MINUTES OF THE REGULAR TOWN BOARD MEETING

 OF FEBRUARY 8, 2005

 

Chairman Gene Ratzel called the meeting to order at 6:35PM.

 

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

 

Ratzel read the February Amended Agenda as follows:

Amended Agenda

Call the meeting to order

Pledge Allegiance to the Flag

Approve the February (Amended) Agenda

Approve the Minutes of the Last Regular Board Meeting   

Treasurer’s Report     

Voucher’s Approval           

Clerk / Correspondence

License Application-2-year Operator’s License to David Basacker

Public Comment Session-5 Minute limit for those not on agenda

Department Head Reports:

     Cemetery Committee-Bud Pease

     Ambulance Department-Del Jerome

     Fire Department- Tom Renz-Board approval of Fire Depart. election results

     Constable- Mike O’Keefe

     Garage-Len Schiller                  

Employee Policy Handbook   

Issues Timeline-Update Dixie Chermack

*Snowplowing of Kickapoo Trail

*Contracting Out of Janitorial Service

Comprehensive Land Use Planning Committee-Updates

Barnes Area Historical Association (BAHA)-Centennial Committee-Updates

Barnes Area Development-BADC- Updates

Board Member Reports- 

The Town Board of the Town of Barnes will  go into closed session pursuant to State Statute 19.85(b) and (c)  for considering employment, promotion, compensation or performance evaluation data  of any public employee over which the governmental body has jurisdiction or exercises responsibility.

The board will return to open session immediately after the closed session.

* These two agenda items were inadvertently left off of the printed version handed out at the meeting, but

   were published in the Northwoods Shopper on February 7, 2005 as legal agenda items.

Motion (Chermack / Scharlau) to approve the Amended February Agenda with the corrections as read. Motion carried.  

 

Motion (Scharlau / Webb) to approve the Minutes of the last regular town board meeting. Motion carried.

 

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

                                         Checking Balance from last meeting           $          241,316.74

Receipts # 16285 to # 16300                                                               $            43,756.85

Checks # 18810 to # 18900                                                                             $           (165,003.46)

January 2005 Service Charge                                                              $                    (7.95)

January 2005 Interest                                                                         $                  106.71

To correct Jan.2005 Treasurer’s Report Check # 18759 was               

originally picked up as $150.00-Should have been $138.52                     $                    11.48

                                         Checking balance                                       $          120,180.37

Ambulance Investment Fund                                                               $                2,842.21

Highway Department Sinking Fund                                                      $            85,925.39

BES Sinking Fund                                                                               $               1,054.40

Park Savings                                                                                      $            10,472.13

Ski Trail Savings                                                                                 $                  304.13

Parade-Event Calendar Fund                                                              $               1,822.07

                                         Balance All Accounts                                $            222,600.70

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

 

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

 

Clerk / Correspondence

1.      Letter from Northwest Regional Planning Commission on the upcoming meeting on February 17, 2005 at 6:30PM at the Barnes Town Hall for the Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Barnes-Drummond area. The board members will be in attendance at this meeting.

2.      Letter from the DNR that the town will no longer be responsible for taking its own water samples. The Bayfield County Health Department will be doing this now. There was some discussion on the cost to the town. The Clerk was not made aware of what the cost would be. The county would most likely contact the town. Webb thought that this would be under the county’s budget. Meinke asked if the county would be doing the businesses or church. This was not known at this time.

3.      Notice of the Bayfield County Zoning meeting and public hearing of February 17, 2005

4.      Notice from the Northwoods Shopper that the advertising rates will be going up.

5.      Remember to come out and vote next Tuesday for the Spring Primary. The ballot will be for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

 

License Application-2 Year Operator’s License to David Basacker. He has to complete the Responsible Beverage Server Classes before he will be issued a regular license. He has a Temporary Operator’s License now. He has had his background check done. Motion (Meinke / Scharlau) to approve the 2- year Operator’s License to David Basacker. Motion carried.

 

Public Comment Session- No one spoke at this time.

 

Department Head Reports:

           Cemetery Committee- Cemetery Sexton Bud Pease reported that there has been no activity since the last

           meeting.

 

           Ambulance Department- Ambulance Director Del Jerome gave the Ambulance Department Report.

