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August 9, 2011 August Meeting Minutes
TOWN OF LINCOLN
Board Meeting Minutes
August 9, 2011 7:06 P.M.
Board Members Present: Dick Thomer, Tom Finta, Dave Rogers, Judith Johnson, Carol Szymanski, Josh Mauritz and Kathy Lindgren
APPROVE MINUTES OF July 19, 2011 & Special meeting on August 2, 2011MEETING: The minutes were sent via e-mail to the board members prior to the meeting. Request to remove “option of township regarding hunting” from Vietchegger land. Clarification of motion made at July meeting on use of PO Box by township and address updates requested by Treasurer. Motion to accept the minutes with noted correction of deletion of “option of township to open Vietchegger land for hunting” made by Josh Mauritz, second by Dave Rogers. All ayes. Motion carried.
Introduction of visitors: Girl Scouts, Jessica Purgett & Hannah
TREASURER’S REPORT: The financial report prepared and read by Carol Szymanski included: Town of Lincoln June ending balance of $22,039.56 ; July disbursements of $60,807.86; July income of $58,097.45 which was the total from: hall rentals of $100.00, transportation aid of $25,160.54, transfer of savings in the amount of $25,00.00, shared revenue of $5,692.70, payment of invoices for Eagle Rd damage for $65.00 and damaged barrier for $55.00, $268.57 from junk culverts, operator (bartender) license for $25.00, $200.00 from Grace Baptist Church zoning permit, liquor/bartender/cigarette license of $1,355.00, computer state aid for $174.00, and July interest of $1.64 leaving a July balance of $19,329.15.
Town of Lincoln Fire Department June ending balance of $2,595.88. There were no July disbursements. July income of $.20, leaving a July balance of $2,596.08. Invested money remains the same for the three CD’s: M&I Bank-road work fund- of $27,111.39, maturity date of 9/16/2011, Time Federal Savings Bank-road machinery fund- $10, 003.19, maturity date of 8/13/2011 & Time Federal Savings Bank – Fire Department CD - $27,548.17. Passbook savings account – road fund account has a balance of $76,119.15; the working account has a balance of $172,047.78 after the $25,000 withdrawal to cover bills. The M&I tax account remains the same at $10.61. The surcharges remain the same as does the balance on the fire truck note of $31,910.48 + interest. Road machinery fund at Time Federal matures on 8-13-2011, discussion of whether to reinvest it or take it out. Motion to renew the road machinery fund CD with the added interest made by Judy Johnson, second by Dave Rogers. All Ayes, Motion carried. Motion by Dave Rogers to accept the financial report, second by Tom Finta. All ayes. Motion carried.
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE: Kathy Lindgren prepared and read the accounts payable report and payroll report. Motion by Judy Johnson to accept accounts payable report and payroll, second by Tom Finta. All ayes. Motion carried.
REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES:
Building Permits: No building permits were issued for the month of July.
Fire Department: August 4, 2011 meeting. First responder refresher class is scheduled for September 1, 2011; sign up forms need to be in. Farm Technology days was a success. Signs were ordered for marking roads for accidents. There were seven first responder calls and mutual aid with Hewitt for a structure fire, which resulted in a fatality. The next meeting is scheduled for September 10, 2011 in the morning. The Fire Department annual breakfast fundraiser is scheduled for October 16, 2011; planning will be done at the September meeting. The checking account balance is $2,596.08 and equipment CD balance is $27, 548. Get Fired Up is October 9, 2011. Five pagers have been repaired under warranty. Nine radios will work when narrow band is enacted; two radios will no longer work. Tour of Nasonville Dairy was done in preparation of a fire.
Clarification of fire billing and payments per suggestion at July’s meeting: Per conversation of representative of Rural Fire, Bob Wunrow, fires involving structures, get billed through the Marshfield Rural Fire Association, with the township experiencing the fire being billed by the fire association and the township volunteers providing assistance are paid from that association. In the case of a grass fire, the township will handle it without assistance of another township unless it gets out of hand and requires backup. The township pays a quarterly dues of $1,995.77 to the Marshfield Rural Fire Commission.
