Minutes (7)

Minutes Town of Vermont Board Meeting February 9, 2026 Vermont Town Hall 4017 County Rd JJ, Black Earth WI 53515 7:00 P.M. To Join the meeting by phone: +1 347-896-0991 PIN: 481 262 925# In attendance: Nick Balster, Doug Meier, Kirk Lynch, Alex McKenzie and (by phone) Polly Kawalek 1. Call to order and certification of notice posting Kirk called the meeting to order at 7:00. Katie certified that the meeting was noticed according to statute. 2. Approval of agenda Nick made a motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried 5-0 3. Approval of January minutes Nick made a motion to approve the January minutes. Motion carried 5-0 4. Citizens’ Input spoke as he is running for Dane County supervisor. He is on the ballot for the Nathan McGreeFebruary primary. He said he intends to be a voice for rural Dane County. Mark Haukoos also spoke as he is running for town board. He discussed how high the tax bills are and that the school referendums are a big part of that. He described making a visit to MATC. He also spoke on his concern with the common law of latches (which deals with the limitations in court when a party waits too long to bring suit). 5. Treasurer’s report We collected 1.6 million in property taxes in January. The current balance in the checking account is . The board designated reserves that were transferred from the board designated reserves to balance out last year's budget were $98,752.55. We did also receive the first quarter transportation aid. We also had a higher than average number of assessment searches. 6. Clerk’s report There were no new permits for homebuilding this month. Bills of note included another bill from Burke Truck for the work Jack mentioned last month as well as paying out the PILT money that was sent out. Today a phishing email went out around the state seeking contact information for elected officials. I notified the county after we received one and the DOJ and the county are investigating. As all the information that was requested in the email is actually available to the public on our website it is a good moment to remind everyone to be cautious with email and text communications. Particularly around elections, if you receive a text or email that purports to be from me, or from Kirk, etc either asking you to take some sort of action or asking for sensitive information, please confirm with a phone call. 7. Payment of bills Doug made a motion to pay the bills. Motion carried 5-0. 8. Patrolman Report, Mt. Horeb Fire Department, Black Earth Fire District & District 1 EMS Reports We have used down quite a bit of salt, but we should be fine for the year due to the mild weather. Someone has cut down another town boundary sign. Mount Horeb EMS budgets were really good because they are using a different company for their billing and have been able to collect more of their charges. They ended up with a surplus of $200k from their budget. Black Earth had a meeting and they will have the first half payment for the new truck in Feb of ‘27. Our share next year will be $119,000. In 2028, the town of Vermont will have to take out another loan for the second payment on that truck. 9. Dr Steven Salerno- Mount Horeb Public Schools Superintendent, presenting a district update The Mount Horeb superintendent presented the breakthrough 2032 strategic plan. 10. Discussion of possible options for addressing increased prices for resident trash disposal Because there were concerns with the increased costs for the Mazo transfer site, the town has done some looking into the costs and feasibility for opening our own transfer site. We have reached out to a couple of dumpster servicing companies for quotes for how costly this would be. We will continue to discuss this at the annual meeting. Kirk has been looking into some locations and is talking with Black Earth about going in together on a plan. 11. Discussion and possible action on application for Janice Cowan, 4616 County Highway JJ, Zoning, Driveway and Building application, 2 lots Doug made a motion to rezone of 13.03 acres from FP-35 to FP-1 consisting of Lot 1. Motion carried 5-0 Doug made a motion to rezone 32.58 acres from FP-35 to RR-16 consisting of Lot 2 with the original house. This is the current homesite. Nick clarified that this is with the original house. Motion carried 5-0. Doug made a motion to rezone of 13.56 acres from FP-35 to RR-4 consisting of Lots 3 and 4. This will be two building sites. Motion carried 5-0 Both driveways in Lots 3 and 4 have already received County Highway approval. Doug made a motion to approve the driveway permit for lot 3. Motion carried 5-0 Doug made a motion to approve the 100’ x 150’ building envelope for lot 3. Motion carried 5-0 Doug moved to approve the driveway permit for lot 4. Motion carried 5-0 Nick made a motion to approve the 100’ x 150’ building envelope for lot 4. Motion carried 5-0 12. 2025 Year-End Financial Review and Reserve Allocation Most of this was covered in the treasurers report, no additional action needs to be taken. 2025 was a very expensive year due to the road projects. We hope 2026 will be an opportunity to get back on track. 13. Consideration and possible action on Mailchimp paid plan Mailchimp is dramatically reducing the features available on its free tier, such that we cannot send mail to our entire mailing list for free, as we have been doing for several year. The price going forward would be $27 a month. Suggestions for other services would be welcome. Kirk made a motion to continue with Mailchimp for right now while researching our options. Kirk amended his motion to discontinue newspaper posting of notices not required by statute. Motion carried 5-0. 14. Agenda items for March Garbage Back-up patrolman Annual meeting 15. Adjournment Alex made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:50. Posted: Katie Zelle, Clerk The Town Board’s agenda includes a period for public comments. That period, which is not mandated by state law, is offered to permit orderly and civil discussion of Town public business and matters. During the remainder of the Town Board meeting, persons other than Board members and Town officers are permitted to speak only if recognized by the Chair. Public comment may address any matter pertaining to Town, but must not be repetitive, involve personal attacks, profanity, or disruptive comments. The Chair may rule any person out of order and terminate their comment period. By adhering to these principles, we aim to ensure productive and fair discussions while respecting the rights of all to be heard. We appreciate active engagement and encourage participation in the governance of our wonderful Town of Vermont.