Town Meeting July 09, 2018

JULY 9, 2018    MONTHLY MEETING       The monthly meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cedar Lake met at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana on Monday, July 9, 2018 at 6:30 PM.  Present was Ken Leners, Chairman, Supervisors, Kory Weiss and Tony Wolff, clerk Maryhelen Drew and treasurer Gladys Roux. Also present were 31 others.  The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.    The minutes from the previous monthly meeting were read.  Ken made the motion to delete V & 48 in regard to the rope moved.  With this correction, Tony made the motion to approve as read. This was seconded by Kory and approved by all.     Under pubic input, Louie Okey congratulated on the entryway to the Town Hall being in a timely manner.  Todd Barthen did a great job.     Also, Louie mentioned that people are still using the landing and paying for it.  There followed a discussion regarding fees at Waldo Carlson park. It was noted that there is no charge from Oct. 1 thru April 30.  The County has been collecting all the fees since 2011. There are future plans to build a pit toilet at an approx cost of $45000. Ken wondered if these are decisions made by the property committee?  There are 9 property committee members who overlook all the parks. Just about all decisions must go thru the County Board for final approval. The county plan at this time is not to discontinue fees at Waldo.  The funds from Waldo are segregated for Waldo only. Dennis Hennekens inquired why there are not fees at the other landings in the county. It is not fair to charge here and not at any others. This is the nicest park. Ken recommended to Louie that this issue be addressed again at the Barron Co. Supervisor level, suggesting that they come up with an end date for the project list, suggesting 5 to 10 years possibly. Others had questions regarding the collection of fees, such as if the county is collecting taxes for parks, is Waldo not getting its share of those taxes because of the fees collected? And, are the camping fees going toward the projects at Waldo?  Louie was unsure of the answers for these questions. Kory suggested that the county needs to share capital projects or rethink the fee as it needs to be justified. Louie will check into this further.     Also, under pubic input, Ron Richlick thanked Scott Walters for all his help with mowing using his own mower as well as own time to complete the task, to be ready for the parade.  Louie as parade committee treasurer spoke about the effects of the weather on the July 4th events. Feel that attendance was down, parade had been cancelled, raffle ticket sales were down some, fireworks went on.   Felt that in spite of the weather, there was a measure of success.  Ron said that this was the first time ever that the parade had been cancelled.     Aldo, under pubic input, Norma Jankowski had questions, one was what is the matting laying by the Swamp Rd. and what is happening with the site of the old store.  It seems that Xcel Energy is doing some work there and the mat is for the equipment to cross without going into the swamp. There are actually three places within the Town which need attention due to junk.  A certified letter needs to be sent from the Town. This appears to be a tricky situation, but working toward a resolution.     Also, under public input, Cathy Hatfield spoke about the upcoming garage sale being hosted by the Cedar Lake Ladies at the Town Hall and around the town on Sat, Aug. 25th.  Also, the ladies will meet on July 24th at The Gathering Place at 5:30. All are invited.     The next item on the agenda was the financial report from Gladys with Maryhelen balancing with her as well as all accounts.     Ken spoke about the website. He has gone online and spoke about the number of users, which shows to be about 78% of mobile users.  He thanked Tony for doing such a great job getting this setup and user-friendly. The website shows a lot of good information. Hopefully there will continue to be increased usage.     Ken thae spoke about the budget as we are at the end of 6 months, June 30th.  The Town is in a good financial position at this time. The Board has the ability to move funds as needed.  Ken made the motion to transfer $28,600 from the Police Fund of $81,505 to the Town Hall Expense to cover the cost of the repair of the Town Hall stairs.  Tony seconded and all approved. All Ayes.     The Town will receive the second half of the taxes about Aug. 20th.  This will be in time for the debt service payments which will be due in Oct.  The Board is suggesting that the part-time person who will be hired will cost approximately $20,000 for the remainder of 2018. There is $160,000 planned for road projects in 2018 of which $22,000 is committed to  be spent this year on installing seven culverts. Have not gotten cost for bridge repairs. May need to have a special meeting to make a decision regarding this bridge repair for this summer. It’s possible that this may not get done until 2019 but could still use the Fahrner bid from 2018.  This bid will need to be posted. The TRIP Project for 2019 has been approved. The Town will need to pay $154,000 while the state will reimburse $16,856.     Scott Walters then gave the report on roadwork for the past month.  He has been mowing, picking up a few trees, did the white goods pickup.  Truck #2 has been returned not finding anything wrong. Scott will be monitoring this. Truck #3 has the ac being fixed.  Monroe will be out to measure the truck for a new wing. Eric’s Repair suggested that the truck is probably not worth the cost of a new wing.  The Board then discussed the beaver problems in the town. It was suggested that roadwork be put on the website so people would know where it is happening for detours.     It was discussed that there are several cul-de-sacs which the Town has only mowed to keep open where people are building.  We may need to hire someone to scrap the sod to be able to lay gravel.     Claimed at the White Goods pickup was 6,940# of electronics, and 5,760# of white goods.  This is the first year there has been a charge from the county for the bins for this. Followed a discussion of these fees.     Tony made the motion to accept the Employee Handbook as submitted with the understanding that it can be amended at anytime.  Ken seconded and all approved. Ken asked Scott to let the Board know about possible changes.     The topic to discuss is related to the ability to hire a part-time person to help Scott.  The issue is that it needs to be done in open forum thus would need to wait until August meeting for that decision.  All Board members would be involved with the interview process. Ken made the motion to delegate the hiring of a part-time employee to Kory thru April 2019.  Tony seconded and all approved.     There is no report from the BFCESD tonight.  The minutes and the agenda are posted on their website.  The next meeting will be held on Thursday at the Village Hall in Birchwood at 6:30 PM.  Discussion of the 2019 budget is on the agenda.     The next item for discussion was the old building behind the town hall.  There are three thoughts, 1. Retain 2. Sell 3. Demolition. There followed much discussion.  This will be on the agenda for August. Tony will get a market analysis.     Under new business Mike and Terry Stieren appeared to request a tourist rooming house at 2845  28 11/16 Ave. Their home sits on 4 acres. They have already checked with the Loch Lomond Beach Club being informed renters would be unable to use the facilities at the Beach Club.   The Board had no objections and signed the form for the County.     The Board then looked at the certified survey map for the hwy. V boat landing.  The Board feels that this is a county issue as there seems to be two certified survey maps and they are not the same.     Ken will notify Mark Servi and Jeff French at the county. Kory stated that it would not be possible to lock Stout’s Island without an easement.     Next item was the correspondence received during the month and paying the bills.  We have received the updated Emergency Operations Plan from Barron Co. Ken will take care of this and notify Mike Judy. The Board discussed upcoming insurance renewal.     Kory made the motion to pay the bills and adjourn the meeting. This was seconded by Ken and approved by all. This meeting was noticed at Mikana General Store, Quillen’s Big Bear, Bear Trap Inn, Loch Lomond Beach Club, and the Town Hall.]]>