           There were 7 runs since the last meeting. Three of these were intercepts, one helicopter transport

           and three unassisted. One was to Ashland, one was to Hayward and five were to Duluth including the

           helicopter. Jerome said that he had met with Gene Ratzel and Tom Renz the other day on the Employee

           Handbook issues and requested it be all inclusive and that the handbook not be finalized until both the          Fire and Ambulance Department information was included and not do it piece meal. Webb asked if

           Jerome had gotten a copy of the Ambulance Department Training records for 2004 to the clerk. Yes, the

           clerk got one from Viola Friermood and Jerome has a copy of it. Chermack said that is was the intent of

           the board to get all departments included in the handbook. Jerome asked about the Ambulance        Investment Fund and how the personnel would be paid out. Jerome said that two Ambulance people have           retired from the department-Marilee Ludgatis and Lynn Skandel. Webb and Jerome both indicated that

           they would have to get together and discuss this area. There would be a process created for this purpose,

           a final form for resignation, etc. There should be some time frame on this. Ratzel asked if Jerome had a

           final date on these people. Jerome said yes.

 

           Fire Department- The Fire Department Report was given by Fritz Barnes in the absence of Chief Renz

           (attending EMT classes). The department had 5 runs since the last  meeting-2 false alarms, 1 snowmobile

           accident response (used rescue sled), 1 LZ setup for Ambulance Department and 1 trailer fire. Mr.Barnes

           asked the board to approve the results of the Fire Department elections that were held in January. The

           election results are as follows:

           Fire Chief-Tom Renz (Elected Unanimously)

           Assistant Fire Chief-Dave Christenson (Elected Unanimously)

           Second Assistant-Dave Schiess (Elected Unanimously)

           Secretary / Treasurer-Gene Miller (Elected Unanimously)

           Motion (Webb / Meinke) to approve the individuals on the Fire Department Election results. Motion

           carried.

          

           Town Board member(s) at scenes.

           I do not know why Town Board member(s) feel it necessary to respond to scenes of ambulance calls or

           fire calls. Recently, this has happened again and this person was in a hot zone. For purposes of liability

           reasons unless a member of the Town board is on the Roster a Town Board member is considered a

           civilian and should never be in the Hot Zone. For clarification if this is a necessary mode of operation

           you have to know that there are three zones of operation for incident command.

                   1-cold zone or white zone-A zone in which civilians are allowed to enter and where some parts of

                     operation or staging may occur.                                                  

                  2-warm zone or green zone-Zone of operation and incident command takes place. For incident

                     command purposes civilians may be asked into this zone for incident command purposes but only

                     when asked.

                  3-Hot zone or Red zone-This is the zone of most danger and therefor no civilians are ever allowed in

                     this Zone and is monitored very closely by incident command and operations Chief.

           I hope as Fire Chief this would clear this matter up and prevent any further incidents. Again I want to

stress this is strictly a liability issue wether to prevent further injury to others that would then take attention away from the original problem and also to protect us from any impact HIPPA may have to us.

Thomas M. Renz

(This was the end of the original Fire Department Report)

