MINUTES OF THE REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING

OF FEBRUARY 24, 2003

Chairman Dick Smith called the meeting to order at 6:35PM.

Smith read the Amended Agenda as follows:

Call the Meeting to Order

Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

Approve the February Agenda

Approve the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

Voucher Approval

Clerk / Correspondence

Town Hall Use Agreement-Board to OK the agreement form

License Application-(2-Year) Regular Operator’s License, Jessica Arseneau and a Provisional Operators

License (2-year)- Colleen Ruhman. Alcoholic Beverage License Application-Change of Agent

only-Downtown Barnes

Anyone Not on Agenda-5 Minutes

Judge Priebe-Meet the People

Fire and Ambulance Ordinances-John Anderson will go over these ordinances with the board

Neil Paulson-Bayfield County Board Representative-Land Use Planning and any other information that the

Community would want to hear about

Christine Gratz-Consideration of access to Sweet Lake Property

Barnes Retirement Living Center-Kingman Loomis- Also forgive tax bill on land – Tax exempt status

Ingemar Ekstrom-Neighborhood Watch System for Barnes, street sign issues

Barnes Area Development Corporation-Board to transfer funds, $8,000.00 to BADC

Mutual Aid and Ambulance Agreements-Town of Barnes with Town of Highland and Town of

Drummond

Ambulance Department Investment Plan-What course does the board want to take for the Ambulance

Department Investment Funds?

Bridges, Locks and Dam on South Shore Road-Maintenance recommendation (Dixie Chermack)

Zoning-Patti Boelk, Household Occupation-52710 Robinson Lake Road-Permit to operate a greenhouse,

grow plants and then sell on the premises. Bonnie Danczyk-51185 Birch lake Road-variance to

add 150Sq.Ft., new septic for existing cabin that is less than 600 Sq. Ft. (in building footprint)

Ski Trail-Pay for Grooming Class for Gene Miller ($150.00 + cost of gas only)-Update on donations

Cemetery Committee-Bud Pease

Economic Development Corporation-Gene Ratzel

Comprehensive Land Use Planning Committee-Updates

Department Head Reports

Board Member Reports

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Motion (Webb / Peterson) to approve the February Amended Agenda. Motion carried.

Motion (Peterson / Chermack) to approve Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting. Motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report-Debbie Sesko gave the Treasurer’s Report as follows:

Checking Balance from last meeting $ 159,182.95

Receipts # 15689-#15709 $ 7,187.72

Checks # 15689-# 16332 $ (52,548.52)

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January Interest $ 99.62

January Service Charge $ (16.05)

Checking Balance $ 113,905.72

Highway Department Sinking Fund-2003 Tax Levy $15,000.00 $ 69,706.69

Highway Department Operational Fund $ 1,005.97

EMS Sinking Fund-2003 Tax Levy $15,000.00 $ 48,751.91

EMS Operational Fund $ 1,004.46

Park Savings $ 9,284.34

Ski Trail Savings-Receipt # 15694 $200.00 $ 1,581.53

Parade-Event Calendar Fund-Receipt # 15709 $50.00 $ 2,610.12

Balance of all Accounts $ 247,850.74

Motion (Meinke / Webb) to approve the Treasurer’s Report as given. Motion carried.

Motion (Chermack / Peterson) to approve the vouchers as presented. Motion carried.

Clerk / Correspondence-One Intent-to-Cut for Plum Creek Timberlands for Plum Creek Timberlands land. Bayfield County Economic Development is asking the town to reconsider its stance on contributing to its cause.

Bayfield County wants to have a countywide waste tire-recycling program this summer. The cost to the Town of Barnes based on the census population of 610 in 2000 would be $609.47 if we care to participate. This would most likely be held in early June. The county will keep us posted.

The Bayfield County Extension Services has a Transportation Videotape Lending Library Catalog Service available. Any of these videos can be ordered at no charge from the County Extension Office. These videos deal with highway, road maintenance and management, safety and equipment maintenance. The only fee is postage to return them.

