March 2024

1 TOWN OF PORT EDWARDS MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES Date: March 11th, 2024 Call to Order: Chairman Randy Moody called the regular Town Board meeting to order at 6:12p.m. The pledge of allegiance was recited at the start of the public hearing for the conditional use permit so this meeting began after the call to order. 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, Treasurer Kathy Reese, Clerk Michelle Sorenson and Highway Superintendent Adam Lueneburg. There were also ten people present from the public. Approval of minutes from February 12th, 2024, Town Board Meeting Minutes: Clerk presented the minutes from February’s meeting. The minutes of the February regular monthly Town 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 reports Set date for next month’s board meeting Review correspondence Highway Superintendent report New business: o Open any bids that were received for the reconstruction of Plank Hill Lane o Superintendent of Port Schools to speak on the April 2nd referendum o Act on the conditional use permit application from Trucks on 73 LLC o Review and act on 2024 recycling agreement with the City of Wisconsin Rapids o Discussion on a recreational vehicle park with Neil Heinrich o Develop a plan and designate who will be doing the Town’s bridge and culvert inventory o Appoint a comprehensive plan committee Old business: • Act on Ruesch Certified Survey Map 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 Februart were $554,226.52 with total revenues being $713,943.79. 2 Treasurer and Clerk Financial Reports: The Treasurer and Clerk reports were reviewed by the Board. All reports balance. Total Town money as of February 29th, 2024, is $339,458.85. O’Donnell made a motion to accept the reports as delivered. Schmidt seconded said motion. Motion carried. Correspondence: The Clerk had received another fire call report. The call was for C. Sommers on Creamery Road. It was for a carbon monoxide concern. The Board requested the Clerk bill the resident $250.00 as allowed by the fire call billing ordinance. The Chairman presented the 50/50 Road/Bridge Aid offer. O’Donnell made a motion to participate in the program and Schmidt seconded the motion. Motion carried. Chairman will complete the application and turn it in tomorrow. Highway Superintendent Report: Snow fence is down. Emergency Management worked well for taking the snow fence down. Grading has begun and patching will start soon. New Business: Bids: There were two bids that were dropped off at the Town Hall prior to the start of the regular monthly board meeting. So the Town received these bids from American Asphalt and Earth Inc. and also had an engineer’s estimate to open from Wood County. Chairman read the requirements of the project and then began opening the sealed envelopes. Earth Inc’s bid proposal amount total was $174,740.00. American Asphalt bid a total amount of $172,742.50. The Wood County engineer’s estimate totaled $145,244.50. O’Donnell made a motion to accept Wood County’s engineer’s estimate for the reconstruction of Plank Hill Lane and reject American Asphalt and Earth Inc bids as submitted. Schmidt seconded the motion and it carried without objections. Superintendent Bena: Mr. Bena elaborated on the two questions that will be seen on the ballot used by residents in the Port Edwards School District. The question asking for additional monies to cover operational costs is estimated to have no tax impact because it would be replacing a referendum that was approved in 2019. The capital referendum question would equal $143/year/$100,000 equalized property value. Mr. Bena believes the Village Boards have been good stewards of the tax payer dollars. April 2nd, 2024, is only the third time in 56 years that they have gone to a referendum (1968, 2018, and 2024). Conditional Use Permit: As there were no additional comments, questions, or concerns on the new incoming business Trucks on 73 LLC, O’Donnell made a motion to approve the conditional use permit application made on their behalf. Schmidt seconded the motion and the motion carried and the conditional use permit was approved. 2024 Compost Passes: The passes the Clerk received are similar to the ones received in the past (only a different color). This agreement is what the Town has done with the City of Wisconsin Rapids in the past. Schmidt made a motion to approve and sign the agreement with 3 the City of Wisconsin Rapids for use of their compost sites. O’Donnell seconded and the motion carried. Recreational Vehicle Park: Neil Heinrich wants to seek conditional use permits for both of his parcels. He is not planning for temporary campers but he wouldn’t turn anyone away. At total development he is planning to have 55 campsites. Neil would also like to start breaking ground this summer in preparation for campers coming in 2025. Neil would also like to see his public hearing scheduled for next month if possible. Bridge and Culvert Inventory: The Town has three options for taking inventory of the bridges and culverts that lay within the Township boundaries. We can do it ourselves, contract with a private firm, or utilize the Wood County Highway Department. A decision needs to be made by April 15th, 2024. There is a 15 page report that needs to be filed after the inventory is completed. O’Donnell made a motion to contract with Wood County to complete the Town’s bridge and culvert inventory. Schmidt seconded the motion and the motion carried. Chairman Moody will deliver the forms to the County tomorrow. Comprehensive Plan Committee: The estimate for updating the Town’s Comprehensive Plan from North Central Regional Planning was $7,500. It was suggested ARPA funds could be used to cover costs related to updating the plan. O’Donnell will contact North Central and will report updates at next month’s meeting. Schmidt moved to give O’Donnell the discretion to contract with North Central for the Town’s comprehensive plan update if they can begin the process within the next six months. O’Donnell seconded this motion and the motion carried. Old Business: Ruesch Certified Survey Map: B. Ruesch had been planning development of this parcel in question based off of information he had been given from Wood County Planning and Zoning and the survey company he used. They told him there would be no problem meeting the Town’s two acre required minimum to be a buildable parcel. However, once the road is removed it falls well below the two acre minimum. The Town’s attorney recommended this parcel be labeled an outlet and marked unbuildable on the plat map. This is new information to Ruesch and he was thankful he attended tonight’s meeting. Ruesch will request a meeting with all of the parties involved as this new information greatly affects the value of the parcel in question. Public input: There was none. Next Scheduled Board Meeting: The next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting is set for Monday, April 08th, 2024. The meeting will begin at 6:00p.m. 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 8:02p.m. and Schmidt seconded. All were in favor and the motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Sorenson, Clerk