11-21-2023

TOWN BOARD MEETING, November 21, 2023 – 6:00 P.M. PRESENT: Town Chair Dick Green, Supervisors Eric Olson, Larry Schuller, Faith Schuck, Melanie Miller and Clerk/Treasurer Maria Hougan. OTHERS PRESENT: Joe Murray, 3084 Sunnyside St. Mark Hale (virtually) Keith Comstock (virtually) ABSENT: CALL TO ORDER Chair Green called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PUBLIC COMMENT: The Board listens to residents speak on any issue (three-minute time limit) Mark Hale, 2703 Cty Rd B, Stoughton WI, spoke to address the yard waste site issues. He was not aware of the changes to the hours at the site. He spoke of the reservations previously made by Supervisor Olson regarding the changes to the site to include the fence and limited hours. He had previously used the old site and paid to use the City of Stoughton’s site. He wants to lobby to keep the site open for residents as he still has leaves falling and would like to bring them to the towns yard waste site. Joe Murray, 3084 Sunnyside St., spoke regarding an option of putting a QR code on the stickers for the yard waste site, which would scan the code and open and close the gate automatically. Any item listed on the agenda is subject for action. CONSENT AGENDA: Items listed under consent agenda will be approved in one motion without discussion unless any Board member requests that an item(s) be removed for individual discussion. That item then can be considered at an appropriate time during the Board’s regular order of business. 1. Approval of minutes of the November 7, 2023, Town Board meeting. 2. Approval of the check register dated November 06, and November 21, 2023. 3. Approval of the return of driveway damage deposit(s) for: (Public works inspected, no issues found, approval recommended) • Jeff Auby, 2532 Koshkonong Rd. Motion by Supervisor Schuller, second by Sup. Miller, to approve all the consent agenda items as listed. Motion carried 3-0 with Supervisor Olson abstaining. BUSINESS. Discussion and possible action regarding an application by Joe Murray to rezone his property located at 3084 Sunnyside St, Stoughton, WI 53589, parcel # 046/0611- 183-7626-5, from SFR-08 Single-Family Residential to HAM-R Hamlet Residential to comply with the existing setbacks and add a basement. Joe Murray was in attendance. Supervisor Miller reported out. The home has a mold issue and the owners have had to move out of the home. The home currently is not meeting the required setbacks. The requested zoning is to change to a HAM -R Hamlet Residential to be in compliance with existing setbacks. There will be no further development and will remain as a single-family unit. Motion by Supervisor Miller, second by Sup. Schuck, to grant an application by Joe Murray to rezone his property located at 3084 Sunnyside St, Stoughton, WI 53589, parcel # 046/0611 -183-7626-5, from SFR -08 Single -Family Residential to HAM -R Hamlet Residential to comply with the existing setbacks and add a basement. Friendly amendment made by Supervisor Miller, accepted by Sup. Schuck, to add these restrictions to the motion: Restrictions: • No further development • Remain as a single-family unit. Motion carried 5-0. Discussion and possible action regarding approval of the 2024 Town Budget. Action approving the 2024 Town Budget was taken during the Special Town Board meeting approving the 2023 Town Levy, payable 2024, prior to this meeting. The 2024 Budget was approved unanimously. Discussion and possible action regarding approval of 2024 employee wages and employee hours. Motion by Supervisor Miller, second by Sup. Schuller, to approve the 2024 employee rates as presented, to include a 3% wage increase for full time employees. Discussion and possible action regarding a user permit for residents to use the yard waste site. Chair Green reported out. Stoughton has a permit fee for $15.00, with an additional sticker for $5.00. He reported out Stoughton’s yard waste site was closing for the season tomorrow, Nov. 22. Our site remains open through Nov. 30, Monday through Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and will be open this Saturday as the town is doing one additional leaf pick up day around the lake. Chair Green asked the members of the Board how are we going to deal with the amount of brush, cost to chip and remove it, the huge amount of yard waste, and how do we control the violators? Chair Green stated he has caught 24 violators utilizing the yard waste site which were non -residents. It’s hard to prosecute them. Dane County Sheriff’s said they would not write a ticket for these violations. Further discussion followed. Chair Green stated each time to chip is about $ 2000.00, and they would need to chip about 2 times per year, along with our Public Wo rks employees spending a large amount of time moving and hauling the yard waste, in order to make more room for more yard waste. A discussion took place regarding the cost of dumping at Blue Moon and Purple Cow. A discussion took place regarding the cost and requirements of obtaining a DNR permit, as well as selling stickers for residents to use the yard waste site for a fee of $10.00. Motion by Supervisor Schuller, second by Sup. Olson, to table a user fee for residents at the