Meeting Minutes, June 10, 2019

TOWN OF LIBERTY

June 10, 2019

Chairman Terry Theis called the monthly meeting of the Town of Liberty to order at 6:30 pm. on Monday, June 10, 2019 at the Liberty Town Hall and proceeded with the Pledge of Allegiance. Members present were Terry Theis, Nicole Rakobitsch, Adrian Amelse, Treasurer Karen Peterson and Clerk Lori Polhamus.

2. Clerk Lori Polhamus read the minutes of the May 13, 2019 regular town meeting. Rakobitsch stated the spelling for Prorok should be fixed under item twelve. Motion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to approve the minutes of the previous meeting as corrected. All in favor. Motion carried.

3. Treasurer’s report. (report attached) Peterson read the Treasurer’s report. Beginning cash balance as of 5/1/19 was $16,380.74 and an ending cash balance as of 5/31/19 of $37,076.81 was reported. Interest year to date on the General Fund was $9.08 and interest earned year to date on the Tax Account was $50.97. There is $75,293.13 available in the tax account. Receipts included FEMA payments, building permits and gravel sales.

4. Patrolman's Report– the truck is in the shop again after being towed in. They are not sure of the problem so the ditch work is not getting done. The gravel cannot be hauled until the ditching is done. Discussion on the fall back plan for our truck should be added to our next agenda.

5.First Period for public comment – John Mathes had a question on the Gore Hollow turnaround for the rescue squad and Theis stated they were okay with the radius of the turnaround that is being discussed. Taryn Lawler stated there is a $3000 grant availability toward fire gear that she will bring info to the Board on.

6.Town Announcements- July 15this the date of our next meeting because of the public hearing. Amelse stated the resolution that went to the Vernon County Finance Committee got reduced to $10,000 per Town from Ho-Chunk funding from $20,000 so that is what is going to the County Board. Rakobitsch stated the Comprehensive Plan is now on the Town website.

7.Acceptance of resignation and approval to advertise for recycling attendant position– Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Amelse to accept Carol Theis's resignation as recycling attendant effective July 13th. All in favor. Motion carried. Motion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to place ads for the recycling attendant at $11.27/hour in the Epitaph, the dump board and website with a due date of July 12th. All in favor. Motion carried. Review of applications will be done at the July 15thmeeting.

8. Action on liquor license renewals for 2019-2020 license year– Motion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to approve the Sportsman's Club and Liberty Bar renewals at the current prices with a conditional approval on three of the operator licenses that need to show proof of taking the alcohol class. All in favor. Motion carried.

9.Discussion on Chadwick Hollow as emergency route – John Mathes– Mathes was in attendance on behalf of the Kickapoo Rescue Squad stating that Chadwick Hollow was not passable after the flooding and needs to be year round as a matter of emergencies. This is not designated as an emergency route, however during the floods this may be the only way that an emergency vehicle can get through. There is possible funding to help with this through CDBG. There are three areas that need base and mat along with breaker run and gravel at an estimate of about $12,000. Orlin stated it would probably be higher than that. Rakobitsch will check into the grant funding. An overall road discussion will be added to an agenda later this summer.

10.Discussion with possible action on road tubes– We need five tubes put in with two on Gore Hollow, one on Chadwick Hollow Hill, one on Willow Road and one on Elk Run. Motion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to approve the tubes. All in favor. Motion carried.

11.Discussion with possible action on dust control on Town roads– Theis did not hear back from the Town of Franklin and Town of Sterling will not be ordering pine tar this year. They order from Walsh AG in Waukon, Iowa so we will get a price from them. In 2012 we paid $727.63 to the Town of Franklin to put pine tar down. The County has one truck that could be used but only with Chloride and their driver. The cost would be $40.88 for the truck rental, $35.00/hour for driver and .71 cents/gallon for the chloride plus 5% admin fee. It would take approximately 6 hours labor and truck and around 1000 gallons. Other options would be to do oil based products and adding a tank to our truck with a spray bar. Motion by Amelse to authorize up to $2000 with the use of Vernon County to spray when the ditch work is complete for this year and reassess in 2020. Motion failed for lack of second. This will be added to next months agenda for further discussion.

12.Update with possible action on plans for Gore Hollow hill– Notices went out to residents regarding the public hearing on July 15th. This info will also be sent to the Post Office, EMS, Kickapoo Schools, Brandon Larson, Fire Department, Rescue Squad and Vernon County Sheriff. The public hearing will be to collect information with a decision to be made in August. Orlin will bring aerial shots of the hill to the meeting and a rough estimate of costs to go out for bids. It was suggested to possibly designate the hill as a Class B highway which would change the maintenance requirements and allow to close it only during the winter months. It would also have a 50% weight restriction. The Town of Stark did this with some of their roads.

13.Action on updates to alternative members for Board of Review Ordinance– this item will be brought back to the next meeting after the members are notified.

14.Discussion with possible action on shining ordinance– Amelse worked with Proline to come up with an 18x12 steel sign. It will take about 10+ signs so he recommends ordering 15 at $241.78 so we have some spares. We will also need posts. Amelse will talk with Phil Hewitt and DOT regarding sign locations on State and County highways. The announcement should go in the paper and on the website. Motion by Rakobitsch/second by Amelse to approve ordinance number 2019-02 prohibiting shining of animals on public roadways in Town of Liberty. All in favor. Motion carried.

15.Discussion with possible action on cell tower ordinance – A town resident received a letter from Bug Tussel looking for locations for cell towers and we may want to look at what local control we want to add on these. There are some templates for possible ordinances at the Towns Association and Rakobitsch will follow up on those.

16.Update from Zoning Committee – the first meeting was on May 28thwith all present. Nicole was elected Chair and Wayde Lawler is Secretary. They plan to meet once a month with June 25that 7pm being their next meeting. They will use consensus decision making. They discussed the open meetings law, reviewed the comprehensive plan,timeline and scope of work. They hope to present a draft recommendation to the Town Board in December.

17.Action & Approval on monthly billsMotion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to approve total bills of $8,979.80 as presented. All in favor. Motion carried.

18.Review of building permits (if any) - Wayde Lawler permit was completed.

19.Second period for public comment -David Klann stated there have been several ATV's on County Highway S. Taryn Lawler and Paul Linskins commented on the EMS and Chadwick Hollow issue.

20.Future agenda items– only those listed previously within these minutes.

Motion by Amelse/second by Rakobitsch to adjourn the meeting at 8:24 pm. All in favor. Motion carried.

Minutes submitted by: Lori Polhamus, Town Clerk