Ratzel asked Mr. Barnes what document this was that he was reading. Mr. Barnes said it was a letter from Tom Renz to the board. Ratzel asked to have a copy of the letter. Chermack asked who the person was at the scene. Ratzel that it was he and it was at the Eight Mile incident. Webb asked what this incident was and Mr. Barnes said that it was a very bad situation and that Mr.Ratzel was in the hot zone. There was discussion on this issue. Mr. Barnes said that by having this person [Ratzel] in the hot zone, you not only have the person you’re taking out, but now you have another person at risk. This is putting our fire department and ambulance department at a lot of risk. Do we have to go to the state? Mr. Ratzel indicated that he had been at the scene and had been requested to assist and do what he did. Mr. Barnes said that Ratzel should not have been in the hot zone, that’s why the letter was written. Ratzel said that these processes just showed up this past week. Mr. Barnes said that have these proceedings have been there for years. Ratzel said that this was the first time that anyone had been notified here. Ratzel said the request [for him to help] was from a member of the fire department. Mr. Barnes wanted to know how the other members of the board felt. Scharlau said that no one should be in the hot zone, unless the fire chief or the incident commander requests it. Webb said that at a recent WTA meeting, Dick Pukema spoke on incident command for town officials and he went through what the town board’s responsibilities are and where that responsibility end and when the people who are trained take over. It may be beneficial for us to have Mr. Pukema come down and do this with us and the fire and ambulance departments so that we are all on the same page. Scharlau said that the board members, or anyone, can be there to observe, but not in that zone. Ratzel said that when you are asked to assist by the personnel on scene, [Webb asked if that person is in authority at the scene] [Donna Porter said that there were not enough people there for lifting assistance and that is why Gene was asked to help] how does anyone know at that point what’s legitimate or should we refrain from any assistance whatsoever when it’s requested. Mr. Barnes asked if he [Tom Renz] would have wrote this letter if he wasn’t concerned that you were in the wrong. Ratzel did not know. Mr. Barnes said that he would put it on record that if it doesn’t stop and get the board to do something about this, he would go to the state about it. As a fireman, ambulance and as a tax payer, he did not believe that the town should be put in jeopardy at that fire scene. Mr. Barnes asked Scharlau that at a fire scene, unless there is a homicide, the fire chief has the whole say so over the county sheriff or anybody, was that right? Scharlau said absolutely. Mr. Barnes said he [the Chief] is telling you in this letter that he does not want you in those zones. There was discussion between Ratzel and Barnes on this issue and the difference between the zones. There was discussion on the incident involved and also on a previous incident. Mr. Barnes asked for a decision from the board. Chermack said she did not want to make a decision without the Mr. Renz, the person who formulated the letter, being here. He’s the person we need to talk to. Scharlau said that when there is an emergency you go to, somebody establishes right away who the incident commander is when they get there, so everyone knows who is in charge. That’s the person you go to for anything that you do and for us that is only if they ask us to do it. It does not necessarily mean the Fire Chief. Mr. Barnes asked the board if they felt the chairman should go to these scenes without having any training. What about the HIPPA laws? Ratzel said he did not attend or pursue the calls. There was discussion on how the chairman ended up at these scenes and why he was there. Ratzel said that if this is what the board wants, him not going to the scenes, he will abide by it. Where do you draw the line? Webb said that it goes back to what was said before that we either need to set up some sort of incident command for the town board or have Mr. Pukema come here and go through it so that it’s clear in everyone’s mind what our role is. Mr. Barnes said that your role as a town board member is as a citizens and you don’t have any authority being at those scenes. Motion (Chermack / Scharlau) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Donna Porter said that she only wanted to respond to the one incident. There were not enough people to lift and that Gene was asked, as a bystander, to assist. Mr. Barnes then discussed the comparison of this incident to the Friermood incident where the board did the investigation and there were reprimands for it. Why was this different? There was discussion on this. The board made the decision on what they saw and found in that investigation. Mr. Barnes asked what the board is going to do about the letter. Ratzel said he wanted to see the letter first and then we would take this issue under advisement. It is not on the agenda to act on tonight. Scharlau said he would like to have the Fire Chief available when we discuss this. Marilee Ludgatis said that for years people have been asked to get stuff out of the ambulance and did not understand the big to do about all of this. Chermack said that just because it has been done for years, doesn’t mean that it should continue. Webb said it has been brought to our attention now. Mr. Barnes asked if our town’s insurance covers a non-licensed EMT acting as an EMT. Webb was supposed to have checked this out. Ratzel said that the attorney indicated that all are covered under the umbrella policy. Webb said we need to check with the insurance company tomorrow. Motion (Chermack / Scharlau) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.

 

Constable Report- The Constable was not here at this time so the Clerk gave the report as follows:

There were ten calls since the last meeting-5 alarms, 4 snowmobile / vehicle complaints, 1 assist motorist.

 

Garage Report- Garage Supervisor Len Schiller was not in attendance at the meeting. The report was given by the Clerk as follows:

Since the last meeting, the crew has been performing routine winter road maintenance such as plowing, salting and sanding and doing routine vehicle and equipment maintenance. Fabco was called out to repair two problems with the 140G grader. More salt /sand mix was ordered from Sawyer County and it should be here by the end of the week barring any bad weather. Schiller is still playing phone tag in reference to the weight limits on our bridges. McKenzie has the new truck now and they are waiting for the truck dump box. Then it will go back to Maney for painting with the Town of Barnes name and to check to be sure that what McKenzie did does not void the warranty. Schiller expects the truck to be ready within 2 to 3 weeks.

