Monthly Meeting Minutes I June 12, 2023
The monthly meeting for the Town Board of the Town of Cedar Lake was held on Monday, June 12, 2023 at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance. Twenty-eight persons attended plus the Board.
The minutes were read from the previous meeting with the correction of the name of Kory Weiss. Kory made the motion to approve the minutes with that correction. Seconded by Mary and approved unanimously
Under public input, Ken introduced Scott Schiefelbein, our building inspector. Scott’s main job as inspector of new buildings is to make sure the buildings are being constructed according to health and safety requirements. He notices many violations around the township which get reported to Dave Gifford at Barron Co. Zoning . In 20 years, he has only had to use the red tag 6 times. This means stop building immediately. Ken said that if anyone found any issues, call him, meet with him. He is looking out for all equally.
Mary H. asked when a red tag is issued, is a list of violations given to the person? Yes, Scott gives them the reason for the STOP building. There are a lot of people who are genuine when they say they have not read all of the permit instructions.
Scott deals with the State, Co. and the census bureau. He has contracts with 6 towns. He has Joe Atwood, licensed inspector, 2 persons in the office and himself to cover all this area. Communication among them is daily. Scott feels that they have a good team in place and they try to get to all as soon as possible. The State allows two days past notification for the inspection to occur. Scott went on to explain there are fees for not completing the permit application. Some of these fees are set by the State.
Ken L. said he is tracking what people are doing. There are many violations. One individual pushed the process to comply with the night before the court date. There are a lot of man hours that are involved with violations.
Ken thanked Scott for attending the meeting and discussing the position of building inspector.
Also, under public input, Norma Jankowski addressed the Board regarding property cleanup in Mikana. She has gone to the county zoning who said they do not enforce town ordinances. They would investigate if there are 3 or more unlicensed vehicles on a property. A committee has been formed of Norma, Laura Moyle and Todd Barthen to beautify Mikana. Just for Mikana and will follow the nuisance ordinance created in 2018. If an issue comes to them, they will address and see what could be done. Norma grew up in Mikana. Residents took care of their property. We need to take pride in Mikana. Thank you.
Ken did receive a call from Human Services regarding Jerry Frazier’s property. He suggested that the committee contact the Board when they need to interact in a situation.Do everything legally.
Laura Moyle had called Jerry Frazier directly to discuss the condition of his property. He indicated to her that the property is for sale.
Next under public input, Tom Goodwin spoke about the Loch Lomond Beach Club meeting which had been held on Saturday. There were 4 positions open on the Board of Directors. He has been elected to one of those positions on that board. He has a request, he is reaching out to the Town Board to clearly understand the situation between Barron Co., Town Board and the LLBC. The LLBC is not looking to the town or the county to do anything to enforce the covenants and restrictions of the LLBC. He has been on the Board only two days and has been made aware of many violations. They are in the process of trying to figure out how to work together. Would like to have a meeting with all members involved in a meeting. Ken added agenda item, #8f on Sunday at 4:00 in regard to this subject.
Next on the agenda is the financial report from treasurer, Gladys. All accounts balance with the bank and with the clerk. Next month Ken will have the qrtly. report of the budget.
Next, Kory spoke about road activities. There will be a white and electronics goods , pickup on Saturday, Jun 17, 2023 at the town shop from 10 am to 2 pm. At this time the dumpsters have not arrived. If not here by Wednesday, let Ken know and he will call.
Kory mentioned that he has many conversations with residents regarding cleanup and drainage on several properties. He is also getting frequent calls regarding the lake level, which is low due to no rain. He realizes that the gravel roads need help, but this won’t be able to happen until we get some rain.
Doug Fischer asked if the town would begin mowing ditches soon. It was mentioned that timing has to do with vegetation and insects are hatched. The county waits for this to end. If we don’t get rain, it may be too dry to mow because of potential fire hazard.
Ken reminded Kory about the grading of the Swamp Rd. for the race for July 4th.
Next was the report from the BFCESD by Mike Hessling. Their last meeting was June 8th, 2023. The new fire hall has been completed. Much applause!!! A walkthrough is scheduled for Wed., June 14 with Northwest Builders. A grand opening will be tentatively on August 12. The lease with the office on 101 Loomis will end at the the end of June and closing lease of the vehicle building with the Village will end at the end of July. The fire department has held many events in the last month. On June 15, they began training for four new firefighters.
An election was held for the Joint Board of Commissioners. Mike will continue to be president, with Al Dirkes continuing as vice president and Cindy Fairchild as Secretary/Treasurer for a two year term.
