Rushford
Wednesday October 6, 2010
The Town of Rushford Board meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm on October 6 by Chairman Tom Egan followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken with Tom Egan, Jerry Schoonover, Patrick Kafer and Peggy Hendricks present. Kathryn Lewis was absent due to knee surgery. Also present for all or part of the meeting: 7 additional persons per attendance record on file.
Statement of Public Notice The Board Meeting, Zoning Committee Meeting and the Public Hearings were posted at the Waukau and Eureka Post Office, the web page and the town hall door. The Public Hearings were also posted in the Oshkosh Northwestern. Notices were mailed to Town Board members and the Zoning Administrators.
Public Input: Sue Bohn thanked the town board for prompt action on the dog problem they were having. On behalf of the Master Gardeners, Sue Bohn asked the town to consider what the town would like to have done with Master Gardener participation in the next year.
Terri Wagoner spoke on her concerns for the rezoning of the Schroeder property to Commercial. These included the closeness to the road, the maintenance of the property, the water drainage, criminal activities and the devaluation of their home.
Clerks Report & Minutes: Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to approve the minutes as presented for the September 1, 2010 town board meeting. Motion carried.
Treasurers Report was given by Peggy Hendricks, . The balance in the general account is $138,781.20. There is $70,212.29 in 3 separate Fire Truck CD’s and $2,964.96 in the Now account. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to accept the treasurer’s report. Motion carried. A CD for $27,441.87 is up for renewal on October 7. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to renew the CD at Farmers & Merchants Bank for 8 months at .75%. Motion carried.
Payment of invoices –Peggy Hendricks read off the invoices which she approved and submitted to the board for approval of payment for an amount of $91,455.08. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to pay October bills that were submitted. Motion carried.
Correspondence & Communications: Hendricks reported on the following communications:
· 2011 General Transportation aids estimate of $99,350.81
· Booklet received from East Central Planning Commission reporting on the Post Disaster Economic Recovery Strategy for East Central WI – A response to the 2008 Floods
· An email from Mike Monigal reporting on the Locks update
· A thank you letter with a plaque from the US Census Bureau thanking the Town of Rushford for the work done for the Decennial Census. Special thanks was given to Patsy Pomplun who represented the Town at the meeting which were held.
· A courtesy letter from the Division of Transportation reminding the board to complete the Local Road Certification Packet which they would like to have returned by 10/22.
New Business: Hendricks stated that she is working on the budget and was wondering what the board thought about an increase in the poll workers wage. She had a survey that listed what other towns paid out to their poll workers. Right now they receive $7.35 which is about the norm according to the survey. She stated that some towns pay their chief inspectors more. The town did raise the pay from $7.00 to $7.35 a few months back. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to increase the wages of all poll workers to $7.50. Motion carried.
Hendricks requested Mr Egan to check into getting sandbags for the Town of Rushford to be stored at Edingers as in past years.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to sign the Joint Powers Agreement for Emergency 911 Service for 2011. Motion carried.
Discussion of Town Hall maintenance/needs: Tom Egan reported on the Playground project. Clarence Litton, Kevin Litton, Marv Litton, Jim Wesner, Tom Tanner, Chuck Tanner, and Tom Egan worked on the playground project. They have a couple more days work on it for completion. Huge thanks for all the work they have all done. Many of the boards were not pre-drilled and cut as they should have been.
Tom Egan explained to the public at the meeting that $2000 was pledged by the Rew/Ross Memorial and last year we received $500 grant from Alliant Energy for the project.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to contact Hyler to come to pump and inspect the septic. Kafer resended the motion to check prices and have the lowest one come in for the work and send the inspection form to the county by November 18. Motion carried.
Upcoming meetings and workshops :
·
WTA meeting at the Wolf
River Town hall on Oct 7 at 6:30
·
Appeals Board hearing for Bob Freeman on Oct 13
at 6:00
·
Plan Commission Network meeting on Oct 27 at Nepeuskun
·
County Farmland Preservation meeting at Rushford
on Nov 11
Fred Kasten will find out at the County meeting if the
extension will be sending out the invitations for the network farmland preservation
meeting on November 11. If not, the
clerk should send out a notice to each landowner over 10 acres.
