Town Board Meeting — Minutes

MINUTES AMBERG TOWN BOARD MEETING Tuesday, March 14, 6:00 pm Chairman Mattison called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm with the entire board and ten citizens present. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited and Chairman Mattison opened the floor for public comment. Shawn Sagan gave credit to the road crew for the condition of Ambergs roads. Mark Wisinski requested that the board needs to address the railroad crossings in town. Treasurer Suzawith responded that the county road commissioner should be contacted for help with crossing repairs. Treasurer Suzawith reported the following totals: Cash on Hand General Money Market $27,622.45; Tax Money Market $443,093.35; Checking $110,501.00; and Equipment CD $219,749.33. He reported that there are numerous outstanding checks and that the bank suggested that any check over one year old should not be considered into the town’s account. He also stated that a bank representative will be coming to the next board meeting to talk about options for keeping money insured in the bank. Clerk Boshen read the mintes from the January and February meeting into the record. Supervisor Magley with a second by Supervisor Campbell made the motion to accept the treasurer’s report and both the January and February minutes. Vouchers were paid. ON-GOING/CONTINUING BUSINESS Jim Pickett, Rural Mutual Insurance representative went over the commercial comprehensive policy and liability coverage for town board, employees and fire department operations. Workers compensation is a separate policy. The amounts of all of the Town Building at all location was summarized, totaling 2.2 million insured; $184,000 on business personal property and specified outdoor properties; up to 3 million dollars per occurrence, with another million available if needed. Automotive is also included in liability. There is 3 million on town officials, and operations as public officials, and also on the fire department with an additional 1 million umbrella available. Sheriff Randy Miller introduced self and said a few words. Fred Smeester, Plan commission Chair, reported there was no meeting or report for this month. The Fire Department Report is on file in the clerk’s office for review. Mark Wisinski reported that the Wausaukee Rescue Squad had 24 calls last month vs 17 calls for the previous year. There were 5 calls to Amberg in January and 5 in February. Discussion pertaining to the Road Department included the following: a) Purchase a bulk gas tank for shop (advantages/costs/etc). Supervisor Magley reported that a 300 gallon tank will work in area by shop with little movement of existing structures. He estimated that the Town would save on the price by gallon by having it on hand. Estimated cost for a fuel tank with pump would be about $3000. He will look further into pricing, safety, and potential insurance cost to town. b) Continuing Road work (snow removal, equipment maintenance, etc) One dump truck got new brakes due to being worn down to nothing. c) Hire a contractor and schedule gravel crushing. Supervisor Magley proposed to check with new guy in Iron Mountain about bid price and scheduling gravel crushing at the Smiley pit. Rosella Smiley approved a new contract with the Town for 10,000 cubic yards of crushed gravel. d) What is the criteria/qualifications for hiring a new road crew employee, salary & benefits, etc. Is it by an individual request by board member, advertising, or soliciting applications. Need to know the job description and qualifications, pay scale. e) The board will check with our road contractors on when they will finish road projects started last year and potentially discuss which roads should be upgraded next. f) The board discussed and then decided that the employee benefit should be paid quarterly. The question was raised on should GFL continue to be a budget item or should it be added to the tax bill and become the responsibility of the homeowner. Discussion also continued on maintenance issues at the Community Center brought up by Francis Campbell and it was decided to address several of them (furnace filters, removing grates to clean windows etc) and table the rest that were brought up. The Historical Society is requesting the rest of the money previously budgeted to be made available to them this year for painting and general maintenance on the old “Town Hall” in the museum complex. NEW BUSINESS A board member has been filling in as an hourly employee doing snow removal. This item needs to be dealt with at an annual meeting since compensation is legal but needs to be set by the electorate. The board briefly talked about the merits of the Town paying into Unemployment Compensation or continuing to self-pay as in the past. The discrepancy in the annual audit of the clerk and treasurer’s books has been resolved. The clerk prints checks every two weeks and the treasurer deals with the reconciliation from the bank on a monthly basis therefore the monthly totals do not always agree but the yearly totals do. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 on a motion by Supervisor Campbell with a second by Supervisor Magley. Submitted by Pat Boshen, clerk