Nov. 15, 2011: Annual Budget, Electors & Regular Board Meetings

APPROVED

MINUTES OF THE TOWN OF BARNES

ANNUAL PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING, SPECIAL TOWN MEETING OF THE ELECTORS

AND THE REGULAR MONTHLY TOWN BOARD MEETING

Tuesday, November 15^th, 2011

PUBLIC HEARING – 2012 PROPOSED BUDGET

Chairperson Lu Peet called the Public Hearing to order at 6:00PM.  The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was recited.  Peet read the Public Hearing Meeting Notice and the summarized 2012 budget listed below comparing the proposed budget to the current 2011 budget. 

	2011		2012
	PROPOSED		PROPOSED
	BUDGET		BUDGET	% CHANGE
REVENUES
TAX LEVY	$496,522.00		$496,522.00	0.00%
Intergovernmental Revenues	$465,345.00		$485,243.00
Licenses and Permits	$9,075.00		$8,400.00
Public Charges for Services	$28,320.00		$27,600.00
Intergovernmental Charges for Service	$2,625.00		$4,000.00
Miscellaneous Revenue	$41,550.00		$21,300.00
Sub-total Revenues	$1,043,437.00		$1,043,065.00	-0.035%
Proceeds from long-term debt	$40,000.00		$0.00
Cash Reserves to reduce the Levy	$6,187.00		$23,407.00
Designated Funds levied	$58,000.00		$30,000.00
Retained Funds	$6,000.00		$0.00
TOTAL REVENUES	$1,153,624.00		$1,096,472.00	-4.95%
EXPENSES
General Government	$180,057.00		$162,278.00
Public Safety	$112,291.00		$111,326.00
Public Works-Highway	$161,054.00		$257,346.00
Public Works-Sanitation	$65,587.00		$72,451.00
Health & Human Services	$4,464.00		$4,914.00
Culture, Recreation & Education	$16,592.00		$19,323.00
Conservation & Development	$67,797.00		$72,528.00
Capital Outlay	$398,620.00		$251,589.00
Debt Service	$25,162.00		$44,717.00
Sub-total Operational Expenses	$1,031,624.00		$996,472.00
Designated Funds Levied	$122,000.00		$100,000.00
TOTAL EXPENSES	$1,153,624.00		$1,096,472.00	-4.95%

Peet noted that the Town‘s Tax Levy is exactly the same as last year, and that not only is there no increase but the proposed Town Budget is actually almost a 5% decrease from last year with no reduction in services.  She stated that with increased efficiencies, we are actually providing more services and highway maintenance than prior

years.  Peet asked for any additional questions or discussion from the townspeople; there being none, she asked for a motion to adjourn the Public Hearing. 

Motion (Elaine Brustad/Lu Peet) to close the Public Hearing.  Motion carried.

The Hearing was adjourned at 6:10PM.

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING of the ELECTORS (Barnes Townspeople)

Peet called the Special Town Meeting to order at 6:10PM to adopt and allocate the Town Tax Levy.

Roll Call taken:  McGee, Porter, Meinke, and Peet present, quorum established.  Webb absent [arrived 6:13PM].

Peet asked for any additional questions from the townspeople.  There being none she asked for nominations for two tellers and two counters to tally the votes on the resolutions to be presented to adopt the levy.  Carol Pease and Joanne Freiman were nominated as tellers and Gene Ratzel and Greg Martin were nominated as counters. 

Peet then read Resolution R11-13 to approve the highway portion of the Levy.

RESOLUTION #R11-13

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the qualified electors of the Town of Barnes here assembled in Special Town Meeting this 15th day of November 2011, that the sum of $217,162. be levied to the Highway Fund for Operating Expenses for the year 2012.

Signed:              Elaine Brustad

Motion by:  Dave Pease / Seconded by:  Maris Freiman

Number of electors authorized to vote:  16

Yes:     16           No:      0

A ballot count was conducted and the Resolution was passed by a vote of 16 yes votes to 0 no votes.

Peet then read the next budget resolution, R11-15, to approve the General Fund portion of the Levy.

RESOLUTION #R11-15

BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the qualified electors of the Town of Barnes here assembled in Special Town Meeting this 15th day of November 2011 that the sum of $279,360. be levied to the General Fund for Operating Expenses for the year 2012.

Signed: Elaine Brustad

Motion by:   Dean Peet / Seconded by:  Peg Harsvick

Number of electors authorized to vote:  19

Yes:  19               No:  0            

A ballot count was conducted and the Resolution passed by a vote of 19 yes votes to 0 no votes.

