Chairman Terry Theis called the monthly meeting of the Town of Liberty to order at 6:00 pm. on Monday, July 9, 2018 at the Liberty Town Hall and proceeded with the Pledge of Allegiance. Members present were Terry Theis, Nicole Rakobitsch, Treasurer Karen Peterson and Clerk, Lori Polhamus. Supervisor Adrian Amelse was absent.
2. Clerk read the minutes of the June 11, 2018 regular town meeting. Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Theis to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as read. All in favor. Motion carried.
3. Treasurer’s report. (report attached) Peterson read the Treasurer’s report. Beginning cash balance as of 06/1/18 was $18,257.79 and an ending cash balance as of 6/30/18 of $8740.01 was reported. Interest year to date on the General Fund was $14.00 and interest earned year to date on the Tax Account was $63.07. There is $84,961.45 available in the tax account for transfer.
4. Town Announcements– Theis received a resident call regarding tree trimming on Scott Hollow and he checked with the Towns Association and the Vernon County Land Description Clerk and the resident owns to the center of the road so they would be responsible for the tree trimming on their property so Theis will give them a call regarding this. If necessary this will be added to our next agenda.
5.Discussion with possible action on 2018-2019 propane contract– Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Theis to approve the ten cents per gallon deposit for 1913 gallons and prepay $191.30. All in favor. Motion carried.
6. Discussion with possible action on website options/email applications– an email listing was discussed at the last meeting to be able to do a mass distribution of information such as meeting cancellations, etc. This can be set up on the website so it is has a do not reply function on it so the open records violations should not occur and be strictly informational. We can send a note out with the tax bills if anyone would want to sign up for this feature. The consensus of the Board was to move forward with this function. Polhamus stated that more ordinances have been put on the website as well.
7.Discussion with possible action on dust control on town roads - Theis spoke with both the Towns of Sterling and Franklin. Sterling does not have the time and Franklin was willing to work with us but hasn't ordered their pine tar yet this year. Once they do and know a price they will let us know. Orlin also spoke with the Vernon County Highway shop and they will also get back to us on the price to apply but we would have to supply the sap. The price for purchasing the sap from Sterling's supplier was 90 cents per gallon and we used 1000-1200 gallons last time but we would need to have a place to store it. Purchasing our own system will be put on the capital budget discussion in the fall. Theis also looked at a oil (soy-based) product which was more expensive and farther away. Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Theis to increase the amount to $900 for the pine sap application and work with the Town of Franklin. All in favor. Motion carried.
8.Discussion on long-term options/alternatives for maintenance on hill roads– the Gore Hollow hill keeps getting torn up by trucks sometimes multiple times per day. Theis received a quote from Scott Construction regarding seal coating and the cost for single seal coating all the hills was $118,040 which is out of the realm of our budget. This did not include our need for culverts, ditching and breaker run and we would need to do a double seal per our ordinances so this cost would double. The cost alone for just Gore Hollow hill would be $55,884. There are some residents that would still like to see the hill closed. No action was taken by the Board at this time and the consensus was to keep up with maintenance of the road as it is.
9. Request from Vernon County to change road name from Oak Street to Oak Road– currently the State Department of Transportation and Town of Liberty show this as Oak Street and the Vernon County Sheriff's E911 shows this as Oak Road. They would like to see us change the name to conform with E911 standards. Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Theis to change the road name to Oak Road from Oak Street. All in favor. Motion carried. Polhamus will contact Bruce Olson regarding the paperwork to send to the DOT and Theis will order the new road sign.
10. Capital improvement plan discussion with possible project estimates– no update – tabled until the August meeting.
11.Discussion with possible action on employee policies– no update tabled until the August meeting.
12.Action & Approval on monthly bills– Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Theis to approve total bills of $26,651.41 as presented. All in favor. Motion carried. The Kraemer bill will be held pending receipt of weight slips which Orlin will get.
13.Review of building permits (if any) – the Board previously reviewed two permits for McCarthy and Lawler.
14.Period for public comment – Susan Gosslein asked if the Town could grade Illusion Drive for the Association and they would pay the Town for the service. She was told that this is a private drive and we cannot compete with private industry regarding this service.
15. Future agenda items– hold harmless agreement with Vernon County Highway and other items already noted within these minutes.
Motion by Theis/second by Rakobitsch to adjourn the meeting at 7:21 pm. All in favor. Motion carried.
Minutes submitted by: Lori Polhamus, Town Clerk
