Rushford
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Town of Rushford Board meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm on June 1, 2011 by Chairman Thomas Egan followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken with Tom Egan, Jerry Schoonover, Patrick Kafer, Kathryn Lewis and Peggy Hendricks present. Also present for all or part of the meeting: 12 additional persons per attendance record on file, although several others were present, but did not sign in.
Statement of Public Notice The Rushford Board Meeting, the Farmland Preservation Meeting and the May Zoning meeting was posted at the Eureka and Waukau Post office, the town hall door and the town web page. Notices were mailed to Town Board members and the Zoning Administrator. Open Book, Board of Review and Notice of Liquor License applications which are pending were posted and additionally published in the Oshkosh Northwestern.
Public Input:
· Mr John King from Waukau LLC spoke that he does not agree with changing his garbage/recycling fees to be charged to each of his rental units instead of to each land parcel as in the past. He stated that he has not made money from his rental units and he does not wish to increase his renter’s monthly charge by $12.50 for he feels they cannot afford it. He charges between $275-$295/month. He would like to be exempt from the town and deal with Veolia or another garbage hauler. He said that Veolia would have to put out 2 garbage cans for each unit but Tom Egan explained that the Town of Rushford does not use the garbage units from Veolia. People can put out their garbage and recycling items in garbage bags, paper bags, boxes, etc
Tom Egan stated that this wouldn’t have happened if it was paid right along these past years. An audit done on Veolia showed that neither the Town nor Veolia was charging him enough for his properties and this was brought to light. In the Town of Rushford, households are charged $150/yr for garbage/recycling pickup. The Town of Rushford promotes recycling and this cost is included in the town’s yearly charge.
Pat Kafer asked Mr King what he would propose. As Mr King mentioned, he has been getting a “pretty sweet deal” for the last decade. Mr King proposed that he would continue to pay the same as the Town has been charging and he would deal with Veolia on payment of dumpsters. Pat mentioned this could have been discussed more at the last board meeting when this was voted on, but Mr King was not in attendance because of health problems.
Mr King says there is only 1 or 2 people in each unit and he would rather have 2 dumpsters from Veolia on Senn Road where there are 11 units instead of paying garbage fees on each unit.
Pat Kafer asked if any checking was done on how other townships deal with multi units. Peggy Hendricks had checked with the Clerks list server and several towns nearby. Utica and Vinland charges by the unit. Poygan and Nepeuskun do not have garbage pickup. Each town who replied back charges for each unit. The Town of Rushford has one other duplex which is charged for each unit. Jerry Schoonover asked Pat how they are charged. The farm has a dumpster which he pays $112/month and his mother lives alone in the home which is charged yearly by the Town.
Pat Kafer stated he is sympathetic to the situation, but he does not feel that $12.50/mo will break anyone. Tom Egan suggested Mr King write a letter to the tenants and explain the amount increase if Mr King decided to add this on to his monthly rental charge and to get back to us.
·
Bob Kubiak, 8042 Old E, Omro WI said he has been out on Old
E for 40 years and during that time, gravel was put on the road once and the
road is ignored for snow plowing. They
personally put gravel down at their expense on the town road and paid someone
to snowplow. He request that the Town
gravels Old E that leads into their property and that snowplowing be done on a
routine basis. Tom Egan stated that the
company who does the snowplowing has a map of the town roads. They must not be reading the map correctly. He also thought the County was to put fillings
in there last year. Old E goes right up
to Mr Kubiaks lot line. Pat asked if the old building on the right is
where the lot line is and Mr Kubiak
stated that was correct. On the road
tour, they did not go all the way down, otherwise they would of
noticed the work that would be needed.
Pat mentioned that he was sure the snowplowing would have been rectified
if we would have been contacted in the winter time.
·
Terri
Wagoner, 3067 County Road K, Omro WI commented
that the property that is across the street which is owned by Tom
Schroeder, has not been cleaned up or
the pipes have not been removed which was required after his Conditional use
permit to be zoned Commercial was denied.
She was curious on what the rules are with the Town if someone does not
comply. She also stated she received a
letter about her property being rezoned residential vs
A-2. She would like to know what that
would do to her taxes and what she has to do to keep it A-2. She heard that someone was going to put a
garage on the property across the road and was wondering when she could address
that concern. If a garage was going to
be going in, she wanted to make sure that all property lines were in compliance
and feels the owner has a hard time following the rules and does not want to
see a residence on top of the garage if it is built.