SPECIAL ORDERS: None
PUBLIC INPUT: Sue Dix voiced concern about meeting date change in July and notification and publication of meeting date changes. Sue Dix also voiced concerns about financials not in being in balance. Sue Dix and Char Jackson further discussed concerns about board members not abiding by rules and regulations that are set; specifically, the issue in question was in regards to the Board’s determination regarding the withholding the town hall security deposit for an infraction of a rule, which was discussed at July’s meeting. The decision by the Board was that the withholding of the security deposit should not be a punitive measure but instead to cover damages as a result of rule infractions. Char Jackson discussed building maintenance of window vane, and need for window sill replacement. Discussion of problems of water coming in under the sill and soaking the insulation, this needs to be fixed before sill replacement is done. Sue Dix further expressed concerns regarding the possibility of the fire chief assisting in snow removal. Char Jackson discussed concerns about health insurance benefit reduction slated for October 2011, per motion made at July’s meeting when the signed job agreement is dated through 2011. This concern is addressed in a later agenda item.
CONTINUING BUSINESS:
Road work 2011: Another bad culvert on Westby road was located; not bad enough to do this year; leave for next year. This is a large culvert, about 4’ high, that is rotting out but will be okay for this year. Also noted a 20” culvert on Robin Rd, south of Mill Creek that needs to be replaced this year. A second hole on Yellow River Road has emerged, just west of Robin, has been temporarily repaired but will need to be excavated out down to solid footing. Wren Road, between Sternweis Redi-mix driveways, ditch needs to be cleaned out. Andy Gingerich was approached by Sternweis about them doing the ditch work, after Diggers Hotline marks underground utilities. Concerns about liability issues and insurance issues if Sternweis does the ditch work. It was noted that it is the responsibility of the township to maintain the ditches. New area of Falcon shoulder, binder layer and top layer can be seen along the edge in various areas; shoulder may need to be graded. Culverts on Ives; floods in July, caused washouts. Discussion about putting cement over back side in problem areas versus putting in additional culverts. Looking at water shed, the township takes on a lot of water from the City of Marshfield. There are two distinct drainage basins, one comes down Lincoln and drains by Amber Drive, and the other basin that washed out last year. The ones further to the west by Sunset drains water from the other side of Hwy 13. Questions if culverts are undersized. Looking down stream, south of Ives, between Ives and Adler, there’s a lot more property that can withstand more water without damage than properties north of Ives, by the washouts. If more culverts were put under Ives, it would move the water south of Ives quicker, and this area could withstand more of that water and the bridge on Adler can handle it. It would act like a retention basin and retain a lot of the water. Ives has been washed out three times this year. Can’t protect our roads when there is a 100 year storm event of 7” or 8” of rain in an hour; not even a bridge would help in an event like that. Calls were received about washouts on Airport Rd; culvert is bad there too. Discussion about replacement of culvert(s) on Ives; approximately $6,000 per culvert site, which does not include mortar of rip-wrap. If contractor is used, the job needs to be bid out as it is more than $5,000. If done by township, it would require the rental of a 17,000 lb. excavator for a week, which leads to the problem of moving equipment around to other job sites. If work is done on Ives, they would be there for at least three days and then move to Pine Lane. The problem comes in if it is decided to do other small jobs, such as repair of Yellow River Road and culvert on Robin, which causes issues of moving equipment. The benefits of purchasing a trailer to haul equipment were discussed. The purchase of a used trailer for $4,800 would require installation of an air brake system on the township plow truck at a cost of $1,900, for a total cost of $6,700. The purchase of new trailer, equipped with electric brakes, could be delivered to the township for approximately $8,000. To hook up the township truck to tow with electric brake system would cost $1,100; to hook up the air brake system would be an additional $1,800. Discussion about amount of road money available as 2011 budget was amended in December meeting, with the carry over money of $76,000 from 2009 taxes being allocated to clerk, road, fire truck, and town hall. The CD at M&I matures in September. Money from the Road Machinery fund could be used to purchase the trailer. Haven’t been able to locate a rental company that rents trailers large enough to move rented excavating equipment. Cost savings of doing culvert work with township employees versus contracting was noted as being minimal, a couple hundred dollars. The benefit of doing roadwork using township employees versus contracting jobs out is that work can be done on our schedule and the work doesn’t need to be bid out. Discussed option of using $10,000 left over from Falcon Rd project to purchase the trailer and then replenish the fund when the CD matures next year. Discussion of FEMA money designation and when it was received; FEMA money was deposited in the general fund. The purchase of a new trailer was tabled to allow for other trailer sales companies to be investigated. Motion by Tom Finta to purchase seven culverts; 240’ of 42” for Ives, 48’ of 20” culvert for Robin Rd and 51’ of 20”culvert for Airport Rd, to spend up to $9,000, second by Josh Mauritz. All Ayes. Motion carried. Discussion to plant grass on the downslope of the culvert versus concrete. Discussion about Fahrner continuing with chip sealing roads; they will do the warranty work first, which leaves 1 1/4 miles that hasn’t been started, should they be allowed to continue chip sealing. The direction of the ditching near town hall stock pile area was discussed. It was noted that the current waterway will be followed for ditching. Yellow River Road was cold patched today, August 9, 2011.
