Town Meeting October 8th, 2018

OCTOBER 8, 2018 MONTHLY MEETING The monthly meeting of the Town Board of the Town of Cedar Lake was held at the Cedar Lake Town Hall in Mikana on Monday, Oct. 8,2018 at 6:30 PM.  Present was Ken Leners, Chairman, Supervisors Tony Wolff and Kory Weiss, Clerk, Maryhelen Drew and Treasurer, Gladys Roux. Also, present were 32 other persons. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance.  The minutes were read from the previous monthly meeting. Kory made the motion to accept the minutes as read.  Tony seconded and all approved. Under public input, Ken Osmer spoke about the beaver problem on the east side of the lake.  The Beach Club asked Mark Sterk to trap the beavers to prevent damage. He also helps the Town of Doyle and they pay him $75 per beaver. Our Town has had Tim Smith in the past.  After some discussion, the Board decided that it was a good insurance policy to continue to trap the beavers. Ken recommended that Mark be reimbursed for those trapped. Request Mark to send a bill. Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald was the guest speaker along with Jason Leu.  Ken thanked the dept for all of their assistance through out the year.  Chris thanked the Board for the opportunity to talk with us. Over the same period last year, Feb thru Oct. 1 there were 8 less calls for service than last year at the same time. There haven’t been any issues reported in our town.  There will be a new officer on the trails as of January as Dave Moin is retiring. The rec plan has some new ideas going forward. They have 2 snowmobiles, a UTV and 2 boats for the county to enforce rules. The 911 calls all go thru the dispatch at the county level.  Kory asked if there were plans to change the patrol for the winter. Jason said that it is up to the officer’s discretion. If snowbirds call and notify the county that they are gone for the winter, the patrol in that area to keep track of property. It is suggested that those who go away should call the Sheriff’s Dept. with information.  Ken again thanked the men for appearing. Also, under public input, Cathy Hatfield mentioned that the Cedar Lake Ladies will meet at the Wagon Wheel at 6:00 PM.  All of this info is posted on the website. Next the financial report was given by Gladys Roux, Treasurer.  She balances with all bank accounts as well as with the clerk. Ken then spoke about the budget and the budget work day scheduled for Wed., Oct. 10 at 9:00AM.  He showed a proposal for a Capital Improvement Plan. The Budget will be presented for approval from the people at the November Budget Hearing.     Next was the discussion regarding the past month’s road work.  Kory said not a whole lot has happened. The culverts were completed over on the east side.  The gravel did not set up as it should have. So, Kory has talked with the county and directed them to use cold mix on five of the culverts, where the road will be completed next year.  The other two will have a paved finish. Mark Pagenkopf asked if the cold mix would hold up with the snowplowing. Kory said it would hold up good. Scott has not been able to mow too much as it has been too wet. Ken asked about salt purchase.  That will be happening next week. Tony asked if we recover salt/sand from previous year?  Yes, it is brought back up and mixed again with the new salt/sand. There followed much discussion regarding the amount of sanding throughout the township. Kory said that brings up another item, that Scott is still alone as we have not hired a second person for part-time. It has been advertised on the website as well as in the paper many times.  Scott will need vacation as well as if there are sick days. Ken brought up the backup plan for snow plowing. Tony at this time has offered to help with snowplowing. An elected town official may earn up to $5000 per year.  A proposed rate will need to be set for this position. The position would be for 24 hours per week, a class B CDL and must be drug tested. There followed more discussion regarding this position. Another item under road work is a complaint from Cindy Dirkes on south town line road.  She mentioned that the culvert does not work well as the water has washed out the edge of the blacktop. Scott will look at the road. Ken mentioned that the Town of Birchwood did remove the speed signs on 30th Ave. going west. Now the ATV/UTV can go posted vehicle speed. Next was the update on the port-a-potty at the park has been pumped per a phone call from the parade committee. The Board determined that this bill should belong to the Town as we own the item. Going forward, the Town will continue the service. Kory had emailed Tyler to see who was hired to trim the trees.  Also, need to address the bathroom neglect and the need for gravel.  Louie Okey will look into this more. Kory talked about the old town shop.  The fire dept has all of their things out.  Tony has taken some out, but still need to take more out. Kory will turn the key over to Denny Hennekens.  Denny will get the gas turned off, Xcel Energy to pull the power out during the next couple weeks. Next is the report from the Birchwood Four Corners Emergency Services Dist. Ken George appeared to give that report.  There were 6 fire calls from Aug. 9 – Sept. 13 giving the year a total of 44 calls for the year. Ken said that they have added a few new persons to the volunteer dept.  Ken has all moved from the old shed, ready for take-down. Jon has numbers for the proposed fire hall and continues working on grants. More discussion will be had at the meeting on Thursday. This meeting will be in Long Lake Town Hall at 6:30 PM. Under new business, Ken discussed the Hwy. V landing.  When he was doing the road certification for the state, he did more research  on this issue. He has had 3 different opinions regarding the landing. The DOT has said one thing, the county says another and WTA says yet another.  The DNR takes over at the high-water mark. It was suggested that the Town get a legal opinion. There is no easement in existence. Denny H. recommends backing into the private driveway and plowing toward the hwy. No decisions made at this time. Ken will send in the road certificate the next day. There followed a discussion of charging at the county parks for the boat ramps.  This is very frustrating. Next on the agenda, Gary Garbe appeared to ask permission to but a bench at the Joel Wosepka Park in memory of Del Schmidt.  The Board approved this as Del was the Park Super. This would be done by the grill, drilling holes into the cement. Next the Board set the date for the Budget Hearing as Nov. 12,2018(Veterans Day) beginning at 6:00 Pm with the monthly town board to follow as all budget hearings are adjourned. Barron Co. Hwy. Dept. will be holding its annual meeting on Nov. 15 at 10 AM.  Discussion was held regarding a person who has been notified regarding the Public Nuisance Ordinance.  He has requested time to put up a privacy hedge this week in front. He would address the sides in the spring. Talked about adding onto the garage. After much discussion, the Board decided to turn this issue over to the attorney. Ken will respond to the person stating that the Board has denied his request, talk with the Board thru the attorney only. Ken will be gone to the State WTA meeting from Oct. 14th thru the 16th. Tony made the motion to: pay the bills and adjourn the meeting. Ken seconded and all approved. (8:20) OOCTOBER 10, 2018 BUDGET WORK MEETING The Town Board of the Town of Cedar Lake met at the Town Hall on Wed., Oct. 10th, 2018 at 9 AM for the purpose of working on the Budget for 2019. The meeting was adjourned at 1:15 PM with the budget ready for the paper as well as the meeting in Nov.]]>