 

Chermack asked what the board was going to do about the fire department. Are we going to make a decision now while we are here or set up a meeting with Renz? A meeting date will be set up with the chief. Jerome said he would try to be at the meeting. Webb said to set the meeting for after February 18th, but not on the 22nd or 23rd. There was discussion on having it on the 17th along with the DNR meeting. This was not ok with most of the members. Meinke said that if we include it on the meeting for the driveway ordinance, we could combine the meetings. Webb said she would get the information she has on incident command and have us look at that first. If she doesn’t have it she will contact Pukema and get it.

 

Employee Policy Handbook-Ratzel said that he had met with Sandra Martindale of CEP and went over the changes from the last meeting. Ratzel had given the board members an updated draft of the handbook for the board to go over. The board will make any corrections or changes deemed necessary. Chermack said she would like to have her old copy back to compare the changes. This copy was at CEP. Ratzel said that Renz and Jerome would have to get their input into this also. Webb said that she has quickly gone over Jerome’s material and wants to go through it again, but it looked good to her. We need to get a hold of Renz on his plans, basically Com 30. Any of the Medical Director’s information has to be included in our handbook also. There was discussion on the drug policy. Our policy mostly addresses CDL holders, but the Ambulance Director and Fire Chief could get the Reasonable Suspicion Training and with a few modifications, the policy in the handbook could be written to cover all employees and departments. The handbook is going slowly, but everything needs to be in place before we accept it. The attorney will do the final ok before we can accept it.

 

Issues Timeline-Chermack went over the timeline and updated the information as follows:

1.    Driveway Ordinances-Meinke asked all of the board members to go over the sample ordinances and forms that the town has received from the county before we have the meeting on the Driveway Ordinance. Between them all, Meinke felt that we could create a simple, but effective Driveway Ordinance. This could be ready to go at the next meeting and we wouldn’t have to have it drag on meeting after meeting. Ratzel asked if there should be some legal input. It was noted that all of these other ordinances have already been reviewed by attorneys and this would not be necessary.

2.    Road Name Changes-Chermack said that this was accomplished, but the Clerk said that there was a problem with it. There is a section of that road that is named White Pine Trail and it is recorded in the plat of that subdivision. The Clerk has contacted Jan Victorson of Emergency Government and Victorson is looking into this matter for us.

3.    Ambulance Investment Plan-Webb and Jerome will be getting together on this shortly. There are two members who have retired from the force. We have taken care of what we need to do on that issue in the ambulance report

4.    Employee Policy Handbook-See notes from the agenda item for this meeting.

5.    LZ Zone-We still have to wait for the completion of this one.

6.    Purchase Order and Voucher System-This has been taken care of.

7.    Web Page-Ratzel said he had been down to CCS several times and met with Chris. The Web Page should be up by Monday Ratzel said. The Minutes for 2004 and those from 2005 are on the blind site now. The conversion should take place at the end of the week. Chris [from CCS] has given us some printed material to study and Ratzel has looked through some of it for the editor so that we, on this end, can make the changes accordingly. We will need a list of department heads and people involved with the various changes –the parts that they would be eligible to change such as the fire department, BADC, the ambulance and their schedule- that isn’t created yet, but we’re working on it- the Centennial group, etc. We have to find out the individual that is going to be putting the information up and give them a login and password. Chermack asked if the clerk could create a form saying what we need for this and then have them fill in the blanks and have a set date for the return of this information. We would give it to the department heads. Those people designated would only have access to that portion of the web site that pertains to their area. There will be training set up for those that need to have access. Chris from CCS will come up to assist us. CCS wants to be paid for the work by the conversion time. The added cost of having the Ambulance Department site will be added later. We will be able to add or edit our pages for data content.

8.    Welcome to Barnes signs-Scharlau said that he has had some problems getting the landowners to sign the agreements. He is working with Wausau Paper Company to get their agreement signed. Several of the other landowners do not seem interested in having a sign on their property. The town will have to keep looking for sites. The signs have to be put up in the Town of Barnes proper, because they are not directional signs. It looks like the one sign will have to put in the triangle, but that is ok.

 

 

 

Snowplowing of Kickapoo Trail-The clerk read the letter on the attorney’s opinion on this issue. The clerk will get a copy of the letter to all board members. It was just received this afternoon. [The letter may be read in its entirety in the clerk’s office] The attorney noted state statutes referring to this process. The town has the duty to make the roads passable, but there is a three week time frame according to the statutes and then it has to proven that the conditions have existed for those three weeks. Meinke asked to have his motion on this read. The clerk read the motion from the Minutes of the January 10, 2005 meeting. Meinke saw no problem with the way it is, because even if it snows the snowmobiles will have it packed down and it would be passable. This is not set in stone and if someone moves in on that road, we can always plow it then.

