The Town of Rushford Board meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Chairman Thomas Egan followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken with Tom Egan, Patrick Kafer, Jerry Schoonover, Kathryn Lewis, and Peggy Hendricks present. Also present for all or part of the meeting: 9 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 budget workshop and the 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. Public notice of zoning hearing were posted and additionally published in the Oshkosh Northwestern.
Sheriff’s Department representative: Nathan from the Sheriff’s department was available for questions. Tom Egan informed him of the speed zone changes which will take effect on Eureka Lock Road and O’Reilly Road. Break-ins in Winnebago County were discussed.
Clerks
Report & Minutes: Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover
to approve the minutes as presented for the October 5, 2011 town board meeting. Motion carried.
Treasurers
Report was given by Kathryn Lewis.
The balance at the end of October in the general account is $193,644.65.
The Town tax account has $105.86. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to accept the treasurer’s
report.
Motion carried. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to approve the rental
of EZ deposit from 1st National bank for 3
months to use during tax time.
Motion carried.
Payment of
invoices: Peggy Hendricks approved
and submitted to the board the bills for November in the amount of $8,936.91
for approval of payment. Motion by Kafer, 2nd by Schoonover to pay November’s bills
as submitted.
Motion carried.
Public Input: Ellen Newman had questions on the conditional use permit for Dennis Wilke for Arlo Pit. Her concerns were the bonding for the roads, the setbacks, the berm, the name on the reclamation plan, if the reclamation plan is valid with the wrong owner/operator on, and why no planting has been done. She feels the town should enforce their ordinances.
Pat Schoonover asked who was responsible for an old tire in the ditch on Archery Drive. He stated he feels the mowing should be done earlier then what is being done. He asked what happens to a person who does not have a dog’s license. He stated that Greg Egan’s fire number is not where it should be.
Communications & Correspondence:
·
Tom Egan read the email on the Eureka Locks
update from Mr. Monigal
·
Tom Egan read the invitation from 1st
National Bank for November 4th
·
Tom Egan read the invitation from the Veterans
Service Office for the Pearl Harbor Commemoration on Dec 7 at the EAA Eagle Hanger
·
Tom Egan read a sales letter from Spectrum
Insurance Group
·
Tom Egan read the invitation from Action Appraisers
and Consultants to an Open house on November 11th.
·
We received notification of the Land Use plan amendments
for Winnebago Co
·
Peggy Hendricks stated there was a new Crime
Reporter located in the back.
·
Peggy Hendricks reported that we received levys from Berlin Schools for $9.69 up from $9.66 and Morine Tech which is $1.48 up from $1.45.
·
Tom Egan mentioned that they passed the county
budget and it will be down this year.
Discussion of Town Hall maintenance/needs: Peggy Hendricks showed the board a new web page that was created for all the town permits & forms. Kathy asked if the dog license application could be put on. Tom Egan mentioned that the glass on the picture in the back should be repaired. Pat Kafer said the flag should be straightened this week. Tom Egan asked how the mail box was working. Hendricks stated that we are not receiving all our mail yet.
Discussion on Town Maintenance:
Addressing of Eureka & Waukau: Kathryn Lewis stated that the county
would like us to have the town and county use the address of Omro, WI 54963 for everyone in Eureka and Waukau to
avoid confusion. Present was Dean
Kaderabek, representing the Winnebago County zoning & planning department
as well as the GIS. The county would
like a uniform addressing for the tax system, database revisions & the 911
system. The post master had stated that
a person with a post office box now would have the choice of using Eureka,
54963, Waukau, 54963 or Omro, 54963. Pat
Kafer made a motion that any address using Eureka or Waukau, would be Omro,
54963 for town and county business. Tom
Egan 2nd the motion. Motion
carried with one nay.
Tom
Egan made a motion for all persons to use Omro, WI 54963 and not be allowed to use Eureka,
WI 54963 or Waukau, WI 54963.
Motion was 2nd by Jerry Schoonover. Pat Kafer asked if the town had the ability
to change this. Tom rescinded his
motion, for this was not on the agenda.
This will be put on the agenda for next month and the Postmaster will be
called and ask to attend.
Proposals of Update of Towns Zoning Codes: Fred Kasten reported that he had received proposals to re-write/update the Town of Rushford’s zoning code. A proposal came in from
Civitek consulting for $11,700. They have done the County’s’ rewrite. There was an estimate from Benesch for $20,000. He will get an estimate from Martenson Eisele and Dean Kaderabek will also submit a proposal. Dean had a few questions on how in depth this will be.
Tom Jackson read off the reasons why the zoning committee felt an update/rewrite should be done:
· The last update was over 6 years ago and there have been changes.