Ken spoke about the town holding AED and CPR training at the town hall. There were 4 people who attended and became certified. New pads were installed on the town hall AED device . It was determined that maybe a different time, such as in November, would be better for AED and CPR training attendance.
Next on the agenda is Mr. Gary Roholt to discuss the CSM for a subdivision. The county had a problem with the easement to this property and wanted something specific from the Town Board. Kory has written a letter. The easement is 66 ft. wide He is proposing 6 lots with the roadway as part of the recreational/residential zoned property. Ken asked if he had gone before the County Board of Adjustment. Not yet, as the town needs to sign off first. Dave Gifford will make the final decision. Mr. Roholt explained that there would be 4 waterfront lots with 2 to the back. Currently the easement used does not meet any standards. The town does not have this road and no maintenance or construction is planned for this easement. Much discussion followed. When this had been presented last year it was only going to be divided into two parcels, one for his son. It is a possibility that only 3 parcels are allowed off an easement. This will need to be confirmed. There followed much discussion from three of the neighbors to this property. None of these persons had been made aware of this subdivision. Very concerned about 6 more lots using the easement. That easement is being maintained by the existing neighbors. This would create more traffic.
Ken recommended that all the neighbors contact the county zoning office in regards to this subdivision. Kory said it is not a town board decision to subdivide this property. The paper the Board signs is only set up to keep the town board informed.
Katherine Mintari asked what size these recreational/residential lots would be? Mr. Roholt answers that each lot would be a minimum of 1 acre with one or two buildings on it. What about camping? No.
Ken made the motion to approve the documents as presented. Mary seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Ken, yes: Kory, yes: Mary, yes.
Next was discussion regarding the fireworks for July 4th. As former Supervisor Tony Wolff will no longer be in charge of the fundraising for the fireworks going forward, we need someone to begin the fundraising for next year. The fireworks have funding for this year. So, the funds collected at this point will be seed money for 2024.
As to setting off the fireworks, Tony was being certified to set them off this year. Is that still going to happen? Ken will contact Tony. Norma will talk with Gary Garbe regarding the seed money for the parade committee which had been discussed and included in the budget.
Mary has appointed Kathy Krizan and Tom Goodwin to serve with her on the Special Project Funding Committee. The next step will be a tour of town bldgs with Steve Craker, from Focus on Energy to assess possible energy partnerships. Ken made mention of the fact that the committee would have to follow the rules of open meeting laws.
Next the liquor, beer and wine licenses were read off as they had been applied for with the Town. There are 8 renewals and one new wine application. Ken made the motion to approve all applications as presented. Roll call vote: Ken, yes: Kory, yes: Mary, yes. The clerk has an email from Sherry Timmerman Goodpaster regarding their status of wine making license. They continue to work with the State and the health Dept.
The clerk was asking about replacing the tape recorder. After a discussion, she was told to get what is needed. Ken also suggested rebuilding the computer. Tice Technology had suggested the rebuild instead of new due to the way the new ones are constructed.
Next Ken spoke to the added agenda item, 8f, discussing the Town Board meeting with Barron Co. Zoning (Dave Gifford) to consider rezoning options. Ken mentioned that in the last several months there have been several lawsuits regarding issues related to zoning and LLBC’s covenants and restrictions. If some of the subdivisions who are petitioning to get out of LLBC, get out, then the parcels would not be able to be rezoned. Also, maybe the original write up of the LLBC(1960?) should be reviewed. He wonders what the town could do to end this and look out for all who are affected ? He would like the Board to talk to Dave regarding what the town could legally do. At the end of the day, people can petition to rezone and go through the process. Kory would be able to attend by zoom or phone, Mary said she would be available. Ken will set up a date and time for this to occur.
Discussion followed concerning the latest lawsuit to the town. Kory said that at this point, we just need to have hands off and allow the attorney to do their thing. Kory also wondered if Tony should be kept up to date with this lawsuit as he was part of the Board at the time it was filed?
Under correspondence, Kory had two records requests since the last meeting for all emails regarding the appointment of Mary as supervisor. After some discussion at this time we are OK.
A request from the county for the town hall to be pumped for septic. Mary will take care of this.
Kory had an email from the county requesting volunteers to have their water tested. It was suggested that the town wells be tested.
Ken made the motion to pay the bills and adjourn. Kory seconded and all approved. (8:39)
The notices were posted on the website,LLBC, town hall, Chronotype, Bear Trap, the Grill and Red Cedar Market.