April 8^th, 2009 Town of Rushford Annual Meeting

The Annual meeting was brought to attention by Tom Egan at 7 pm. The meeting started with Sandy Craig swearing in the new and reinstated officers. Tom Egan was sworn in as Town Chairman, Jerry Schoonover as Town Supervisor, Peggy Hendricks as the new Town Clerk and Kathy Lewis as Town Treasurer. Patrick Kafer was absent due to a family emergency and will be sworn in at a later date as Town Supervisor.

Pledge of Allegiance

The annual meeting started with our first guest speaker, John Hauser from Marshland, who gave us a powerpoint presentation on rain gardens. He explained exactly how beneficial rain gardens are from the environment stand point, to the beauty and educational benefits. The rain gardens will be a group project with the community. Mr. Hauser went over the plans we have for the town hall rain gardens and explained to us how our run off of water will be used for the gardens and also what will be done to redirect runoff.

We have many wonderful people who are donating time, money, supplies, plants and such. Tom Traxler, owner of Marshland, has allotted up to $10,000 towards the project. Zilges will be donating time, equipment, and dirt. Rick Gehrke of Gehrke Construction has also offered donations and is excited in being involved in this project.

We are very thankful for everyone who is willing to work on this project and we hope the Town of Rushford will support the board in some form of recognition in forms of signs or plaques when all is said and done.

Sue Bohn gave a presentation on the Master Gardeners involvement in a number of projects. They have donated 1000’s of hours to different projects in Winnebago County. They will be participating in the planting around the Town Hall building. The co-leads on this project are Audrey Ruedinger and Carole Dorsh along with a lot of help by Patsy Pomplin. The Master Gardeners were recognized with 9 members attending the meeting. They will be choosing the plants in the next few weeks for the foundation planting.

They also have the support of the Ag agent, Nick Snider. He is very interested in studying and observing the project to use as an example for other farms.

Tom Egan explained what the Towns part of this will be. It will be under $5000 and possibly as low as $2000. The figure we received tonight was under $500. But we are not exactly sure as of this time. Thanks to Marshland, who has done a lot of work ahead, such as starting plants in their green houses, investigating on the herbicides we will need, collecting weeds, and talking to the public.

Next up was the Eureka Lock Presentation by Mike Monigal and the Mayor Dick Schramer of Berlin. Mr Monigal has been leading an effort in the past 3-4 years to restore the locks so they can be reopened. He recapped on the history of the locks. The past 50 years the Berlin Boat club leased and maintained the locks. About 5 years ago, the locks became deteriorated and inoperable. The DNR terminated the lease with the Boat Club and it appeared the locks would be filled in. Mr Monigal took on the project and has slowly worked though the process. They got the DNR to do an engineering study on the Locks and what it would take to fully restore it. As this process went forward, the Mayor of Berlin joined forces, for he feels very strongly on how beneficial the opening of the Locks would be to Berlin and the community.

The question is – “where do we get the money?” They explored grants and other sources, but it seemed everything had a string attached. They decided that the project would be better funded by private sources. Things are going very well and they plan on having the locks open by the end of the boating season. There will be no taxpayer money involved in this.

The DNR would like to offer the lease to an entity of some government. Even though the Berlin Boat Club is financially sound, it still is a group that might not be around in years to come. That is not the case with a Town. If the Town decides to become a lessee, the DNR being the lessor, it would be a multi year lease. There would be provisions to have the lease terminated if need be, such as the locks not being used or something happened where it could not be operated. But there is nothing in the lease for the Town to take on any direct financial responsibilities. About all there will be is mowing, but that will probley be covered by the Boat Club members. The proposal that will ultimately come before the town once the lease is presented is for the Town to approve becoming the lessee on the lease. We would be in charge of the Locks along with the coordination of the Berlin Boat Club, the Chamber of Commerce and other beneficiaries. Omro Boat Club is also looking at this as a boost to their economy.

So the status is that: #1 – The Town will asked to be the lessee, with no hooks

#2 Ask the Town to support the Cause.

A question was bought up about the lock tenders house. The WI Historical Society holds the reins on what can or can not be done. For example, the Locks have to be restored to historical specifications. The house has been a challenge for it is in great disrepair. The DNR would like to demolish it. If the Historical Society will not allow that, then it will be fenced in. It is too expensive to restore the house.

Tom Egan mentioned that with the talk of restoration, the DNR is planning on doing a lot more with the river and the area, such as partial wharfing along the banks, cross mowing, etc. He said the DNR seems very receptive. He mentioned that the Board would like to see them go though with this. If we have a contract from the DNR, we will have our lawyer go though it to make sure we are not responsible as taxpayers and go from there. A lease will be provided to the Town for review. If the town has any questions or conditions, they will be addressed. They need a long term legal entity to be the holder of the lease and they will coordinate around that.

Tom Egan asked for a motion to look into the lease and after we receive it, to have the lawyer look at it and see if it is all viable and go from there.

Fred Kasten made the motion.

Larry Hildebrand seconded the motion.

No Discussion.

Motion Carried.

Our next speaker is Larry Timm, Town assessor. He stated that he covered and reviewed all the properties this year that had building permits, changes, splits, etc

The Board Review will be set for Saturday, June 6^th in the morning. A couple weeks before that, there will be an open book for anyone who has questions or concerns.

