Town Board Meeting July 9, 2009
Chairperson Ray Knapp convened the Regular Town Board
meeting on Thursday July 9, 2009, at 6:35 pm immediately following the Public
Hearing to hear and receive comments regarding proposed amendment to the Town
of
The following people signed the attendance sheet: Jill Berke, Wayne Brown, Ann Roe, David Roe, Joan Bond, Ken Tilsen, Joe Duerre, Halley Duerre, Charlie Macdonell, Anthony Grueber, Ann Cavin and Cheri Penman. 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 June 11, 2009 Town Board meeting had been distributed to the board. J. Cuccia moved to approve the June 11, 2009 Town Board minutes, seconded by B. Schwab. Motion passed, all in favor.
PARK BOARD REPORT – Copies of the June Park Board Report had been distributed to the board. Jill Berke summarized the following: The shed has been installed at Glover Park, two Eagle Scout projects have been approved and work will start in July, the Summit Loop extension to the Glover Park trails has been completed, a request for proposals for new playground equipment in Glover Park has been mailed and published, and the Park Board is still addressing some of the recommendations stemming from the playground equipment inspection.
PARK BOARD APPOINTMENTS: The Park Board recommended the reappointment of Jill Berke and Mark Daun. J. Berke has not had the chance to verify that M. Daun if he is willing to serve another term on the Park Board. The board also wanted clarification on the length of the terms. B. Schwab moved to table the appointments until next month, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.
G. WahrenBrock and D. Pearson arrived.
PLAN COMMISSION REPORT – Copies of the Plan Commission minutes had been distributed to the board. J. Cuccia explained that the Plan Commission discussed defining screening guidelines to help maintain the rural atmosphere between developments and arterial/collector roads in the town. The Plan Commission also discussed the State Attorney General’s opinion on Riverway management authority.
CITIZEN INPUT –Resident John Salmon stated that the cattle pass issue has not been settled. He feels that the town has not done enough with his fencing and cattle pass and that his only solution is to go to court. R. Knapp reminded J. Salmon that last month, the Town Board agreed to not put this topic on tonight’s agenda because the board felt that the town has adequately addressed these concerns.
CONSTABLE & SHERIFF REPORTS – Copies of the Constable report and the Animal Control report were distributed to the board. In an email from Constable Hermansen, he stated that things have been quiet, however alcohol is still being consumed at Pembles Access. R. Knapp and the town attorney will be working with the constables and park ranger so that they will represent the town when a citation they’ve issued goes to court.
The board reviewed the Animal Control report and the sheriff’s report.
ADOPT AMENDMENT TO THE IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE REVISION – At the Town Board meeting last month, the board made and passed a motion to adopt the amendments. After the meeting, it was determined that a public hearing needed to be held before the revisions could be approved. The public hearing was held at 6:30 tonight and no one spoke in opposition of the amendments. J. Cuccia moved that we reaffirm our adoption of the revisions of the Chapter 70, Impact Fees as presented before us tonight to be effective as soon as legally possible and as I understand that, we will publish in next week’s paper and then it should be in effect next Friday. Seconded by G. WahrenBrock. Motion passed, all in favor.
AWARD SEAL COATING BID – The town only received one bid for seal coating. It was from Scott Construction, Inc. in the amount of $64,177. D. Pearson stated that the bid was slightly higher than last year, but the town road crew and Cedar Corp., felt it was a fair bid. D. Pearson moved to accept the bid from Scott Construction for $64,177 for seal coating as described in the bid, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor. D. Pearson expressed interest in trying to get more companies bidding in 2010.
DISCUSS OPTIONS FOR
THE REALIGNMENT OF
Resident David Roe presented to the board, a petition signed
by Cove residents that are against the intersection realignment. The following residents spoke opposing both
option #1 and option #2: David Roe, Joan
Bond, Joe Duerre, Kenneth Tilsen, Cheri Penman, Anthony Grueber, Don Copps, and
Ann Roe. Their main concerns were the removal
of large trees, the visibility of the Roe property from the river once the
trees were removed, the increased driving speeds if the road is improved and
the steeper slope created with option #2.
The residents don’t feel that there is a safety concern with the
intersection and don’t understand why the town wants to realign it. There have been no accidents at the
intersection in at least nine years according to the information they obtained
from the sheriff’s department. However,
one resident noted that cars have slid off the road during the winter. They stated that removing some of the
vegetation and smaller coniferous trees around the intersection and adding some
additional signage would be a better option.
Residents also felt that a guard rail near
D. Roe would be most affected by options one or two because the trees in the town right of way presently shield the view of his home. He also expressed concern about losing the alternate location for his septic system should the town use more of its right of way and his present septic system fail. R. Knapp cautioned D. Roe and all residents about putting infrastructure or landscaping on town property and/or the town’s right-of-way.
R. Knapp stated that working in the Cove area has been difficult for the town. Residents in the area have fought vegetation removal along roadways and have placed trees and boulders in the right-of-way creating a safety and liability concern for the town. He again asked that residents not lose sight of what is their property and what is town road right-of-way. After some discussion, the board came to the consensus that they did not want to move forward with either option presented. And, that R. Knapp and B. Schwab agreed to work with Cove residents (on whose private property vegetation would have to be removed) to accommodate less radical alternatives such as vegetation removal, signage and replacement of the guardrail.