Peggy Hendricks explained the letter was sent to let them know that the town felt a few properties were in duel zoning and should be legally zoned by the town. Since the property mentioned was in a residential zoning area and they are duel zoned R1 & A-2, the town thought they would correct the zoning problem. A zoning change would not change their taxes on land use and they would not have to be zoned Residential if they did not want to be. It was a courtesy letter to see what their thoughts were. Fred Kasten mentioned parcel #022 1201 is duel zoned and the letter was asked if it was to be zoned correctly, what would they want it zoned? Residential or A-2.
She asked if she would have to pay and it was stated that was something the board had to discuss yet. The zoning committee feels only publishing and mailing fees should be charged since it is illegal for the town to have duel zoning on properties.
· Rod Lothe and Bill McClain, retired Postmasters and co-chair for the committee to prevent the closing of small and rural Post Offices in WI spoke on the closing of Waukau and Eureka Post office. It has been stated that the Post office will close in November. They are looking for volunteers to help save the Post Offices. They left samples for volunteers to use that included procedures, actions guide, letterheads, etc Closing a Post office is completely different then closing a mail processing plants like Oshkosh. This is a political issue and they will help anyone who is willing to do this.
If anyone is interested, please contact the town hall and the clerk will supply you with contact information and the information pack that was left.
· Mr Zel Lind, 9003 Liberty School Road, Omro stated that he received a letter asking him to have his trailer removed in 30 days which is located at 8995 Liberty School Road. He said he has been trying to remove this for the past 2 years and it will not be removed in 30 days, but it WILL be removed. He has had several people say they would dismantle the mobile home, but no one has come though. He feels once the trailer is removed, he has lost the use of that property. It is a 1A lot and it has always been a mobile home lot. The septic, well and power was all put in for a mobile home. He wants to know what will be done for his lost of use for that property.
Tom Egan told him he could still build on a 1A lot, but Mr Lind said it was set up for a mobile home 30 years ago and he cannot put another one on the property because of the changes in the town zoning code. He is paying taxes and garbage pickup on the parcel even though no one has been living there for 3 years. Tom Egan said he should have contacted the town to inform them that no one was living there. Garbage fees would not have been charged. Mr Lind said he did not contact the town for he was in hopes of having another residence there.
Pat Kafer asked if there was a conditional use for that mobile home 30 years ago. Peggy Hendricks stated that all she could find in the files was a variance was suggested in 1984 and 1990. Mr Lind said in 1984 the property was developed for a mobile home which is sitting on the property right now. In 1990, there was a personal tax for the trailer and a tax for the land. The town then combined that and had only 1 tax bill for the property.
Fred Kasten stated that the trailer has been there for a long time, but our zoning ordinance states that it is a non conforming property. We allow mobile homes in the Town, but we do not have a mobile home district any more. It is now an A-3, rural residential district. He is allowed to build a house on there. The town asked for it to be removed for a) It is non conforming and b) any property that has not been used for 12 months must be bought up to compliance. He is allowed to build a house or have the whole area in lawn.
Tom Egan asked how much time Mr Lind will need to remove the trailer. He hopes to have it removed by the end of summer. A date of September 1st was agreed on and Tom Egan thanked Mr Lind for coming to the board to talk to us about this.
· Patsy Pomplun, 7505 Cty Road E, Omro WI spoke on a meeting held prior to the school board meeting in April and thought residents would be interested in the information. The School will be bringing back the referendum in the July election for funds. They handed out a sheet of paper that showed the savings for 2011-2012 and 2012-2013. The savings for this year is $1.2 million dollars and next year’s savings will be $1,201,500. The referendum which they will be bringing back is for $1 million over 10 years. The other one which they are not bringing back in July is for $600,000 - $200,000 for 3 years. She said she is not saying that this referendum is not needed but in her mind, with this savings, they could probley take care of their referendum needs since the one they are proposing is for 1 million dollars over 10 years. She wanted people to be aware of this and to get some answers before the referendum. She has extra copies and if anyone would like one, they can contact the clerk’s office.
·
Ellen
Newman, 4552 Poygan Ave, Omro, WI offered research information she had done
on mailboxes to the board. She feels
that the clerk spends too much time and mileage going to the Post office. She had understood Supervisor Kafer said he
did not feel the town should purchase another mail/drop box. Since the last board meeting though, Mr Kafer
said that rumor has it the Post Office will be closed and some thing would have
to be done either way. Ellen went to the
Post Office and bought a catalog with different mail boxes along with a print
out of a “Fort Knox” mail box she had found on the internet. She left the information with the clerk to
look over.
