Town Board Meeting December 11, 2008

Chairperson Ray Knapp convened the Regular Town Board meeting on Thursday, December 11, 2008, at 7:02, p.m. Jan Cuccia, Dan Pearson and Brian Schwab were present. Gloria Wahrenbrock was absent.

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

APPROVE MINUTES - Minutes of the November 13, 2008 Town Board meeting had been distributed to the board. J. Cuccia moved to approve the minutes of November 13, 2008, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.

CITIZEN INPUT – None.

PARK BOARD REPORT – Copies of the November Park Board minutes were distributed to the board. Charlie Macdonell summarized the park board meeting for the board. The Park Board is looking into funding alternatives for a bike path along the northern section of North Glover Road, when this segment of road is rebuilt in 2010. Most of the work on the old ball field has been completed and all of the excavating, erosion control and back stop has been completed on the new ball field. C. Macdonell is continuing to work with the town attorney on the new ball field use policy agreement. The bathrooms in Glover Park have been closed for the season. Approximately $50,000 has been spent in impact fees for allowable park expenses. S. Provos will make the transfer before the end of the year.

PLAN COMMISSION REPORT – Copies of the Plan Commission minutes had been distributed to the board. J. Cuccia summarized the Plan Commission meeting for the board. The Plan Commission heard a concept review of the Moelter property and riverway concept reviews for Lee, Delaney and Murphy.

PARK BOARD BUDGET APPROVAL – Copies of the proposed Park Board Budget had been distributed to the board. C. Macdonell explained that if the board approves the line item detailed Park Board Budget, then each individual item doesn’t have to come back before the town board for approval through-out the year. This is the same process followed during 2008. The budget is the same as the budget presented to the town board during the budget working session in October except that the capital projects budget had been reduced to $50,000 as recommended by the town board. J. Cuccia moved to preapprove the expenditures for the Park Board Budget dated December 11, 2008, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor. The town board unanimously thanked the park board for the excellent budgeting work they have done over the last two years.

CONSTABLE & SHERIFF REPORTS – Copies of the Constable report, the Sheriff’s report and the Animal Control report were distributed to the board. S. Provos reported that she had talked to Constable Mel Hermansen prior to the meeting. He stated that its been quiet at the parks, the trails have been cleared of downed trees and neither the constables or the park ranger have questions/concerns for the town board that need action.

R. Knapp reviewed the Sheriff’s report, highlighting from their report that they are doing more patrolling and less speed control. Their hours have also been reduced per town board request.

The board reviewed the Animal Control report noting it was a quiet month for animal control issues.

DISCUSS & CONSIDER IMPACT OF HOUSING SLOWDOWN ON EXISTING RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENTS – R. Knapp stated that there are two issues to discuss. Specifically, a complaint by resident Dean Jakubowicz concerning unfinished infrastructure in the Cove Ridge subdivision and how to handle similar problems that might appear in future developments. In regards to future developments, the board directed Cedar Corp. to check to make sure that all infrastructure requirements are complete prior to recommending the release of the letter of credit. In the past, the town has focused primarily on roads and not other amenities like lighting, paths and monuments. The concerns raised by D. Jakubowicz were: street lights are not completed, walking paths and open space not completed, entrance monument not completed, mailboxes not completed and falling stones on his driveway. The board noted that the Developers Agreement requires the developer to pay for and install all infrastructure and public improvements shown on the preliminary plat and related plans. The preliminary plat clearly defines the installation of light poles. Reference to the entrance monument is vague in the Agreement and the board is also unsure about what D. Jakubowicz’s reference to the mailbox means. The board directed R. Jones, Cedar Corp., to verify that the proper rock cuts were made in the development. B. Schwab and R. Knapp will review the Developers Agreement and work with developer Bruce Lenzen to see that he meets the requirements of the Agreement.

UTILITY PERMITS: None

DISCUSS & CONSIDER WAGES FOR TOWN EMPLOYEES AND CONSTABLES – Currently, the constables and the park ranger are paid $12/hr. and the recycling employees are paid $11/hr. Since the constables are elected, wages would have to be increased before the April election in order to be in effect for the next 2 year term. D. Pearson moved to increase the constable wages by $.50/hr to $12.50/hr, effective after the April 2009 election, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor. After a brief discussion in the differences in the constable and park ranger duties, D. Pearson moved to increase the park ranger pay to $12.50/hr to start at the same time as the increase in the constable wages. Motion was seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor. S. Provos will check and see when the last time recycling employees wages were increased.

DISCUSS & CONSIDER 2009 TOWN PRIORITIES – After a lengthy discussion, the board determined the following were the priorities for 2009: the Comprehensive Plan, Comprehensive Zoning, Codification and Long Range Road Reconstruction Funding Plan. They also decided that D. Pearson would begin to research the development of a Farmland Preservation Board, B. Schwab would define a couple short-term objectives for the illegal objects in the right-of-way issue and J. Cuccia will research Renewable Energy by 2015. There is still an active committee working on providing high speed internet service to the entire town.