The board received a letter from Taylor Investments thanking them for the opportunity to come to the last meeting.

The Sheriff’s Department wants to get "Crime stoppers" going again.

The clerk reported that the town had received $745.00 for its PMS (Payment for Municipal Services) aid. This is money the town receives for providing services to state-owned buildings in the community.

The clerk from the Town of Namekagon asked by letter, if some of the towns in Bayfield County would want to go together on some of the election ads that are required to be published by State Statute. This would save the towns money, as these ads are expensive. Each town participating would share in the cost of the ad.

Bayfield County Zoning will hold a hearing on February 27, 2003 and also will have a meeting on March 18, 2003 and March 23, 2003.The zoning office also OK’d the variance for Don and Debbie Sesko

Town Hall Use Agreement-The clerk read the agreement [see attachment]. Motion (Peterson / Meinke) to accept the agreement form for town hall use. Motion carried.

License Application-2-year Operator’s Licenses, one regular for Jessica Arseneau and one provisional 2-year Operator’s License for Colleen Ruhman (she will be taking the next Responsible Beverage Server Course available). Motion (Webb / Meinke) to approve these two licenses. Motion carried.

Motion (Chermack / Peterson) to approve the Change of Agent Only for Downtown Barnes. Motion carried.

The clerk read from a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources regarding the town’s recycling efforts. The town was commended for its good efforts. The collection standard for the Town of Barnes is 82.4lbs per person. The town has collected 259.92lbs, 222.32lbs, and 185.45lbs for the years 1999,

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2000, and 2001 respectively. The town reports annually on its recycling work as a requirement for the recycling grant money it receives.

Anyone not on the Agenda-5 Minutes. Dick Collyard said that Gold Cross was donating an inverter to the Ambulance Department. This unit was from one of Gold Cross's old units that was taken out of service. The town will only have to pay to have it installed in the ambulance. Collyard said that Osseo Ford does the work for Gold Cross and he will see what they would do for us. John Kudlas spoke on the land issue in Potowatami. There is a question on public lands in the Potowatami and the tax issues. Because of the complex nature of this issue, the board will look into it further and bring it to the next meeting. Attorney John Anderson gave some insight into what the town needed to do on this. It is not clear whether the town ever approved this and if the county ever approved it.

Judge Priebe- The Judge gave a short talk on his candidacy for Bayfield County Circuit Court Judge. He has been the Judge for 6 months, replacing Judge Lindsey who had passed away. The election will be held on April 1, 2003.

Mutual Aid and Ambulance Agreements- (The chairman went to this item on the agenda at this time)-The board reviewed the agreements for both towns. Each one will be set up the same way and each will pay the same amount per year. There will be a 3% cost of living adjustment made each year for 2004 and 2005. The agreement will run from January 1, 2003 to December 31, 2005. (The current contract for Town of Drummond runs from July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003. They will pay the difference from July 1 to December 31, 2003 to get them on the January to December pay schedule. The Town Boards of Highland and Drummond have already signed the agreements. Motion (Webb / Peterson) to enter into the agreement with the Town of Drummond. Motion carried. Chairman Smith and Clerk Peet signed and dated the agreement. Motion (Meinke / Peterson) to enter into the agreement with the Town of Highland. Motion carried. Chairman Smith and Clerk Peet signed and dated the agreement. The clerk will get the agreements back to the two towns. The town’s attorney said that he had reviewed the agreement and thought it was alright, although he felt in future agreements there should be some wording regarding "failure to pay" clauses to protect the town in case a town failed to pay. The Town of Barnes could still be held liable to provide the services. Also if the town's ambulance gets a call at the exact same time, there should be some language that the Ambulance Director would have some discretion on what actions to take. Dick Collyard said if we would give him copies of the agreements, he would file them with the state. The clerk will get the copies to him.

