Town Meeting Minutes February 11, 2019
The monthly meeting of the Town Board met at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana on Monday, Feb.11,2019 at 6:30 PM. Board members present were Ken Leners, Tony Wolff, Kory Weise, Maryhelen Drew and Gladys Roux. Also 14 others in attendance. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.
The minutes from the previous monthly meeting were read. These were approved by Kory as read, seconded by Ken and approved by all.
Under public input, Don Krause, on 29 7/16 St. had applied to the county for a fire number sign and has not received it yet. Wondered where to go from here. The signs are sent to the towns and installed by the road person. Scott will check to see if the sign is here. It will be installed when spring comes. Jon Sleik suggested that Don memorize the numbers of his two neighbors in case he needs to call emergency. Scott Scheiflebein, UDC inspector, will do the final inspection on his building on Thursday. There should not be anything else Don should need completed.
Ken had received a call from Tony Pecka in regard to stop signs on Kirkaloy. It seems people leave the club house and leave much dust as they go down the road. At this time, the stop signs are on north/ south roads. Maybe make a 4 way stop at each intersection. In the past, the stop signs ran east /west and residents thought it would be safer with them going north/south. There followed much discussion with the note to put this on the March agenda. Dust control was another idea. Need to check on pricing and the budget.
The financial report was given by Gladys. She matches with all accounts as well as the clerk. Ken discussed some budgetary items and said all will be reviewed in one month.
Kory then reported on the past month’s road issues. Basically it’s ice, snow and more snow.
At this point there is no information on when the wing will be ready for delivery. It’s possible that even if they call, we may not send truck out at this time to install. Pat Netz is helping to plow snow as we have gotten and continue to get more snow. Future plans have started, Kory has setup the bridge inspection. The Board will discuss the amount of gravel hauling as we review the costs of each project. Discussed the difference between a bid and a quote. A bid/ quote will go into the paper and be opened at the March meeting.
Town of Oak Grove has run out of salt/sand. They are taking from our pile and keeping track of it for billing. Kory went on to explain that we may not have enough sand for mixing with the salt next fall, so may need to look at having the gravel rescreened. This can be addressed in late summer or early fall.
Ken stated that he has many calls, emails saying how well the roads are being plowed. Good job, Scott.
Received info from the State DOT in regard to bridge inspections. Kory and Scoot will take care of this with Mark Servy at the county. Two of the four bridges adjoin other towns so will need to involve them in the decisions.
Jon Sliek next gave the report for the Birchwood Four Corners Emergency Services Dist.. Their meeting had been postponed until next week. But he stated that they may have found a grant as well as someone who would help write the grant at a cost of $2500 up front with $4000 to complete and present. As the fire dept. is not able to apply directly, an entity must be found to administer the grant. This grant would be a $500,000 matching grant. The dept. would need to raise $500,000 as well. The balance would be levied thru the other entities involved. Hopefully a lot will be accomplished by the end of the March meeting so towns will be able to talk about it at the annual meetings, as well have a sample ordinance available.
Tony then explained the Town website for Jon showing him what he had posted on the site for the BFCESD.
Ken wondered if the committee had ever discussed rotating the position on the BFCESD Commission? In May, there will be an election of officers after the town elections, who will take the position for 2 years. At this point, others on the commission are happy to see Cedar Lake take the lead. There followed much discussion.Jon encouraged all to attend the meetings.
Tony then spoke to the clerk/treasurer elected or appointed. He has talked with a supervisor from Bear Lake who explained the process. It is a long process and in the end the Board appointed the people who had held the offices. The 2 yr. Term after this election will be finished in 2021, at which time the positions could become appointed if all the process has been completed. By appointing the position, it creates a larger pool of people to pick from as they do not have to be a resident. The Board would then set the salaries instead of being control by Statutes. Kelly still feels uncomfortable with a voting position being eliminated as election shows voter’s choice. Much discussion followed. This will be discussed in March so that we will be able to discuss it at the Annual Meeting.
Tony then talked about the website management. Up to this time, he has created and updated items on the website. He is concerned with continuing in this matter. If the Board changes, maybe the next board would not have someone who could manage the website.
Tony has found a lady who would manage the website for $50 per month for a total of $600 per year plus a one time fee of $250 to begin. By hiring an outside person, there would be continuance after each election. A discussion followed with Ken saying that there had been money set aside in the budget for Information Technology, so it should not impact the budget. Up to this time, Tony has saved the Town a lot of money by being able to do all that he completed. The contract is annual. Ken made the motion to approve the hiring of the person to monitor the website with a proposal of $850 for the first year for web management. Kory seconded and all approved.
Correspondence received thru the month was discussed. A letter from the Town Advocacy Council was sent asking towns to join. This is a new program. Ken wonders what the program will do for the Town. Also, received an email from new company for pest control. We will look at this and make decision later. Need to know how much we paid WilKil in 2018. The Board then discussed the cost of the electric bill for the town hall. Still seems high. This will be monitored going forward. Ken asked Scott if the new spreadsheet that tracks vehicle fuel consumption with the time card was going to work? Scott said it would be good.
Tony made the motion to pay the bills and adjourn the meeting. Ken seconded and all approved. (7:50 PM)