Rushford
Town Board Minutes
Wednesday,
February 1, 2012
The
Town of Rushford Board meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm by Chairman
Thomas Egan followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken with Tom Egan, 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 and the zoning committee meeting were posted at the Eureka post office
building, the Waukau Post office, the town hall door and the town web page. Notices were mailed to Town Board members and
the Zoning Administrator.
Sheriff’s Department
representative: Officer Tyler Sleeter
from Winnebago County Deputy was present to hear concerns and answer
questions.
Guest Speaker: Mr Michael Schraa
was present to introduce himself. He is
a candidate for the 53rd District Assembly.
Clerks Report & Minutes: Motion
by Schoonover, 2nd by Egan to approve the minutes as presented for
the January 4th town board meeting.
Discussion: Patsy Pomplun said that
last month she approached the clerk for an explanation on the bill payments for
January that showed two payments to Alliant Energy for town lights. Hendricks had explained that she accidently
had December and Januarys payment on the list, both in the amount of
$249.09. Only Januarys should have been
on the bill total for January. Mrs.
Pomplun thought the board should go back and correct the amount for the bill
payments.
Amendment to the Motion by Egan, 2nd by
Schoonover to delete the December Alliant Energy payment in the amount of
$249.09 that was included in the January Bill statement. Motion carried.
Motion by Egan, 2nd by Schoonover to approve the
minutes with the correction. Motion
carried.
Treasurers Report was given by Kathryn
Lewis. The balance at the end of January
in the general account is $123,031.14. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd
by Egan to accept the treasurer’s report.
Motion carried.
Payment of invoices: Peggy Hendricks approved and submitted to the
board the bills for February in the amount of $11,531.89 for approval of
payment along with required tax monies to be sent to the County, State, the
tech schools, Omro & Berlin schools as soon as totals are gathered from the
County along with WTA registration costs and flag total amount if approved by
the board. Motion
by Schoonover, 2nd by Egan to pay February’s bills as submitted.
Discussion: Patsy Pomplun asked how checks could be left
blank and signed. Tom Egan explained
that they get signed after totals are gathered and if they are approved. The tax monies are due on February 20th,
but we do not have totals at this time.
If the checks for these are not signed now, a separate meeting will be
called to have the checks signed. Motion
carried.
Public Input: Ellen Newman spoke on her concerns with Arlo Pit and the enforcement of the ordinances. Hendricks provided the name transfer, the
bond and information on the lights. Mr Wilke also approached all the neighbors and offered water
testing of the wells. One neighbor took
up the offer. Mrs. Newman is concerned
about the reclamation. Particularly
these items:
·
No operations or activities, including berm
construction, shall be conducted within 200 feet of any right of way line or within 200 feet of any exterior boundary of
the site where a residence is located within 500 feet of the exterior boundary
of the tract.
·
Town Board, after recommendation from the Planning
Commission, may authorize a reduction in the 200’ or 50’, setback requirement
where the extraction will not go below either the grade of
the adjacent road, or the adjoining property line, and where no blasting
is required. In applying the provisions of this section, the Town Board may
reduce the setbacks as deemed appropriate, and may apply other operational
requirements necessary to offset any effect of the reduced setback.
·
The
Town shall require berms along the edges of said mining area of sufficient
height, width, and mass to screen the site from adjacent land uses. Said berms
shall be seeded with a fast growing grass to control erosion. Along the front
of the berm, visible to the public, a row of evergreen type trees (4’-5’
height. B&B) shall be planted every 25 feet, to create a visual buffer from
existing residential homes or planned residential neighborhoods, as identified
in the Town of Rushford Comprehensive Plan.
It
was stated that the board will be visiting the pit on their spring road
tour. The Conditional use permit was
revoked and re-instated previously. Fred
Kasten mentioned that a lot of times, the only way to address violations is to
go though the court system. Tom Jackson
stated that cell towers have changed and that is one of the reasons our
ordinances have to be updated.
Dean
Kaderabek informed everyone that the sheriff is looking for a place to put a communication
tower to complete the 911 emergency network.
Communications &
Correspondence:
·
Tom
Egan read a letter from Fox Valley Technical College explaining the referendum
question that will be added to the ballot for April 3, 2012 election.
·
Tom
Egan read a complaint email about neighbors irresponsible burning. (Moved up from #13, item C on the agenda.)
·
Tom
Egan went though the agenda for the Omro-Rushford Fire District meeting to be
held February 8th at 7:00.
Discussion of Town Hall
maintenance/needs: Peggy Hendricks requested
permission to purchase the payroll software that is an addition for
QuickBooks. This will guarantee accuracy
and save time doing payroll, federal and state returns. The cost is $277/year.
Mr
Michael Schraa commented that he uses Quick Books and
future cost should be looked at. Tax
tables have to be purchased every year.
Hendricks said she thought that was the reason behind the yearly
cost. Mr Schraa
stated that if the town had an accountant, the town could attach on to someone
else’s program. Jerry Schoonover
suggested some research be done. Motion by Egan to deny the purchase of payroll for Quick Books. 2nd by
Schoonover. Motion carried.
Town Hall Loan: Hendricks stated the statement online says
the payoff for the town hall loan is $43,125.88. This was an adjustment on the tax levy. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd
by Egan to pay off the town loan.