Rural Insurance – Andy Ballard: Mr Ballard was present to answer any questions the board would have. Mr Egan said the biggest question he had was what Mr Ballard’s recommendations were for an official bond that is required by WI SS 60.31. This states that every town clerk, treasurer and town constable shall file an official bond provided by the town. The amount should be fixed by the board. The statute says you should have the bond, but it does not state a specific amount it should be. Rural Mutual has a minimum premium of $100 with a 15% discount if a two year prepaid bond is issued. Kathryn Lewis said that the Town of Poygan pays $250/yr for their bond, but she does not know what the amount is. It was asked why the constable has to be covered. No one knew for sure except it states that a constable is to be bonded. Anyone on the board would be open to law suits. The town does have liability.
Motion
by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to have Rural Insurance issue an official
bond in the following amounts:
·
$1000 for constable $ 5.00
·
$16,000 for clerk $40.00
·
$16,000 for treasurer $64.00
For a
total of $109. 2
years would be prepaid to receive the 15% discount.
Motion passed unanimously.
Pat asked if Mr Ballard felt we had enough coverage on the building and contents. Currently it is insured for $371,423 with $25,000 business personal property. Jerry Schoonover asked if we had coverage for the playground. Andy will get more information out to us on this. Tom asked if under personal property if that included our voting machines, which are very expensive and Andy indicated it did. Pat asked what our deductable was. If we raised our deductable, would our rates be lower. Our deductable right now is at $250. Andy said he would get this information together and send it to the town.
Andy stated that in regards to the lease agreement with the Berlin Boat Club, they did get approval from underwriting to allow adding them on as additional insured and it is about $24. The Berlin Boat Club will reimburse the town. This underwriting allows the Berlin Boat Club to maintain the grounds of the Locks.
Clerks
Report & Minutes: Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover
to approve the minutes as presented for the May 4, 2011 town board meeting. Motion carried.
Treasurers
Report was given by Kathryn Lewis.
The balance at the end of May in the general account is $163,334.75.
There is $71,166.27 in 3 separate Fire Truck CD’s. The Town tax account has $113.00. Motion by Kafer, 2nd
by Schoonover to accept the treasurer’s report. Motion carried.
Payment of
invoices –Peggy Hendricks approved and submitted to the board the bills
for June in the amount of $25,731.58 for approval of payment. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd
by Kafer to pay June’s bills as submitted.
Motion carried.
Constable Report – Sean Edinger: Mr Edinger reported that on May 2nd he hand delivered a letter to James Erdmann. He was not home and it was delivered to his brother. On May 19, 21 & 22 he was called to 2680 Hwy 116 referring to an animal disturbance. It was thought that there were more than 2 dogs at the residence. They do have a ticket for non licensing of dogs.
Communications & Correspondence – Tom Egan went though the following:
· Read a letter from Assessment Technologies of WI, LLC which explained that in 2010 the Department of Revenue added a section to the WI property assessment manual which states that municipalities must collect and maintain parcel data electronically by Jan 1, 2013.
· A thank you letter from the United States Department of Commerce for our efforts to make the 2010 Census a success. They enclosed instructions for finding the new Profile of General Population and Housing Characteristics:2010 online. This profile provides a look at the population count, age & sex distribution, race, etc
· The County has maps of the Supervisory Districts drawn. The League of Women Voters would like the county supervisors number cut in half so the districts might change.
· An email from Bill Plucker from Scott Construction offering prices for Chip sealing. Tom mentioned he was at Poygans meeting the other night and they feel they do outstanding work.
Old Business: Mailbox for Rushford Town Hall: Tom Egan thanked Mrs. Newman for the information she bought to the board during Public Input. Peggy Hendricks will present prices of mailboxes to the board next month. She had talked to the Omro Post office and they had indicated we could use our drop box to have mail dropped off, but we could not send mail out.
Discussion/action of non-compliance – Jerry Schoonover said that Roger Kasuboski moved his building right after last month’s meeting. The clerk did not send a letter out for she noticed it was moved immediately. Tom Egan asked if he would have to get any kind of special permit to build his house behind the shed. Fred Kasten stated that it is zoned A-2. Mr Kasuboski has set backs greater than what is needed. Tom asked what was discussed with all the construction equipment. Fred told him that his most of his equipment was not agricultural and all his agricultural equipment is sitting out. Tom asked if a person owns A-2 land, can they put anything they want on it. Fred stated that anyone could build a residence and get a conditional use permit for an accessory building. Pat Kafer asked what Bohns property where the ranch was zoned. It is zoned A-2. Pat said even though they use that parcel to farm, they also do trucking and nothing has changed. There are a few people who use Ag land to run businesses. Tom Egan said the difference is that complaints have been called in on the Kasuboski property. Pat Kafer stated that on his Conditional use permit, it was spelled out where his equipment would be placed. Fred Kasten said Mr Kasuboski will be building a building over the one he moved, but a building permit has never been obtained.