He mentioned that as far as he knows, there are no major problems with the assessments with the Department of Revenue. We are in compliance in all of our categories, which means we are 90% of assessed value compared to the equalized value that the state has carried on the properties in the various classes. There were no questions or concerns.

Jay Treleven, the Omro Rushford Fire Chief was next on the agenda. This is his 2^nd year as chief and his 27^th year in the Fire Department. He has been a Chief Officer for the past 18 years. The fire department serves the Town of Rushford, the City of Omro and the Town of Omro. They have approximately 57 members.

He thanked the taxpayers for supporting the Fire Department. The new fire engine was received in June of 2008 and it has helped with their recruitment tremendously. The members are all volunteers. They are very proud of that. They have been offered pay, and they have refused it, for things are working well.

They just got 5 more new volunteers. They spend 96 hours in class for the next 18 mos. This is all on their own time and no pay.

They run about 400+ First Responder calls a year. They just signed a 5 year contract with the City of Oshkosh providing protection. It is working out very well. They have top notch service and has been recognized nationally for some of the services they provide.

They are working on raising funds for their new training/storage facility. Some of the Street Dance funds will go towards this. This will mean less money from the taxpayers. The street dance is planned for June 12.

He commended the Town of Rushford in taking the lead in installing the address markers. It is a huge help to the first responders. He mentioned that we have taken the lead of the three municipalities and kudos to the Town Board for doing so.

Mr. Treleven stated that after 100 hours, the turbo went out on the new engine. Pierce worked on it and covered all the cost. They have been a pleasure to work with.

Tom Egan thanked the Fire Department for what they do in behalf of the Town.

Mr Treleven mentioned that they have a Jr Fire Fighter program that starts at 14 years of age to 18. They get some hands on experience and there are opportunities such as the scholarships they provide. There are 4 members as of this date.

Tom Egan thanked Camille Schuster for her past two years of service as Town Clerk.

2008 Annual Meeting Minutes were read by Town Clerk, Peggy Hendricks.

Ken Larson made a motion made to approve the minutes

Tom Jackson seconded the motion.

No discussion. Motion carried.

- Final Statement of the New Town Hall

Copies were available for the residents.

Kathy Lewis stated that the town loan was for $195,243.33 at 4.35%

Patsy Pomplun asked what the total cost of the building was. Kathy Lewis stated it was $298,143.41

Patsy Pomplun then asked about the asphalt. Kathy Lewis explained that it was added after the completion, for it was not added originally. There was $330,000 approved for the building. The asphalt was then added later.

Ellen Newman questioned the misc expense of $17,533.99. Kathy Lewis stated that this report was the draws and the spreadsheet came from the bank. She said that she will look into what the misc expenses were and get back to Ellen Newman.

Jerry Schoonover stated that Ripon Builders were back today to check the cracks that are in the front blocks of the building. It is under warranty, so it will be repaired at no cost.

Annual Report

Ellen Newman suggested it be on the website when the hall is rented out. Patsy Pomplun inquired about the heat cost. Camille Schuster said the cost was high for that year because of the building of the new hall and we were also paying to heat the old town hall. The LP was prepaid and that was in the figure. There is $1500 credit on the LP account yet.

Ellen Newman asked about the cost of the Assessors Plat for Eureka. This is already paid for and the town is waiting for the county to get done with it.

Ellen Newman made a motion to not get into any more debt for assessors plat until present debt has been paid. Patsy Pomtplun 2^nd the motion. Motion carried.

Larry Hildebrand made a motion to accept the annual report. Sandy Craig 2^nd the motion. Motion carried.

Road Tour Report

Tom Egan reported today was the road tour with the county, and over all our roads are pretty good. There will be some pot holing done and there will be some weight restrictions. Our biggest project this year will be brushing, for there is a lot to do. We have two bids besides the county for brushing work. There will be more updates at the next meeting.

Jerry Schoonover mentioned that he got a tentative price for chip and seal which was $12,500/mile, and paving.

Spring Recycling

Bob Eckstein will be contacted to see when he would like to do this.

Zoning Report – Fred Kasten

The assessors plat for Waukau is on hold for a year because the County is holding back on getting Eurekas assessors plat back. Since this is already paid for, we have to wait on the county before we can start billing to get out money back.

Fred Kasten reported with the new budget, there has been some money put into Farmland preservation to get more farmers and make more of them eligible for this. The town is going to have to re-look at our agricultural districts and establish some enterprise zones. These are zones that are exclusive agriculture and the farmers in these zones will be eligible at some point in time to have their easements on their property purchased by the state and either a farm land trust or something of the kind to administrate it.

Fred Kasten said that we should set up a citizens committee along with the zoning committee to establish enterprise areas in the township. Being a fore runner in doing this, for there are always some kind of grants from the state to set up an ordinance or things of that sort, instead of paying a consulting service.

Patsy Pomplun made a motion to continue with our rain garden project and to accept donations from the Master Gardeners, Marshland, Zillges, Gerhke and other concerned. Ellen Newman 2^nd the motion. Motion carried.

Patsy Pomplun made a motion to allow the Master Gardeners to purchase foundation plantings for the building up to $500. Ellen Newman 2^nd the motion. Motion carried.

Audit Books

Tom Egan reported that we had a thank you from Radkes thanking us for letting them plow snow for us.

Jerry Schoonover made a motion to adjourn the annual meeting. Tom Egan 2^nd the motion. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm

Respectfully submitted by Peggy Hendricks, Rushford Town Clerk