Town Meeting May, 14th 2018
May 14, 2018 MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cedar Lake was held on Monday, May 14th, 2018 at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana at 6:30 PM. Present were Ken Leners, Chairman, Tony Wolff and Kory Weiss, Supervisors, Maryhelen Drew, Clerk and Gladys Roux, Treasurer. Also attending 44 others. The meeting began with the pledge of Allegiance. Ken asked if the Board would like the minutes read or approve the minutes per the edit. The Board would like to have the minutes read at the meetings. Minutes were read.Tony approved the minutes as read, seconded by Kory and approved by all. Under public input, Ron Campbell appeared to give the Board a heads up in regard to his plans for his lot in Loch Lomond, as a courtesy. He has been approved by Barron Co. Cathy Hatfield mentioned that the siding on the shop behind the Town Hall is loose and flapping. Concerned about blowing off. Ken said that we are aware of damage done to the shop during a storm. May need to submit to insurance. Scott will try to fix this. Thanked Cathy. Mary Hele asked if the trees which were trimmed would be cleaned up in the ditches. Scott replied that they will stay there and decompose. Ken thanked Joe Klinglehoets and Jeff Krueger for offering and helping with the last snowfall of the season. Very kind that they came to the Town and offered their assistance. Kory asked Kathy Leners to talk about the Cedar Lake Ladies meeting which she & Kathy Wolff held on April 21st at the Town Hall. The next meeting will be on Thursday, May 24th from 6 – 9 at the Town Hall. All ladies in Cedar Lake are invited to attend. The next item was the financial report given by Gladys Roux. Both clerk and treasurer balance with each other and the banks. Kory asked about the fire auxiliary being transferred to the BFCESD. Gladys is meeting with Ken George to make that happen. Tonight a decision will be reached in regard to the police account. As Ken will be reporting the budget quarterly, there are no more monthly financial reports in addition to the Clerk and Treasurer’s reports. Scott Walters then gave the road report for the past month. The road bans were taken off this am except for the Swamp Rd. The snowplow, sander have been cleaned and put away. The county is giving a bid on replacing failed culverts. Working on the TRIPP program. Kory said that roadwork for this year would be prioritized according to need. There will be a few culverts replaced and then go onto repairing bridge decks. Then the Board will discuss which roads could use gravel to be spread. It was determined that the road review would happen after the new person has joined the team. Kory then spoke about the building behind the town hall. Either it needs a major overhaul or it needs to be demolished. All things stored there could easily be stored in the new building. This will be on the agenda for the June meeting. Discussion then turned to shoulder work on roads when road bans are on. Scott said it needs to be done in spring. It is important to determine which is more important, repair of shoulder, or damage to asphalt. Scott only did certain roads at this time. Ken spoke about the bridge on Hwy. 48 in regards to ATV/UTV crossing. It has been approved by the State. The Town and Barron county have done all that we can do at this point. The state will get the signs and county Highway Department will install them. Time frame is said to be 3 -4 months. Ken will do what he can to expedite the process. Chris Fitzgerald recommended talking with Mark Servi as it has been DOT approved. Ron Richlick asked who would pay the cost and labor to install these sins. Ken said that the Town would. Dave Moin said that the State only has grants for signage on trails, not road routes. As Jon Sleik is out of town, we will skip the report from the BFCESD this month. Under old business, optional police protection will be discussed. Ken has had information from Sheriff Fitzgerald regarding the county, he has met with the Village of Birchwood and talked with Dave Moin in regard to independent contract. Attached is the chart where options are shown along with the cost to the Town. 1. Village of Birchwood, perhaps 5 hours a week, 20 to 30 hours per week independent contractor, 3. Sheriff’s Dept. adding a dedicated officer for 40 hours a week. This would be a 4 year contract with all benefits covered by the county. Tony asked if there was any other town in our county which has this coverage? Chris said no other at this time. Tony asked also about the possibility of a town constable. At this point don’t have much information but everything, liability included would be at the cost of the Town. Tony asked Louie Okey as Barron Co. Chairman if there are any other municipalities had extra coverage beyond the tax dollars collected. Louie answered no. There followed much discussion. There have been no major changes since RJ has left. Sheriff’s Dept. has responded to 3 complaints about cats in the last week. Mary Hele asked about the $70,000 spent on the new fire truck, spending the $50,000 which had been earmarked for the new fire hall in the future. Kory explained that the Board found out, it was illegal to have a CD for more than 3 yr., so instead of incurring more debt at this time,used this to pay for the new fire truck with $20,000 additional. Janson Leu suggested that the Board wait until budgeting for 2019 before making the decision. There have not been law enforcement problems since RJ left. If something arises, contact the Sheriff’s Dept. to work out the best resolution. There were several ideas to create protection within the community. One would be to communicate with neighbors, let Sheriff’s Dept. know when going away. Ken suggested maybe a neighborhood watch program. The Board decided not to make any decision at this time. It was mentioned that there are other towns, not in Barron Co. which have extra protection such as Town of Edgewater. Ken stated that the Board would hold tight until the end of summer to see how things go with the Sheriff’s Dept. taking all calls. Dick Ballou asked the Board how they address those persons who pay taxes in our town but are not residents. Ken said there are some challenges. The decision regarding the police will be revisited in early Oct. prior to budget work meeting. Chris would be happy to provide statistics at that time. Chris suggested that maybe the vehicle should be sold at this time. The weapons can continue to be stored at the county at this time. There followed a discussion. Kory and Tony feel we could sell the vehicle and Ken suggested to hold onto it for now. No decisions was reached at this time. Kory would like to have the county present a package for 20 hours a week. Next discussion was the remaining funds in the police fund in the amount of $1,105.59. Ken made a motion that these funds be transferred to Nathan Emmons via the City Administrator, City of Barron, police canine officer. Kory seconded and all approved. The next item is the town hall stairs. Ads were again posted, with only one bid being received from Todd’s Construction of Mikana. The bid is $23,500. Kory made the motion to accept the bid as proposed. Ken seconded and all approved. Under new business, Gary Garbe appeared on behalf of the Mikana Parade Committee to request items for the 4th of July parade. The requests are as follows:
- Town Hall use on July 3rd and 4th
- Close Swamp Rd. for K5 run from 7 – 10:30
- The trailer delivered for the raffle prizes
- Use of the Joel Wosepka Park for the fireworks
- Roads one-way for fireworks
- Payment of the liability insurance of $869.00
- Use of barricades
- Extensive Lawn Service
- Denny’s Lawn Mowing Service
- Island City Turf & Snow