Tom Egan said that we heard that the constable had stated earlier that a letter was hand delivered to Mr Erdmann’s brother and other letters have been mailed. Nothing has been done. He does have until August 1st to start building. He has not submitted his site plan to Mr Egan or Mr Kasten. Pat Kafer suggested to give him until August 1st and if we do not hear anything, it will be turned over to the Town Attorney.
New Business:
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by
Schoonover to approve Class B Liquor & Beer License for July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012 to the following:
·
Robert Hessenius
and Jeffrey Jansen for Eureka Landings, LLC
·
Jerome Olkiewicz
for Bill & Stels
·
Ron Fink for Trail Inn
·
Patrick & Connie Schoonover – CPS of
Waukau LLC for O’Malleys
·
Phillip Rew for Starlite Inn
Motion Carried.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by
Schoonover to approve a picnic license to Waukau Youth Center for a benefit for
Jim Wesner who has cancer on July 30. Motion carried.
It was asked when we approved the picnic license for the year, for example Eureka Landings. They will be having a few activities this year. Tom wanted to know if when the Board approved these, were they for all the activities in the year, or if Board approval should be each event if it is different from the earlier year. It was said that anything new should come before the Board for approval.
Bridge/Culvert Aid: Tom Egan read a letter from the Winnebago Highway Commission which explained the request for funding for bridge or culvert aid under WI SS 82.08. Requests have to be received by June 6, 2011 for 2012. The Town has nothing that qualifies to be done 2012. Fred Kasten asked about the culvert on Senn Road. Last year that one was sent in and approved to be done in 2011. It was not listed in the cost estimated given to the Town from the Road Tour, so Tom Egan will remind them of the culvert that was approved to be done.
Discussion of
Town Hall maintenance/needs: Motion
by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to renew the Post Office box fee which
is due June 30th to renew for 6 months for $21.
Tom Egan reported that he talked to Mr Traxler and supposedly they are coming out to spray again. It was so wet they could not get in. So it will have to be sprayed again and they still plan on doing it all the work themselves. It should not be mowed. Mr Traxler also said that the iron from the old mill is supposed to be taken out this week. A contract is being written up by Mr Selsing for whoever is going to be doing the work. After that they will knock down the wood and burn it.
Patsy Pomplun asked if the wood chips south of the hall was for the foundation plantings and Mr Egan stated they were for their use. Pat asked if Patsy would like to spray around the building and ditches. He has spray and Peggy said she would come and help.
Upcoming meetings and workshops :
Reports on Meetings that have been attended:
County Zoning Committee Report: Fred Kasten went into further detail on the Farmland Preservation tier mapping. It can be changed anytime up until the County’s public hearing. The question right now is if a person converts from A-1 to A-2, if there is a penalty fee. The Town of Rushford will take applications for rezoning at this time and hold the applications until there is the 30 day window to take these applications without penalty to the county. When the county adopts their farmland preservation program, they will have a 30 day window for people to rezone from A-1 to A-2 without a penalty fee. This is the time the Town of Rushford will file the rezoning changes with the county.
Town Zoning Report – Tom Jackson: The zoning meeting was held on May 25. Discussion was on the following:
Tom Schroeder attended the meeting stating that he would like to build a 24x40 shed on his property. This property is duel zoned and according to our policy, this is illegal. The committee suggests to the Town Board to consider picking up part of the fee to have duel zoned property rezoned if the land owners are agreeable to rezone these properties to R-1. The town has R-1 on this property and the county has A-2. The other duel zoned property is Don and Terri Wagoner. Neither one of these properties were involved in Eureka plat because these parcels had been surveyed by owners before the Eureka Assessors plat was done. The town will not allow duel zoning on property.
Pat Kafer suggested that we have Dean Kaderabek get a listing of duel zoning to see all who would have to be rezoned to comply with our town policy.