Liquor License Fees: Discussion on posting boards and locations for them. Suggested locations included: Corpus Christie Church, Weber Farm Store, and Nasonville School. Tom Finta provided a photo of a meeting notice board used in the town of Lynn in Clark County as a sample of what we could build for posting agendas, meeting minutes, ordinances and other notices that are required by statute to be posted. Dick Thomer will talk to Webers Farm Store and Tom Finta will talk to Corpus Christie Church for permission to erect a posting board at those locations. Agendas and meeting minutes are put on the website, but at this time, websites are not considered as a recognized posting location.
Accounting Software: Allocation of $1,000 out of the working fund to have available for Clifton Gunderson to work with the township, reviewing receipts and payments, so Clerk and Treasurer will balance. The first meeting with Clifton Gunderson was to ensure that the chart of accounts was set up correctly before entering data and for assistance in setting up payroll. The second meeting is to look at the accounting processes of the treasurer. Motion to spend up to $1,000 with Clifton Gunderson made by Judy Johnson, second by Dave Rogers. All Ayes. Motion carried.
Brookview Lane: Jeff Hill attended meeting but left the meeting before the agenda item was discussed. Motion to approve letter to Jeff Hill as written and mail it was made by Dave Rogers, second by Tom Finta. All ayes. Motion carried.
Veitschegger Land: Board members walked the Veitschegger land on August 9, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. Dennis Juncer, attorney working with the township, will be contacted to find out what costs, if any, would be incurred by the township if taking ownership of Veitschegger property.
Employee Health Insurance: Tom Finta read an e-mail response from the Wisconsin Towns Association attorney Carol, which stated that employees at will can have pay and benefits adjusted at anytime and suggested the township change the wording on the job responsibility sheet so it does not suggest that pay and benefits are locked in for a year. A previous e-mail response from the same attorney a few years ago, stated that the documents that were sent to her for review appeared to be job descriptions and did not read like a contract. Char Jackson stated that her attorney told her it was a legal document because it was signed by the town chairman. Discussion on levy decrease, government state aid cut backs and the impact on the township and the township’s need to cut back. Char Jackson mentioned the board sizes of surrounding municipalities and the possibility of decreasing the size of the township board as a cutback method. Motion by Dave Rogers to rescind the motion made at the July 19, 2011 meeting regarding Char Jackson’s insurance decrease by 50%, second by Judy Johnson. All ayes. Motion carried.
Deb’s Unemployment: Department of Workforce Development reopened the case and credited $458.88.
NEW BUSINESS:
Trailer: As discussed under Road Work.
Monthly Employee’s Pay: Employee’s pay should be paid the second Wednesday of the month regardless if the meeting is held the second Tuesday of the month or changed to another date. Motion by Dick Thomer that employees will be paid on the second Wednesday of the month, second by Dave Rogers. All ayes. Motion carried.
Employee Grievance Procedure: Due to new state law, the grievance procedure must be in place by October 1, 2011. Impartial Hearing Officer, suggestions are an attorney, retired judge, or impartial person, must be appointed and fees established. Sample forms are available on line. The grievance procedure will address, at a minimum, issues of employee termination, employee disciple and workplace safety. Resolution to adopt the grievance procedure needs to be adopted at the September meeting.
Credit Card: Discussion of credit card for Treasurer, specifically Office Max, but they do not accept credit card applications from businesses. Book & Stationery does permit the Town of Lincoln to put charges on account. Annual fees are being paid on our existing credit cards.
Wisconsin Town’s Association: Town of Lincoln is hosting the Wood County Town’s Association meeting at the Municipal building on September 16, 2011. August Wisconsin Town’s Association will be held on Friday, August 19, 2011 at Dexter Town Hall.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Motion to adjourn made by Dave Rogers at 9:30, second by Judy Johnson. All ayes. Motion carried.
Posted on August 22, 2011 by
Kathleen M Lindgren
Town Clerk
Archive:
April 10, 2012 April Meeting-unapproved
April 10, 2012 Annual Meeting-unapproved
March 13, 2012 March Meeting
February 22, 2012 Special Meeting-Tanker Truck
February 14, 2012 February Meeting Minutes
January 10, 2012 Caucus
January 10, 2012 January Meeting Minutes
December 13, 2011 December Meeting Minutes
November 14, 2011 Special Board Meeting-Adopt Budget
November 8, 2011 Public Hearing-Budget