Town Board Meeting August 14, 2008

Chairperson Ray Knapp convened the Regular Town Board meeting on Thursday, August 14, 2008, at 7:00 p.m.. Gloria Wahrenbrock, Jan Cuccia and Brian Schwab were present. Dan Pearson arrived later.

The following people signed the attendance sheet: Geri Campbell, Charlie Macdonell, Kelly & Ken Baumann, Fred Miller, Chuck Cook, Diane Nelson, Mark Swanson and Beth Pabst. Others were present who did not sign in.

R. Knapp invited those present to join in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

APPROVE MINUTES - Minutes of the July 17, 2008 Town Board meeting had been distributed to the board. Jan Cuccia moved to approve the minutes from Thursday July 17, 2008, seconded by Brian Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.

CITIZEN INPUT – Register of Deeds candidates Geri Campbell and Beth Pabst introduced themselves, giving a brief history of their backgrounds and asking for voter support in the September 9^th primary.

PARK BOARD REPORT – Copies of the July Park Board minutes and Park Board Report were distributed to the board. Charlie Macdonell reviewed the Park Board report with the board. He also had a chance to meet with the Hudson Boosters, R. Knapp, and B. Schwab on August 5^th to discuss the Outline of Understanding agreement for the long term use of the Glover Park ball fields. Most of the issues with the agreement were resolved. The Park Board will be asked to develop imaginative ideas on how to make parking spaces near the pavilion available only to non-ball players during ball tournaments. They decided that the town can set up reservations for Glover Park before receiving the ball organization’s requests in April. The town agreed to leave two weekends a month available for the ball teams during the summer baseball schedule.

PLAN COMMISSION REPORT – Copies of the Plan Commission minutes had been distributed to the board. J. Cuccia gave a brief summary of the Plan Commission meeting. The Plan Commission recommended that the town seek an after the fact permit from St. Croix Electric for cutting in the riverway. As far as curbing vs. ditches, there was a consensus that the town’s Subdivision Ordinance is well written and that the use of curb and gutter within the town will be discouraged. The Plan Commission also reviewed two more chapters of the Comprehensive Plan.

CONSTABLE & SHERIFF REPORTS – Copies of the Constable report, the Sheriff’s report and the Animal Control report were distributed to the board. Park Ranger, Fred Miller gave a brief summary to the board. The board also reviewed the Sheriff’s monthly report and the Animal Control report.

EXCEPTION TO DESIGN STANDARDS (FRONT SETBACK) – KEN BAUMANN, 517 WEST RIDGE CIRCLE - Bryon Motszko, Cedar Corp., summarized the Baumann’s application. He stated that the applicant is requesting an after the fact exception to design standards to reduce the front building line setback to allow for the completion of construction of a pole building. The existing front building line setback is 150’. They are requesting a 10’ reduction to excuse the current location of the building. Cedar Corp. recommends granting the exception. B. Motszko also stated that Chapter 37 of the Town Code establishes that violations of build construction (chapter 27) shall result in a citation of not less than $25 or more than $500 per day plus court costs. Ken Baumann stated that he did go through the proper channels for constructing a pole shed, however he called for an inspection too late. By the time the building inspector arrived, the building was already framed up. R. Knapp recapped the Plan Commission decision stating that the building could have easily been moved back 10’ and that it does not appear the applicant intended to violate town code. J. Cuccia stated that even though there wasn’t an intent to violate, a violation occurred and there should be a penalty because the landowner needs to bear some responsibility. The town is not asking that the building be moved. J. Cuccia moved to approve an exception to design standards (front setback) for Ken Baumann, 517 West Ridge Circle, upon reviewing the property and the building and construction, and the location of neighboring structures, that this exception will not have a negative impact to the property or the neighboring properties and further that there be a penalty assessed for this under the building code in the amount of $250, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor. R. Knapp agreed to contact Brian Wert Agency to process the citation.

TRANSFER OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS FROM GLOVER LAND COMPANY TO CORNERSTONE PARTNERSHIP – R. Knapp reviewed the Plan Commission minutes. He summarized that Todd Bjerstedt (not present) completed the paperwork to purchase seven development rights under the company Glover Land Company. He has since formed Cornerstone Partnership and would like to transfer the development rights to that company. R. Knapp also stated that per the town attorney, the original development right documents would have to be surrendered, an application would have to be completed and the development rights would have to be paid for before a transfer could take place. G. Wahrenbrock moved to approve the request of Todd Bjerstedt to initiate the legal documents regarding the transfer of development rights from the legal entity of Glover Land Company into the legal entity of Cornerstone Partnership and request that Todd Bjerstedt submit an application regarding these development rights, also indicating that the development rights have been paid for and that this application be forwarded to the town’s attorney for additional review and to provide further assistance with this. Seconded by J. Cuccia. Friendly amendment to the motion: “7” development rights. Amended motion passed, all in favor.