· Definitions have to be updated
· Can accommodate the green energy and farmland preservation changes
· To keep the town government the way it is, the codes need to be modernized and contradictions need to be taken out.
Reasons not to update the codes:
· If we did not want a cost to update, we could go to County zoning
· The County staff would have control and the local government would not
Tom Egan went ahead in the agenda to:
Zoning Change for Maribeth Monday/Leslie Flanagan, parcel # 022 0559 &
022 0558
Tom Jackson stated that a zoning hearing was held for the
above parcels on October 26, 2011. They
would like to change the parcel to have it conforming to the Towns plan. The posting was written as requesting a
zoning change from A-2 to R-1. A motion
was made and passed to change this to read “A-2 to A-3”. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd
by Kafer to approve the zoning change of parcels 022 0559 & 022 0558 from
A-2 to A-3.
Motion carried.
Action on
shed/home on Lot 3, parcel # 022 055901:
Tom Egan explained that a house will be moved in and placed where
the shed was taken down. Once the house
is put on, there is a shed in front of the home, which is not allowed according
to the Towns ordinance. Mr Egan feels
that since the shed is there, he feels the shed should be grandfathered in so
it would be able to stay where it is located.
Motion by Egan, 2nd by Schoonover to grandfather the shed at
its existing location even after the old farm house is demolished and the new
house is moved on the lot. Motion
carried.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to approve the CSM for Waukau Creek, parcel # 022 0517. Motion carried.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to adopt the Slow-No-Wake Ordinance for the Fox River. Motion carried with 1 nay. Tom Jackson stated that there will be a universal posting at all the landings and we will be able to post our ordinance there for the public.
Brushing: Tom Egan stated that the project crew from the correction department is in the processing of cutting brush. It was mentioned that the wood is disappearing as fast as it is cut. Someone will call Ripon Truck to see if they will be doing any brushing.
Roads: River Road and Archery Road require
patching. Schoonover mentioned that
Freunds said they would do patching on the roads. Motion by Kafer, 2nd
by Schoonover to have Freunds go around and patch the holes on the Town roads
as soon as it dries up.
Motion carried.
County Zoning Report: Fred Kasten is glad to report that the steering committee will be abolished for they have accomplished their goal. Any revisions that have to be added will be done by the County zoning and planning committee. He feels it is a very good document, it is easy to read and he was very glad to be part of the steering committee. This will be approved by the County in the spring. Tom Egan thanked Fred Kasten on behalf of the town for the many hours and his commitment to this steering committee.
Constable Report – Peggy Hendricks: A gold lab was taken into Traxlers in October.
Reports on Meetings that have been attended:
· Kathy Lewis and Peggy Hendricks reported on the WTA annual convention which was held on October 24th in Green Bay.
County Report by Tom Egan:
· The Budget was passed by the board. The tax rate should be down from last year.
· There is 10 million dollars of delinquent taxes. Usually 98-99% of this is collected.
· There is a highway meeting next week. They have to refigure the cost on the bridge for Eureka. The county should be paying less then what was originally stated. It will be started in 2012.
· Neenah & Oshkosh will be joining the health department with the County.
Upcoming meetings and workshops :
Building Permit Report: Tom Egan reported there were 3 building permits for the month of October.
Kafer Farms, 8674 Banner Hill Rd, Omro, WI 920-685-5095
Replace existing trailer for farm use
$10,000 parcel # 022 019404 October 1, 2011
Hendricks Family Distillery LLC, 3570 N County Road K, Omro, 685-6468
New F1 Commercial 30x40 building, self built
$25,000 parcel # 022 043002 October 19, 2011
Wayne Resop, 8841 Wi Street, Eureka, WI 685-5416
24x36 garage
$12,000 parcel # 022 1520 October 27, 2011
Jason Kralorefz, 7311 Meadowridge Dr Pickett, WI 54963 920-279-1938
New Home built at 7317 Old Mill Rd, Omro, WI,
self built, Sanitary permit # 539045, Building permit # 41912
$192,000 parcel # 022 1458 October 27, 2011
Peggy Hendricks read an email from Danielle Zarling which she received stating that she wanted a paper copy of the zoning ordinances dealing with fences. She had contacted our town attorney. Hendricks had written back saying since the ordinances were on the internet and she would be able to print it off for herself. If she wanted the clerk to send them to her, there would be a charge.
The Board stated that the town is not liable for any charges from the attorney for Ms Zarlings communication with him.
Tom Egan mentioned with the re-write coming up, maybe the Town should consider other attorneys. Mr Selsing has done a wonderful job for the town, but the town should consider contacting other attorneys.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Kafer to adjourn at 8:45. Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted by Peggy Hendricks, Clerk