 Peet asked for any other Resolutions from the floor.

There being none, Peet then asked for a motion to adjourn the Special Town Meeting. 

Motion (Elaine Brustad / Gene Ratzel) to adjourn the Special Town meeting.  Motion carried.    The meeting adjourned at 6:30PM. 

Regular Town Board meeting

Chairperson Lu Peet called the Regular Board Meeting to order at 6:30PM.  Peet verified with Clerk-Treasurer Brustad that public notice for the meeting and the agenda had been posted as required.  Peet called for a motion to approve the minutes of the Last Regular Board meeting, dispense with reading of the minutes, and to approve the following November Agenda:

AGENDA

• Call the Regular Town Board meeting to order at 6:30PM or after the Special Town Meeting
• Motion to approve the November Agenda, approve the minutes of the Last Regular Board meeting and a motion to dispense with reading of the minutes.
• Voucher’s Approval
• Treasurer’s Report
• Clerk Correspondence  
  • Adopt 2012 Budget
  • Adopt Resolution #R-11-14 obligation of town of amount over Treasurer’s Bond for taxes
• Public Comment Session – 3 Minute limit for those not on the agenda 
• Department Head Reports:
  • Highway
    • Discussion on meeting at Smart Road November 12, 2011                            
  • Cemetery
  • Fire and Ambulance Department
  • Constable
• Committee Reports      
  • Eurasian Water Milfoil committee
    • Approve new committee member Steve Krivinchuk                     
• Citizen’s Request for Action:
  • Request by Tom O’Brien for permission to erect a permanent hunting stand on town property 
• Adopt Policy change for Citizen’s Request for Action
• Issues Timeline Update
• Adjourn

Motion (Meinke/Porter) to approve the agenda, the minutes of the last Regular Town Board meeting and to dispense with the reading of those minutes.  Motion carried.

1.      Voucher’s Approval: 

Motion (Porter/Meinke) to approve the voucher’s as presented.  Motion carried.

2.       Treasurer’s Report:  Clerk-Treasurer Brustad read the following monthly Treasurer’s report:

Treasurers Report
		General Fund
Checking Balance from last meeting				$12,385.32
Receipts				$84,068.10
Direct Tax Payments, Ck #'s 398-399				($7,915.70)
Check #'s 26520-26634				($71,168.43)
Service Charge October				($16.23)
Interest Earned October				$10.09	0.15%
	CHECKING BALANCE			$17,363.15
		Money Market
Money Market Gen'l Fund Balance from Last Meeting				$305,559.08
Interest earned September				$72.77	0.17%
		YTD Interest:	$861.30
	Sub-Total Money Market Gen'l Funds			$305,631.85
Highway Dept. Sinking Fund				$26,327.92
BES Sinking Fund				$40,464.05
Park Savings				$11,718.06
Ski Trail Savings				$1,032.47
Building Maintenance & Repair Fund				$95,932.54
Bridges Maintenance Fund				$12,000.00
Waterways Maintenance Fund				$10,000.00
ACT 102 Fund				$1,296.67
Total all Money Market Funds				$504,403.56
		Hayward Community Credit Union
Savings		October Interest	0.80	$3,748.81	0.25%
18 Month CD		October Interest	49.07	$52,863.06	1.10%
18 Month CD		October Interest	271.38	$157,211.63	2.06%
18 month CD		October Interest	183.84	$106,496.56	2.06%
18 month CD		October Interest	110.64	$100,935.01	1.30%
35 month CD		October Interest	165.84	$101,181.69	1.95%
		YTD Interest:	$7,318.05
Total Hayward Community Credit Union				$522,436.76
	TOTAL ALL ACCOUNTS:			$1,044,203.47

Motion (Meinke/Porter) to approve the Treasurer’s report as read.  Motion carried.

3.      Clerk Correspondence:  Clerk-Treasurer Brustad stated that there was no correspondence to report.

4.      Adopt 2012 Budget:  Peet called for a motion to adopt the budget.

Motion (Webb/Meinke) to approve the Summary Budget for 2012 as presented in the Public Hearing.  Roll call vote taken:  all responded yes.  Motion carried.

5.      Adopt Resolution #R-11-14 obligation of town of amount over Treasurer’s Bond for taxes:  Peet read the resolution and called for a motion to approve it. 