yard waste site. Motion carried 5-0. Discussion and possible action regarding installing automatic openers/closures on the gate for the yard waste site. A discussion took place regarding an automatic gate. Chair Green reported out he looked into a QR code which would scan the sticker and automatically open and close the gate, however, this was more expensive than the quote he received for the automatic ga te where the gate would open from an app on a phone. Supervisor Schuller asked about the reliability of the fence, would it be more breakable? Should they get another quote for a single moveable fence? A discussion was held. The Public Works employees and Town Board members could have the app on their phone to open and close the gate off site. Further discussion followed. Sup. Olson added this would increase the availability of the yard waste site. Motion by Supervisor Miller, second by Sup. Schuck, to accept the bid for installing an automatic gate opener / closure from American Access Fence Company in the amount of $18,460.00. Friendly amendment made by Supervisor Miller, friendly accepted by Sup. Schuck, to have the funds for installing the fence taken from the America Rescue Plan Act funds (ARPA). Motion carried 4-1 with Sup. Schuller voting in opposition. Discussion and possible action regarding hiring JBM Security Services for opening and closing the yard waste site gate in 2024. No action taken on this item. Discussion and possible action regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between the Town of Dunn and Town of Pleasant Springs for the caterpillar grader attachment. The Board reviewed the draft Memorandum of Understanding and clarified the attachment was a grader attachment, not a grapple attachment. The Board determined Pleasant Springs will carry the insurance on the piece of equipment. Motion by Supervisor Schuller, second by Sup. Olson, to approve the agreement with these changes, to remove Town of Dunn to pay /share insurance, and to change the attachment to a grader, not grapple. Motion carries 5-0. Discussion and possible action regarding snow plow driver applicant and advertisement. Chair Green reported out they only received one applicant. He recommends to continue advertising. The Board determined to continue to post the employment ad and revise ad to say “Open until filled”. Motion by Supervisor Schuller, second by Sup. Schuck, to revise the employment ad to say “Open until filled”, and to repost on the town’s website, HUB, Great Dane , and have a sign made up to place outside for vacancies. Motion carried 5-0. Discussion of Public Works projects and duties. Chair Green reported out on the projects and duties the Public Works employees have been working on to include installing additional speed limit signs, installing the yield signs on Burritt and Oakview, removed a large tree, installed the basketball court at Quam Park, mowed steep slopes and cleaned up brush, he is waiting to hear back from the Highway Engineer regarding the wording for the Jake brake signs, he thinks they will need three of the signs, they finished patching potholes, shoulder repairing on Country Club and Skaalen Rd., creating parking spaces at Spring Hill Park, along Brown Deer Rd. DPW employee Bryce will be vacuuming leaves this Saturday, Nov. 25, the floor heat module on the oldest snowplow truck is being looked into as it’s not working. Clerks report of projects and duties. Clerk Hougan reported out on the projects and duties office staff have been working on to include the preliminary audit, budget, tax bill prep and reports submitted to DOR, Bank Reconciliation, A/R-A/P, submitted special assessments to Dane County for inclusion on the tax bills, Badger Book set up and testing, various agenda’s, packets, and minutes, newsletter, payroll and end of month required reporting, Memorandum of Understanding with Town of Dunn for sharing of equipment, and the rest of the day to day responsibilities of the clerk/treasurer’s office. Discussion on items to be placed on the next and / or future agenda: • User fee for yard waste site • Future item as needed: Update/direction from Board to Plan Comm on Comp Plan • Set date for future employee evaluation(s) February? PLAN COMMISSION REPORT (Reports will generally only be reported upon after the Plan Commission has met between Town Board meetings; unless there is additional information to report). Supervisor Miller reported out. Joe Murray’s rezone request was approved at the Plan Commission, Dennis Prochnow’s rezone request was tabled due to needing a plan and more information, the 2024 Plan Commission dates have been approved. REPORTS The Board reviewed the reports included in the packet. There is a broadband meeting on Dec. 6 and on Dec. 12, reviewed the draft proposed yard waste sign. CORRESPONDENCE The Board reviewed the correspondence included in the packet. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Supervisor Olson, second by Sup. Schuller, to adjourn at 7:42 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectively Submitted, Maria “Pili” Hougan Clerk/Treasurer Note: These minutes are not considered official until acted upon at a future meeting, and, therefore, are subject to revision.