BUDGET HEARING, TOWN MEETING, BOARD MEETING

November 5, 2008

 

Present:  Chairman Beske, Supervisors Sperle and Shapiro Hurley, Clerk George and Treasurer Sime.  Absent: Supervisor Lunde who arrived at 6:30 p.m.  There were no members of the public present at 6:00 p.m.

 

1.      PUBLIC HEARING FOR REVIEW OF PROPOSED 2009 BUDGET.  CLOSE PUBLIC HEARING.

No persons other than the Board were present so the Public Hearing was opened and immediately closed.

 

2.      CALL TO ORDER OF SPECIAL TOWN MEETING.  Chairman Beske called the special Town meeting to order.

 

3.      RESOLUTION NO. 08-11-01 FOR ADOPTION OF 2008 LEVY OF $459113 TO BE PAID IN 2009 PURSUANT TO 60.10(1)(a) WIS. STATS.  Motion and second for adoption of Resolution 08-11-01 by Sperle and Shapiro Hurley; motion carried unanimously.

 

4.      RESOLUTION NO. 08-11-02 FOR APPROVAL OF 2009 HIGHWAY EXPENDITURES IN EXCESS OF $230,150 (46.03 miles of road times $5000) PURSUANT TO 81.01(3), WIS. STATS.

Motion and second for adoption of Resolution 08-11-02 by Shapiro Hurley and Sperle; motion carried unanimously.

 

5.   SET COMPENSATION FOR TOWN OFFICIALS PURSUANT TO 60.10(1)(b), WIS.

      STATS.

             a.    Salary for Clerk beginning April 14, 2009 in the amount of $18000 (+$2000).

        b.    Salary for Treasurer beginning April 14, 2009 in the amount of $9500 (+$1000).

Motion and second to adopt both the Clerk’s and Treasurer’s salary as proposed above; motion carried unanimously.

 

6.  ADJOURNMENT OF TOWN MEETING. Motion and second to adjourn the town meeting at 6:11 p.m. by Shapiro Hurley and Sperle; motion carried unanimously.

 

7.  TOWN BOARD MEETING.

Chairman Beske called the Board meeting to order.  Supervisor Lunde arrived.  Because it was not 6:30 p.m. (the normal time for the beginning of the Board meeting), the published agenda was suspended and the Board moved to items on the agenda that did not involve members of the public.  The minutes are written in the order that they were addressed.

                                                                                               

AGENDA:                                                                                                                                                      

1.      ACTION AS NECESSARY ON PLANNING COMMISSION VACANCY.  Chairman Beske advised the Board that his recommendation was to appoint Mark Porter to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Charles Burch.  Sperle moved, Shapiro Hurley seconded the motion to accept the Chairman’s recommendation and appoint Mark Porter as a new member of the Planning Commission.

 

2.      REPORTS OF MEETINGS ATTENDED BY THE BOARD AS NECESSARY.  Chairman Beske reported that he had attended a meeting of the Stoughton Economic Development Committee.  It appears that this is no longer an area committee and that the focus is on the City of Stoughton so he will most likely drop out. 

      Beske further updated the Board regarding ongoing activities pertaining to the water issue

      along Hwy 92, Hwy 14 and Biglow Road.  The next meeting will held at the Brooklyn 

      Community building on Thursday, November 13^th beginning at 8:30 a.m.

 

3.      GALLAGHER LANE CULVERT.  The Board will meet at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, November 8^th to discuss this matter.

 

4.      REPORT FROM PLANNING COMMISSION AND ANY ACTION NECESSARY.

      Referrals from previous meetings:  Norma Winch inquiry about splitting off residence from agricultural land.

Dale Beske has talked with Dane County and learned that there are currently no deed restrictions on the land surrounding the residence.  If we rezone the residential acreage, we can put a Town deed restriction on the remaining ag land which prohibits residential development.  This deed restriction would be upheld by the county.

Dale reported that he has had an email from a neighbor in opposition to the requested rezoning of the residential postage stamp acreage and splitting from the farm land.  Dale had already responded to the concern by explaining that continuing to require that the 35 acres of A-1 Ex. land and the house be sold as a unit does not assure that the A-1 Ex.acreage will continue to be farmed.  It might even make it less likely.

