Town Board Meeting — Minutes

1 MINUTES TOWN OF PLOVER BOARD MEETING AUGUST 22, 2024 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Garbe called the meeting of the Town of Plover Town Board to order at 6:01 PM with the Pledge of Allegiance. Also present were Supervisors Bentley, Pingel, and Rossier; Clerk/Treasurer Weller; Town of Plover residents Elaine Bembenek, Dawn Flees, Jeremy Flees, Kathleen Flees, Roger Flees, Priscilla Garbe, Dean Kaetterhenry, Chari Meshak, Jerome Meshak, Daniel Newby, Debra Sniadajewski, and William Sniadajewski; District 19 Portage County Board Supervisor Amberle Schwartz; and Kevin Konopacky of Motors and Controls of Wisconsin, LLC. Supervisor Firkus was excused. 2. CORRESPONDENCE AND COMMUNICATIONS: Chairman Garbe indicated that the Meehan Drive recondition project will be starting the week of August 26 and that Engineer Dexter Kaetterhenry will be mailing information about the construction schedule to Meehan Drive residents. Supervisor Rossier mentioned that he followed up with the manager of a business on Harding Avenue that is continuing to cause road damage, and the manager has contacted a contractor to take care of the problem. Supervisor Pingel asked about the procedure for registering for the 2024 Wisconsin Towns Association Annual Convention to be held in Stevens Point in October. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Portage County Board Supervisor Amberle Schwartz reported on discussions regarding Portage County’s capital improvement plan priorities and shared that there won’t be a referendum question on the ballot in November pertaining to the Portage County Health Care Center. She also explained how she personally decides to vote on issues and encouraged constituents to contact her with feedback. Resident Debra Sniadajewski expressed concerns about chips remaining on roads that were chip sealed in July and wondered if assessment values could be uploaded to the Portage County Ascent Land Records Suite. 4. MEEHAN DRIVE RAILROAD CROSSING CLOSING AND AUTHORIZATION FOR LEGAL COUNSEL: The Town of Plover has been notified by the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads of its investigation to consider the potential closure of the Meehan Drive railroad crossing along with the adequacy of warning devices at the Hayes Avenue and County Road F railroad crossings. District 24 Wisconsin State Senator Patrick Testin has written a letter to the Office of the Commissioner of Railroads to advocate for keeping the crossing open, and Chairman Garbe followed up with an email to Testin to thank him for his support and emphasize the economic and recreational impacts of the possible closure. Chairman Garbe described the timeframe of the investigative process and explained how to access documents in the docket from the Town of Plover website. Meeting attendees questioned the accuracy of the daily traffic count numbers in the Notice of Investigation and the hazardousness of the crossing; they also raised concerns about the potential closure’s effects on emergency response times, traffic at the more accident-prone County Road F intersection, and recreational trails. Residents and board members discussed next steps such as gathering traffic count and safety data, contacting legal counsel, preparing documentation, and encouraging comments to support keeping the crossing open. 2 Supervisor Pingel made the motion to authorize Chairman Garbe to contact legal counsel regarding the potential closure of the Meehan Drive railroad crossing, starting with Attorney Shane VanderWaal of VanderWaal Law, S.C. Supervisor Rossier seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. Meeting attendees asked questions and talked about the Meehan Drive recondition project, the speed limit on Meehan Drive, the Forest Lake Subdivision park and public access to Love Creek, and railroad crossing closure incentive funds. 5. HIGHWAY SUPERINTENDENT REPORT AND AUTHORIZATION FOR PURCHASES: Superintendent of Highways William Honaker was excused. Chairman Garbe reported on garbage dumped on town roads, grading, grader repairs, and employee work allocation; he also distributed charts comparing actual year-to-date Town of Plover Public Works Department employee hours and wages to budgeted amounts. Board members recommended exploring cleaning service options for the Town of Plover Town Hall. 6. PURCHASE OF CRACK FILLER: Board members reviewed purchase options and quotes and decided to continue purchasing crack filling material from A-1 Services Wisconsin Rapids LLC at the current price of $1,507.50 per pallet or $0.67 per pound undelivered. 7. TRACTOR/BOOM MOWER RENTAL AND INSURANCE RIDER: Chairman Garbe has contacted Riesterer & Schnell Municipal Sales Manager Mark Farley to rent a tractor and boom mower for brushing; it will be delivered on October 14 and picked up on October 22. A short-term rider will be added to the Town’s insurance policy to provide property coverage for the equipment. Supervisor Rossier made the motion to authorize the rental of a tractor and boom mower from Riesterer & Schnell, Inc., for approximately fifty hours at a cost of $4,500.00 for the first forty hours and $100.00 per hour thereafter. Supervisor Bentley seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 8. INPUT TO PORTAGE COUNTY REGARDING A COMPREHENSIVE REVISION TO THE ZONING ORDINANCE: Board members discussed the potential rewrite of the Portage County Zoning Ordinance, agreeing that the Town of Plover supports Portage County updating and modernizing the zoning ordinances by doing a complete rewrite through the comprehensive revision process and that the Town of Plover anticipates utilizing County Zoning following the revision process. 