The meeting was called to order at 7:30. 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, Mark Sherven; Supervisors, Barbara Grenlie, Steve Cowan, Don McKay and Bill Hanson; Clerk Marc Robertson and Treasurer Sarah Danz.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Barbara Grenlie, seconded by Bill Hanson and approved.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE
The Town picnic and the open house for the new District One EMS building were both on August 24th. On August 25th the Chair and Clerk attended a “kickoff meeting” held by FEMA to introduce local government personnel to some of the procedures to be followed in filing claims for summer rain storm damage.
CITIZEN INPUT
There was no citizen input.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Bill Hanson moved approval of the minutes of the August 11th meeting, Barbara Grenlie seconded, and the minutes were approved with Don McKay abstaining.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Deposits for the month of August were $119,268.03. The largest share was a property tax settlement of $117,875.19. $650 was received for building permits, $183.20 for the Town of Mazomanie’s portion of a repair to jointly owned equipment, $118 for veteran’s grave care and $441.64 in interest. A motion was made by Steve Cowan and seconded by Don McKay to accept the Treasurer’s report, and the motion was approved.
CLERK’S REPORT
Our chip sealing bill was paid in the Month of August. Tomorrow, September 9th is the fall primary election. A motion was made by Bill Hanson and seconded by Steve Cowan to accept the Clerk’s report, and the motion was approved.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Approval is sought for payment of bills for August, 2008 and paid by checks numbered 1142 through 1172. Checks 1142, 1143 and 1145 were discussed at the last meeting.
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Bill Hanson to approve payment of bills for August and the motion was approved.
UPDATE FROM DANE COUNTY COMMUNITY DEPUTY
Deputy Longley presented the Board with a copy of the list of calls for service within the Town for the last several months.
She also provided information on Project Lifesaver, a program designed to provide gps-enabled bracelets to the parents of autistic children or the caregivers for older adults prone to wander away from home. These allow deputies having special receiving equipment to locate the individual in an emergency.
Also discussed was the availability of a parental stress line for parents needing help, as well special traffic enforcement efforts being undertaken in Dane County.
REPORT ON 2008 TOWN PICNIC
Jan Cowan reported on last month’s Town picnic, thanking the Town for its financial support, Tyrol Basin managers and staff for hosting, and all the other people responsible for making it a success. 117 people were registered compared with 148 the previous year. However, it is thought that the total number this year was closer to 140 since some people registered for an entire family. Voluntary donations totaling $369 compared with $417 the previous year.
CONSIDERATION AND POSSIBLE ADOPTION OF AMENDMENT TO 2008 BUDGET
In 2008, after the 2008 budget had been finalized, the Board determined that increasing repair expenses for the Town’s one ton Ford truck had increased to an unacceptable level and the truck should be replaced. Money to cover this purchase was available from 2007 carryover and the Town share of Managed Forest Law withdrawal taxes being collected from the Wisconsin DNR. Separately, FEMA had provided reimbursement for some of the expenses associated with an early 2008 snowstorm. These two budget amendments were combined in a single resolution which increased the Capital Outlay budget from $0 to $53,776 and added $3,774 to the Public Works budget. Don McKay moved that the resolution be approved, Mark Sherven seconded and the resolution was approved unanimously.
DISCUSSION OF 2009 BUDGET AND SCHEDULE FURTHER BUDGET MEETINGS
Discussion of the 2009 budget was incorrectly noticed as being for the 2008 budget.
Fire district and EMS budget increases have been kept relatively low for 2009, at about 2 percent for Black Earth and 3.6 percent for Mt. Horeb Fire, the latter including the addition of a new full-time employee.
For the Town, additional amounts have been added to the road maintenance budget to cover additional crack filling and the substantially increased bids expected for chip sealing in 2009. A new expense category is for engineering fees and permits being required by Dane County even in the case of emergency road and right-of-way repairs.
Budget categories have been reorganized to move patching materials in with paving (rather than being combined with gravel) so as to more closely align projects and material suppliers. Money has been tentatively budgeted for the construction of a cul du sac at the end of Bell Road.
Equipment rental now includes the leased skid steer loader in addition to the arm brush mower normally leased for one week per year. Equipment maintenance has been reduced to allow for the decreased repair requirements of the new small Town truck.
Wage increases for the Town patrolman are governed by the Dane County contract, with increases for the Planning Commission Secretary, Treasurer and Clerk based on a 3 percent annual rate.
The annual Budget Hearing and Special Town Meeting are tentatively scheduled for October 29th at 7:30.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
The Planning Commission is completing work on the comprehensive plan and may be in a position to supply the Board with a draft at or before the next meeting. The District One EMS budget hearing will be coming up on September 11. The Mt. Horeb Fire budget meeting will be September 24th. The Road Committee has accepted a bid for $11,152 for the 1999 Ford truck. They will not take possession until the new truck is ready to be placed in service, which is approximately two weeks away. Road and right-of-way repairs necessitated by flood damage continues.
DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR OCTOBER MEETING
Consideration of the budget will continue, as well as consideration of any Planning Commission recommendations.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Steve Cowan that the meeting adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 9:13.
Marc Robertson, Town Clerk