Neil Paulson- As a representative of the Bayfield County Board, Mr. Paulson spoke on the need for a Land Use Plan. He said that this plan was just a guideline for the towns, not like the legal documents of the zoning ordinances. He spoke on the Bayfield County Plan Draft that he had given to the board members to read. Most of the members indicated that even though they had read it once, there were too many issues that needed to be revisited and would read it again. Smith requested that this issue be put on the next agenda. The County Board will meet on this issue on March 25, 2003. Chris Webb asked if the town’s plan would supercede the County Plan.

Fire and Ambulance Ordinances-This issue was not in agenda order. The attorney for the town, John Anderson spoke on the ordinances. He had taken the framework for the previous ordinance and cleaned it up and incorporated the changes into it. He prepared the ordinances for both departments. Anderson felt it was important for the departments to handle their own internal affairs as much as possible. He said he felt it was important to have the elections for director, assistant director, fire chief or assistant chief held annually, or at least reviewed annually, as this would allow the board more control over issues that might come up. He has also put in language allowing for the suspension or removal of personnel. The Fire Department has to go by Com 30 requirements. The board should adopt Com 30 for the Fire Department as a base. The board can put in more restrictive clauses than Com 30 if it wants to do so. Anderson also had prepared a resolution for the

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disbanding of the old BES organization, replacing it with the Volunteer Ambulance Department and Volunteer Fire Department. The board needs to adopt this before it can adopt the new ordinances. This issue will be postponed until the next board meeting when the board will adopt the new ordinances.

Christine Gratz-Ms. Gratz spoke on her family’s attempt to gain access to the land they own on Sweet Lake. It has been in the family for 60 years she said. At this time all they can do is look at the property across the water. She asked the Town Board to consider giving them an access. She did not know why there was no access granted back then. The town’s attorney John Anderson asked Ms. Gratz if there were established paths or trails to the land, as such paths continually traveled for 20 years could be reason to grant such a request. Ms. Gratz said that they did not have such a trail. Originally their land was abutted by county land, but in the passage of time, these lands were sold off. There was a question as to other offers that the family had received. Ms. Gratz was not sure what all of these offers would do for them. The family is tired of paying high taxes for property that they cannot even get to, use, sell or develop. There would have to be a public hearing if the town were to decide to "lay out a public road". Ms. Gratz would have to initiate the process. Jack Meinke wanted to correct a statement on the letter that the board had received from the Vossekuils. The board had NOT denied their initial request, but had put it on hold until further information was available. Ms.Gratz said that she had let her sister know.

Barnes Retirement Living Center-Kingman Loomis from the Barnes Retirement Living Center came before the board to ask that the real estate tax on the land be forgiven. The land formerly belonged to the Barnes Community Church. Because it owned more than 10 acres, that 5 acres was taxed. When the land was sold to the Retirement Living Center, the land was still classed as taxable. The assessor Mike Hoffman said that their request for Tax Exempt status came in too late. The tax amounts to $104.00. Motion (Peterson / Webb) to forgive the $104.00. Motion carried.

Ingemar Ekstrom-Mr. Ekstrom spoke on the need for a "Neighborhood Watch" system in Barnes. There have been quite a few burlaries in town lately. Another alternative to protection is to put in expensive security systems. He indicated that the VFW had started up such a project several years ago and had given out some signs for Neighborhood Watch. Dick Smith said that Don Foss had been in charge of the program then. The VFW is having a meeting on Tuesday February 25, 2003 and Smith will bring up the subject there. Mr. Ekstrom suggested that perhaps the town crew could help put up the signs. Smith said there could be some publicity about it in the Northwoods Shopper. A question was asked if there had been any studies done on the effectiveness of such signs.

Mr. Ekstrom asked if there was any way that the missing street name signs from the town roads could be replaced more promptly. He said that the emergency services such as the sheriff and ambulance and fire departments need to be able to find the locations quickly. Without street signs, this is very difficult. He suggested putting up temporary signs while waiting for the metal signs to come in.