            Motion:  Recommend to the Town Board approval of the request to allow creation of a separate parcel which would split the residential postage stamp acreage from the A-1 land.  This would be done by CSM.

Board Action:  Sperle moved, Shapiro Hurley seconded, to accept the Planning Commission recommendation to approve the creation of a separate parcel containing the residence and no ag land; motion carried 4-0.  The clerk was advised to contact the town attorney to draw up a deed restriction prohibiting residential development on all the remaining A-1 Ex. land owned by Ms. Winch.  A new CSM may need to be done to include the remaining 33 acres that will retain the A-1 Ex. land included in that parcel.

 

Appearances for preliminary inquiries and information:  Todd Wolf regarding building site eligibility for property on West Rutland Road.

This property was viewed on July 3^rd, 2007.  Mr. wolf wants to know if he can rezone his parcel and remove the deed restriction prohibiting residential development.  He has been advised by someone in the Dane County office that the lot is big enough to meet the setback requirements and should not be a problem.

Dale explained that this lot was a the result of a combination of two remnant parcels created by the purchase of HWY 14 right of way and that the splits had been used up on the farms from which they came, so that there are no development rights left to be assigned to his parcel.  The deed restriction has nothing to do with the size of the lot, but rather, that no splits remain.

Mr. Wolf had brought along some documents that had been photocopied for him by Dane county staff, but as Dale read through them, they were related to larger tracts, perhaps the original farms from which the remnants were split.

Mr. Wolf then asked if he could keep it as A-1 with the allowable use of a residence for the farmer.  Dale explained that this would require a farm plan with substantial income derived from the acreage and that would be very difficult to do on 1.1 acres.  It appears that the only option for Mr. Wolf is to rezone his parcel with a deed restriction prohibiting residential development.

Board action:  None.  It was reiterated that there are no splits remaining on this property.

 

Dane county Ordinance amendment 21 creating an A-4 small lot exclusive Ag district.  Commission recommendation was approval to the Town Board of Ordinance Amendment 21. 

Board action:  Motion and second by Shapiro Hurley and Lunde to accept the Planning Commission recommendation to approve Ordinance Amendment 21; motion carried 4-0.

 

5.      APPEARANCE BY OL’ STONE ESTATES RESIDENTS REGARDING PARK LAND AND SPEEDING.  There were a number of Ol’ Stone Estates residents in attendance.  The general consensus of those present was to leave the existing pong in the parkland alone.  Filling it in or pumping it out would not be a viable option.  The mosquito problem this year was caused by the excessive rains received and was a problem everywhere.  The dead and downed trees were discussed.  The Board felt that they would not have a problem with the residents removing the downed trees but would need to sign a waiver of liability beforehand.  However, the Board did not approve the removal by the residents of standing dead trees.  The clerk was advised to talk to the town attorney to obtain a waiver form to be signed by the residents absolving the Town of liability.  Shapiro Hurley felt that the use of non-nitrogen, phosphorous free fertilizer on the lawns nearby might help reduce the algae that forms on the pond.

Discussion ensued regarding the speeding issues in the subdivision.  A number of possible options were discussed including stop signs, speed bumps, additional speed limit signs, installation of a speed board, rumble strips.  Dane Co. Sheriff’s representative Cindy Holmes was present and noted that they would increase patrols and write tickets which would be effective for a while, but that this would be an ongoing problem.  She will see about installing a speed board.  Speed bumps and rumble strips will not be options considered.  Sue Fry presented a petition signed by 38 Ol’ Stone Estate residents opposing speed bumps.  The road patrolmen will be advised to get additional speed limit signs for the subdivision roads.  Those residents present were advised to get input from other subdivision residents regarding the possible installation of a 3-way stop at the intersection of Game Ridge Trail and Meanderwood Rd. and advise the Board at the next board meeting.  If there was strong support of this idea, the town could pursue that option.

 

6.      APPEARANCE BY DANE CO. SHERIFF DEPT. REPRESENTATIVE.  Deputy Holmes reported that there were 54 citations issued in the Town in the last month with 29 of those issued for speeding.