DISCUSS & CONSIDER HILLS OF TROY DEVLOPER’S AGREEMENT – Chuck Cook, Troy Development Corp., gave a brief history of the Hills of Troy development. He is requesting full release of the letter of credit (LOC) for Hills of Troy. At the time of approval for Phase I of Hills of Troy, he provided the required 120% LOC. He has finished all of the developer improvements and obligations, and feels there is no current performance obligation outstanding. Any subsequent phase in the Hills of Troy would require a new 120% letter of credit, but in his experience, he has never heard of a government entity requiring a financial guarantee for improvements that have not been fully defined or approved. R. Knapp and G. Wahrenbrock both reiterated that at the time Hills of Troy was proposed, the town wasn’t sure if they wanted to deal with phased developments. R. Knapp also questioned the town’s ability to hold the LOC indefinitely and if the current LOC is protecting the town from any defaults at this point. J. Cuccia asked whether some type of guarantee should be held by the town to ensure the roads in the future phases are built. C. Cook questioned what could trigger the town cashing in the LOC because all of his obligations of Phase I have been met. After an in depth discussion, R. Knapp moved that the town reduce the letter of credit for Hills of Troy Phase I to zero based on Mr. Cook working with the town attorney to craft an amendment to the Developer’s Agreement that clarifies that action, seconded by G. Wahrenbrock. Friendly amendment to the motion, “the Town Board wants to clarify that the action taken by the board tonight doesn’t set a precedent for future phased developments”. Amended motion passed, all in favor.

UTILITY PERMITS: None.

BUILDING PERMITS: The following permits were submitted by the Building Inspector and reviewed by the town board.

PERMIT #	APPLICANT	ADDRESS	PROJECT
08-157	Greg Meyer	262 Walnut Hill Way	New home
08-158	Karl Myhre	618 Glover Rd	Deck
08-159	Mike Galloway	530 Trillium Ln	Deck
08-160	Randy Strong	395 Deer Valley Dr	New home
08-161	John Meade	439 Brick Circle	Addition/ Alteration
08-163	Virgil Nylander	64 Riverside Dr	Alteration

DRIVEWAY PERMITS – The following permits were submitted by the Building Inspector and reviewed by the town board.

08-113	Greg Meyer	262 Walnut Hill Way
08-114	Randy Strong	395 Deer Valley Dr

INSURANCE CONTRACT REVIEW – S. Provos explained that this is an annual reoccurring agenda item and the board needed to decide whether or not to open the insurance contract for bids. The board asked S. Provos to contact the town’s current insurance provider for a quote for 2009. If it is not considerably different the town board agreed to stay with the current provider in 2009.

APPROVE OPERATORS LICENSE –Nicole Karnowski submitted an operator license for approval. G. Wahrenbrock moved to approve an operators license for Nicole Karnowski, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.

CLERK/TREASURER REPORT – Copies of the cash reconciliation, impact fee summary and budget summary were distributed to the Board. S. Provos stated that a new Plan Commission secretary had been hired to start in September. Board of Review will be held on Monday August 25^th from 4:30 to 6:30. Open Book is scheduled for August 21^st from 3:00 to 7:00.

BILLS: Checks numbered 020169-20225 and the Elan bill were presented in the amount of $245,796.55. G. Wahrenbrock moved to approve the check register beginning with 020169-20225 including the elan bill of $1,252.78, for a total of $245,796.55, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.

Dan Pearson arrived.

DEFINE CATEGORIES & CHARACTERISTICS OF UNACCEPTABLE OBSTRUCTIONS IN THE TOWN RIGHT-OF-WAY – R. Knapp reviewed the draft newsletter article and photos of obstructions in the town right-of-way. He identified the main categories as: “Non-breakaway” mailboxes, trees, fences, landscaping and culvert “walls”. He asked the board what obstructions they considered unacceptable and how they wanted to address them. He cautioned that the town will get an outpouring from residents and if the board doesn’t have the energy to finish the process, it shouldn’t start. D. Pearson stated that he felt educating residents is the first step. Residents must be made aware of the safety issues and concerns. They should be provided with examples and some rules as to what is allowed and what isn’t. He suggested showing good examples of what’s allowed and why and giving residents a chance to make changes on their own. The board conferred on how to determine rules on right-of-way obstructions and also on illegal driveways within the town. B. Motszko thinks that the DOT has some guidelines that the board might find helpful in making their determinations. He will get copies to the board. Board consensus is to take the process slow, starting with a brief article in the next newsletter and additional information available at the town hall during the November election.