Discussion: It was asked if we had the fire truck CD’s (corrected from loans)
or if those were cashed in to pay on the hall loan. The Board voted in 2011 to cash in the CD’s
we had since the interest rate received was so low and put those monies toward
the hall loan where the interest rate was higher. It was explained that a total of $71,626.75
(from the CD’s) was paid on the loan in July and August of 2011. The balance of the loan was put in as an
adjustment in the tax levy so the hall would be paid off in 2012.
Motion carried.
Discussion on Town
Maintenance:
Eureka Posting Board: Hendricks stated that she contacted The County
Emergency Department along with Wagoners about
mounting the Towns posting board on the siren pole. Both parties agreed this would be OK. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd
by Egan to move our posting cabinet from the old Eureka Post Office building to
the siren pole on the Wagoner property.
Motion carried.
Roads & Brushing: Tom Egan reported he received a call about a
problem on the north side of Banner Hill Road.
The road is breaking up. Chipping
has been going on.
Hendricks
presented a new web page that is on the town’s web site. Ellen Newman submitted an article to the Omro
Herald explaining about the hall.
Hendricks used this article along with pictures of the hall for people
to view. It is located under FORMS –
Town Hall Rental Application.
New Business: Peggy Hendricks said that she received a call
from the Gathering Space inquiring if they referred parties to the Town for
hall rental, if the parties could get a discount of $50 if they were from out
of the township. Motion by Egan, 2nd by
Schoonover to keep the rates we have for everyone. Motion carried.
Old Business:
Indoor Flag
Pole/Stand: Hendricks said that Dean
Larsen said he could get a flag set up for $79.95. It would be $20 extra for an eagle top. A portion of this money gets donated towards
children of veterans.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Egan to purchase the
flag with an eagle top though Dean Larsen.
Motion carried.
Discussion on parcel
#022 047701 – 8050 Broadway: Hendricks stated that
last month it was brought up to the board that Joyce Erickson had requested to
have her garbage fee taken off her tax bill for the house has been vacant. Board members had inspected the parcel and
saw evidence of activity there.
Hendricks contacted Mrs Erickson to inquire on
her plans with the parcel. She stated
that the house will eventually be taken down and the trailer will be torn down. Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Egan
to leave the garbage fee as is.
DISCUSSION: Mr Egan would like to
have this back on the agenda in two months to see where they are at. Motion carried.
Street Light at Quarry
& Division St in Eureka:
Hendricks said that Alliant Energy informed her that the street light on
Commercial St in Waukau is a customer owned light and not owned by
Alliant. It was reported earlier that
the street light was not working. The
plans have gone to an engineer for a street light at Quarry & Division in
Eureka. Schoonover would like
consideration for a town owned street light to be placed in Waukau on
Commercial Street.
Discussion on Parcel
#022 031203 – James Erdmann: Tom Egan
went though the correspondence and minutes from the past concerning this
parcel. He stated that someone is living
there and it is not the owner. Tom Egan
said we should have the town attorney send a letter and we will have to go
though the court system since he will not comply. Certified letters have been delivered. He is in violation of ordinance codes, his
conditional use permit to live in the basement until the house was built is
expired, the building inspector cannot get in and it is a non conforming
structure. Tom will once again discuss
this with the County Health department about condemning the property.
Fred
Kasten said our hands are tied without a court order. The Town attorney should send a letter to all
parties to start court action and eviction.
Mrs.
Newman suggested that we should have an attorney who is versed in town
law. Tom Egan stated that we will need
an attorney to look over the ordinance rewrite.
The Town association has attorneys.
Hendricks will call them to inquire on this situation.
Town Zoning Committee
Report – Tom Jackson
Tom
Jackson went though the proposal for Town of Rushford Zoning Code update
submitted by Dean Kaderabek. The
committee made a motion to accept this proposal and submit it to the Town
Board. The total cost is $9000. This will be placed on the March agenda for
action.
An
overview of the proposed County zoning map for the Town of Rushford was
explained by Dean Kaderabek. The final
meeting for this will be February 20th. Hendricks will contact the landowners by
certified mail to explain to them about the different zoning codes and to give
them a choice to change their proposed zoning for free. This is a onetime offer and all communication
will have to be to the County before the meeting on February 20th.
County Zoning Committee
Report – Fred Kasten
A
meeting on January 25 was held to view and discuss the new County zoning
maps. The County’s zoning authority
within shoreland areas was discussed.
Dog, Constable Report: Peggy Hendricks reported that a citation for
dog running at large was issued in August 2011 after several warnings had been
issued. No payment was received after
several letters, including a certified letter, which was accepted, was
sent. A letter was drawn up by the Town
attorney and sent out without any payment results. Hendricks wanted to know what the next step
should be.
It
was asked if the fine could be placed on the tax bill. Hendricks will ask the WTA attorney if this
is an option.
Reports on Meetings that
have been attended:
·
Jerry
Schoonover reported on the Winnebago Co Unit of WTA meeting held Thursday,
January 5th at Nekimi Town Hall
County Report by Tom
Egan:
·
The
Berlin Boat Club feels the new bridge will not be high enough. This might set the bridge project back
another year and add $50,000 - $75,000 to the cost.
·
There
will be a meeting coming up for the Health Department. They will decide if they will have a joint
department or not.
·
Purchasing
land out by Wittman Airport
·
Spring
Elections for County Board Members
Upcoming meetings and workshops:
Motion by
Schoonover, 2nd by Egan to approve board members and clerk to
register for the WTA workshop in Ripon on February 24. Motion
carried.
Motion by Schoonover, 2nd by Egan to adjourn at
9:07. Motion carried.
Respectfully
submitted by Peggy Hendricks, Clerk