 

Contracting out of Janitorial Services- Meinke asked to have more time to look at the costs and other issues related to this issue. The clerk had given a copy of the expenses that the town had incurred to all board members. The total, including wages, Social Security, Medicare and supplies, came to roughly $3,500.00 for 2004. Someone was to look into the cost of getting a janitorial service. Motion (Webb / Meinke) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Marilee Ludgatis, the town’s janitor asked to speak. She said it would have been “nice” seeing that she is the janitor, to have called her to let her know that the town was looking at different avenues for this service as she is employed here. Ratzel said that the board is looking at all different aspects of the town’s employment in this regard. Ludgatis asked if this would even be for the highway department and other jobs in town. Webb said that we were looking at all alternatives. Webb indicated that several board members were unaware of this issue or wondered why it was there, when it appeared on the agenda for the special town board meeting on the 1st of February. This was the first time most of board members were aware of the issue. Mr. Barnes asked when this all came about and who decides this. Ratzel said that the issue came up through the handbook investigation and revision. The town board is working on this. Ratzel said that he ultimately ends up screening what goes on the agenda each meeting with the clerk. The question came up when the board was looking at covering all employees in town [in the handbook] and the janitorial position came up. There was a question on the job description and what department was responsible for that position. Ludgatis said that there was a job description when she was hired. This document cannot be located in the town office at this time, but we will continue to look for it. The cost of getting an outside service was discussed. This was not a factor in the decision to look at this option. Mr. Barnes asked what other departments were being considered for this. Ratzel said all employees. We are looking at all aspects. We haven’t decided anything at this point. A decision is being called for when no decision has been made. We’ve just started to look at this. Ludgatis said that she had decided something. She said the town really can look for somebody else to clean as of tonight. Ludgatis said she was sure Chermack or somebody can come up with somebody good. Chermack said she wanted to apologize for this. Ludgatis said it was a slap in the face. Chermack said she wanted to apologize on behalf of the rest of the [board] because we did not know any of this and when someone comes up to her and said that they saw this on the bulletin board at his [Ratzel’s] store about the janitorial thing-how did it make her [Chermack] feel. Webb said she had heard nothing about this issue. Mr. Barnes had words with the chairman and Mr. Barnes and Mrs. Ludgatis left the meeting. Motion (Webb / Chermack) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Ratzel discussed this agenda item and why was this one singled out. Webb felt that the board should have been notified. Webb said that when somebody says why wasn’t she [Ludgatis] called and Webb didn’t know why Ludgatis wasn’t called, what could she say as Webb didn’t know anything about this. Chermack and Webb had thought it was an ad for the position, but Ratzel said it was only the agenda notice for the February 1, 2005 meeting. At that meeting, the board, by motion, decided not to proceed with the issue at that meeting. The issue was tabled until the regular meeting tonight and was put on this agenda. Chermack said that she felt we were not handling this very well. Chermack felt that when it comes to employees who have been loyal and given us service for all these years, a courtesy call certainly would have gone a long, long way for public relations. They would have been pre warned. The board will be discussing this at the next meeting and anyone can come to that meeting and have some input. Scharlau said that the motion was made and seconded at the meeting [February 1, 2005] to table the discussion until this meeting, so people did know that it was on this agenda. It was publicized for this meeting. Meinke said that when we talked about it that night, he thought everything was pretty well covered. Meinke said that he had brought up the angle, and Marilee didn’t stay to get his statement, that he had asked if this had anything to do with the present janitor. The clerk noted that in the Minutes of the February 1, 2005 meeting, it said that this was not a reflection on the work the current janitor was doing. Meinke said that if we ever decided that we will do this, and Meinke felt he needed more information on this, that Marilee or anybody would have the opportunity to bid on the job. Webb said that if sometime someone decided to put something on the agenda, even if this would have been just Contract of Services, we could have decided what services we would be contracting for, rather than getting so specific about one thing that somebody is bound to take as a personal affront, especially now. We have talked about checking with the county about doing some stuff, but we sometimes get too specific rather than keep things general until we get into a discussion so that we are all on the same wave length. Ratzel said that part of that historically is that a lot of this has been decided outside of an open meeting. At least here it was identified and was an agenda item and discussion was started and that is an improvement in itself. On the issue that the statement was specific, Ratzel did not know how it became so specific, only because of going through the fact that we have 47 employees and were trying to identify where