 WE Energies $150.25; #26675 WTA $70.00; #26676 Xcel Energy $1,818.32
Office: #26643 Clermont Supply $231.58; #26645 Daily Globe $25.01; #26653 San. Dist. $62.24; #26657 Office Enterprises $79.89; #26671 Us Postal Service $1,000.00; #26673 WE Energies $60.59; #26676 Xcel Energy $120.93
Garage: #26638 Aramark $57.27; #26642 CarQuest $122.48; #26653 San. Dist. $75.30; #26654 Midstates Blade $4,214.51; #26656 Northern Welding $63.26; #26663 Ritchie Oil $2,201.59; #26664 Ritchie Propane $1,877.58; #26672 Warehouse $31.76; #26676 Xcel Energy $211.30
Fire Dept: #26636 A Kussard $600.00; #26653 San. Dist. $90.10; #26665 R Fohr #150.00; #26666 Snow’s Market $43.39; #26668 T Thompson $600.00; #26673 WE Energies $456.12; #26676 Xcel Energy $128.01
Rescue Barn: #26673 WE Energies $95.40; #26676 Xcel Energy $158.77
Library: #26637 Amazon $587.71; #26639 Audio Editions $99.98; #26640 Baker & Taylor $1,289.46; #26643 Clermont Supply $81.18; #26649 Gaylord Bros. $31.43; #26652 Mercer Library $400.26; #26653 San. Dist. $87.28; #26655 NWLS $123.72; #26659 Penworthy $314.37; #26662 Quill Corp. $47.52; #26667 Taste of Home $39.98; #26673 WE Energies $149.54; #26676 Xcel Energy $304.07
Park: #26653 San. Dist. $90.70; #26672 Warehouse $35.92; #26676 Xcel Energy $48.02
Vets Memorial: #26641 Brick & Supply $3,035.00; #26647 Down to Earth Landscapes $1,830.25; #26651 Mercer Lumber $89.80
The next regular meeting of the Mercer Town Board of Supervisors will be held on Thursday the 3rd of December 2009 at 6:30 pm in the Haines Civic Building.
Motion made by Lambert, seconded by Stenberg, to adjourn the board meeting at 7:38 pm. Carried.
Archive:
February 2, 2012 Meeting Minutes
January 19, 2012 Meeting Minutes
January 5, 2012 Meeting Minutes
December 15, 2011 Meeting Minutes
December 1, 2011 Meeting Minutes
November 17, 2011 Meeting Minutes
November 3, 2011 Meeting Minutes
October 20, 2011 Meeting Minutes
October 6, 2011 Meeting Minutes
September 15, 2011 Meeting Minutes