July 15, 2024

1 TOWN OF PORT EDWARDS MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES Date: July 15th, 2024 Call to Order: Chairman Randy Moody called the regular Town Board meeting to order at 6:00p.m. The pledge of allegiance was recited to begin the meeting. Meeting Certification: This meeting has been properly posted (on the Town Hall door), as well as published on our website to notify the public of date, place, time, and agenda. Attendance: Chairman Randy Moody, Supervisors Tim Schmidt, Jeff O’Donnell, Clerk Michelle Sorenson, Town Highway Superintendent Adam Lueneburg, and Wood County Highway Commissioner Roland Hawk. Absent from tonight’s meeting was Treasurer Kathy Reese. There were also ten people present from the public. Approval of minutes from the June 17th, 2024, Town Board Meeting: Clerk presented the minutes from June’s meeting. The minutes of the June regular monthly Town Board meeting looked accurate and acceptable. Motion was made by Schmidt and seconded by O’Donnell to accept the minutes as printed. Motion carried. Agenda: Approve the agenda Approve previous meetings’ minutes Approve payment of bills Treasurer and Clerk’s monthly financial reports Set date for next month’s board meeting Review correspondence Highway Superintendent report New business: Open all sealed bids received for the Town grader and old John Deere tractor Converse about the road closure at Plank Hill Discuss with possible action on the culvert issue on South Section Street Approve operator license applications for Whitetail Crossing Old business: Update on highway shop changes Confirm whether or not Neil Heinrich accepted the conditions of the conditional use permit approved by the Board at last month’s meeting Public input Adjourn Motion was made by O’Donnell and seconded by Schmidt to approve the agenda. Motion carried. Bills: O’Donnell made a motion to approve payment of the town bills listed by the Clerk. Motion was seconded by Schmidt and the motion carried. Total disbursements for the month of June were $37,214.12 with total revenues being $8,481.89. Treasurer and Clerk Financial Reports: The Treasurer and Clerk reports were reviewed by the Board. All reports balance. Total Town money as of June 30th, 2024, is $250,423.65. 2 Schmidt made a motion to accept the reports as delivered. O’Donnell seconded said motion. Motion carried. Correspondence: Notice of a Wisconsin Department of Transportation informational meeting being held on Monday, July 29th, 2024, at 5:30p.m. was received. The meeting will take place at the Nekoosa Community Center and project staff will share construction information on WIS 73 between WIS 173 and WIS 54 in Wood County. It is kitten season. Lots of calls for stray cats have been coming in. Information became available for Damage Assessment Training being held next month. Wood County Emergency Management put it together. The training will be held at the Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department on August 20th, 2024, from 1:30p.m. to 3:00p.m. Highway Superintendent Report: There was really nothing new to report other than it was discovered the shop’s furnace was installed in 1970. New Business: Sealed Bids: The bids were opened for the equipment the Town is selling. There were three bids received for the grader. Highest bid was for $425.00 from Cary Smith. There were also three bids received for the old John Deere tractor. High bid for the tractor was $6,626.00 from Pete Kempf. The board awarded Smith the grader and Kempf the tractor. Plank Hill: Roland Hawk, Wood County Highway Commissioner, was present to explain what is going on with the hill. The hill was put together using planks but over the past 50 some years those planks have rotted. All of the rain this area received in mid to late June caused a washout on the hill. The county is estimating repairs and/or reconstruction to cost anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The county would like to remove the Plank Hill culvert and dead end the roads leading up to it. They would then like to see the Town of Port Edwards take over those roads. The county’s proposals were met with mixed reviews. Presenting it to the Town board was the first step in deciding what to do with the hill. Coming up next, the county will schedule a public hearing to gather the public’s thoughts, concerns and questions, and provide the public with information on the cost of repairs and/or reconstruction. UPDATE: The public meeting has since been scheduled for Tuesday, August 20th, 2024, at 5p.m. This meeting will be held in the Nekoosa Community Center. South Section St Culvert: Wood County gave us an estimate of $78,000 to replace the culvert on the Town’s section of South Section Street. This project qualifies for bridge aid and the Town can also use its 50/50 road aid funds. The Town’s share of the project would be approximately $39,000. The work can take place in August. O’Donnell made a motion to award the culvert replacement project to Wood County. Schmidt seconded the motion and the motion carried. Operator Licenses: Whitetail Crossing Nekoosa submitted applications for five more operators. They all have taken the beverage servers class and the fee has been paid. Schmidt made a motion to approve operator licenses for Whitetail Crossing as presented by the Clerk. O’Donnell seconded the motion and the motion carried. Old Business: Highway Shop: This discussion was tabled to next month’s meeting. 3 Campground TBD Conditional Use Permit: Neil Heinrich had until Friday, July 12th, 2024, to accept the conditions of his conditional use permit for his Campground TBD. No one on the board received any communication from him so his conditional use permit is no longer valid and has been labeled null and void. Heinrich is free to reapply for a conditional use permit should he choose to. Public input: It has been noticed a park model camper has moved in on Eva Perez’s property. The tires have been removed and it’s sitting on blocks. Moody took pictures and sent them to the assessor and the Town’s building inspector for guidance on the situation. The updated Town ordinances are back from the printer. They will be added to the Town’s website in the near future. Next Scheduled Board Meeting: The next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting is set for Monday, August 12th, 2024. The meeting will be called to order at 6:00p.m. and the regular monthly Town board meeting will be conducted at the Port Edwards Town Hall. Adjourn: Being no other business to conduct, O’Donnell made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:21p.m. and Schmidt seconded. All were in favor and the motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Sorenson, Clerk