they work or who they are responsible to. Do we have job descriptions and performance appraisals on them? Ratzel said he could not find all of the information on this. That is when the issue came up. Should some services be contracted out? This is the most obvious one out of all the jobs we have in town that would normally be contracted out. Ratzel could not think of any job or employee that we have that would qualify for that. That’s how it started. If people are going to take a personal attitude about it, how are we going to get anything done? Webb said when there are personal attacks on the board because people are upset, she has to say she doesn’t know about an issue, but would check into it. Meinke said that this issue was not discussed to the point that it was going to be a positive thing and was going to be done. We haven’t come up with anything that reflected on Marilee. Chermack said that if she had been Marilee and was reading on the agenda about contracting out janitorial services, Chermack said that she would have felt that she was out of a job. Chermack thought that it wasn’t very sensitive on our part and we just missed it. She would have been upset also. Webb said that what we have to do is look to see if there is a job description and if not, create one. The clerk stated that the office files have just been gone through again and none has been found under janitorial duties. Ratzel said we need to continue to review these issues. What is the next step? Are we going to call a few of the known places? Scharlau said we have to look into what it really costs, to see if it’s overloaded and costs too much. Chermack said we have to first get a list of duties and how often we want it clean and what the cleaning means. Webb said that she felt that, all along, this position should have been reporting to the town clerk and then to the town chairman. The issue of cleaning the Ambulance Hall was discussed. Should this be included in this? Jerome said that various people have cleaned the EMS room in the past. Motion (Webb / Ratzel) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried. Donna Porter said that she used to clean it and didn’t mind doing it, but got very upset with the fact that we had a brand new building and there was hardly anybody that took any pride in that building. She got disgusted. The same goes for washing the ambulance. There is no schedule for that. It had been suggested to Donna at one time that she clean the hall and have the town pay her. Maybe someone should be hired to do this. The town is not going to find anybody to clean for $3,500.00 a year. Something should be done, as the ambulance hall is a disgrace. Ratzel said if it costs us more, so be it, because something has to be done. Webb said that we should include all of our buildings. No one cleans the highway garage bathroom. Donna said it was bad. Ratzel said we need to expand beyond just the hall. Ratzel brought up another issue, and that this is where our real vulnerability is, is that with the present setup, when we have 2 or 3 other people come in to assist, we don’t know who is in here and what the liability is. That is the real concern with an “employee” situation. Webb said that could have been addressed separately as an employee / employer issue. Jerome said that in Drummond, the employees do all of the oil changes and maintenance on the fire trucks. Ratzel asked who did it here. Jerome said that they do it pretty much themselves. Jerome was concerned that the people don’t know enough about it and we should have someone who knows what they are doing. Donna Porter said that it would be better if the maintenance was done in our hall as that would keep the ambulance here in town instead of being out for service. This should be someone who knows what to do. Jerome felt that Red Mundle, a local Barnes resident, might be a good choice as he is here in town. Scharlau asked how often this oil change needed to be done. Mundle could periodically check to see how many miles are on the vehicle. Jerome said that these are expensive vehicles and need to be taken care of by people who know what they are doing. This issue would be on the timeline as Emergency Service Equipment Maintenance Issues. Webb said that getting back to the janitor, we need to make a list including the cleaning of the ambulance hall. Chermack said that Marilee could have a contract with us and then it would take that position out of the town’s hands, but that Marilee didn’t stay long enough to hear this. Ratzel said we have to establish what needs to be done and the next step would be to decide on it. Chermack said that Renz and Jerome would have to come back to us on what has to be done for general vehicle maintenance. Webb said that someone should contact Red on this. There was discussion if this had to be bid out since it is a service. There was discussion if the town crew could do this maintenance. (At this time Marilee came back and brought back the keys that she had). Scharlau will contact the Fire Chief Renz and Jerome on what has to be done. Webb said that the process has to be spelled out so that if someone leaves or retires, it is on record that this is how the town operates. Meinke said that the job description and a list of the work needed to be done have to be created for the janitorial work. Meinke said that he firmly believes that we can find somebody locally to do this. Chermack will research the janitor issue and make a list of what has to be done after conferring with the kitchen people, the clerk and those that are regularly around here. There was discussion on the amount of hours that would be required. Webb said that if the hall is rented out, the hall might have to be cleaned at that time. Motion (Scharlau / Meinke) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.

