Town of Somerset February 6, 2013 Town Board Meeting Minutes

Town of Somerset

Town Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday,

February 6, 2013

Chairman Schachtner called the meeting to order at 8:00 pm at the Town Hall. Present were Germain, Demulling, Plourde, Rauch and Schachtner. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Motion by Plourde, seconded by Rauch to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Public input - none.

Clerk’s/Treasurer’s Report: Motion by Germain, seconded by Demulling to approve the January 2 & 22 meeting minutes. Motion carried. Motion by Plourde, seconded by Rauch to approve the January Financial Report. Motion carried.

New Business - Tom Jenkins/Rural Mutual Insurance Update on Policies: Jenkins proposed idea of changing the deductible from $250.00 to $500.00. Jenkins requested the town review the equipment values and respond if any changes need to be made within two weeks. The board thanked Tom Jenkins for attending the meeting with the insurance review.

Building Inspector’s Report & Consideration of Approval of Contract from Todd Dolan/All Croix Inspections Corp. & Policy on Fees for Renewal of Expired Permits: January 2013 - no permits issued. Motion by Plourde, seconded by Demulling to approve the January Building Inspector Report. Motion carried. Building Inspection Services Contract Renewal - Germain immediately abstained. Dolan stated there are three changes in the contract: company changed from LLC to Corp., added drain tile to inspection list, and under item 4 what town is to provide to All Croix Inspections Corp. Schachtner asked if Dolan’s assistant was working on licensing and Dolan responded she is licensed in some areas and is working on completion of all areas. Motion by Demulling, seconded by Plourde to approve the Building Inspector’s Contract from Todd Dolan/All Croix Inspections Corp. for a 2-year term, expiring 3-08-2015. Motion carried. Germain abstained. Discussion on policy for renewal of expired permits and fees. New house permits are valid for 2 years; other permits are valid for 1 year. Two proposals were discussed: charging one-half the original inspection fee with a minimum of $50.00 up to a maximum of $250.00 or prorate the original inspection fee based on the number of inspections completed and inspections outstanding. Motion by Rauch, seconded by Plourde to go with the first proposal and to set the renewal of expired building permit fees at one-half the original building permit fee with a minimum of $50.00 up to a maximum of $250.00 for a period of a one-year extension. Motion carried.

Somerset School Board/Tim Witzmann & Superintendent/Randy Rosburg - Presentation on April 2, 2013 Election Somerset School Referendum: Witzmann addressed all residents present in detail on the 7.95 million referendum on the April 2nd ballot for capital maintenance projects for high school and middle school and adding eight classrooms to the high school. Witzmann explained the referendum should provide an increase in capacity of the high school, decrease in utility bills in high school and middle school with upgrades to boilers, water heater and HVAC, new athletic lockers, music/band areas, new lunch line/supplies storage area, resurfaced parking lot, repair issues with middle school gym floor repair and gym curtain and preparation for growth with new bridge in 2016. A map of the proposed classroom additions was presented. Witzmann showed a bar graph with existing debt and new debt payments if referendum passes. If passed, a $100,000 property value would see an $18.00 decrease in taxes (approximately). Plourde asked what the tax effect would be on a $100,000 house if the referendum did not pass. Rosburg stated he did not have that information at this time, but would email it. Rosburg stated a lot of information can be seen on the school’s website and encouraged everyone to view it.

Animal Control Report: Motion by Demulling, seconded by Germain to approve the January Animal Control Report. Motion carried.

Fire/Rescue Commission Report: Plourde reported that Custom Fire brought a fire truck to view for the last joint meeting with the Village. Town of Star Prairie has requested coverage for an area of their town - will be at April joint meeting for further discussion on costs and feasibility. Belisle’s report stated 32 calls for January compared with 23 for 2011. Fire Dept. has formed a 5-person committee to obtain specs on new fire truck to meet the needs of the department. The goal is to replace the 1982 engine and 1984 rescue. Once specs are established, prices can be obtained. Motion by Rauch, seconded by Demulling to approve the January Fire/Rescue Commission Report. Motion carried.

Parks & Rec Committee Report - Consideration to Approve Survey from GS Land Solutions & to Allocate Park Funds to Survey Corner of Road & Property Line on 221st Avenue: Germain stated no Parks & Rec meeting in Feb. Purpose of survey is to find corner point on 221st Avenue between Sections 17 & 18 and boundary markers. Surveyor will have to go into Minnesota to locate the northwest corner of Section 18. Brad Hansen, 300-221st Avenue, stated he was told when he purchased the property from the Trustees of the Fourth Baptist Church there was a swap of river bottom and land that was given up by Trustees of Fourth Baptist Church to the National Park Service. Pin numbers indicate a small sliver of land. After much discussion, review of map and survey areas to be designated, motion by Rauch, seconded by Germain to approve the survey with GS Land Solutions at a cost of $1,690.00 ($75.00 per hour if additional work is necessary) with the funds coming out of the park fund savings account. Motion carried. Granberg will present the map and findings at March 6th meeting.

Transportation & Facilities Committee Report: Wally Neumann presented two estimates and specs on hot water, stationary pressure washers – Hotsy $6,780.00 & DWD Enterprises $6,250.00. Motion by Demulling seconded by Germain to approve the purchase of the pressure washer from DWD Enterprises for $6,250.00. Motion carried. Schachtner stated sign reflectivity inspection to be done on Tuesday, February 12, 7 pm. Committee is looking for a used loader to purchase. Road crew start time has been changed to 6:00 a.m. daily; 4:00 a.m. if snow. Salt Dogg sander has been purchased for 1 ton pick up. TRIP D-looking to write a grant to apply this year. Motion by Plourde, seconded by Rauch to approve the Transportation & Facilities Committee Report. Motion carried.

Designate Three Posting Places for Official Town Notices: Motion by Plourde, seconded by Demulling to designate the following three locations as posting places for official notices: American Legion, Town Hall, and The Settlement. Motion carried.

Planning Commission Report: Rauch reported in attendance at last meeting were representatives from Town of St. Joseph, Mark Vanasse and Kevin Adkins. They are working with Richard Baillargeon and David Mandel from Town of Somerset on bike trails and available funding. Possibility of a trail connecting from the loop trail of the Stillwater Bridge to New Richmond. Rauch reported details on a meeting he attended on the timeline of the Stillwater bridge construction. Mitigation money is available for green/open space. Planning Committee is working on properties to possibly purchase if funds are available with this mitigation money. Money will be awarded on a ranked system and not all funds to be awarded at once; some will be set aside for future projects. Timelines for submittal of projects have been pushed out and are no longer due in May. Planning Committee is meeting jointly with Park & Rec Committee. Germain stated some of the parcels might require a joint purchase with the DNR because of the purchase price. Motion by Germain, seconded by Plourde to approve the Planning Commission report. Motion carried.

Announcements: WI Towns Assoc. Thursday, Feb. 7, 7 pm at Town of Richmond. Primary Election, Tuesday, February 19, Polls open 7 am – 8 pm

Meeting adjourned at 10:15 p.m.

Jeri Koester, Clerk

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Tags: public notices, meetings