CODE BOOK PROJECT UPDATE (Roads and Roadway Ordinance and the Utilities Ordinance) –

Mark Mitchell distributed a summary of where the town is the Code Book update process. He reviewed the Roads and Roadway Ordinance and the Utilities Ordinance with the board. He will make the suggested changes to the ordinances. Next month the board will review the Fees Ordinance and the Intoxicating Liquor and Fermented Malt Beverage Ordinance.

SET CAUCUS DATE – The caucus date was set for Thursday January 15, 2009 at 6:30pm at the Town Hall.

APPROVE TOWN CALENDAR – The board made the following changes to the calendar: Added caucus on January 15^th at 6:30, moved annual road tour to April 25^th, and removed December 29^th Park Board meeting. J. Cuccia moved to approve the Town of Troy 2009 calendar as amended, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.

BUILDING PERMITS: The following permits were submitted by the building inspector and reviewed by the town board.

PERMIT #	APPLICANT	ADDRESS	PROJECT
08-185	Tim Koehn	19 Golden Acres Rd	Storage shed
08-186	Todd Trein	227 Plainview Dr	Alteration
08-188	Tom Westerhaus	323 Empire Builder Dr	New Home
08-189	Alesha Butterfass	313 Day Farm Rd	Alteration
08-190	Dave Langlois	522 CTH M	Storage shed
08-191	Arthur Neuman	818 Glover Rd	Gazebo

DRIVEWAY PERMITS – The following permit was submitted by the building inspector and reviewed by the town board.

08-117

Tom Westerhaus

323 Empire Builder Dr

APPROVE OPERATOR LICENSE – S. Provos presented an operator license application from Lori Elliot. All of the required paperwork has been submitted and the background check came back clean. J. Cuccia moved to approve the operators license for Lori Ann Elliot, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.

DISCUSS & CONSIDER 2009 ST. CROIX EMS AMBULANCE CONTRACT – The rate charged is $12/capita compared to $10.50 last year. R. Knapp stated that this is the same rate paid by the other municipalities and that the rates have gone up due to the expansion of the full-time 24/7 coverage provided by the EMS. B. Schwab moved to approve and accept the 2009 ambulance contract as presented, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor. J. Cuccia noted that the contract was with the City of Hudson EMS.

CLERK/TREASURER REPORT – Copies of the cash reconciliation, impact fee summary and budget summary were distributed to the Board. S. Provos reported that the property tax bills would go out tomorrow. She will be on vacation the week between Christmas and New Years. The office will be closed December 24^th, 25^th, 31^st and January 1^st. A note will be put on the door at the town hall directing residents to pay their taxes to St. Croix County Treasurer.

BILLS: Checks numbered 020441-20513 and the Elan bill were presented in the amount of $291,082.02. J. Cuccia moved to approve checks 020441-20513 including the Elan bill of $642.35 for a total of $291,082.02, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.

CORRESPONDENCE –

R. Knapp responded to a letter from resident Greg Meyer by writing a letter to Brighkeys, board members received copies of both letters.

R. Knapp also reviewed letters received from the St. Croix County Sheriff regarding an abandoned dog, the DNR approving the town’s Riverway Ordinance, Ron Carlson commending the Plan Commission’s handling of riverway applications and the DNR asking the town to work with St. Croix Electric on cutting in the riverway.

R. Knapp also stated he had received a letter from the Wisconsin DOT requesting permission to use Radio Road and Chapman Drive as an emergency route should it become necessary when they are working on County Road U between April 2010 and July 2010. Board agreed to grant permission, R. Knapp will follow-up in a letter to the DOT.

J. Cuccia asked if any of the board members were interested in attending the WTA District meeting in Eau Claire on Friday March 6^th or in Siren on Saturday February 2^nd. D. Pearson and B. Schwab expressed interest and J. Cuccia agreed to serve as a focal point for this training session.

COMMITTEE REPORTS –

D. Pearson gave a presentation at the Working Lands Workshop in Eau Claire. He also received a Distinguished Leadership plaque from the American Planning Association for a TDR presentation he gave. The town board expressed their gratitude to D. Pearson and G. Wahrenbrock for representing the town at several meetings related to land preservation.

J. Cuccia wants to get the next newsletter out in March. Articles should be to her by the end of February.

R. Knapp is working with Bob Rolle and Cedar Corp. to finalize some population and land-use numbers for the Comprehensive Plan. They are meeting with the town attorney on Tuesday after the staff meeting.

R. Knapp moved to adjourn, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.

The meeting adjourned at 10:35 p.m.

These minutes were taken at a meeting

of the Troy Town Board held on the

11th day of December, 2008.

________________________

Sharon Provos, Clerk/Treasurer