Barnes Area Development Corporation-The BADC asked the board to transfer the $8,000.00 that was budgeted, over to the corporation when needed. Dixie Chermack asked what the funds would be used for. Gene Ratzel said that the need was not immediate, but if there would be a new business wanting to come in, the corporation would have to have the money to put in roads, etc. Motion (Chermack / Webb) to transfer the funds when needed. (The attorney said that this needed to be a roll call vote since it dealt with money.) Peterson-Yes, Chermack-Yes, Smith-Recused himself because he is on the corporation board, Webb-Yes, Meinke-Recused himself as he is on the corporation board. Motion carried.

Ambulance Department Investment Plan-The clerk asked how she should proceed with the funds for the Ambulance Department Investment Fund. There will be $1,800.00 put into a separate joint savings account at the State Bank of Drummond for last years funding of the plan, to come up to a par with the Fire Department LOSA Funds, since the Ambulance Department opted out of LOSA. This money will be put

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aside until the retirement or resignation of the member or if the department should go with LOSA in the future, the funds would be available for that. New funds will go in at the end of 2003 based on the criteria established by the Ambulance Department and the town board.

Bridge, Locks and Dam on South Shore Road-Dixie Chermack reported on the locks and dam situation on South Shore Road. She had talked to Mark Aebellis-Allison. He said that the county owns the dam and the

town owns the bridge and road over the dam. The bridge is long enough for funding. It would be 50-50 county and town for cost. Dale Brevak from the highway department gave his recommendations as follows:

Repair or replace the east wing walls, reset bridge markers and tighten or replace missing bolts at columns on west abutment. Chermack asked when these were going to be done so she could get the information back to Mark. Len Schiller said that it would have to wait until it warmed up. Dan Carthel the engineer for the highway department said that there were several options we would have for the locks. One would be a wheel system and the other could be the same as it is now, the bar system. Chermack will get back Mark on this. The board will also look into grant money for the project.

Zoning-Patti Boelk-Household Occupation-52710 Robinson Lake Road. Permit to operate a greenhouse, grow plants and then sell on premises. Peterson said that the board needed to investigate this further and should postpone this until the next meeting. Bonnie Danczyk-51185 Birch Lake Road-Variance to add 150 Sq.Ft., new septic for existing cabin that is less than 600Sq. Ft. (in building footprint). Peterson reported that several conditions should be met before the variance is granted. There should be closure of the driveway that goes down to the lake and there should be some shore land grading. The board should take a closer look at the property before approving the variance. This was also put off until the next meeting. Motion (Chermack / Peterson) to postpone these two requests until the next meeting. Motion carried. The zoning office will be made aware of the board’s concerns. Peterson would talk to Mike Furtak of zoning.

Ski Trail-Gene Miller requests that the town reimburses him for the cost of the groomer class for the new ski trail groomer and the cost of his gas only. This would be $150.00 plus gas ($36.00). Motion (Webb / Peterson) to pay Miller for his class cost of $150.00 and his gas costs. Motion carried. Miller also had several other items that he would like the board to address, but because they were not part of the agenda item, they will be put on next month’s agenda. These will be to approve $300.00 to cover the costs of prepping the snowmobile for the new groomer, sale of Tidd groomer, permission to post a web page on the town web site for the groomer, and permission to put an ad in Silent Sports magazine.

Cemetery Committee-Bud Pease reported that there had been no activity at the cemetery. There are several burials awaiting warmer weather. The clerk reported that she had received no applications for the cemetery board vacancy. Pease said that Jeanne Barnes had expressed an interest in being on the committee. The clerk also asked who was responsible for the flag and the plowing at the cemetery. Len Schiller said that the garage crew usually took care of this. They do not plow because people run over the headstones.

Economic Development Corporation- Gene Ratzel reported that there was no new activity for the park. He said the issue of the greenhouse was a good time to promote the industrial park for this type of business or others of similar type besides light industrial. The corporation could rezone parts of the park for commercial use from light industrial.

Comprehensive Land Use Planning Committee- Dave Pease reported that the committee had met for half an hour before this evenings meeting. They decided to send out 7 letters for proposals for Land Use Plans to various firms. The next meeting will be March 12, 2003 at 7:00PM at the hall.