RESOLUTION R-11-14

WHEREAS, the Town of Barnes Treasurer is required by statute to furnish a bond to the County Treasurer in a sum of double the amount of state and county taxes apportioned to her town, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of her office and that she will account for and pay over according to law all state and county taxes which shall come into her hands, and

WHEREAS, the Town of Barnes is given the power under Section 70.67(2) of the Wisconsin Statutes, to obligate the town in case the Town Treasurer shall fail to pay all state and county taxes required by law to be paid by the Town Treasurer to the County Treasurer,

NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of the Town of Barnes, at its regular meeting held this 15th day of November, 2011, that the Town of Barnes does hereby obligate itself to pay in case the Town Treasurer shall fail to do so, all state and county taxes required by law to be paid by such Treasurer to the County Treasurer.

Motion (Porter/Webb) to adopt Resolution #R-11-14 as read.  Roll call vote taken:  all responded yes.  Motion carried.

6.      Public Comment Session – 3 Minute limit for those not on the agenda:

Greg Martin stated that he has almost completed the construction of the new canopy over the service door on the Eau Claire Lakes Conservation Club building that the club recently donated to the town.  He also discussed possible storage of the town pickup truck in the building.

7.      Department Head Reports

a)      Highway – Bob Lang, Town Road & Property Foreman, provided the following report:

·  The big news this month is that as of October 19^th, Outlet Bay Bridge is officially closed.  Bob met with the DNR personnel responsible for removal of the bridge and they are planning to do the work some time during the summer of 2012.  The banks will be restored to a 3 to 1 slope with about 8 feet of large rock rip rap along the water.

·  We did two major culvert installations this month.  Mulligan Creek has two new culverts comprised of a 48 inch diameter set at the original creek depth and a 36 inch overflow.  This is significant because it drained the pond which was illegally created by the road structure.  The DNR considered this a dam which would have required special permitting and created liability issues for the town.  The 48 inch diameter will also make this culvert much easier to clean when we have beaver activity.

·  The second culvert installation was on Tars Pond Road.  Three smaller culverts were removed and replaced with one large culvert.  The new culvert is also 40 feet long which allowed us to widen the road in that area, completing the reconstruction of Tars Pond Road.  All of these culverts were done in conjunction with the Bayfield County Highway Department and are funded through the Bridge Aid program which covers 50% of the cost.

·  We have also been busy creating plow route turnarounds.  These were constructed at James Road, Lyndale Bay Road, Pease Resort Road, Lower Lake Road, Cranberry Lake Road, Wilbur Smith Road, Loon Lake Road, and Wilderness Lake Road.  We had previously completed them at Smith Lake Road and Circle Drive.  We still hope to complete two more on Tomahawk Lake Road and the east side of Outlet Bay bridge.  Our construction of these turnarounds eliminates the need to send our smaller specialized equipment down these roads to remove snow.  Now, any of our Town trucks can be utilized which makes our winter maintenance of these roads much more efficient.

·  We started putting up salt sand for this winter.  The quonset hut is full and we are waiting on 400 more tons to complete the pile in the parking lot which gives us a total of 1,300 tons.  There will also be a pile of screened sand in the new stockpile area for any spring time ice emergencies. 

·  The plow trucks are basically ready for winter.  The new sander for the ’97 will be here tomorrow, and we have started construction on the new loader plow. 

·  The cemetery is marked out in case winter burials are necessary.  We accomplished this with the aid of our new magnetic locator.  We were also able to locate the property boundaries of the main town property with it.

·  Extensive brushing on many town roads continues including preliminary brushing on Pine Chip Road in Potawatomi.  Next we will be removing all trees back to the property lines to allow for proper ditching and back slopes when we reconstruct this 1.1 mile section of road.  We hope to be able to locate the majority of the property boundaries before the ground is covered with snow.

·  Rasmussen Plumbing installed the new water line to the town garage so we will be able to keep the parking lot and one way traffic open through the winter this year.

·  Bob reported that he has completed and submitted the grant request to the Bayfield County Forestry Department for reimbursement for our 43 Road graveling project that we did last month.  Last week, he also submitted an application to the WI State Town Road Improvement Program (TRIP) to reconstruct and blacktop Lyndale Bay Road; this could result in $48,000 worth of assistance for that project.

Discussion on the Board meeting/site visit at Smart Road on Saturday, November 12, 2011:

·  Peet reported on the site visit to Smart Road.  Webb stated that Mr. O’Shaughnessy continued to insist on no change whatsoever to his property and to his claim that the road is not a Town road.  The issue is the survey that clearly states that it is a town road.  Webb noted that as a result, we will have to go to court in order to permanently resolve the matter.  Peet and Webb discussed that the primary issue for the town is one of safety for all residents and users of the road, as well as emergency access for town vehicles.  WI Statute 82.31, which states that any road maintained consistently by a town for a period of 10 years or more, is a town road by default.