Reports on Meetings that have been attended: Jerry Schoonover reported on the Omro-Rushford Fire Department Meeting which was held on September 8. It was reported that the budget is the same as last year. They have received some grants. Kafer stated he wished that the budget would of went up a little to stock pile for the radios that will have to be purchased.
Town Zoning Committee Report: Tom Jackson had dropped off the report before the meeting which Tom Egan read. The zoning committee met on Sept 29. The first public hearing was for Tom Schroeder, Parcel # 022 120701, to have the zoning switched to Commercial. There was much discussion on the residential area, the setbacks, fill, drainage and other concerns. The Committee voted unanimously to deny application.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to accept the decision of the zoning committee and deny the zoning change for Tom Schroeder, parcel # 022 120701. Motion carried. Mr Schroeder will have 30 days to appeal the decision and if he does not appeal it, he will have to pull out the pipes that are in the ground, for that would be part of the building process and he did not receive a building permit.
Kafer stated if it is called drainage, he would need a site plan or something on erosion control. Egan said that the erosion control people were out there a few days ago and if he goes with commercial, he has to have the erosion control from the county. As far as the fill, there is no problem with that right now.
A public hearing was then held to grant a Conditional use permit to Roger Kasuboski on Parcels 022-052102 and 022-052801 for a temporary accessory building in a A-2 district. There were concerns from the neighbors about the use, questions on what will be stored there and how long before a home will be built. The Committee voted to postpone for 30 days because of the possibility of not notifying all the Development owners to the north of the property.
There was discussion on Erdman property. The Conditional use permit has expired and the occupants have moved out. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to send notice to Mrs. Erdman that the property is abandoned as of now and the Conditional Use permit has run out. There is not to be anyone living there until they request another Conditional use permit. Motion carried.
Hendricks passed out information on Public Nuisance ordinances from other townships. There was discussion on the Wilke property and Hendricks will send out a letter informing them that they need to seed down to satisfy the reclaimation and a copy of the letter will be sent to East Central.
County Zoning Committee Report: Kasten stated that a meeting will be coming up next week. There are meetings coming up to get more input from local residents. He feels they are about 1 ½ years away from the finalization on the farmland preservation. They have many issues to work out.
Egan reported that the County will be starting their budget at the end of the month.
Building Permits: There were two issued this month. One for a garage on Channel Road and the other for a wood burner on O’Reiley Road.
Discussion on Town Maintenance: Egan reported that the county started mowing this past week. The brush trimmers should be starting around the 20th of the month and finishing up in November. One person has volunteered a wagon, but more wagon or trucks are needed for chips. The outside of the town hall needs wood chips. The road packet has to be done this month. Egan explained the agreement which is not done yet, with Zillges. He stated that instead of redoing the road from their driveway to Hwy K, he’s going to have the bad spot fixed and next year we will fix it. He will pay us $10,000 this year, $10,000 next year and $5000 the year after that. The next year there will not be a payment and then there will be a $5000 payment per year for road maintenance.
Kafer asked if a culvert was replaced on Stone School road. He received a call that it was not covered up with asphalt. It was thought that Freunds did do the work.
Kasten questioned on Senn road that a culvert was replaced and there is a one way bridge sign up from an earlier time. It is not a one way bridge any more. Egan stated that the town will have to replace all their signs for the state now requires reflective signs. The town has been replacing a few every year.
Hendricks reported that we received a contract for the Assessor, Larry Timm for 2011. Last year we paid $10,000 plus cost. He has not raised his fee for quite a few years, but this year, the software he uses went up in price. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to renew Larry Timms contract for assessor for 2011 for $10,350 plus cost. Motion carried.
Hendricks reported that Larry Hildebrand and his son put in the projector. He was wondering if the board wanted to put in an antenna right away while they were doing the work. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to have Larry Hildebrand put in and do whatever he thinks should be done for the projector. Motion carried.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to adjourn the meeting at 8:15. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by Peggy Hendricks, Clerk