DISCUSS
DISCUSS &
CONSIDER ENGINEERING FEES FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN – The town entered
into a contract with Cedar Corp. in 2007 to finish the Comprehensive Plan. The contract was for $3,850. Since that time, the scope of the project
increase significantly and Cedar Corp. has approximately 390 staff hours into
the project instead of the 50 hours they originally budgeted. They are asking that the town pay an
additional $11,162.86, for a total of $15,000, which is about half of the cost
of the completed project. R. Knapp
stated that the town is under no legal obligation to pay additional fees. The Town Board agreed that the Comprehensive
Plan had gone through many more iterations than expected, but Cedar Corp. was
remiss in not keeping the town apprised on the scope of its efforts. After additional discussion, the consensus
was for R. Knapp and
UTILITY PERMITS: The following permits were submitted by Cedar Corp.:
U09-003 Xcel Underground
gas @
U09-005 St. Croix Gas Underground gas @
J. Cuccia
moved to approve utility permit 009-004 for St. Croix Electric and 009-005 for
St. Croix Gas and 009-003 for Xcel Energy, contingent upon received the
application fee, seconded by D. Pearson.
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 |
|
09-127 |
Keith Jones |
Deck |
|
|
09-128 |
Chaying Thao |
New Home |
|
|
09-129 |
Creative Home Const |
New Home |
|
|
09-130 |
Dennis Armbruster |
Pool |
|
|
09-131 |
Derrick Cravens |
Deck |
|
|
09-132 |
Fred Miller |
Repair |
|
|
09-133 |
Mark Swanson |
|
Alteration |
|
09-134 |
Ronald Zirbel |
|
Storage Shed |
DRIVEWAY PERMITS – The following permits were submitted by the building inspector and reviewed by the Town Board.
|
PERMIT # |
APPLICANT |
ADDRESS |
|
09-105 |
Chaying Thao |
|
|
09-106 |
Creative Home Const |
BOARD OF REVIEW –
ALTERNATE MEMBERS – R. Knapp moved to appoint Jack Loeblein,
RURAL FIRE
ASSOCIATION INFORMATION UPDATE – G. WahrenBrock explained that the fire
chief has resigned and there is a selection criteria meeting scheduled for July
14th at the
DISCUSS & CONSIDER FIRE CALL – THOMAS NOLAN, 833 COULEE TR. – G. WahrenBrock reported that the Rural Fire Association has suggested that the town bill T. Nolan for the fire call on June 6th because the town has the authority to cite him. He was burning without a permit and burning during a burning ban. They also believe he was burning illegal materials. After a brief discussion about the evidence available, the town board consensus was to follow the normal billing process and have the fire call billed by Rural Fire Association and not issue a citation.
ADDRESS VNAK 2008 ASSESSMENT – R. Knapp stated that were some assessment errors for 2008. Two of them were significant. Of the two, one (Vnak) is requesting a refund of $362.10. Since the town can’t recover this amount from the other taxing jurisdictions and this was a computer error by the assessor, Bowmar Appraisals has agreed to reduce their next bill to the town by that amount. D. Pearson moved to authorize a payment of $362.10 to Mr. Vnak for the correction of an error in assessment with the idea that we would recoup that money from Bowmar, seconded by G. WahrenBrock. Motion passed, all in favor.
APPROVE OPERATORS LICENSES – None.
CLERK/TREASURER
REPORT – Copies of the cash reconciliation, impact fee summary, legal and
engineering fee summary and budget summary were distributed to the board.
BILLS: Checks numbered 021919 – 021965 and the Elan bill were presented in the amount of $55,702.18. G. WahrenBrock moved to approve payment of checks 021919 – 021965 including the Elan bill for a total of $55,702.18, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.
J. Cuccia stated that the Urban WTA will be having a cracker barrel meeting on August 6th at 7:00pm in Eleva.
R. Knapp asked if the Town Board had seen the draft letter written to Matthew Frank of the Wisconsin DNR thanking him for working with Attorney General Van Hollen to obtain an informal legal opinion on questions the town had regarding riverway ordinances.
R. Knapp brought the new $687/acre conversion fee for rezoning property from exclusive ag to ag/res to the attention of the board. This fee will be used to support the Working Lands Initiative, but may have an impact on development in the town because we already have a developer supported TDR program.
Bruce Lenzen has not installed the street lighting in Cove Ridge by the agreed upon deadline. R. Knapp will contact him requesting compliance.
A representative from Ron Kind’s office has agreed to meet with the town and Baldwin Telecom to discuss the broadband initiative application process.
A resident has inquired about a winery license. Town Attorney, Gwen Kuchevar outlined the
process involved, bringing up the question of how many Class B liquor licenses
the town has available.
The county has invited the town to attend a Emergency Management and Emergency Communication meeting on July 14th to discuss a resolution that requires all future township roads to conform to the numbered street and avenue naming scheme. Since none of the board members are able to attend the meeting, R. Knapp will send the county a letter on behalf of the town.
J. Cuccia recently attended the View from the River – A
Guided Tour of the
D. Pearson moved to adjourn, seconded by J. Cuccia. Motion passed, all in favor.
The meeting adjourned at 10:25 p.m.
These minutes were taken at a meeting
of the Troy Town Board held on the
9th day of July, 2009.
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