December 2022

TOWN OF PORT EDWARDS MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MINUTES Date: December 12th, 2022 Call to Order: Chairman Randy Moody called the Town Board Meeting to order at 6:00p.m. The pledge of allegiance was recited by all present to begin the meeting. Meeting Certification: This meeting has been properly posted (on the Town’s three posting boards, and 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 Road Superintendent Brian Krotzman. There were also five people present from the public. Approval of minutes from November 14th, 2022, Town Board Meetings: Clerk presented all the minutes from the three November meetings. The minutes of the Public Hearing for the 2023 budget, Special Elector meeting, and regular monthly meeting all 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 Set date for January caucus Review correspondence Highway Superintendent report New business: Appoint backup snow plow drivers for present snow season Review shop employment structure Act on Village of Port Edwards fire contract Update/act on new South Wood County Humane Society contract Act on Town of Remington boundary line agreement Evaluate a recent fire call report Old business: Continue planning for WTA meeting in January New fees/fines for posted roads Public input Adjourn Motion was made by O’Donnell and seconded by Schmidt to approve the agenda. Motion carried. 1 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 November were $49,228.11 with total revenues being $39,361.57. Treasurer and Clerk Financial Reports: The Treasurer and Clerk reports were reviewed by the Board. All reports balance. Total Town money as of November 30th, 2022, is $246,187.83. O’Donnell made a motion to accept the reports as delivered. Schmidt seconded said motion. Motion carried. Correspondence: Chairman received a timber cutting notice for property owned by A. Griffin. The cutting will be done by Winters Forest Products Inc. Chairman was also in receipt of the minutes from the most recent Groundwater Committee meeting. He delivered a summary of what was talked about. The meeting was very informative. They made known there is available help for home owners in the forms of grants to aid them in dealing with troubled water issues they may be having. If anyone has additional questions they can contact the Wood County Land Conservation Department. Highway Superintendent Report: All of the Town’s available snow fence is up. The salt and sand have been mixed. The plows are on the patrol trucks. The Town is ready for the winter season. New snow fence is needed. It can be purchased at Fleet Farm as well as possibly Tractor Supply. New Business: Snow Plow Drivers: Gary Krause and Bennett Casper have both been approached by the Board to determine their interest in working for the Town as snow plow drivers. Both currently hold CDL licenses, are interested in helping out, and reside within the township. O’Donnell mentioned he had a conversation with Al Goodness and Al mentioned he would also be able to help out but after the first of the year. O’Donnell made a motion to appoint Gary Krause and Bennett Casper to relief snow plow drivers. Schmidt seconded the motion. Being no opposition, the motion carried. Sorenson will provide the new-hire paperwork to Krotzman at the next payroll. Shop Employment Structure: Moody explained that he’s had conversations with Krotzman about his work schedule. Two permanent part time guys working 32/week might work out better than having one regular guy and three on call. It’s been a challenge for Krotzman to get work done recently because the on-call guys were working other jobs. O’Donnell doesn’t think the budget will accommodate the two, permanent part time guy structure. If all the hours worked by the on-call employees are taken into account the Town might actually be saving by going to the two regulars. It was decided to table the discussion and to revisit it in a couple months. Fire Contract: The Village of Port Edwards submitted their proposed fire contract for 2023. Everything looked correct except the date on page three should read “effective January 1, 2023,” not 2022. The cost to the Town of Port Edwards for 2023, will be $15,339.20. Schmidt made a motion to accept the Village of Port Edwards proposed fire contract. O’Donnell seconded the motion and the motion carried. The contracts were signed and Sorenson will return one copy to the Village with payment. 2 South Wood County Humane Society Contract: Clerk was in receipt of the new contract from South Wood County Humane Society for 2023. Their rates are going to increase in an effort to help cover the increased costs associated with taking care of the animals at the shelter. The charge for pick-ups will go to $91 and the cost to drop an animal off will raise to $62. O’Donnell moved to accept the SWCHS’s new contract and Schmidt seconded said motion. Motion carried. Town of Remington Boundary Line Agreement: The agreement was reviewed by the Board. It is their standard agreement as in year’s prior. Schmidt made a motion to approve the boundary line agreement with the Town of Remington and O’Donnell seconded. Everyone agreed and motion carried. The agreements were signed and the Clerk will return one copy with payment to the Town of Remington. Fire Call: The call came from a residence on Creamery Road. They responded to a child who was thought to have fallen through the ice. According to a responder who attended the meeting the party who made the call for help was not overly cooperative once emergency personnel arrived. The Board reviewed the report. It is the Board’s position the party be billed $500 seems this is their first fire call. The Town’s Fire Call Ordinance allows for billing the party up to $1,000. The Clerk will prepare the billing statement and mail it to the party with a copy of the Fire Call Ordinance. Old Business: WTA District Meeting: Reese talked with Lori and Friends Catering. They agreed to cover the event. Reese was just waiting to give them the location where the food needs to be delivered. The food will arrive at 5:45p.m. Sorenson will contact Sacred Heart Church to inquire about renting their basement as in years past. Bill Clendenning is supposed to be working on finding a speaker for the event. Moody will keep in touch with him. Posted Roads Fees/Fines: These fees will be discussed the next time the Board decides to review the Town’s fee schedule. Public input: N. Heinrich approached the Board. He would like to request a zoning change of his property. His residence and land are located on County Highway AA. One parcel is on the north side and the residence is on the south side. It is currently zoned Agriculture. Heinrich wants it to be zoned Commercial. His plans for the 31 acres on the north side of AA include a seasonal campground with no more than 50 sites. He would like to have an RV dealership on his residence side. Heinrich wants to try and avoid any restrictions from being required to have a conditional use permit and believes being zoned commercial will allow him that. The Board listened to Heinrich’s request and will discuss it in more detail at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting. Next Scheduled Board Meeting: The next regularly scheduled Town Board Meeting is set for Monday, January 9th, 2023, at 6 p.m. The meeting will be conducted at the Port Edwards Town Hall. Caucus Date: The caucus was set for January 2nd, 2023, commencing at 6:00p.m. The caucus will take place at the Port Edwards Town Hall located at 2000 County Highway G, Nekoosa. Nominations for Town Board positions will be taken at that time to be voted on at the Spring Election to be held on April 4th, 2023. 3 Adjourn: Being no other business to conduct, O’Donnell made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:55p.m. and Schmidt seconded. All were in favor and the motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Michelle Sorenson, Clerk 4