Town Meeting Minutes | August 12, 2019

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, August 12, 2019 at 6:30 PM. Present was Ken Leners, Chairman, Kory Weiss and Tony Wolff, Supervisors, Maryhelen Drew, Clerk and Gladys Roux, Treasurer. Twelve other persons were in attendance.

Under public input, Richard Ballou,who has been in charge of the Buckthorn Project since its inception, spoke about the future. He is moving to Rice Lake soon. At this point there is no ending date in mind for the project.  Dick mentioned that the inventory and the funds could go the Tyler Gruetzmacher at the county or any other agency which would take the project. When the program began, the Parade Committee had donated $500 and private donations were about $200. Dick would like a check go to the Parade Committee so the funds get used back in the community.  Ken Leners made a motion to send a $750 check to the Parade Committee from the Buckthorn Account.  Kory seconded and all approved.

Norma Jankowski lives on the river below the dam. She mentioned that a large number of trees have fallen into and over the river. Who should be notified to take care of these kind of issues? Ken L. said he had received a letter from Tyler at the county in regard to these issues. He had said that all should be left as is and nature will run its course .

The treasurer, Gladys Roux gave the financial report for the month. She gave the amounts of all accounts which balance with the banks and the clerk.  There followed a discussion of the monies in the Buckthorn Account. Ken told Dick that he had done a good job and thanked him for all he has done.

The next item is the discussion of road activities for the past month. Kory said that the project going into Loch Lomond has been completed except for the centerline striping that will occur sometime this fall. . Scott suggested that the signage should all be brought up to date along that route. He will take inventory and order what is needed. Scott did meet with the Co. in regard to the culverts on Methil. It is approximated at $10,500 to complete these culverts. Also, the culvert on Red Cedar Rd. failed and needed to be replaced.  Bulldoz’ came and replaced it within days.

A resident on Ranch Rd. has pointed out a culvert there which needs attention.  Scott went and looked at it and it too will need to be repaired.

Kory went over the contract with Fahrner and returned it. We will plan accordingly for 2020. Kory has contacted several persons in regard to cost/volume of sand for salt/sand this winter.

The county has been out and surveyed the dam here in Mikana. It is stable. The cable nor the gauge are here. They talked about a new technology to monitor the water level. The county had a vacant shoreline lot in mind. Kory had suggested to the county that they use one of the town lots along the river. This will be determined.

Scott had 4 trees and some limbs down from the last storm.

Kory said that the Board has been working on getting Scott some help with many items.  We have a person in mind, but not official yet.

Jon Sleik then gave the report for the Birchwood Four Corners Emergency Services Dist. There were more calls again this month. Potential dates have been set for each municipality to hold the meeting for residents for the new building. There have been many donors, some of whom want to stay anonymous. The State approved plans expire in June of 2020. If this was to happen the cost could increase 5- 10% to re-do.

So, they need to get the money before this expires. Tony has put the long version of this on the website.  A more condensed version will go out in the mail.

As there was no old business, the next new item was to set a date for theTown to hold the special meeting for the BFCESD.  Ken L. made a motion to hold this meeting on monday, Sept. 9, 2019 at 6:30 PM with the monthly meeting to follow.  Kory seconded and all approved.

The next item is to determine the daily fine amount for individuals who are out of compliance with the Public Nuisance Ordinance.  This ordinance was  written by the State, not locally. There are three persons in the town which this would apply to their properties.   In the ordinance the first offense could be charged $20 up to $500 per day plus some jail time, second offense could be from $100 up $1000 per day plus some jail time, plus the cost of prosecution. Ken L. is meeting with the attorney on August 27th to draft letters to be sent to these individuals. Ken made the motion to charge $100 per day for the first offense and $100 per day for the second and subsequent offenses.  Kory wanted clarification. Kory seconded. Ken will meet with the attorney to draft the letters including the fines, giving each an amount of time, such as 60 or 90 days before the fine would begin. Thus giving them time to clean up. If the fines which are imposed are not paid they can be attached to the property taxes by the county. After some discussion regarding what constitutes a mess and how much jail time, the motion is still on the table. Kory had seconded and now all approved. Roll call vote: Ken, Aye: Kory,Aye: Tony, Aye. Jerry Frasier spoke saying that he has applied for a building permit for a garage addition. This is on hold by the county at this time.  Ken said that he is non-compliance with the tent. It is an accessory building to the garage.   Marshall Black from the co. had told him that the tent was not considered a 2nd structure. Ken corrected Jerry’s statement and that Marshall called him and the tent is in fact an out of compliance accessory structure.  Non-compliant due to height and surface area violations.  Ken also reminded Jerry that he failed to request a permit from the town prior to erecting the tent.  .

Next the Pavement  rating has been completed by Delmore consulting. The Board is very pleased with the results of this consulting.  Scott had also attended the training for this program. He said it had been very interesting . It was recommended that there be some time spent looking at the results and be ready for the budget work day. The report is now completed for the Dec. 15th due date to the State.

Next the Board went to correspondence received during the month. The Town is in receipt of a Labor Standards Complaint made to the State by a past employee. He is claiming that the Town owes him hrs.claimed he worked off the clock and hrs claimed for on-call. The amount being asked for is $62,787.00 This is for the period of Aug.2017 thru April 2018. After looking at the complaint filed, there are some pages missing which were not submitted. Ken said that our attorney said to let them spend their money. When it is assigned a case number at the State level we will be notified. He will get more information when he sees the attorney on Aug. 27th. This will be discussed in open session at a later date.

Received a letter from Paul Pagenkopf regarding signage on the road north of the Beach Club. He is requesting new signage.

Kory had no other correspondence outside of sand proposal. Discussed  propane bids for the coming winter. Kory will have more details next month.

Discussed CenturyLink letter regarding a change confirmation. The clerk will call.

Tony made a motion to pay the bills and adjourn.  Kory seconded and all approved.(7:30 PM)

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