The fencing next to Danielle Zarling was discussed. According to our ordinance, we have two different sections where in one section, it states it can be on the property line and in the other section, it states that it has to be 2’ off the line. The committee’s recommendation is to grandfather this fence in. Fred Kasten felt that prior to the Eureka assessors plat, this fence was legal. After the plat was done, the fence is on the line. Pat Kafer said he thought he had a fence up and when the assessors plat was done, that is when he moved his fence on the line. The committee did not know it was moved. To resolve this issue, a letter should be sent to both property owners to say that prior to the assessors plat, this fence is grandfathered. If any improvements have to be done on the fence from this day forward, for it is a non conforming fence, then it will have to be set 2’ off the property line. If they want to dispute the town findings, they can take the town to court. In the future, our zoning ordinance language will clarify that agricultural fences comply with Ch 90 and under residential, more specific language will be added.
The fence in question is on the Dave Gales property. A letter should be sent to all property owners around this parcel stating that the Town Board has taken a stance and if they want to dispute it, they may hire an attorney.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by
Schoonover to send the person who owns the fence plus all adjoining land owners
a letter on what the town’s stance is.
Motion carried.
The committee suggests issuing permits to property owners of less than 10A instead of a Conditional use permit if they would like animals. If a permit was given, a public hearing would not be needed and it would be easier to police. Pat Kafer thought if a permit was given, it would not give neighbors a chance to express concerns if they had any. Pat Kafer would like to see recommendations of a permit which would include animals to land, nutrient management plan, etc Fees will be discussed later. Fred Kasten summed it up saying that you have people who would like 20 chickens. They would have to get a CUP for $350. That is more money that they would ever spend purchasing eggs at a store. The reference for units of animals would be from WI DNR. For example, say a person has 2 A. 1A is taken out for a home. The other acre could have the animal units allowed on 1A. Tom Egan asked how long the permit was good for. That would have to be discussed, but it is thought it would be issued to the property owner. If the property was sold, it would be terminated.
It was discussed that if a person wanted to sell a certain class of fireworks, that a permit could be issued.
Property on 37th and Liberty School road, parcel # 022 010605 was discussed. A truck with a topper and a mobile home is being used by out of town owners on the weekend. Garbage is put out. They do not have a fire number. Pat Kafer recommended sending a letter informing them that they will be charged for garbage and their “buildings” are in violation of the town ordinance.
The old feed mill was also discussed at the zoning meeting, but Tom Egan had stated earlier that he had talked to Tom Traxler and clean up will be starting very soon.
Building Permit Report Tom Egan reported there were 2 building permits for the month of May.
· Joe Schuster, 8280 Cty Road E for 30x40 pole shed $10,000
· Theron & Bonnie Coats for 4736 Eureka Road for a new home $175,000
Discussion on Town Maintenance:
·
Mowing Bids:
Last year we paid $109/hr for mowing from the County. That is what the county is charging this
year. Bids were submitted by Ripon Truck
and Zillges. The bid from Zillges was
$79/hr for a 72” side mower and tractor.
Kevin Lieske from Ripon Truck was present and
went though the prices for the mowers they have. The price for a 14’ is $68 and for a 21’
mower tractor, the price would be $75.00.
If the town is not happy, Ripon Truck will work with the Town, but he
has many recommendations from other areas.
Pat asked what size mower would be best.
Kevin said they could leave it open and bring in the 21”. If it mows all the way back, it would save
money.
Motion
by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to hire Ripon Truck to do the 2011
mowing for the Town of Rushford.
Motion passed unanimously.
·
Roads: The road estimates from the road tour done
with the county was passed out. Because
of the late hour, a meeting will be set with the Board members after the Board
of review on Friday to decide what roads and work will be done for 2011. Pat requested that a Year to Date be
available to see what money we have. The
meeting should also be posted.
·
Brushing:
We have not heard anything from the department handling the inmate
brushing, but the Parks called and said that we could use the chipper and they
will train the people using it.
·
Fire Signs:
Fire signs were ordered, but have not been received yet.
Tom Egan reminded Mr Schroeder that last year when his CUP to rezone to Commercial was denied, the Town gave him 30 days to take out the pipes and they are still there. If a building is approved, it will go right by specs. Mr Schroeder stated that the pipes are not connected to anything. Tom Egan said it did not make a difference. A letter was sent saying they were to be pulled out or cut off. Mr Schroeder said he would cut them off tomorrow. Pat Kafer said that a similar piece of property which a person bought from the county was too small for a house or a shed for storage. This would be the Hendricks property on Union Street, Eureka. He feels this is like property to Tom Schroeder’s.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by
Schoonover to send Tom Schroeder a copy of the letter that was sent to him
previously stating that the PVC pipe has to be removed. Motion carried.
The next meeting will be held on July 6, 2011.
Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to adjourn the meeting at 10:14. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by Peggy Hendricks, Clerk