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, Don McKay and Bill Hanson; Clerk Marc Robertson and Treasurer Sarah Danz. Supervisor Steve Cowan was absent.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
A motion to approve the agenda was made by Don McKay, seconded by Barbara Grenlie and approved.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT AND CORRESPONDENCE
Town Chairman Mark Sherven attended a “Cultivating Collaboration” seminar on February 24th at the Alliant Center. It was a discussion of the direction of land use in Dane County in the coming years, particularly farm land preservation, growth and development and intergovernmental cooperation. It is expected that there will be a “new generation” of farmland preservation activity, including agriculture enterprise zones. In these zones large blocks of agricultural land will be entered into a program which will require them to remain in agriculture for a specific period, possibly 15 years. Agricultural conservation easements were also discussed.
A recent burglary which has been of concern is now being actively addressed by the Dane County Sheriff’s Department.
CITIZEN INPUT
There was no citizen input at this time, the input period was reopened later in the meeting.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Barbara Grenlie moved approval of the minutes of the February 9th meeting, Bill Hanson seconded, and the minutes were approved.
TREASURER’S REPORT
Deposits for the month of February were $305,986.21. $271,277.56 was received in property tax payments and $2,425.69 in Payments in Lieu of Taxes from the DNR, much of both types of payments were paid out to the County, State and school districts. $30,510.94 was received from FEMA as partial reimbursement for road cleanup and repairs from the summer 2008 rainstorms. $480 was received for building permits, $380 for dog licenses, $275 for assessment searches and $637.02 in interest. A motion was made by Bill Hanson and seconded by Don McKay to accept the Treasurer’s report and the motion was approved.
CLERK’S REPORT
The February primary election, where there were no Town offices contested, was conducted successfully. Draft comprehensive plans were distributed to many of the 65 residents voting.
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Don McKay to accept the Clerk’s report, and the motion was approved.
PAYMENT OF BILLS
Approval is sought for payment of bills for February, 2009 and paid by checks numbered 1413 through 1462. Checks 1413 through 1418 were discussed at the February meeting.
Check 1425 was sent out early for office supplies related to the comprehensive plan. Check 1446, the January retirement fund payment, was also sent out prior to tonight’s meeting. We paid our 2009 dues to the Black Earth Chamber of Commerce this month. We also made our required payments to the State, County and school districts from the money received from the DNR for payment in lieu of taxes. Except for some highway equipment repair and maintenance bills, all other bills were routine monthly bills.
A motion was made by Barbara Grenlie and seconded by Bill Hanson to approve payment of bills for February and the motion was approved.
DISCUSSION OF OLYMPICS LETTER OF AGREEMENT
John Landis, representing the Chicago 2016 Bid Team, was present to answer questions regarding the City of Chicago’s bid to hold the 2016 Olympics. This has the potential to involve a bicycle road race held partially through the Town of Vermont, and an off-road mountain bicycle event to be held entirely at Tyrol Basin Ski and Snowboard Area within the Town. The City is requesting that the Town of Vermont sign a letter of agreement indicating our consent to the terms of the City of Chicago’s Olympic bid, to be included in the final candidature file to be submitted to the International Olympic Committee. An identical letter has been signed by the Governor of Wisconsin, the Dane County Executive and the Mayor of Madison.
The western Dane County / Eastern Iowa County area has been chosen because of the challenging terrain. This letter represents a response to the IOC’s interest in confirming that there is an adequate level of intergovernmental cooperation among the variety of local governmental entities which will be involved in carrying out a successful Olympics.
Final selection of the host city will be on October 2, 2009. In the event that Chicago is chosen, it is expected that the Olympic Village will open on July 12, 2016 with the games themselves being held between July 22 and August 7. Since practice for the road event will begin immediately upon the opening of the Olympic Village, the impact on the ability of Town citizens to use local roads will also begin at that time. Since this will be considered a National Special Security Event, the constraints imposed upon local citizens will not necessarily be under local control. A Chicago Olympic Public Safety Command has been formed to handle security in the Chicago area, and it is expected that a similar entity will be created for the same purpose in the Dane / Iowa County area, with the likelihood that federal funds will be appropriated for the purpose of funding its activities.
If Chicago is chosen for the 2016 Olympics, the Chicago 2016 Bid Team that John Landis represents will be replaced by the Chicago Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Questions regarding possible funding of infrastructure improvements in support of the Olympics are not discussed in the letter of agreement but may be considered by this successor organization. Though he could make no commitments with regard to infrastructure improvement funding, John Landis indicated that he would investigate how this question was addressed by the organizers of the Salt Lake City Olympics.