9. INPUT TO PORTAGE COUNTY REGARDING AN UPDATE TO THE STREET NAME AND BUILDING NUMBERING ORDINANCE: Board members discussed and approved the update to the Portage County Street Name and Building Number Ordinance. 10. BUILDING INSPECTOR RETIREMENT AND SUBSEQUENT REPLACEMENT: Town of Plover Building Inspector Michael Bembenek has announced his intent to retire at the end of the year. He will continue to issue building permits through December 31, 2024, and see those projects through to completion. The Town of Plover will need to contract with a new building 3 inspector effective January 1, 2025, and Bembenek has recommended reaching out to the Village of Plover for those services. 11. MOBILE HOME PARK INSPECTIONS: Board members reviewed and discussed the annual mobile home park inspection reports issued by the Portage County Health and Human Services Department for Birch Tree Estates and Riverview Estates. 12. MOBILE HOME PARK LICENSE RENEWALS: Supervisor Bentley made the motion to approve mobile home park licenses for Birch Tree Estates and Riverview Estates retroactive to July 1, 2024, contingent on verification from the mobile home park owners that observed violations noted in the reports have been corrected. Supervisor Pingel seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 13. AUGUST 13TH PARTISAN PRIMARY ELECTION REPORT: Clerk/Treasurer Weller reported that 342 Town of Plover residents voted in the August 13, 2024, Partisan Primary; there were sixty-four absentee voters and six residents who registered to vote on August 13. The day went smoothly and there were few write-ins, resulting in election inspectors finishing the second shift earlier than usual. Clerk/Treasurer Weller indicated that she has already received several absentee ballot requests for the General Election since the Partisan Primary and that the third Badger Book will be essential in processing election day registrations in November; she also mentioned that the Town of Plover received $750.00 under the 2023/2024 HAVA Election Security Accessible Voting Equipment Subgrant Reimbursement for the ExpressVote it purchased earlier this year. 14. MINUTES OF TOWN BOARD MEETINGS AND ANY OTHER MINUTES TO BE PRESENTED: Supervisor Pingel made the motion to approve the minutes of the August 1, 2024, and August 5, 2024, town board meetings as presented. Supervisor Rossier seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 15. RECONCILED BANK STATEMENTS AND CASH SUMMARY: • RECONCILED BANK STATEMENTS OF JUNE 30, 2024, AND JULY 31, 2024: Clerk/Treasurer Weller previously distributed copies of the Portage County Bank statements and reconciliations to board members. The Portage County Bank NOW checking account reconciled at $122,991.16 on June 30, 2024. The Portage County Bank NOW checking account reconciled at $55,138.82 on July 31, 2024. Supervisor Pingel made the motion to approve the Portage County Bank statement reconciliations as presented, Supervisor Bentley seconded, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. • CASH SUMMARY AS OF AUGUST 22, 2024, AT 6:00 PM: COMMITTED FUNDS: $ 206,380.21 UNCOMMITTED FUNDS: GENERAL ACCOUNT $ 1,100,544.21 NOW CHECKING $ 32,441.93 TOTAL UNCOMMITTED FUNDS: $ 1,132,986.14 TOTAL CASH FOR TOWN OF PLOVER: $ 1,339,366.35 4 Supervisor Pingel made the motion to approve the cash summary as presented, Supervisor Rossier seconded, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 16. BUDGET ADJUSTMENTS: Clerk/Treasurer Weller reported overages of $225.00 in Legal Expense relating to the Vista Sands Solar Project and $3,852.74 in Public Safety - First Responders due to the second contract payment to the Village of Plover. Supervisor Bentley made the motion to adjust the overages by transferring $4,077.74 from Contingency Fund. Supervisor Rossier seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 17. APPROVAL OF VOUCHERS FOR PAYMENT, SIGNING OF VOUCHER LIST, AND AUTHORIZATION OF TRANSFER OF FUNDS: Supervisor Pingel made the motion to approve the payment of $242,145.11 to cover Checks 27391 through 27417. Supervisor Bentley seconded the motion, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. 18. MOTION TO GO INTO CLOSED SESSION TO CONDUCT INTERVIEW FOR EMPLOYMENT IN PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, PURSUANT TO WI STAT § 19.85(1)(c): CONSIDERING EMPLOYMENT, PROMOTION, COMPENSATION OR PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF ANY PUBLIC EMPLOYEE OVER WHICH THE GOVERNMENTAL BODY HAS JURISDICTION OR EXERCISES RESPONSIBILITY: There was no motion to go into closed session as the interview was cancelled when the job applicant did not make the meeting. 19. MOTION TO RECONVENE INTO OPEN SESSION: This item was not applicable. 20. CONSIDERATION OF EMPLOYMENT: This item was not applicable. 21. FUTURE MEETING DATES AND AGENDA ITEMS: The next regular town board meetings are scheduled for September 4 and September 18 at 6:00 PM. Future agendas will include consideration of a WM (Waste Management) proposal to provide carted curbside garbage and recycling pickup, a request by the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey to install monitoring wells in town road right-of-way, and public works department employee performance evaluations. Open Book will be held on Thursday, September 5, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Board of Review will be held on Thursday, September 12, from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. 22. ADJOURNMENT: Supervisor Bentley made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:42 PM, Supervisor Rossier seconded, the question was called, and the motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted By: Patricia Weller, Clerk/Treasurer Approved: 09/18/24