MINUTES

TOWN OF VERMONT BOARD MEETING

March 12, 2007

Call to order and certification of notice posting. The clerk certified that the notice had been posted at the Black Earth State Bank, at John Bird Accounting in Black Earth, Amcore Bank in Mt. Horeb, on the town web site www.townofvermont.com, and on the front door of the town hall. It was also published in the News Sickle-Arrow and the Mt. Horeb Mail.

Present: Chairman, Steven Cowan; Supervisors, Mark Sherven, Don McKay, Bill Hanson and Barbara Grenlie; Clerk Marc Robertson and Treasurer Sarah Danz.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

A motion to approve the agenda was made by Barbara Grenlie, seconded by Don McKay and approved.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE

A meeting is scheduled for continued review of revisions of the contract between the Mt. Horeb Fire District and participating municipalities. This prompted discussion of the process by which boundaries might be adjusted to better equalize response times between Mt. Horeb and District One EMS.

The Dane County Parks and Open Space Plan for 2006 –2011 was adopted by the Dane County Board of Supervisors in December of 2006 and has been made available.

CITIZEN INPUT

There was no citizen input.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Mark Sherven moved approval of the minutes of the February meeting, Barbara Grenlie seconded, and the minutes were approved.

TREASURER’S REPORT

Deposits for the month of February were $207,971.36. The largest deposit was $203,933.04 in property taxes. The remainder included $1,054 for dog licenses, $2,097.80 for DNR Payments in Lieu of Taxes, and $861.52 in interest. Treasurer and clerk reconciliation showed that accounts were in balance, with the sum of all Town accounts showing $189,636.56.

A schedule of possible borrowing options for Town financing of its share of the District One EMS building was presented, with an assumed interest rate of 4 percent and payment options ranging up to 3 years.

Also discussed were possible options by which the Village of Mazomanie might be repaid for the past deduction of medical care transportation supplement payments to District One EMS from Village of Mazomanie State revenue sharing payments. These are revenue sharing deductions that might have been more correctly shared by all participating communities. The two options appear to be that either individual municipalities will pay back the Town of Mazomanie or that District One EMS will pay back the Village of Mazomanie as part of its 2008 budget and then add each municipality’s share of the repayment to the tax levy. At this point the Town of Vermont’s share appears to be $2,244.74. The treasurer recommended the second option, though the decision appears to rest with the EMS Board.

A motion was made by Mark Sherven and seconded by Bill Hanson to accept the Treasurer’s report, and the motion was approved.

CLERK’S REPORT

The most important thing that we need to be aware of is that only Sarah has been through Board of Review Training within the two years required by state law for us to conduct a Board of Review. Next month we need to appoint alternates to the Board of Review and set a date.

Lisa Orman and the Brandts put out another Vermont’s Voice this past month, and Lisa’s willingness to do the printing for us continues to save the Town money over standard commercial printers.

This month we paid our share of the cost of the body for the new fire truck for the Black Earth Joint Fire District ($49,102.20).

A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Bill Hanson to accept the Clerk’s report, and the motion was approved.

PAYMENT OF BILLS

Approval is sought for payment of bills for February, 2007 paid by checks numbered 11335 through 11374. The first 5 of these checks were mandated tax settlements to the County, State and School Districts and were written early in the month to meet a statutory deadline.

Motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Don McKay to approve payment of bills for February and the motion was approved.

CONSIDERATION OF PLAN COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION REGARDING MAX & BETTY ROSENBAUM REVISED REQUEST FOR REZONING OF 12 ACRES ON KELLIHER ROAD

The Planning Commission recommended that approximately 12.5 acres be rezoned to RH-3, with a grand-fathered home and one additional Potential Development Right. The remainder, approximately 39 acres, is to be deed restricted specifying no further residential development. This differs from the plan previously approved by the Board, and eliminates the house site and driveway approved at one point by the Planning Commission. Since no new driveway will be required, it was recommended that the $400 previously paid for a driveway permit be refunded.

Barbara Grenlie moved to rescind the previous action made by the Board pertaining to the rezoning of the 2 lots owned by Max and Betty Rosenbaum on Kelliher Road. Mark Sherven seconded and the motion was approved to rescind the previous approval.

Mark Sherven moved to approve the most recent rezoning petition, Bill Hanson seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously.

DISCUSSION OF REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 6 OF TOWN OF VERMONT ORDINANCES

No other towns that have been contacted charge a fee for a recreation permit related to bicycle events, though some require an informational permit aimed at insuring that organizers have consulted with Dane County and obtained liability insurance for their event. Discussion resulted in an interim draft of Chapter 6 to be discussed at subsequent Board meetings. Among the points to be considered is the advisability of the previous policy of requiring a deposit from applicants to insure ordinance compliance versus monetary penalties, enforced by the court system, for noncompliance. A schedule of penalties was discussed, to which could be added damages and court costs.

The original purpose of Chapter 6 was to deal with potential problems that might be associated with stationary events on private property. As currently constructed, it is less well suited to events that may be originating and/or terminating outside the Town, using public roads, and which might best be regulated at the county level. Another question is whether there is a difference between events open to the public and member-only events.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

The Black Earth Joint Fire District’s new truck is expected to be delivered on March 30.

The Mt. Horeb Fire and EMS District is currently focused on revision of the agreement between it and participating communities, with the primary change being the elimination of the need for unanimity for major decisions, such as budget approval. They are also partially shifting to full time staffing to supplement the volunteers, with the likelihood that they will be adding one per year until there are 5 full time staff members. The District is also considering the possibility of replacing the current fire station with another building in the same location.

The District One EMS Board has been proceeding with the bidding process for their new building. The Board has offered to purchase a lot for the building from Wicks for $100,000, with a cap of $490,000 for the entire project remaining in place. A process is also in place to hire a construction manager for the project. The Town’s payment schedule for the new building remains uncertain.

The road committee reported that our previous surplus of sand/salt has been sharply reduced by the recent cold and snowy weather. Appreciation was expressed for the work done by Dave Haugen and Dwayne Garfoot in keeping the roads open.

DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR APRIL MEETING

In addition to continued discussion of Chapter 6, it was proposed that the Board also discuss policy concerning turn-arounds at the end of Town Roads. As part of this, a policy needs to be developed concerning parking in the turn-around area, which can sometimes hinder road maintenance. It might be possible to address this issue with reminders rather than an ordinance provision. Also of concern is the dumping of trash along Town roads.

It was suggested that a uniform fee of perhaps $25 be developed for damage to mailboxes by Town snowplowing.

While concern has been expressed about the maintenance of house numbers, it appears that it is the homeowner’s responsibility.

ADJOURNMENT

A motion was made by Bill Hanson and seconded by Barbara Grenlie that the meeting adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 9:37.