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Garage Report-Len Schiller reported that all full time people attended the Hazmat Seminar on February 17, 2003. This is an OSHA requirement for anyone who may come in contact with hazardous materials. Brule Overhead Door came and repaired the garage door and Schiller is waiting for more parts to come in for the adjuster for the door. Schiller said that Rasmussen had hopefully fixed the problem with the furnace. They have not had any problems so far since Rasmussen was out to look at it. The mower is being repaired again.

Ambulance Report-The Ambulance Director Viola Friermood was not in attendance. The clerk read the report as follow:

We had 3 calls since the last board meeting

1 transport to St. Mary’s

2 transports to Hayward

We have purchased 4 new defibs

We purchased 2 new radios

We had our re-certification training at last meeting

Some of us went to Terrorism and Hazmat Training. The rest will be going in March

Viola S. Friermood-Ambulance Director

The Constable could not attend and did not send in a report as of this time.

The Fire Chief was not in attendance and there was no Fire Department Report. Jack Meinke did speak on behalf of the department saying that they had a meeting on Wednesday and that they are working on getting the specs together for the new tanker and that everyone is working for the good of the department. There was a joint meeting with the Ambulance Department with Jan Victorson, concerning 911.

Board Member Reports-Peterson reported that he and the 3 other supervisors went to an excellent seminar in Hayward on the 18th of February. The issues of open and closed meetings, ordinances, hiring and firing, and other topics were discussed. Chermack asked when the ordinances were going to be scanned. Ratzel said he would format the CD-RWs to prepare them for scanning. This can start anytime. Webb had nothing further. Meinke just wanted to thank everyone who came out in such cold weather. Smith said he wanted to comment on the defacing of the signs of a candidate in town. This is not good. If there are personal issues, the people should confront that party, not deface the signs.

The clerk read the results of the primary election held on February 18, 2003 as follows:

Supervisor-

Christine M. Webb 225

Walter (Bud) Pease 125

Viola S. Friermood 80

David Scharlau 175

Jim Hardy 65

Chairman-

Richard Collyard 126

Larry Peterson 88

Gene F. Ratzel 128

The top 4 voted candidates in the Supervisors' race will go on to the general election on April 1, 2003. The top 2 voted candidates in the Chairman's race will go on to the general election on April 1, 2003.

A total of 349 persons voted in the primary.

 

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The clerk noted that there would be a meeting of the election workers on the 20th of March. This will be a joint meeting with several other towns in Bayfield County. They will go over the new election laws and some of the problems that can occur on Election Day. Jim Crandall, the clerk from the Town of Drummond, will let the clerk know more on this soon.

Motion (Peterson / Meinke) to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried.

Members of the board in attendance: Chairman Dick Smith, Supervisors Larry Peterson, Jack Meinke, Chris Webb and Dixie Chermack. Also present were Clerk Lu Peet and Treasurer Debbie Sesko.

Members of the community present: Chris Gratz, Dave Gratz, Gene F. Ratzel, Dick Collyard, John Kudlas, Neil Paulson, Beverly Orner, Earl Orner, Kay Hoyer, Grace Wisdom, George Wisdom, Brett Harper, Terri Rossman, Joe Kehoss, Beverly Kehoss, Ingemar Ekstrom, Mary Wright, Evelyn Hanson, Mary Jo Scharlau, David Scharlau, George Martin, Ron Pearson, Dean Peet, Carol Horstman, Fred Horstman, Kingman Loomis, Duke Martin, Marcia Wellnitz, Lee Wiesner, David Pease, Marie Hughes, Bill Cirhan, Mardy Zenter, Paul Aichele, Diane Aichele, Dick Collier, Gale Chermack, Mitch McGee, Bud Pease, Len Schiller and John Anderson. There may have been others not signed in or noted.

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Lucille J. Peet

Barnes Town Clerk

Dated this 27th day of February 2003