The “Look of the Games” mentioned in the letter of agreement involves a uniformity of banners and signage in public areas, but will have no impact on individuals and private property. Neither will the Olympic organizers have additional access to private property beyond that which they might already have under law. The interest of the Olympic organizers is to maintain the security of their intellectual property, though the organizers expect to “work with” the Town should local citizens wish to operate concessions or similar businesses along the route.
It is expected that construction of the facilities required by the events will start 9 to12 months in advance of the Olympics. Informal practice can be expected to start well before the event, as well as follow up interest in cycling the route. Spectator management is a high priority for the organizers; it is hoped that “park and ride” facilities will be available for the event in order to provide a favorable experience for spectators as well as minimize the impact on the local area. There is currently no plan for how spectator ticketing for the road course event will be handled.
No definition was available for the term “adjacent” as used in the letter of agreement, although past experience indicates that a 300 yard security zone is a possibility. The letter of agreement pertains to the use of Town roads and rights of way, but not other public facilities such as the Town Hall, the Town Garage or other facilities. Restrictions on signage, as mentioned in the “clean venue” portion of the letter of agreement, will not pertain to private signage, only signage controlled by the Town.
At the conclusion of the discussion, a signed copy of the letter of agreement was presented to John Landis.
FURTHER CITIZEN INPUT
Nancy Mistele, candidate for Dane County executive, gave a presentation concerning issues she considers important to the upcoming election, including individual property rights, the interoperable radio and 911 networks, and transportation.
CONSIDERATION OF DANE COUNTY BOARD MODIFICATIONS TO CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT #2101 AND REZONE PETITION #10010 FOR MDW INVESTMENTS LLC AND VERIZON WIRELESS FOR A COMMUNICATIONS TOWER AT 4268 STATE HIGHWAY 78
Clarification has been provided concerning the requirement that space be made available on the new tower at no charge for emergency communications equipment. Barbara Grenlie moved that CUP #2101 be approved, Bill Hanson seconded and the motion was approved.
Mark Sherven moved that rezone petition #10010 be approved, Don McKay seconded and the motion was approved.
DISCUSSION AND POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF AMENDED CONTRACT GOVERNING DISTRICT ONE EMS
Steve Cowan, the Town representative to District One EMS, was not present at the March Board meeting. Barbara Grenlie moved that the agenda item be tabled, Bill Hanson seconded and the motion was approved.
DISCUSSION OF PUBLIC HEARING COMMENTS REGARDING PLANNING COMMISSION APPROVED DRAFT OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND POSSIBLE APPROVAL OF COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
Board members and residents present discussed citizen comments from the public hearing. The variety of comments received do not lend themselves to simple “favorable versus unfavorable” analysis of the draft comprehensive plan, since some of the comments were seeking clarification, particularly with respect to proposed height restrictions on ridgetop building. Among the issues that may be addressed in the final draft of the plan is the impact of ridgetop restrictions on agricultural buildings, and other structures such as wind turbines and communications towers, which by their nature often require substantial height.
Residents Todd Culliton and Mike Albert presented a written summary of possible changes to the portion of the plan pertaining to ridgetop restrictions and also contributed to the discussion. They suggested that the citizen survey upon which the ridgetop restrictions are based did not word the relevant question in a manner which would lead a respondent to expect that such a large geographic area would be considered ridgetop. It was noted that ridgetop under the current definition sometimes includes areas which are relatively concealed from view, which argues against potential inflexibility in the application of the restrictions. However, the Board noted that a flexible policy can be difficult to impartially enforce.
A joint meeting of the Town Board and the Planning Commission will be held on March 16th to further consider the opinions expressed at the public hearing and discuss how to proceed.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Don McKay indicated that the 2016 Olympics letter of agreement was recently discussed at the Village of Mt. Horeb, and it was believed that the letter was signed by the Village president. Merger discussions are taking place between the Black Earth Joint Fire District and the Village of Mazomanie Fire Department. Particularly if grant money becomes available, adding on to either the back or the front of the newer salt shed is being considered. After that, the older salt storage building adjoining the garage could be replaced by an unheated winter storage addition.
DISCUSSION OF AGENDA ITEMS FOR APRIL MEETING
There were no suggestions for the April Agenda.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Bill Hanson and seconded by Barbara Grenlie that the meeting adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 10:20.
Marc Robertson, Town Clerk