 

7.      CONSTABLE REPORT.  Chairman Beske reported that the Constable position vacated by the resignation of Rich Reilly will remain vacant until the April election as this position must be elected and can not be by appointment.

 

8.      DISCUSSION AND NECESSARY ACTION REGARDING RACETRACK LENGTH OF RACES.

Dave Grueneberg was present and advised the Board that the final 2-day event ran late because of accidents.  If the ambulance is used, they must shut down racing until a second ambulance arrives to ensure that emergency medical care is available at all times.  Grueneberg will return to the January meeting to discuss the 2009 schedule.  He was requested to submit monthly reports stating the time each race night ended.  Grueneberg submitted a report for all of 2008 with this information.

 

9.      DISCUSSION OF AND NECESSARY ACTION REGARDING ROUNDABOUT VS SIGNAL AT DEER POINT RD./HWY 51 INTERSECTION.

Board action:  Motion and second by Lunde and Shapiro Hurley to go on record that the Rutland Town Board is in favor of a stoplight at the intersection of Deer Point Rd., Hwy 51 and Roby Rd. and ask the Stoughton City Council to reconsider their action supporting a roundabout; motion carried 4-0.  A communication was received from a nearby property owner supporting consideration of making Hwy 51 four lanes from Stoughton to Hwy B.  The Board felt that this would probably not be a viable option and would not adequately address the problem of traffic accessing Hwy 51 from Deer Point Rd. or Roby Rd.

 

10.  DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON SALE OF LP TANKS.

Board action:  The clerk was directed to contact local LP suppliers and check on: 1) How much will the town be paid for the gas that is left in the LP tanks; 2) Suppliers interested in purchasing tanks and price that would be paid; 3) cost of emptying the tanks – trip charge or per tank charge.  The clerk was further directed to insert an ad in the papers requesting sealed bids for the purchase of the tanks to be opened at the December Board meeting.

 

11.  DISCUSSION REGARDING PAYMENT OF CHURCH RESTORATION BILL AND INSURANCE ON CHURCH.  No action was taken on the payment of the bill pending receipt of further information including the 15% overhead charge.  The insurance on the church building has been increased to $50,000.  The Board took no action to increase the amount of coverage at this point.

 

12.  ADOPTION OF 2009 BUDGET.  Motion and second by Shapiro Hurley and Lunde to adopt the 2009 budget as proposed; motion carried 4-0.

 

13.  CONSENT AGENDA:

• MINUTES.  Motion/second by Lunde and Shapiro Hurley to approve the 10/2/08 minutes as corrected; motion carried 4-0.  Motion/second by Sperle and Shapiro Hurley to approve the minutes of the 10/15/08 meeting as presented; motion carried 4-0.
• TREASURER’S REPORT.  The collection center attendants will be advised that a resident with an unpaid restitution for an NSF check and fees will not be allowed to use the collection center until the fees are paid.  Motion and second by Shapiro Hurley and Sperle directing the Treasurer to transfer $20,000 from Capital Reserve to checking to cover checks being issued this month; motion carried 4-0.

• VOUCHERS AND CHECKS.

Motion and second by Shapiro Hurley and Sperle to approve the consent agenda; motion carried 4-0.

 

14.  CORRESPONDENCE & COMMUNICATIONS.

• Shapiro Hurley will attend the Energy Incentive meeting sponsored by the Wisconsin Towns Association.
• Communication received from Dane Co. Executive Falk regarding emergency radio system and who would pay cost of new radios.
• Election results.  The clerk reported on the election results and noted that with 1195 votes cast out of DOA estimate of 1487 eligible voters, the turnout in Rutland was 80%.
• New plat books put together in-house by Dane County Planning and the Dane County Clerk were reviewed.  The new plat books are larger and contain aerial photos of each municipality in addition to the plat maps. Copies will be purchased for the Board and Planning Commission.
• Invitation to Participate in Environmental Review Process – US 51 Corridor Study.  DOT will be notified that the Town will continue to participate in this process.  Rutland representatives have been involved with this study since 2003.

 

15.  ADJOURNMENT.  The November 2008 Board meeting was adjourned at 9:11 p.m. on motion and second by Sperle and Shapiro Hurley; motion carried 4-0.

 

Respectfully Submitted,

Dawn George, Clerk