DISCUSS & CONSIDER BUILDING INSPECTOR FEES – J. Cuccia gave a brief summary of the process she and B. Schwab went through to review the proposed and current building inspection fees. A written report was distributed to the board. Brian Wert is proposing a building inspection fee increase and an additional administration fee of 20% or $150 maximum. The administration fee would go to the town. The town would no longer get 20% of the building permit fees under the new proposal. After reviewing all of the information, B. Schwab moved starting September 1, 2008 or any permits pulled with a date of September 1, 2008 or after, that the town would change the administration percentage to 10% to the town and 90% to Brian Wert and keeping the valuation rates the same as they were prior to this proposal, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.

COMMITTEE REPORTS – C. Macdonell gave a Comprehensive Zoning Committee (CZC) report. They were asked to determine what the budgetary impact would be to the town if it had its own zoning. After reviewing various options of who would be responsible for enforcement and if someone would need to be hired to assume the zoning responsibilities, the committee recommended an additional $10,000 added to the budget would suffice until the variables could be resolved. C. Macdonell also gave a brief summary of the committee’s progress and their recommendations for keeping residents informed. They are recommending having 4 or 5 informational sessions. An article will go into the next newsletter and the first meeting will be scheduled to take place on November 19^th.

J. Cuccia will be sending out an email requesting articles for the next newsletter which is scheduled to be mailed around mid-September.

There will a 2^nd public informational meeting held by the Wisconsin DOT about Highway 35 at the town hall on Thursday August 28^th from 6:00 to 8:00.

R. Knapp attended a judicial round table meeting and he shared a few thoughts about sexual offender ordinances and designating town roads as ATV trails.

CODE BOOK PROJECT UPDATE (Animal Control Ordinance) – Copies of the proposed ordinance were distributed to the board prior to the meeting. M. Mitchell reviewed the ordinance with the board and will make the suggested changes. Next month, the board will review the Roads and Roadway Ordinance and the Utilities Ordinance.

UPDATE AND AMEND FORFEITURE PROVISIONS OF THE TOWN’S CITATION ORDINANCE –– Copies of the amended ordinance were distributed to the board prior to the meeting. One typo was noted on page 2 under Parking Restrictions – “50” and “+ court costs” should be deleted. J. Cuccia moved to adopt the amendments to the Citations Ordinance Chapter 39-3 and 39-4 as presented and reviewed with the clarification of the parking restrictions violations at $100, to be effective the day after its published. Seconded by D. Pearson. Motion passed, all in favor.

UPDATE OF HUDSON JOINT LIBRARY CAPITAL FUND REFERENDUM – R. Knapp distributed copies of a Joint Library Capital Fund Contribution Worksheet to the board. He updated the board on the progress made by the four municipalities that make up the Hudson Joint Library. (City of Hudson , Village of North Hudson, Town of St. Joseph and Town of Hudson) All but one has approved a draft of the new 25 year joint library agreement. Once the agreement is approved, the municipalities will draft the referendum question for the November ballot. Since Troy is not one of the joint library members and is only asking voters to contribute to the capital costs of a new library, its referendum question will be different. In summary the question would ask residents if they are willing to donate to the capital fund of the Library Foundation for a new library to be located in the Nuclear Management location contingent upon the fact that all 4 of the Hudson Joint Library municipalities have successful referendums and that the Hudson Library Foundation collects their funds before municipal funds are release. He reviewed a Troy Contribution Worksheet with the board. He will work with the town attorney and bring the final referendum question to the board in September.

CORRESPONDENCE –

J. Cuccia will attend the WTA Budget/Finance workshop in Eau Claire on September 16^th.

St. Croix County Board of Appeals has declined to respond to the letter from R. Knapp regarding the Montessori School due to a pending lawsuit from area residents.

Robert Baczynski, Wisconsin DNR, has finished reviewing the town’s Lower Riverway Zoning Ordinance, version 8 and will issue formal approval, if the ordinance is approved by the town board.

The West Grove Homeowners Association contacted the town in regard to a trail created by a resident adjoining with a private road. Because the trail is not in the riverway and not attached to a public road the town has no authority in the matter.

G. Wahrenbrock moved to adjourn, seconded by D. Pearson. Motion passed, all in favor.

The meeting adjourned at 12:15 a.m.

These minutes were taken at a meeting

of the Troy Town Board held on the

14th day of August, 2008.

________________________

Sharon Provos, Clerk/Treasurer