Town of Barnes
Town of Barnes, WI

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Home > Town Digital Library > Town Board Meeting Minutes > 2010 Town Board Meeting Minutes > Special Town Board Meeting April 12, 2010

Special Town Board Meeting April 12, 2010

 

MINUTES OF THE
SPECIALTOWN BOARD MEETING
Of April 12, 2010
 
Chair Lu Peet called the Special Town Board Meeting to order at 5:07PM. The agenda for the meeting is as follows:
 
Agenda
1.                   Discussion of Timber Cutting Contract for 2010
2.                   Discussion on Constable Position
3.                   Approval to purchase radios from fire department sinking funds
4.                   Discussion on policy for requirement of employee drivers to provide annual proof of auto insurance
 
1)         Jack Meinke discussed the history of the timber cutting project for the town properties. The project this year was to encompass the Tomahawk Lake area properties and also the old stump dump at the edge of Potawatomi. The stump dump area to be cut was discussed with the DNR and the fire chief in conjunction with them trying to obtain an escape route to the north of Potawatomi in case of massive fire. They were working on making a town road in that area and coming out to the west in the Township of Highland. They are still working on getting Highland on board with this. The Timber Cutting Contract for 2010 was approved at the March Regular Town Board meeting. Last week, Jack sat down with Jerry Witt (Town Road Foreman) Dan Cobb and Grindstone Enterprises who would do the cutting. Highland would not give approval for the haulers to use their town roads during the road bans. Jerry Witt was hesitant to let them haul on the town’s roads also as he would be spending far more to reconstruct the roads than what the town would receive in proceeds from the cutting. Meinke wanted this meeting to discuss this with everyone present. 
Motion (Webb/Porter) to open the floor to discussion. Motion carried.
Dan Cobb set up the project with Grindstone to do the logging. You can get the best price if they can do it this time of year. 
Dawn Pittman gave a little history on the 80 acre stump dump property. The 80 acres is landlocked, the current owner of the property where the old access was put up a gate so no access can be obtained there. The other gate that says closed by the town board is on a lot owned by Potawatomi. The only other option is to go through the campground near where the new well point is going in. This is the spot the DNR and Wildland Fire group are trying to get a town road put in.  
Grindstone said 60-70 semi loads will be going out of the stump dump property. They agreed to the $12.00 bid price because this is their slow time.
Jerry Witt said so far this year he has 15 miles of bad roads to correct. We have an ordinance but it has no teeth. He did not give permission for them to travel on the roads while the road bans are in effect.
Chris Webb said there are two things we can do: We can cancel the contract all together or rebid the project with restrictions. 
Town Renz said it is very important to get the wood out of the stump dump for fire protection reasons. Donna Porter asked if we could do a winter cutting to give us time to get everything finalized.    The Board agreed the Tomahawk lake part is ok to do at this time, but Ben from Grindstone said he wouldn’t be able to do it now as he has contracts backed up. 
Motion (Porter/McGee) to close the floor to discussion. Motion carried.
Motion (Porter/McGee) to dissolve the contract because of problems associated with the roads in Potawatomi. Roll call vote taken with all responding yes. Motion carried.
 
2)         On discussion of the Constable’s position Lu Peet said there is a resolution that will be brought forth to re-establish the office of the elected constable. We do have an ordinance establishing the constable’s duties, and we have to take a look at that ordinance to see if there are to be any changes. We cannot afford a police department and if there is no elected constable position that is our only alternative. There is no “appointed” constable position; state statutes make a constable office an elected position only. Peet also said the board needs to get together again to discuss the ordinances. Janine Watts asked what would happen if the office does not get voted back in. Peet said she hoped the citizens will recognize we need someone to enforce our ordinances and if the office is not reinstated we would probably have to get rid of most of our ordinances and depend on the county more for additional things Mike currently does in their absence. The County Sheriff’s department will not enforce our town ordinances. 
 
3)         Renz said on January 1st of 2013 all radios have to be a certain frequency. He has three radios needing repair now and instead of spending the money to repair them he wants to upgrade those three to be narrow band compatible. They would go in the three fire trucks. He wants to amend his budget and take the monies needed, approximately $7500.00, out of the sinking fund.
 
Motion (Meinke/Porter) to amend the budget adding $7,500.00 for fire capital outlay and take the monies out of the sinking fund. Roll call vote taken and all responded yes. Motion carried.
 
4)         Mike Sherry from Holden Insurance Company had responded to Elaine regarding Tom’s question from the March Regular Town Board meeting asking if we needed a policy requiring employees to provide a copy of their liability insurance if they drove their own vehicles while on the job or while traveling to a fire or accident scene. The Town’s policy covers anything over what the employee’s insurance wouldn’t cover.   Tom said he would work on writing up a policy and present it at the May Town Board meeting.
 
Motion (Webb/Porter) to adjourn the meeting of April 12, 2010. Motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 6:12PM.
 
 
Respectfully Submitted,
 
 
 
Elaine Brustad
Clerk-Treasurer
Dated this 20th day of April, 2010
 
 

 
The notices, agendas, minutes and postings on the Town website are for informational purposes only. They may not be the most current version and therefore are NOT considered the official or legal copy.
CONTACT THE TOWN
715-795-2782
Mon., Tues., Thurs., Fri. 8:00 AM - Noon
[email protected]
3360 County Highway N, Barnes, WI 54873

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