Town Meeting Minutes I January 9, 2023

The monthly meeting of the Town Board of the Town of CedarLake met at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana on Monday, Jan. 9, 2023 at 6:30 PM. Present was Ken Leners, Chairman, Supervisors, Tony Wolff and Kory Weiss, Clerk Maryhelen Drew and Treasurer, Gladys Roux. There were also 18 other persons in attendance. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.

• The minutes were read from the previous monthly meeting. These were approved as read by Kory and seconded by Tony.
• The next was public input, as there was none, the Board moved onto the financial report by Gladys. All figures agreed with all accounts and the clerk.
• Kory wondered if there was any additional discussion of more ARPA funds from the government.  Ken has not seen anything yet. The account for those funds has been closed with the final amount being sent to the county for road work performed last year.
• Ken then spoke about the year ending finances for 2022. A copy of this will be sent to all board members. There was no discussion. Ken asked about the school payments which were being signed now. He wanted to know if this was their full payment. Gladys explained that there are three payments to the entity on the tax roll a year.  The town makes two of these payments, January and February with the county making the third payment in August. Gladys explained that the first payment is due to the schools by January 12th. With this settlement the town will retain $150988.00. After some discussion, Ken asked for the check to Barron Co. Hwy. Dept. not be sent until the first of Feb.
• As a side note, Kory had read in the WTA monthly magazine that shared revenue was created in 1911 by the State. At that time, 90% of those funds went to the small governments. Now, only 6.8% go to small communities. Towns only get 5% of those funds today.
• The Board is in receipt of an invoice from the BFCESD for the portion of the new building. The amount this month is $19050.00. Ken will contact Dairy State Bank to send the payment to Cindy Fairchild, treasurer
• Beginning the road report, Tony went to Scott and gave him a big hug for the well done job of plowing snow and taking care of all the downed trees. It has been a few rough weeks of weather. Thrilled that the town has such good workers. Kory said that it has been a challenge as they were working with only one plow truck and the grader. There are many trees down which have been trimmed for the time being, which will need to be taken better care of in the summer months. Realize that this is not perfect,but will be ok for the rest of the winter. Kory spoke about plow truck #2(newer truck) was fixed and ran for ½ day , truck #3 has a belly blade which is not working, as well as a few strobe lights.. Rousch is working on that.
• Scott had a quote from Hoyt for a new power washer. This will need to be decided on the best route to take with this.
• There was a power line down by the LLBC on Friday. It was apparently there for a time before it was noticed and melted a small area of the road. Kory will work with Xcel Energy to get this repaired in the spring/summer. The road was still smoking 5 hours later. The area has been leveled as well as can be at this time.
• Ken has noticed several trees in our area which are hanging over the road. Kory said these will have to be taken care of next summer, maybe even need to contract out the job.
• Kory will also take care of the streetlight next to the town hall when he talks with Xcel Energy.
• If there is a lull in snowplowing maybe get to burn the brush pile.
• Mike Hessling then gave the report for the BFCESD. There has been no meeting since Dec. 12th. Northwest Builders will be clearing snow off the base of the new building to be ready for delivery of the materials. Hopefully construction will begin on Jan. 23. At this time, the building is 1% under budget. Ken issued a bonus check for Mike and thanked him for all the great work. Nice to see the progress. Thank you.
• Tony discussed setting up an account for the Cedar Lake Fireworks Fund at the bank.  A motion was made by Tony to establish this fund at Dairy State Bank for the Cedar Lake Fireworks Fund. This was seconded by Ken and approved by all. Tony had checks from the parade committee from what they had collected last year, as well as a check from him and one from Kathy for the fund. Tony will be working on a facebook page as well as the website for the fund raising. Monthly reports will be given at the meetings. The motion to set this account up passed unanimously.
• As there was no new business the Board went onto old business. A resume was received from Sherry Timmerman Goodpaster for the position of deputy clerk. Another resume should be received this week from Brandon Willger. There will be an update and possible action at the February meeting.
• The information was received from Randy Prochnow for the assessment of the Town for 2023. He suggested dates of Open Book on April 3, 2023 from 1:30 PM to 3:30Pm at the Cedar Lake Town Hall with the Board of Review scheduled for April 24, 2023 from 1:30 PM to 3:30 Pm. These dates will be voted upon at the February meeting.
• The clerk then told the Board that she had taken the computer to Tice Technologies to install the new security. In discussing the computer, he suggested that this computer could be improved with an $85 upgrade.He said that this computer is in much better condition than purchasing a new one due to the way they are manufactured. Gladys thought maybe she would be able to upgrade hers as well. After a brief discussion, this was approved by the board.
• Kory made the motion to pay the bills and adjourn the meeting. Tony seconded and all approved. (7;35)
• This meeting agenda was posted in the Chronotype, town website, LLBC,  town hall, Red Cedar Store,The Grill and Bear Trap .