Motion (Webb/Meinke) to send a letter to David O’Shaughnessy, and his brother Neal since there are lots that are co-owned, that states the Town’s intention to start work effective Monday, December 5^th, on the road ‘turn-around’, as it was discussed on the Saturday November 12^th site visit.     

Roll call vote taken:  all responded yes.  Motion carried.

b)       Cemetery – None, no activity this month.

c)        Fire and Ambulance Department – No report from Tom Renz this month.

d)      Constable – Peet read the following report from Constable Mike O’Keefe:

·       1 House Alarm, checked property when notified by the alarm monitoring company.

·       3 Damage to Property complaints for street signs, Pine Chip & Wilderness Road area, Sheriff notified. 

·       3 Trespass complaints, regarding deer hunters crossing or parking on private property.

·       1 Fireworks complaint

·       5 Home checks for out-of-town residents.

·       1 excessive noise complaint on Lake Road for car squealing tires after midnight.

8.      Committee Reports:  

a)      Eurasian Water Milfoil Committee – Approve new committee member Steve Krivinchuk

Motion (Webb/McGee) to approve Steve Krivinchuk as a new member to the EWM Committee.  All responded Yes; Motion carried.  

9.      Citizen’s Request for Action: 

a)      Request by Tom O’Brien for permission to erect a permanent hunting stand on town property.  

Peet read the written request from Mr. O’Brien, which referred to other permanent deer stands on the property.  Peet stated that by definition of public Town land, only temporary hunting stands are allowed but never permanent.   

Motion (Webb/Porter) to open the floor for discussion.  Motion carried.

Jon Harkness discussed the permanent deer stands that he has on his adjacent 40 acre property, and questioned if perhaps Tom was referring to his stands.  He offered access to his property to not only verify that his stands are not on town land but also to review the town property for any permanent stands.  

Motion (Porter/Meinke) to close the floor for discussion.  Motion carried.

Peet stated that she would discuss and review the issue with the Town Constable, Mike O’Keefe, and request that he inspect the town property after the deer hunting season; and send a response letter to Tom O’Brien.  Peet reiterated that permanent stands are not allowed on Town land and will be removed.

10.  Adopt Policy change for Citizen’s Request for Action

Peet read the revised policy for handling a Citizen’s Request for Action.  Clerk-Treasurer Brustad remarked that Department Heads must remember to return, especially if resolved, the Citizen’s Request to the Town Clerk with either the final resolution noted or their referral of the issue to the Board.

POLICY FOR HANDLING CITIZEN’S REQUEST

1.      A Citizen request is received by the Town Clerk-Treasurer regarding an issue in the Town of Barnes.

2.      The Citizen’s Request will be forwarded to the appropriate department for review and resolution.

3.      If there is no possible resolution or the department seeks guidance from the Board it will be referred to the Town Board.

4.      At a Regular Town Board meeting and as an agenda item, the Town Board will consider the request for discussion to review accumulated research and give their recommendation.  The Citizen who submitted the request will be notified in writing after a determination is made.    

Motion (Porter/McGee) to approve the new Request for Action policy and process.  Motion carried.

11.  Issues Timeline Update:

a)      Webb reported on the Bayfield County Economic Development meeting that she attended on the Bayfield County/Norvado proposal for Cell Towers and county-wide coverage.  52 towers are planned for Bayfield, Ashland and part of Douglas counties.  Towns will have the option of placing and owning the towers on town land and then could lease the tower usage to multiple carriers.  Estimated costs for the towers are not finalized but Webb discussed the advantage for town ownership would be the obvious increase in control of the towers, their placement and development to avoid the issues we have experienced to date with prior tower construction.  Additional meetings will be scheduled as the development plan is finalized.              

Motion (Porter/Webb) to open the floor for discussion.  Motion carried.

Jon Harkness complained regarding the unfinished Verizon cell towers on Highway 27, despite the promises from the original representative; he stated that the Board should require more conditions and planning for cell towers.

Motion (Porter/McGee) to close the floor for discussion.  Motion carried.

12.  Adjourn:    Motion (Porter/McGee) to Adjourn the Regular Town Board Meeting of November 15, 2011.  Motion carried.    The meeting was adjourned at 7:35PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Stephen C. Baldwin, Deputy Clerk-Treasurer

Dated this 22^nd day of November, 2011