 

Comprehensive Land Use Planning Committee-Dave Pease said that the next meeting would be on February 9, 2005 at 6:30PM. The committee will be discussing land use issues. There will be a timeline done on the plan. Ratzel asked how the plan was coming. Pease said that is was going slow. There have been several redrafts. Hopefully the plan will be done this year. It is scheduled to be completed by October of this year.

 

Barnes Area Historical Association (BAHA)-The Centennial Committee report was given by Dave Pease. Pease said that his assignment for the committee was to map out the historical sites in the town. He showed the board members maps of the proposed sites. The board indicated that this map was very interesting. Pease said that signs have been made for most of these sites. [A sample sign was shown] He would like the board’s approval to have these signs put up on the right of way of the town roads. There was discussion on the old Fresh Air Post Office and where it had been located. The Centennial Committee hopes to have a book out on the history of Barnes by the end of March. There would be a smaller pamphlet on the history that would be available for the Centennial.

 

Barnes Area Development Corporation- Jack Meinke reported on the BADC. There was a meeting on the 6th of February. Bruce Lindgren has been working on getting grant money for infrastructure. A cost estimate update on the project from Cooper Engineering was reviewed. Ratzel said that CEP, the firm doing our policy handbook, is working with Bayfield County Economic Development. They are involved in the business planning service also.

 

Board Member Reports:

           Jack Meinke-Jack had nothing more to report.

           Chris Webb-Chris had nothing more to add.

           Dave Scharlau-Dave had nothing more to add.

           Dixie Chermack-Dixie had nothing more to add.

           Gene Ratzel-Gene had nothing more to add.

 

Motion (Webb / Chermack) to adjourn the regular session to go into closed session pursuant to State Statute 19.85 (b) and (c). Roll call vote was taken: Scharlau, yes; Chermack, yes; Webb, yes; Meinke, yes and Ratzel, yes. Motion carried. The regular session was adjourned at 8:18PM.

 

MINUTES OF THE CLOSED SESSION OF FEBRUARY 8, 2005

Chairman Ratzel called the closed session to order at 8:22PM.

 

No business was discussed other than that referenced by State Statutes 19.85 (b) and (c).

 

No decisions were made in closed session.

Motion (Webb / Chermack) to adjourn the closed session to return to the regular reconvened session. Motion carried. The closed session was adjourned at 9:18PM

 

MINUTES OF THE RECONVENED REGULAR SESSION OF FEBRUARY 8, 2005

 

Chairman Ratzel called the reconvened session to order at 9:20PM.

 

The board members decided to set a date to meet with the Fire Chief and Ambulance Director. The Clerk would call the people to set a date. A time of 5:00PM was mentioned and the date would be after the 18th of February and not on the 22nd or 23rd of February. The Clerk will get back to all on the date set. The Clerk will post the notice for the meeting on the 17th with the DNR personnel.

There was discussion on what the various board members would be asked to do. Ratzel and the Clerk will get together to create a report form for the Appointed Clerk / Treasurer position and they will compose an appraisal for the deputy clerk, Elaine Brustad. Scharlau would contact Tom Renz and get the maintenance schedule for the fire department vehicles. Chermack would investigate the janitorial duties and other related issues. Chermack will also get the public feedback information documented. Webb will check on the insurance issue brought up by Mr. Barnes in regard to the town’s liability if an unlicensed EMT was doing an EMT’s work. Webb will also get information on Incident Command for the Town Board Members.

 

Motion (Webb / Scharlau) to adjourn the reconvened regular session. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:25PM.                           

Members of the Town Board in attendance: Chairman Gene Ratzel; Supervisors Dixie Chermack, Chris Webb, Jack Meinke and Dave Scharlau. Also present were the Treasurer Debbie Sesko and Clerk Lu Peet.

Department heads and committee people present: Ambulance Director Del Jerome, Constable Mike O’Keefe, Cemetery Sexton Bud Pease and Comprehensive Land Use Planning Committee Chairman Dave Pease (also representing the Centennial Committee).

Citizens present: Donna Porter, Marilee Ludgatis and Fritz Barnes (representing the Fire Department)

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Lucille J. Peet

Barnes Town Clerk

Dated this 11th day of February 2005